The Smiths - best song, no Votes

aka "These Things Take Time" vs "Vicar In A Tutu"

aka TTTT

vicar in a tutu should get no votes again

1) TTTT
2) IDOYA
3) BTTOH
4) WW

vicar in a tutu, unhappy birthday runner up

(from other thread) that's actually pretty tough. i guess maybe Wonderful Woman or Never Had No One Ever, but there's a bunch it would be difficult to seperate.

also, ban deeznuts

tbh, Golden Lights and Meat is Murder are the only bad songs on here, although by way way of compensation perhaps they are really really bad.

i have a soft spot for golden lights

i like golden lights

vicar in a tutu is grating on a miserable lie level but without the fun & the excuse that they didnt really have a fucking clue what they were doing at the time

i like all the fake country tunes the smiths did

It's very, very hard for me to choose one Smiths song over another in most cases. I don't know how you folks do it. Yeah there are a few clunkers here, but not many.

stay strong, bimble

Hahah. Nope, I can't. Because now you guys have made me realize I don't have Jeane on my iPod and I'm at work AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT.

This is so tough, and to think that this is the dregs - just how good *were* this band?! Very close between:

4. Vicar in a Tutu. Well I like it, and it always makes me smile.
3. Jeane. Other than 'Stop Me...', I think this is the closest they came to a standard, though that might simply be because I actually have heard covers of it. Anyway, the way he sings 'and I don't believe in magic anymore' gets me every time.
2. Never Had No One Ever. My iTunes informs me, slightly surprisingly, that this is comfortably my most-listened-to Smiths track.

Winner: The Draize Train. I think it's brilliant. I just love the guitar playing, and like Marr getting the floor to himself.

I really like Jeane (both their version but especially Sandy Shaw's) but I had to vote for TTTT because I'm the most inept that ever stepped...

here you go Bimble, I'll sing it for you: oh we triiiiied and we failed, oh we triiiied and we failed, we triiiiiied and we faaaaaiiillleeeedddd...

yeah i actually prefer the sandie shaw version of jeane too

never had no one ever...ehhhhh - i dont really get its appeal - its always seemed like a lowpoint w/out a lot of redemption

her voice is just really brassy and loud, I think it suits the song better. I hope it's on my iPod 'cause I need to hear it now

Back to the Old House. One of their great drizzle-flecked dirges, and Morrissey at his moansome best, "are you still there / or have you... moooooved away?", and his final "I never will" is neck-hair pricklingly fine.

Yeah, I've actually been thinking a lot about "Back To The Old House" lately for some reason, without getting around to actually playing it.

Back to the Old House.

This is so tough, and to think that this is the dregs - just how good *were* this band?!

otm. these are some of my favorite songs by anybody. scary innit.

"what do we get for our trouble and pain? a rented room in Whalley Range"

"vicar in a tutu" is awesome

I kind of like "Unhappy Birthday"

Yes, Unhappy Birthday is wonderful. So is Pretty Girls Make Graves, though. And I Keep Mine Hidden. And...

See I feel the same way about these guys as I do Cocteau Twins. A person who has not yet discovered them MUST rush to buy ALL of their output IMMEDIATELY.

Am I the only one who thinks Meat is Murder is a neat little ditty?

meat is murder is not much of a ditty, its more of a screed

vicar in a tutu is a ditty & it sucks

the smiths were at their best when they mixed the two imo

BACK TO THE OLD HOUSE!

I mean aside from the lyrics, which are pretty ignorable, eat is Murder is a hot piece!

"Unhappy Birthday" is awesome

death at ones elbow is >> than unhappy birthday

I was surprised Meat Is Murder didn't get any votes. Whatever your thoughts on the issue are, I think it's incredibly poignant and affecting. And that intro sends chills down my spine. Maybe the best Smiths intro ever?

...and "Vicar in a Tutu" the best outro.

i dunno...the 'whatever your thoughts on the issue are' argument rings incredibly false to me

like the whole song is incredibly political, & only poignant & affecting in that setting, which kind of destroys its merit otherwise

saying its a great political song, which you seem to be doing, doesnt do it justice as a song if you dont buy lock stock & barrel into the politics of it

I don't see why not.

reason #1: its called MEAT IS MURDER
reason #2: its about how MEAT IS MURDER
reason #3: the primary resonance of the song to anyone who speaks english, & probably a healthy degree of people who do not, suggests that MEAT IS MURDER

Okay, you know, I've thought about this really carefully and I've decided to vote for Jeane.

"as you tidy the place/but it will never be clean"

Honestly I wonder if that song wasn't their greatest moment.

reason #1: its called MEAT IS MURDER
reason #2: its about how MEAT IS MURDER
reason #3: the primary resonance of the song to anyone who speaks english, & probably a healthy degree of people who do not, suggests that MEAT IS MURDER

-- deeznuts, Sunday, 31 August 2008 05:51 (18 minutes ago) Link

But I mean, is it not possible to disagree or maybe have agree with the message and still think it is poignant and affecting? That is my case, for instance.

have agree=half agree

i half agree with it myself & its exactly the overbearingness of it that turns me off as far as it being truly affecting as a song - i totally sympathize with the lyrics but it doesnt really have much going for it outside of them

have agree=half agree

Half a Person!

Eric the Half-a-Bee!

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

"Golden Lights" has really been growing on me lately - in spirit it's a kind of downtempo "William, It Was Really Nothing" in that Morrissey seems to be oscillating between the jilted lover persona and the "Rubber Ring" voice that sees through the main character's foolish abandonment of the only ones who ever stood by him. I know it's a cover, but they bring something to it - and it's a nice tune to begin with.

TS: 'Money Changes Everything' vs 'I Keep Mine Hidden'