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

"Hand in Glove" my #2. "I know my luck too well/and I'll probably never see you again" the quintessential (early) Moz lyric. Two ppl against the world! - even that's doomed not to be.

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

11. PANIC (Single A-side)
949 points | 42 votes

"Cemetry Gates" sounds gorgeous, and I love Moz getting misty reading grave stones, but all that stuff about plagiarism? ehh

Was sure this one would've been top five, even though I didn't put it in my own top 5 when voting. Just seems like one of the key big Smiths songs to me.

but there's always someone, somewhere, with a big nose, who knows

"Panic" is a bit boring, tbh

I'm surprised "Hand in Glove" didn't place higher: did it seem too ubiquitous?

It must have been several years before I noticed how close "Panic" is to the verses of "Metal Guru." I like it, but it's a little too repetitive to be one of my favorite Smiths singles (and I could do without the child singers).

i've been in too many rooms where a whole crowd sings "hang the dj" to consider "panic" boring but i've also been in too many rooms where a whole crowd sings "hang the dj" to vote for "panic"

listening to "shoplifters" again and man, how can people be neutral on this song after the guitar solo

i was bored before i even began!

Heaven Knows has the most blissful guitar lines

Panic is a hit but it's not actually great come on. Tons of bands do this sort of thing way better. Awkward placement imo.

Panic is so much fun.

it's a good song i think

poll of one word smiths titles

stunned that "accept yourself" may have fallen outside the top 50

When will you accept it

i couldn't for the life of me tell you what song that is

Musically, this song is based on T. Rex's glam rock anthem, "Metal Guru." Marr recalled to Les Inrockuptibles in 1999: "When we wrote 'Panic' Morrissey was obsessed with 'Metal Guru' and wanted to sing in the same style. He didn't stop singing it in an attempt to modify the words of 'Panic' to fit the exact rhythm of 'Metal Guru.' He also exhorted me to use the same guitar break so that the two songs are the same!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s1Ra39nh_8

i mean i have a rough time remembering "accept yourself" myself but it's well-loved

http://i.imgur.com/Ju2bSP9.jpg

10. STOP ME IF YOU THINK YOU'VE HEARD THIS ONE BEFORE (Album track from Strangeways, Here We Come)
962 points | 42 votes | 1 first place vote

I'm not surprised to see 'Panic' place this high, probably one of their best known songs, and the "hang the DJ" coda is absolute perfection.

hey it's my no. 4, and the last of my ballot to place

oh wait no i lied, i didn't vote for this song lol

Thought this would be in the top five. Are we expecting anymore Strangeways songs after this? If not, that means my number one has missed out.

YES!!! I'm so fucking delighted to see 'Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before' this high. It's one of my all-time favourite Smiths tracks, another one that I never get bored of.

i love marr's post-chorus guitar line in this

xp Death At One's Elbow was stuck in my head last night, therefore it will win.

"Stop Me... " is the only Smiths song I bought as a single. Don't really like it, though. It's just a jumble, and kinda empty.

Are we expecting anymore Strangeways songs after this? If not, that means my number one has missed out.

i'll be kind of bummed/shocked if one more doesn't make it

I'm amazed that as many songs off that album placed as it is

I suspect that's it for songs from that album.

It's literally only in the last year that I've come to really love Stop Me.

Yeah the post-chorus section is sublime. I think it's a great song solely on the basis of the instrumental sections (the intro and outro!), though of course "only slightly less than I used to" is also one of my all-time favorite Moz lines

y'all really think "i started something" was exiled from the top 50?

hm maybe it was

oh I thought you were holding out for "Unhappy Birthday", Brad

i said no, and then i shot myself

I love the solo.

Catching up -- I was one of the #1 votes for Cemetry Gates, it's got everything I want from the Smiths in one place. Tuneful, sardonic, a little precious, shimmering guitars, nice vocal.

(I realize that describes a lot of Smiths songs, Cemetry Gates just hits those marks particularly well for me.)

"The pain was enough to make a shy, bald Buddhist reflect and plan a mass murder" is such a great line!

http://i.imgur.com/JBY6niP.jpg

9. THE BOY WITH THE THORN IN HIS SIDE (Single A-side)
980 points | 43 votes | 2 first place votes

sufficiently low

Not one of the highlights of TQID for me, but the strings and jangle work surprisingly well together with Morrissey's wordless cooing.

I love it, but it's no 'Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others'

y'all really think "i started something" was exiled from the top 50?

― HYPERLINK TO RAP GENIUS (BradNelson)

I'd be disappointed if this missed out but I was actually referring to I Won't Share You. As it hasn't been mentioned once on this whole thread, I've officially given up hope of it sneaking in.

Thinking about what people have posted about liking, and the other songs that have done well, I'd now be surprised if I Won't Share You doesn't place, as it does what it does extremely well.

Seems unlikely methinks. There's 8 really big ones yet to place.