IF IT'S NOT LOVE THEN IT'S THE POLL THAT WILL BRING US TOGETHER - ILM Artist Poll #72 - THE SMITHS - RESULTS THREAD

It and "Paint a Vulgar Picture" the only Smiths tunes Moz performed when I saw him in late '97.

Turrican OTM. "YJHEITB" is the closest to an exception to my "b-sides sounding like b-sides" jibber-jabber. Unsurprising that it almost WAS the a-side.

Love the instrumental version of this one

oh someone said upthread that they sing "sweet and tender hooligan" to their cat; i sing "shoplifters" to my cats i.e. "soft kittens of the world / unite and take over"

Don't encourage them!

i almost voted for girlfriend in a coma because of the ilx thread with the "midget with a pamphlet" bit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slOzvTTgMNM

Why did I watch that whole video?

http://i.imgur.com/e48InJH.jpg

24. SHEILA TAKE A BOW (Single A-side)
640 points | 31 votes | 1 first place vote

I first saw that video after I saw the Vice online guitar interview with Johnny Marr. Marr says that the Shoplifters solo was mostly him saying to hell with it, I am going to do a total hard rock guitar solo. And then he felt vindicated when years later he saw that video of the guy head banging to it.

'Sheila Take a Bow' has always had its critics, but I've always really liked it.

he felt vindicated when years later he saw that video of the guy head banging to it.

Ha! Okay, that makes me like it a little more now.

I didn't vote in the poll but Sheila would have been top three for me.

Great song.

Boot the grime of this world in the crotch, dear

Tracey Thorn stole the "I'm a girl and you're a boy" gender flip for "Protection."

Sheila just barely missed my ballot, kind of regret leaving it off now

It just snuck in on mine. My seven year old daughter loves it

"Learn to love me," eh?

"Sheila Take a Bow" is a pure endorphin rush for me

http://i.imgur.com/B4xmySA.jpg

23. SOME GIRLS ARE BIGGER THAN OTHERS (Album track from The Queen Is Dead)
648 points | 28 votes | 4 first place votes

A goodly number of first place votes!

"I wrote this almost sublime, roaming, guitar-led piece of music once, and the next thing I knew it was called 'Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others'." —Johnny Marr

TOO LOW!

Like, I seriously expected this one to be easily in the Top 10. Surprised to see this placing now!

For his part, Moz sings beautifully on this.

xp I guess once you've heard the Gaz Coombes cover version the original pales somewhat in comparison.

girl afraid was my number 1 as well. it has such a pleasing composition

Oh yeah, Supergrass covered it. I'd forgotten about that.

Should have been an instrumental.

DavidM OTM, it's a lovely vocal.

'Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others' was the first song I ever played on the Infinite Jukebox.

"As Anthony said to Cleopatra, as he opened a crate of ale..."

I dig how the verses are little more than a bridge to the chorus. (Or he just kept quiet where the verses were 'meant' to be.)

I wonder how serious Marr is being when he suggests that he was nonplussed with Morrissey's choice of lyric for this one. actually, it makes me curious about how their singwritng relationship worked; could he have insisted that Morrissey go away and write some different words, or insist that the song be done as an instrumental, or would Morrissey have had the final say?

I think that the lyrics and the sinister, ominous music go together really well, though - obviously it's this Carry On style double entendre (the 'as Antony said to Cleopatra' bit is direcetly from Carry On Cleo), but the humour in the Carry On movies is pretty grim and ugly most of the time. the "I have just discovered" bit makes me think of it as being about some kind of sexual awakening like the song it follows , 'There Is A Light That Never Goes Out', but the ugly side of banal, inescapable (hetero)sexuality. (and if 'There Is A Light' is all about anticipation and expectation, like 'Stretch Out And Wait, then 'Some Girls' seems like an aftermath, disillusion)?

it's so perfectly placed as this spooky closer on TQiD as well, makes me think of Morrissey lying on his pillow through the night, drifting in and out of consciousness

Shoplifters always sounds a bit drab to me. The promising verses are let down by a flat chorus. I always thought this was Morrissey's fault, but in the instrumental demo groovypanda linked to it's clear the problem was there in the music from the beginning. The guitar solo is funny re virtuoso talk.

Sheila used to be one of my favourites - I'd put it on before going out - but I'm a bit bored by it now.

Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others was my #1. Marr's best tune, and I hear these supposedly inappropriate lyrics as heartfelt and sad, describing Moz's alienation from and horror of the world of flesh with the lightest touch of all his many variations on the theme.

http://i.imgur.com/gXchsrk.jpg

22. HALF A PERSON (B-side of 'Shoplifters Of The World Unite')
706 points | 32 votes | 1 first place vote

"shoplifters" is one of the best smiths choruses imo! it swoons into place

anyway "half a person" is amazing and i regret cutting it at the last minute from my ballot

The placement of 'Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others' this low has completely thrown me. Really, really curious to see how the rest of these results pan out now.

I hear these supposedly inappropriate lyrics as heartfelt and sad, describing Moz's alienation from and horror of the world of flesh with the lightest touch of all his many variations on the theme.

yes that's what I always thought, dreaming on his pillow of higher things. though part of me has wondered if it was meant to be some double entendre about dick size. it's hard to separate his horror of the world of flesh from the fascination with the same sometimes

I'm really surprised at all the people who are surprised that some girls didn't place higher. It's my 3rd least favorite song on the album!

lol I had guessed Some Girls was one of the two songs no one voted for because I think it's not very good.

these images are really wonderful btw

Pretty sure Marr said that he and Moz were a unified front, never questioning the other's choices.

This really is reminiscent of an XTC thread. I can't believe so many of the best songs from Meat is Murder have already placed, and pretty low. I guess the title track isn't going to make it then. The title track is the first Smiths song I ever heard, I think I was 10. Really disturbing song, still. Beautifully haunting nonetheless.

the mooing cows were better recorded than some of the instruments

People need to talk about "Half A Person" some more. I hope to learn how a b-side like this accrues 2.5 as many points as a b-side like "These Things Take Time".

I quite like the weariness in Morrissey's voice when he sings "if you *have* five seconds to spare... "

And how he rhymes "sour" with "dour"

xxxpost:

The title track of Meat Is Murder is notorious for being most people's least favourite on the album. I don't consider it a contender at this stage.