All Time Top Five Best Smiths Songs

Because I've been listening to The Smiths a lot again lately, here are their five best songs, unequivocally, as determined by me. Please note that it's nearly impossible to pick just 5, but, as that's the point of the blog, feel free to draw your own conclusions.

5) This Charming Man - It's songs like this that make me wonder why The Smiths have a reputation for being so depressing and dour. Sure, some of the songs do fit that mold, but it seems to me that just as many are actually quite peppy and danceable, like this jaunty tune. Johnny Marr's jangly opening riff sets up a fun song that's lyrics return to the one of Morrissey's favorite topics. The sexual ambiguity delivered is all well and good, but it's the clever coupling of lyrics that makes Morrissey so rightly revered, and it's on full display here.

4) Panic - An anthem for today's hipsters, never before has the radio been called out so publicly, proudly, and catchy...uh, ily. The second half of the song--the near constant refrain of 'Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ' is brilliant, and will ring in your head for days afterwards.

3) There is a Light That Never Goes Out - Just a great song. It's perfect in that it's catchy, but still sublimely powerful. In the simple refrain of 'There is a light and it never goes out,' to close the song, we're left feeling sad, but still hopeful, which is, I think, the essence of great art.

2) How Soon is Now - A little bit of an upset here, in that it's not number 1 as would be the knee jerk reaction, but I just think there is one song that is slightly better. (What can I say, I'm a sucker for the piano.) However, that should take nothing away from 'How Soon is Now' a perfect slice of loneliness that anyone who has ever stood in a crowded room and never felt more alone can relate to. My favorite line, 'There's a club if you'd like to go, you could meet somebody who really loves you. So you go and you stand on your own, and you leave on your own, and you go home, and you cry and you want to die,' reminds me of just how painful and awkward it was at times to be single in the city. There's nothing really redemptive about this song, just a sad commiseration of being awkward, lonely, and wanting to be loved. To answer my own question from earlier, as this is probably the best known Smiths song, it's probably where their reputation comes from.

1) Asleep - Continuing on with the bleak theme of greatness, Asleep is my favorite Smiths song (or should I say favourite). It's so sad, yet still so filled with hope. Perhaps it's not the intent, directly (it's obviously about committing suicide because the world is so bleak that anything must be better), and yet Morrissey convinces us that this is a good thing. Quite frankly, I'm not sure the so-called Emo culture could exist without this song. It's sad, beautiful, and perfect, from the opening sad notes played by Marr on the piano, to Morrissey's breathy "oh, there must be" as the song ends, it's just perfect.


All Time Top Five Best Smiths Songs That Didn't Quite Make the Cut: What Difference Does It Make (another great guitar riff by Marr to open the song, but 'This Charming Man' filled the quota for the list), Shoplifters of the World Unite (great solo in the middle of the song by Marr that is so simple, yet really brings the song home), Ask(another great riff by Marr), Bigmouth Strikes Again (in concert, Morrisey changed the lyrics of this song from 'as the flames rose to her Roman nose, and her walkman started to melt' to 'as the flames rose to her Roman nose, and her iPod started to melt.' I thought that was cool), Sweet & Tender Hooligan (any song about futbol hooligans is okay in my book), and Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want (too many depressing songs on this list already, but it would have been a fair choice nonetheless).