Well, without a doubt:

ASLEEP.

This song is absolutely perfect.
The combinatin of the music, the melody,
the lyrics and Morrissey's sublime voice
have made this song my all time favourite
song for many years.

I am never tired of listening to it, especially
with headphones on.

There is a better world, well...there must be !!

Long live The Smiths and Morrissey

Love
Lorimoz x x x

William, It was Really Nothing - has a better song ever been written?

I've seen Moz on a couple of occasions- my home town of Paisley a few years ago on the You Are The Quarry tour and down in Manchester last December playing the Ringleader album - best experience of my life.

Moz played William... in Manchester, beginning with the delightful comment "Now I'm going to play this f...f...f...f...funny little song"

Is there a finer piece of music which describes the mediocrity of British life while remaining so beautifuly upbeat?

How Soon Is Now and Back To The Old House are probably better songs but for the best memories of life as a mid 1980's student This Charming Man has to be my vote.

How Soon Is Now...? Or no! There's a Light that never goes Out. That's thé song!

would have to be There Is A Light That Never Goes Out..

Obviously Smiths best song is aclaimed "There is no light..." , but songs such as Cimetery Gates, Girl Afraid, Frankly Mr. Shnkly, Bigmouth Strikes again, Some girls are bigger.. and many many others are also excelente awesome songs

Girl Afraid - B Side (available on Hatful Of Hollow) - Johnny's incredible picking speed - 5 or 6 different chords in the first 10 seconds - a lyric that includes "Girl Afraid, Prudence never pays and everything she wants costs money" - a fabulous tune, all packed into little more than 2 minutes. It is perfect.

Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others (from The Queen Is Dead) - the bit near the end when Mike Joyce goes from hi-hat to splash cymballs behind that wonderful guitar melody never fails to raise the neck hairs. I don't think Mr. Marr was all that chuffed with Morrissey's lyrics to that though.

Oscillate Wildly - B side - sounds like a theme from a spy thriller from the 60's - still gets regular plays as tv introductory/ background music.

I wasn't alive at the time of The Smiths, but was born after they split up. I actually heard There Is A Light That Never Goes Out on XFM radio when i was about 15, and fell in love with it straight away. That's when I started researching The Smiths and Morrisey and frankly all the band members, and questioned myself on where I was all this time? After that i made it a prime target to set about buying all The Smiths albums and also Morrissey's.

The Smiths have given me what no other band could give, confidence and understanding. I went to see Morrissey in Wembley Arena, and it was so surreal, like a dream coming true after wanting it to for so long. Morrissey was how I imagined him to be but more than I could have ever imagined him to be like. All The Smiths's songs are so cleverly and wittily written. Morrissey and Marr are the best duo since Lennon and Paul, in my opinion, and their music sends shivers down my spine.

I am just so grateful of the fact that they wrote such beautiful and poignant music. To me, The Smiths were one of the greatest bands of the 1980s, and I think of all time. Let's just hope they decide to get back together for a reunion eh?

"There is a light that never goes out" is in my opinion the best song of the smiths and one of the most beautiful songs i have ever heard. It's the lyric and the melody everything is perfect. Absolutly brilant.

The band themselves hit it on the nose. It has to be "How Soon Is Now?"

My favourite Smiths song is There Is a Light That Never Goes Out from The Queen Is Dead.Makes you wanna crash while driving the car with your flame for a very romantic death!Not ever since Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet doomed romance has a paean to an undying love captured in popular music such as this anthem!

Elmer "The Dent" M. Lanuzo
Albay,Philippines

"Burn down the disco,
hang the blessed DJ
because the music that they constantly play
it says nothing to me about my life"

What Difference Does it Make - full of youthful swagger and the pick of the early singles.

I remember buying the 12" import of "William It Was Really Nothing" just to get the b-side which was "How Soon Is Now". 20+ years later it is still my all-time favorite Smiths song.
Honorable mentions: "The Queen Is Dead", "What She Said", "I Want The One I Can't Have", and "Bigmouth Strikes Again".

The 1st Smiths song I heard, I still get the same sensation when I Here it now. No band has ever touched the people in the same way. The Smiths were the band of the Eighties.

Still Ill remains my favourite after all these years - though i've always liked the line about "A tattooed boy from Birkenhead" in 'What She Said"...obviously inspred by trips to see his cousins in Wallasey!

Solely do to the fact that it contains the lyric that will be etched on my gravestone...

"And when youre dancing and laughing
And finally living
Hear my voice in your head
And think of me kindly"

'Girlfriend In A Coma' – short but entirely sweet paen to unconsciousness.

Must be Reel Around the Fountain, but still, Boy w/ the Thorn in His Side, There Is A Light, and esp. Stretch Out and Wait and Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want for being perfect, perfect, perfect.
Cemetry Gates for making me smile each time I hear it.

I could listen to only Smiths music for the rest of my life, day in and out, and never, ever tire of them.

Every line on this lo-fi masterpiece is pure poetry and paints a picture of hope and despair that would become a trademark of their future work. The opening line "The low-life has lost its appeal" perfectly sums up the Smith's desire to shake their humble, working class backgrounds.

It has to be "I know its over". How many people has this song helped through a break up. This song was like a close friend through my adolescence. Brilliant lyrics, sad and honest yet uplifting at the same time.

OK, How soon is know, There is a light..., I know it's over are great songs if there are. But I have a special (if not guilty) fondness for this almost hidden song, so moving with its über-romantic lyrics underlined by the mandolin (balalaïka ?) solo.

i am fortunate to seen the smiths in their prime in the queen is dead tour in the states i was only 17 yrs old. ive also seen morrissey in 91 in the kill uncle tour in california. these are my fave songs from them this charming man, i wont share you, back to the old house,death of a disco dancer,pretty girls make graves and rush and push and the land is ours.

I couldn't possibly pick just one "best" Smiths song. But a song that I've always loved that didn't seem to get much traction with anyone else I knew was "Unhappy Birthday." Just a fantastically dark, wistful song, that grinds out a perfect jangle-angst progression toward the end.

Where did I put that dusty old copy of "Strangeways..." anyway?

-G

I think it's hard to vote for a 'favourite' or 'best' Smiths song.
I think as fans, we vote for songs that have meant the most to us in a therapeutic or cathartic sense, as opposed to critical decision about we 'think' is the 'best' song. Our choices are therefore personal and subjective as opposed to critical and objective. What we mean by our favourite song is what song have we most related to, or what song has helped us through a difficult time or what song is most tinged with nostalgia.

For me that song is Frankly, Mr Shankly. It expresses perfectly that sense of frustration we all get at work. That feeling that there has to be more to life, that we've got more to give and that there's more to see, experience and express. It's also about having a shitty boss who writes bad poetry on the side and it's very funny to boot.

"Hand in Glove, the sun shines out of our behinds".

Just one choice, thats a tough one. This Charming Man, How Soon Is Now, Ask...the list goes on. But the all time best has to be There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, just for sheer poetic beauty.

Some brilliant tunes mentioned, ‘Still Ill’ ‘There’s A light’ ‘Some Girls’ but have you ever put your head between the speakers and listened to a good copy of ‘Wonderful Woman’ you’ll find a fairly good copy on ‘The Cradle Snatchers’ bootleg, but a better copy is to be had if you want. c0pper@hotmail.com , it’s a melancholic masterpiece.

“But when she call’s me , I do not walk I run”

Johnny get your head out of your p00p sh00t and start dwelling on the past, it’s what the public want to hear.

Copper.

My vote for bvest Smiths is There Is a Light That Never Goes Out. Best song ever. I'm so glad that Morrissey is playing Smiths songs live. I thought I'd never hear that one live, was so amazing. They have so many great songs, and I listen to thier music almost weekly. How Soon is Now, Last night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me, These Things Take Time, Ask, Cemetry Gates, What Difference Does it Make and so many others are the soundtrack to my life. I can't describe why I love the Smiths so much I just do. There will never be another band like them ever.

That song got me laid, and I'm confident it will do again.

Fantastic Song!
Haunting Melody and Haunting Lyrics and his voice in this song is heartbreaking!

Of course there are countless others but this song has to be the one I can relate to the most!

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!

Possibly Johnny Marr's biggest debt to George Harrison, The Headmaster's Ritual litls and cascades around a beautifully exuberant riff as Morrisey's brutally vicious word riffs denounce the headmaster's whip to the back gym time rule. With Andy Rourke's Chic like bassline and Mike Joyce's four to the floor grounding the song becomes a legendary openening track for the band's first real classic of an album, setting the stage for The Queen herself with the epic The Queen is Dead. This band never wrote one duff track, only one duff cover. The bar has still yet to be risen any higher.

My introduction to The Smiths was through hearing, "How Soon Is Now?", over the airwaves in Los Angeles. I never knew who it was until I was High School. That song makes me feel dizzy with pleasure and it still stands out as my favorite track.

I also love The Queen Is Dead. The opening is stellar and the combination of ringing guitars, urgent drumming, and Morrissey's voice, kills me every time.

"Oh, has the world changed, or have I changed ?"

I can only say I wish I was born 20 years ealier. Unfortunately the year I was born the greatest band Britain has ever produce disappeared. The lyrics of 'Where is the Light that never goes out?' really inspired me at a time of my life where I needed to put things in prospective. Full credit to a band who can keep influencing gernerations and forever will long live as ledgends within music as a whole.

What difference does it make everytime !!!

best Smith's songs...or at least the ones i'm listening most at the moment is 'william, it was really nothing' and 'is it really so strange?'

I was never a big fan of The Smiths or Morrissey really. I knew the main ones 'The boy with the thorn in his side', 'Panic' etc but recently got into them a bit more and 'william' and 'strange' are definitely the two standouts.

In particular i think Mozz's delivery in these is the main reason for them sticking out. But i would also say that the whole package (lyrics, Marr's guitar, Mozz's delivery) is second to none on both of these!

If i had to say one- William, is was really nothing!

Steve
Aberdeen

just listened to it and it's got to be 'There is a light and it never goes out'!

Steve
Aberdeen

It's hard to pick your favourite as they change over times and with your moods. I have been through 'What difference does it make' to 'I know it's Over' but I think I'm settled with 'Last time I dreamt somebody loved me'.

They are pure magic. The greatest lyricist with the gretest guitarist - there have never been anything like them before or since. Truly the worlds greates band EVER in my opinion

So true even today - 20 years after...

The Panic is still there and the music still says nothing to me about my life...

To hard!! Obviouse favorite would be 'There is a Light That Never Goes Out' But absolutly love 'Stop me if you think youve heard this one before'
Just makes me smile on the inside and outside!
life ambition - see him live asap!

'The passing of times, and all of it's sickening crimes, is making me sad again'...

How can this not be the epitome of the Smiths and what they mean to their fans? 'The songs that saved your life' If you've ever been a Smiths fan the thought that 'nobody knows how I feel or can put what I feel into words better than Morrissey' will have crossed your mind. If you are a Smiths fan, they wrote the songs that saved your life...

Many options, but for me - The Queen is Dead. Very different for them, ground breaking use of MC5/guitars,Marr at his finest..still completely relevant today... royal - charles ref, as well as drugs ref..pure perfection!.

this is a great personal favorite together with "some girls are bigger". I've known the song for more than 20 years, but it has not seized to absorbe me everytime I hear it. The melody is quite simple but it's built up beautyfully as ever with Marr, and the steady and tigh groove by Joyce and Rourke gives the airy and mellow feel a solid backdrop. To me the tune and the lyrics combined express a sad longing for a lost friend or lover and a pleading not to be forgotten. The way Morrisey sings "Please keep me in mind" is never sentimental, banal or ironic. He sings the whole song with a sincerity that's truly heartful. It's perhaps the most painfully romantic song The Smiths ever did. More than any band they dared to deal with so many different human conditions in their songwriting, and they did so with wit, bravery, grace and style.

The Smiths are like an addiction to me. I pity the fact that, in the Netherlands, I rarely meet someone who has heard about them. There is a light that never goes out is just beautiful. I saw Morrissey a couple of weeks ago at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam and it made my year...

THERE IS A LIGHT THAT NEVER GOES OUT. A beautifully depressing song.

I remember that fateful mixed tape at age 14. three perfect Smiths tunes: Please Please Please, How Soon Is Now? and Handsome Devil - the latter to me the most accessible of the three, though not necessarily the more tuneful...

along comes 16, my friends and i spending weekend nights sleeping over and listening to our favourite albums on the hifi; and one day, after exhausting The Smiths records catalogue, a friend brings home some bootleg or other - Cradle Snatchers perhaps - and with it the oft forgotten Wonderful Woman.

is it my all time favourite? well, how can you really choose?
but backed up with Suffer Little Children and This Night has Opened My Eyes and you've got the perfect soundtrack for teenage misery

Ask Me - because it blended in with just the right time, and has such a subtle romance to it, just like Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress".
That, and "Reel Around the Fountain" on Mondays...

"There Is a Light And It Never Goes Out" is lovely and haunting. I've listened to it more times than any other song in the world and I'll never grow tired of the sound. I drove 1000 miles to see Morrissey perform a few years back and I think I'd do the drive again tomorrow.

The Smiths, or infact Morrisey has this repuation of being this miserable, self pitied man when infact he is hilarious.
The song 'Girlfriend In A Coma' is a perfect example of his humour and wit. The line "Girlfriend in a coma, i know, i know, it's serious" isn't funny like a joke, yet it makes you laugh. The band isn't flowering anything up, it's conversational, and i think that's why they appealed to so many people.
So there you are, Girlfriend in a Coma!

Morrisey or Oscar Wilde? My choice: Arthur Kane

I would probably have to go with "There is a Light...", but it is very difficult to make one choice. My wife and daughter think I'm crazy, but The Smiths are my all-time favorite band.

"Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before" - This song kills! The energy and guitar crescendo in it is simply amazing. This is a great and inspirational rock tune.

When are the Smiths gonna re-unite?!?!

Mike in O.C., CA.

This song, to me, has an amazing power to evoke a range of emotions. There's a bittersweetness that comes through when you ponder the relationship in the song...Having such a connection with someone that you don't care if you die next to them-knowing actually, that you'd rather, and at the same time finding humour in the sentiment. Complicating it further is the idea that while you find some happiness you must struggle with thinking that this relationship is all you have...All and all it's a beautiful song, and the one I want to dance to at my wedding...