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

The first Smiths album I owned was TQID, and I Know It's Over was my first favorite Smiths song, so it'll always have a secure place in my heart. I don't always listen to it the whole way through now, though.

I know it's over
And it never really began
But in my heart it was so real

sums up how I feel about my life at this point.

"And as I climb into an empty bed
oh well, enough said"

A straightforward, yet amazing lyric

Too low; it's melodramatic, sure, but in a way that tips over into the sublime.

WHILE THEY'RE IN EACH OTHERS ARMS

I don't know how others hear the "it's so easy to laugh..." portion of the song, but I've long interpreted it as a call not to be hardened and embittered by heartbreak. Which, to me, is especially powerful coming in the midst of one of the great heartbreak songs of all time.

"Cause tonight is just like any other night" is a great line - so biting.

I personally wouldn't say it's too low, but I'm shocked it's not in the top 10.

I was expecting the last three to all place in the top 10. Interested to see whats going to show up next

xp

'I Know It's Over' is one of those songs that was perfect during my teenage years, but in adulthood I find its melodrama uncomfortably funny.

http://i.imgur.com/zLLsm9P.jpg

18. THIS NIGHT HAS OPENED MY EYES (Album track from Hatful of Hollow)
797 points | 32 votes | 2 first place votes

This song has always gone in one ear and out the other for me. *shrug*

Yay! My #2. Partly strategic admittedly. But it didn't need all that much help, it seems. ILM, you're alright.

I can't tell you the number of times in high school and beyond that I drunkenly played I Know It's Over. AHHHHHH the alcoholic afternoons...

I Know It's Over was my #1. one way street otm, it strikes the perfect balance between the ridiculous melodrama and the sublime. Motherrrrr I can feel the soil falling over my heaaaaaaad

This Night Has Opened My Eyes seems sort of minor at first but there's something very emotional in the guitar line? I'm not really sure what makes it as good as it is.

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

17. STILL ILL (Album track from The Smiths)
799 points | 31 votes | 2 first place votes

I do not like Still Ill.

Too low; it's melodramatic, sure, but in a way that tips over into the sublime.

― one way street, Saturday, March 5, 2016 3:10 PM (25 minutes ago)

So much agreement!

"still ill" is a song about me

"Under the iron bridge we kissed... " Such a good song.

does the body rule the mind
or does the mind rule the body
idk

Marr's prettily 'chiming' guitar...

This Night Has Opened My Eyes seems sort of minor at first but there's something very emotional in the guitar line? I'm not really sure what makes it as good as it is.

― ufo, Saturday, March 5, 2016 6:38 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yup - that line underneath "the dream is gone but the baby is real" repeated in the coda... perfectly reflects the queasy nowhere feeling of regret....

One of the motivations unexpected harmonica breaks in pop = Still Ill.

uh most that is

Still Ill is one of my absolute favourites, I love the way the chorus ascends.

I said this about "reel" but "still ill" is also everything i like about the smiths in one song, the discursive guitar phrases, the lyrics which are probably about being and feeling queer all the time

One thing I love about 'Still Ill' is the way that it ends, it's full of this lovely chiming guitar work throughout and then right at the end BAM-BAM those unexpected chord stabs out of nowhere.

Wondering who the other person who put still ill as number 1 on their ballot is

I've been totally obsessed with Still Ill this past week but forgot to vote for it. Gutting! I love the way Morrissey lies down on the stage during live versions. So melodramatic.

Not fond of the harmonica version. Evil instrument. Love the album version, but didn't vote for it.

Oh and This Joke Isn't Funny Anymore is a perfect song. Love it so much.

"Still Ill" was my #1. I never considered anything else for the spot. If someone were to ask me to play them one Smiths song to encapsulate everything I love about the band, this would be my pick. The guitar part is classic Marr: there's not a single strummed chord until the very end, so the whole song is carried by these neat little figures and arpeggios that blend perfectly with the bass and the melody and do so much with about three strings at a time.

And few lines capture the Morrissey sensibility better than "if you must go to work tomorrow / well if I were you, I wouldn't bother / for there are brighter sides to life / and I should know, because I've seen them / but not very often."

One of my all-time favorite concert memories is seeing Morrissey encore with "Still Ill" in Chicago in 2011, being in the midst of a crowd swooning in unison to the "ooooh-OOOOOH" in the chorus. By the end there were so many stage invaders that Morrissey was led offstage by security. See/hear for yourself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-q7Ar1gNgI

*That

This is another early track where I'm find myself following Rourke's bass the whole time. Nothing particularly flashy perhaps but that taut rumble anchors the whole thing and locks in nicely with Marr.

XP: and yeah, what JRN said, basically. :)

Wow "This Night..." and "That Joke..." are way too low, especially the latter. It's the Smiths' most devestating song imo.

http://i.imgur.com/D2RzfsK.jpg

16. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LET ME GET WHAT I WANT (B-side of 'William, It Was Really Nothing')
818 points | 39 votes | 1 first place vote

"that joke isn't funny any more" is way too low but I can't complain bc it's my fault :(

hahaha wow, wasn't expecting this to land outside the top ten

this was probably their most popular song in America.

Would love to hear posters' queen stories listening to the Smiths.

Wait, 'William, It Was Really Nothing' hasn't placed yet, has it? Definitely hoping to see that one in the Top 15!

The Smiths were really good at making lullabies for the disenchanted.

queer! I hate Autopost.

A big song for me. This song really shaped my mind at 12-13 and perhaps for the worse but I still love it.

I can think of about 13 songs which are guaranteed to place in the next batch, the other 2 I'm not so certain of. Given the way this poll has gone so far, the order is a hell of a mystery.

Another weird thing about The Smiths and how they were heard in the States in the '80s: To many people, they're "The band that had songs in those John Hughes movies".

I was 16 when I bought my first Smiths album (because I HAD to own "How Soon Is Now?" which I'd heard on MuchMusic). Driving home with my parents with Meat Is Murder in hand, I feverishly read the lyrics over and over in the back seat. It was as if a secret society had admitted me entrance - a life-altering event (literally, "the songs that saved your life"). I have forgiven Morrissey many missteps in the 30ish years hence because of that day.

That's a particularly solid stretch of tracks since #21 IMHO.

Also: great images, btw, Johnny Fever! (I have images turned off and only just caught up with a huge batch!)