50 Best Morrissey songs - Spin

A review of the allegedly 50 best Morrissey songs by Annie Zaleski and Jason Anderson

50 Best Morrissey Songs - SPIN

 

[countthree]

No list is fair.

I'm sure people or things who could have saved this world of being such a trash bin as it is now where left out of a list. Lists are evil things.

 

[Girlmostlikely]

For me Suedehead and its b-sides came as a huge relief. A sign that perhaps everything would be okay after all. Perhaps, it not only being a great single, but showing that Morrissey could still produce great music without Marr still gives it a place in the hearts of many.

Thank you for that. It's my first time hearing that prospective actually. I was a couple years off from hearing Morrissey for the first time at that time. Maybe it wasn't the same as a rediscovery. I do like the song, just never saw it as one of the greats. These kind of insightful comments are one of the main reasons I always come back.

 

[Girlmostlikely]

Everyday Is Like Sunday

First Of The Gang To Die

Suedehead

Nobody Loves Us

Come Back To Camden

Why Don’t You Find Out For Yourself?

Speedway

Irish Blood, English Heart

Interesting Drug

Now My Heart Is Full

My Love Life

The Last Of The Famous International Playboys

Pregnant For The Last Time

Boxers

Jack The Ripper

The More You Ignore Me The Closer I Get

Whatever Happens, I Love You

Life Is A Pigsty

Sunny

I’ve Changed My Plea To Guilty

You Have Killed Me

I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris

Let Me Kiss You

The National Front Disco

Late Night, Maudlin Street

The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores

Glamorous Glue

Wide To Receive

Disappointed

November Spawned A Monster

Sister I’m A Poet

I Know It’s Gonna Happen Someday

Ouija Board, Ouija Board

Will Never Marry

I Know Very Well How I Got My Name

Yes, I Am Blind

Haidresser On Fire

Alma Matters

I Have Forgiven Jesus

Oh Well, I’ll Never Learn

Lost

That’s How People Grow Up

Bengali In Platforms

Trouble Loves Me

Hold On To Your Friends

The Boy Racer

We’ll Let You Know

Piccadilly Palare

We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful

Treat Me Like A Human Being

Good list. I don't completely agree of course...lol. like the inclusion of the often forgotten PFTLT

I like all the fan lists better than Spins

 

[Girlmostlikely]

No list is fair.

I'm sure people or things who could have saved this world of being such a trash bin as it is now where left out of a list. Lists are evil things.

Oh the lists are good fun

This was an uplifting piece that should generate some new interest. It makes it easy for a new fan to check out more Moz....just don't start with EITLP or THPGU! Please! (Although I think the latter is one of M's favs)

 

[Anonymous]

I LOVE that song. However, some lines I think are more about rhyming than being serious. Kinda like the bravery in shaven caves. None were me.

I think another revealing song is 'I'm not sorry' where he sings: The woman of my dreams she never came along. The woman of my dreams well there never was one.

 

[The Wild Turkey]

Go ahead and make 3 different lists, with 50 different Moz songs on each list and ya still wouldn't be wrong.
Moz has got that many good songs.
Hey, I did the math, it really adds up!

 

[bhops]

So it's different from your list? Boo-hoo. Two writers who are obviously big Morrissey fans do a long positive article on your favourite pop singer and you flip a verbal finger to them. Now that's classy.

Thanks!

 

[Johnny Barleycorn]

Thank you for that. It's my first time hearing that prospective actually. I was a couple years off from hearing Morrissey for the first time at that time. Maybe it wasn't the same as a rediscovery. I do like the song, just never saw it as one of the greats. These kind of insightful comments are one of the main reasons I always come back.

Life before the internet was strange. Lee Marvin died while I was in Paris and I never found out for fifteen years. Bill Hicks died and I didn’t know for six months when it was referred to in passing in an NME article. I didn’t even know he was ill...

The end of the Smiths was nothing but a rumour amongst those of us flipping through the vinyl in the local independent record store before the music papers came out the following week.

The Smiths officially split in August 1987, and from there followed speculation about Morrissey’s next move. Marr barely got a mention if I remember correctly. When Suedehead was released in the February not only was it not terrible it was the sound of Morrissey hitting the ground running. Just as importantly the b-sides were great.

After that came Viva Hate in March, and Everyday Is Like Sunday in May with three more terrific b-sides attached and the sudden loss of my favourite band seemed less of a gaping wound.

Suedehead was and still is an important song in Morrissey’s canon. It was where it all began, but could just as easily been where it all ended. In an alternative universe he might have decided to release Please Help The Cause Against Loneliness as his first solo single and the last thirty years would never have happened.

 

[Anonymous]

Life before the internet was strange. Lee Marvin died while I was in Paris and I never found out for fifteen years. Bill Hicks died and I didn’t know for six months when it was referred to in passing in an NME article. I didn’t even know he was ill...

The end of the Smiths was nothing but a rumour amongst those of us flipping through the vinyl in the local independent record store before the music papers came out the following week.

The Smiths officially split in August 1987, and from there followed speculation about Morrissey’s next move. Marr barely got a mention if I remember correctly. When Suedehead was released in the February not only was it not terrible it was the sound of Morrissey hitting the ground running. Just as importantly the b-sides were great.

After that came Viva Hate in March, and Everyday Is Like Sunday in May with three more terrific b-sides attached and the sudden loss of my favourite band seemed less of a gaping wound.

Suedehead was and still is an important song in Morrissey’s canon. It was where it all began, but could just as easily been where it all ended. In an alternative universe he might have decided to release Please Help The Cause Against Loneliness as his first solo single and the last thirty years would never have happened.

Who knows what would’ve happened in alternative history but I like that song much more than suedehead

 

[Johnny Barleycorn]

Who knows what would’ve happened in alternative history but I like that song much more than suedehead

Sandie, is that you?

 

[Anonymous]

50 Personal favorites not on this list:

I Knew I Was Next
Sister I'm A Poet
Julie In The Weeds
Drag The River
Let The Right One Slip In
Forgive Someone
Staircase At The University
Trouble Loves Me (Wtf...this one is a surprising omission)
On The Streets I Ran
I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now

Lifeguard On Duty
Happy Lovers United
Mountjoy
Oboe Concerto
Something Is Squeezing My Skull
One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell
Our Frank (live version)
Driving Your Girlfriend Home
All The Young People Must Fall In Love
Ganglord

My Dearest Love
Munich Air Disaster
Never-Played Symphonies
Heir Apparent
Nobody Loves Us
Southpaw
I Can Have Both
Now I Am A Was
Sunny
In The Future When All Is Well

At Last I Am Born
Now My Heart Is Full
Hold On To Your Friends
I Am Hated For Loving
Used To Be A Sweet Boy
Break Up The Family
I Don't Mind If You Forget Me
The Loop
Born To Hang
Oh Well, I'll Never Learn

You Must Please Remember
The Edges Are No Longer Parallel
Action Is My Middle Name
One Of Our Own
Will Never Marry
Such A Little Thing Makes Such A Big Difference
A Swallow On My Neck
I've Changed My Plea To Guilty
Life Is A Pigsty
Safe Warm Lancashire Home

 

[URBANUS]

Black-Eyed Susan and Michael's Bones are simply fantastic.

Black-eyed Susans:

 

[Anonymous]

Sandie, is that you?

No sandie is only a name in a book to me read a few times while reading about morrissey. Please help the cause is just a really catchy and funny song imo. I also love he way he rolls his r’s like he did in so many smiths songs as he does with the word problems. Lyrically and vocally I think he pulls out a few tics and tricks that remind me of how he sounded in the smiths. Mainly though I rate it higher simply because I find suedehead to be a very average song. It’s one of my least favs from viva hate. The guitar part is to simple and thin and the chorus I just don’t find all that memorable. It’s not a bad song by any means but I don’t have the memories to surround it and hold it up and I often just find myself mindlessly and often warily bobbing my head to it

 

[Flibberty]

It says a lot for the quality of Morrissey's output that we could each compile a separate list and they would all be completely different.

It's also worth mentioning that there was a time when nobody would have even considered compiling such a list. So while Morrissey's star is certainly not at its highest, it has been much lower in the past.

For me in the top 50 would be:

Viva Hate era
Suedehead
Angel Down we Go Together
Everyday is Like Sunday
Late Night, Maudlin Street
Hairdresser on Fire
I Know Very Well How I Got My Name

"Bona Drag era"
Sister I'm a Poet
Disappointed
Last of the Famous
November Spawned a Monster

Kill Uncle-ish era
There's a Place in Hell
My Love Life
I've Changed My Plea

Your Arsenal era
You're Gonna Need Someone on Your Side
I Know it's Gonna Happen Someday
Jack the Ripper

Vauxhall and I-ish era
Now My Heart is Full
The More You Ignore Me
Hold onto Your Friends
Speedway
Sunny
Swallow on My Neck

Maladjusted era
Maladjusted
Trouble Loves Me
Lost
The Edges are No Longer Parallel

You are the Quarry era
Irish Blood English Heart
The First of the Gang to Die
Come Back to Camden
Let Me Kiss You

Ringleader of the Tormentors era
Dear God Please Help Me
The Youngest was the Most Loved
In the Future When All's Well
Life is a Pigsty
At Last I am Born
Christian Dior
Sweetie Pie (seriously! )

Years of Refusal-ish era
My Dearest Love
Something is Squeezing My Skull
When Last I Spoke to Carol
It's Not Your Birthday Anymore

World Peace era
I'm Not a Man
Istanbul
Staircase at the University
Kiss Me a Lot
Scandinavia
Art-hounds

Low in High School
My Love, I'd do Anything for You
Home is a Question Mark
In Your Lap

 

[gordyboy9]

number 50,YOU HAVE KILLED ME.come on surely it deserves a higher spot than that.

 

[evennow]

This is surely an Imperfect List, but the top 10 is very strong in my opinion. As a kid growing up in the glorious early days of the MTV era when music videos had such a large impact on me, almost all these videos built my love for Morrissey and his music. Tomorrow, Playboys, November, Everyday, Ignore Me, Suedehead, Successful, are all reminders of why he became an integral part of my life, and I am happy to see them high on the list.

 

[countthree]

It says a lot for the quality of Morrissey's output that we could each compile a separate list and they would all be completely different.

It's also worth mentioning that there was a time when nobody would have even considered compiling such a list. So while Morrissey's star is certainly not at its highest, it has been much lower in the past.

For me in the top 50 would be:

Viva Hate era
Suedehead
Angel Down we Go Together
Everyday is Like Sunday
Late Night, Maudlin Street
Hairdresser on Fire
I Know Very Well How I Got My Name

"Bona Drag era"
Sister I'm a Poet
Disappointed
Last of the Famous
November Spawned a Monster

Kill Uncle-ish era
There's a Place in Hell
My Love Life
I've Changed My Plea

Your Arsenal era
You're Gonna Need Someone on Your Side
I Know it's Gonna Happen Someday
Jack the Ripper

Vauxhall and I-ish era
Now My Heart is Full
The More You Ignore Me
Hold onto Your Friends
Speedway
Sunny
Swallow on My Neck

Maladjusted era
Maladjusted
Trouble Loves Me
Lost
The Edges are No Longer Parallel

You are the Quarry era
Irish Blood English Heart
The First of the Gang to Die
Come Back to Camden
Let Me Kiss You

Ringleader of the Tormentors era
Dear God Please Help Me
The Youngest was the Most Loved
In the Future When All's Well
Life is a Pigsty
At Last I am Born
Christian Dior
Sweetie Pie (seriously! )

Years of Refusal-ish era
My Dearest Love
Something is Squeezing My Skull
When Last I Spoke to Carol
It's Not Your Birthday Anymore

World Peace era
I'm Not a Man
Istanbul
Staircase at the University
Kiss Me a Lot
Scandinavia
Art-hounds

Low in High School
My Love, I'd do Anything for You
Home is a Question Mark
In Your Lap

Remember The Smiths era. Those are Morrissey's songs too.

 

[Andy Jones]

agree with most songs in that list but would add the following 2

happy lovers united
lifeguard on duty

 

[the join]

agree with most songs in that list but would add the following 2

happy lovers united
lifeguard on duty

Lifeguard on duty always brings a smile.

 

[Truth]

The way I would do this is to take a complete list of songs and start eliminating. White list a few things maybe, too. I am pretty sure everything on Viva Hate and Bona Drag would be on it, except Bengali In Platforms. I actually like all of Kill Uncle, too. In my opinion nothing on Kill Uncle is as bad as "You're The One For Me, Fatty."
Do you ever like someone and buy their records but you know that it's pretty likely that you're going to buy one someday and it won't be very good? It happens to most singers and bands. So when I heard "You're The One For Me, Fatty," I really thought it was the worst song I'd ever heard from Morrissey. I mean, I like "Golden Lights." I didn't know you weren't supposed to until I read it on the Internet years later. So his first three solo records and most of the singles including most of the b-sides would be on there for sure I think.
After that there are songs on each record that might be eliminated, but not many until we get to Maladjusted which is his best song but was his worst record at that time. I like Southpaw and would include most of it.
I like everything on Quarry, production aside.
Ringleader has a few great ones and some that are not very good at all. He was still making really good b-sides, btw, and that is something I think is missing. It's sad when the b-sides now are live cover versions that any fan could find online anyway. Some really good ones were collected on Swords.
I think Years Of Refusal is pretty good. The lyrics aren't always his best but "All You Need Is Me" and "That's How People Grow Up" are great. I like that whole record. "Because Of My Poor Education" and "Shame Is The Name" are some of my favorites from that time. I like the rock ones generally.
I have still never listened to "World Peace Is None Of Your Business," You know how your dad went to the store for a beer and never came back? It's sort of like that. I was trying really hard to get through it but I stopped and I never was able to get through it.
I had high hopes for the new one but haven't listened to it except for three or four songs. I think it would all be eliminated and I'm sure there would be nothing from the last record.
So that's the opinion no one asked for but I don't really feel like making a list right now.