Memorable Quotes - The Smiths

1984

1. Reel Around the Fountain
"Fifteen minutes with you, well, I wouldn't say no.. Oh, people said that you were virtually dead, and they were so wrong"
"Oh, people said that you were easily led and they were half-right"
"Oh, people see no worth in you, oh, but I do."
"I dreamt about you last night and I fell out of bed twice.. You can pin and mount me like a butterfly but 'take me to the haven of your bed' was something that you never said"

2. You've Got Everything Now
"I've seen you smile but I've never really heard you laugh"

3. Miserable Lie
"There's something against us, it's not time, it's not time, so, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye"
"I know I need hardly say how much I love your casual way"
"The dark nights are drawing in and your humour is as black as them. I look at yours, you laugh at mine and 'love' is just a miserable lie. You have destroyed my flower-like life: not once - twice. You have corrupt my innocent mind: not once - twice"
"Nobody ever looks at me twice"

4. Pretty Girls Make Graves
"I'm not the man you think I am"
"Give in to lust, give up to lust, oh heaven knows we'll soon be dust"
"I could have been wild and I could have been free but Nature played this trick on me"
"She wants it now snd she will not wait, but she's too rough and I'm too delicate"

5. The Hand That Rocks The Cradle
"And when darknesss lifts and the room is bright I'll still be by your side for you are all that matters and I'll love you to till the day I die"

6. This Charming Man
"I would go out tonight but I haven't got a stitch to wear. This man said 'it's gruesome that someone so handsome should care'"
"He knows so much about these things"

7. Still Ill
"Does the body rule the mind or does the mind rule the body? I dunno..."
"Under the iron bridge we kissed and, although I ended up with sore lips, it just wasn't like the old days anymore"

8. Hand In Glove
"No, it's not like any other love. This one is different - because it's us"
"Hand in glove, we can go wherever we please and everything depends upon how near you stand to me"
"And if the people stare, then the people stare. Oh, I really don't know and I really don't care"
"We've something they'll never have"
"If they dare touch a hair on your head I'll fight to the last breath"
"But I know my luck too well... Yes, I know my luck too well and I'll probably never see you again"

9. What Difference Does It Make
"All men have secrets and here is mine, so let it be known: For we have been through hell and high tide I think I can rely on you and yet you start to recoil heavy words are so lightly thrown... But still I'd leap in front of a flying bullet for you"
"I stole and I lied, and why? Because you asked me to!"
"I'm feeling very sick and ill today but I'm still fond of you"

10. I Don't Owe You Anything
"You should never go to them, let them come to you just like I do"
"Life is never kind but I know what will make you smile tonight"

11. Suffer Little Children
"Oh, wherever he has gone, I have gone"
"We may be dead and we may be gone but we will be, we will be, we will be, right by your side until the day you die, this is no easy ride. We will haunt you when you laugh, yes, you could say we're a team. You might sleep, you might sleep, you might sleep, but you will never dream"

1984

1. William, It Was Really Nothing
"I don't dream about anyone - except myself"

2. What Difference Does It Make
The Smiths - The Smiths; n. 9

3. These Things Take Time
"Oh, the alcoholic afternoons, when we sat in your room, they meant more to me than any, than any living thing on earth. They had more worth than any living thing on earth"

4. This Charming Man
The Smiths - The Smiths; n. 6

5. How Soon Is Now
"You shut your mouth, how can you say I go about things the wrong way? I am a human and I need to be loved just like everybody else does"
"There's a club, if you'd like to go. You could meet somebody who really loves you.. So you go, and you stand on your own and you leave on your own and you go home, and you cry and you want to die"
"When you say it's gonna happen 'now', well, when exactly do you mean? See, I've already waited too long and all my hope is gone"

6. Handsome Devil
"You ask me the time but I sense something more and I would like to give what I think you're asking for, you handsome devil"
"There's more to life than books, you know... But not much more"

7. Hand In Glove
The Smiths - The Smiths; n. 8

8. Still Ill
The Smiths - The Smiths; n. 7

9. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
"I was looking for a job, and then I found a job and heaven knows I'm miserable now"
"In my life, why do I give valuable time to people who don't care if I live or die?"
"What she asked of me at the end of the day, Caligula would have blushed"
"In my life, why do I smile at people who I'd much rather kick in the eye?"

10. This Night Has Opened My Eyes
"Save your life because you've only got one"

11. You've Got Everything Now
The Smiths - The Smiths; n. 2

12. Accept Yourself
"Anything is hard to find when you will not open your eyes. When will you accept yourself?"

13. Girl Afraid
"Girl afraid, where do his intentions lay? Or does he even have any? She says: 'He never really looks at me, I give him every opportunity.. In the room downstairs, he sat and stared, in the room downstairs, de sat and stared.. I'll never make that mistake again!' Boy afraid, Prudence never pays and everything she wants costs money... 'But she doesn't even like me! And I know because she said so... In the room downstairs, she sat and stared, in the room downstairs, she sat and stared... I'll never make that mistake again!'"

14. Back To The Old House
"When you cycled by, here began all my dreams: the saddest thing I've ever seen. And you never knew how much I really liked you because I never even told you.. Oh, and I meant to"

15. Reel Around The Fountain
The Smiths - The Smiths; n. 1

16. Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want
"Good times for a change.. See, the luck I've had can make a good man turn bad.. So please, please, please, let me, let me, let me, let me get what I want this time. Haven't had a dream in a long time... See, the life I've had can make a good man bad. So for once in my life let me get what I want... Lord knows, it would be the first time"

1985

1. The Headmaster Ritual
"I wanna go home, I don't wanna stay... Give up education as a bad mistake"

2. Rusholme Ruffians
"She is Famous, she is funny.. An engagement ring doesn't mean a thing to a mind consumed by brass"
"I might walk home alone but my faith in love is still devout"
"So ... scratch my name on your arm with a fountain pen (this means you really love me)"

3. I Want The One I Can't Have
"On the day that your mentality decides to try to catch up with your biology, come round... 'Cause I want the one I can't have and it's driving me mad"
"He killed a policeman when he was thirteen and somehow that really impressed me and it's written all over my face"
"And if you ever need self-validation, just meet me in the alley by the Railway station.. It's all over my face"

4. What She Said
"How come someone hasn't noticed that I'm dead and decided to bury me? God knows, I'm ready!"
"I smoke 'cos I'm hoping for an early death and I need to cling to something."

5. That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
"I just might die with a smile on my face, after all"
"I've seen this happen in other people's lives and now it's happening in mine"

6. How Soon Is Now
The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow; n. 5

7. Nowhere Fast
"I think about life and I think about death and neither one particularly appeals to me"

8. Well I Wonder
"Well, I wonder, do you hear me when you sleep? (...) Well, I wonder, do you see me when we pass?"
"Please keep me in mind"

9. Barbarism Begins At Home
"A crack on the head is just what you get. Why? Because of who you are! A crack on the head because of those things you said, things you said, the things you did"

10. Meat Is Murder
"This beautiful creature must die"
"Who hears when animals cries?"

1986

1. The Queen Is Dead
"Oh has the world changed, or have I changed?"
"We can go for a walk where it's quiet and dry and talk about precious things, like love and law and poverty.. Oh, these are the things that kill me"
"Life is very long, when you're lonely"

2. Frankly, Mr. Shankly
"I want to leave, you will not miss me. I want to go down in musical history"
"I want to live and I want to Love, I want to catch something that I might be ashamed of"

3. I Know It's Over
"She needs you more than she loves you"
"If you're so funny, then why are you on your own tonight? And if you're so clever, then why are you on your own tonight? If you're so very entertaining, then why are you on your own tonight? If you're so very good-looking, why do you sleep alone tonight? I know... 'Cause tonight is just like any other night, that's why you're on your own tonight. With your triumphs and your charms, while they're in each other's arms..."
"It's so easy to laugh, it's so easy to hate... It takes guts to be gentle and kind"
"Love is natural and real but not for such as you and I, my love"

4. Never Had No One Ever
"I had a really bad dream, it lasted 20 years, 7 months, and 27 days... I never, I'm alone, and I never, ever oh... had no one ever"

5. Cemetry Gates
"With loves, and hates and passions just like mine, they were born and then they lived and then they died. It seems so unfair I want to cry"
"weird lover Wilde is on mine"

6. Bigmouth Strikes Again
"Sweetness, sweetness I was only joking when I said I'd like to smash every tooth in your head"
"Now I know how Joan of Arc felt"
"I've got no right to take my place with the human race"

7. The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
"How can they look into my eyes and still they don't believe me? How can they hear me say those words and still they don't believe me? And, if they don't believe me now, will they ever believe me?"
"How can they see the love in our eyes and still they don't believe us? And, after all this time, they don't want to believe us. And, if they don't believe us now, will they ever believe us? And when you want to live, how do you start? Where do you go? Who do you need to know?"

8. Vicar In A Tutu
"He's not strange, he just wants to live his life this way"

9. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
"Take me out tonight, where there's music and there's people and they're young and alive. Driving in your car, I never never want to go home, because I haven't got one anymore
Take me out tonight, cecause I want to see people and I want to see life... Driving in your car, oh, please don't drop me home, cecause it's not my home, it's their home, and I'm welcome no more.
And, if a double-decker bus crashes into us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die. And, if a ten-ton truck kills the both of us, to die by your side.. Well, the pleasure - the privilege is mine
Take me out tonight, take me anywhere, I don't care
I don't care, I don't care. And in the darkened underpass I thought 'Oh God, my chance has come at last', but then a strange fear gripped me and I just couldn't ask."
"Oh, There Is A Light And It Never Goes Out"

10. Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
"Some girls are bigger than others"
"Send me the pillow, the one that you dream on, and I'll send you mine"

1987

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

2. Ask
"Shyness is nice, and shyness can stop you from doing all the things in life you'd like to. So, if there's something you'd like to try, if there's something you'd like to try, ask me, I won't say no... How could I?
Coyness is nice, and coyness can stop you from saying all the things in life you'd like to.."
"Because if it's not love. then it's the bomb that will bring us together"
"Nature is a language - can't you read?"

3. London
"You left your tired family grieving and you think they're sad because you're leaving... But did you see jealousy in the eyes of the ones who had to stay behind?"

4. Bigmouth Strikes Again
The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead; n. 6

5. Shakespeare's Sister
"Throw your skinny body down, son!"
"Throw your white body down!"
"But I'm going to meet the one I love, so please don't stand in my way"
"But I'm going to meet the one I love, at last"

6. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead; n. 9

7. Shoplifters Of The World Unite
"Learn to love me, assemble the ways.. Now, today, tomorrow and always"
"I was bored before I even began"

8. The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead; n. 7

9. Money Changes Everything
Instrumental

10. Asleep
Sing me to sleep, I don't want to wake up on my own anymore"

11. Unloveable
I know I'm unloveable, you don't have to tell me. Oh, message received, loud and clear, loud and clear. I don't have much in my life but take it - it's yours"
"I wear Black on the outside 'cause Black is how I feel on the inside. And if I seem a little strange.. Well, that's because I am. But I know that you would like me if only you could see me, if only you could meet me"

12. Half A Person
"Call me morbid, call me pale, I've spent six years on your trail.. Six long years on your trail. Call me morbid, call me pale, I've spent six years on your trail, six full years of my life on your trail..
And if you have five seconds to spare then I'll tell you the story of my life: Sixteen, clumsy and shy, I went to London and I, I booked myself in at the Y.W.C.A.
I said: 'I like it here - can I stay? I like it here - can I stay? Do you have a vacancy For a cack-scrubber?'
She was left behind, and sour and she wrote to me, equally dour. She said : 'In the days when you were hopelessly poor, I just liked you more...'"

13. Stretch Out And Wait
"All the lies that you make up, what's at the back of your mind? Oh, your face I can see and it's desperately kind... But what's at the back of your mind?"
"God, how sex implores you to let yourself lose yourself"

14. That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
The Smiths - Meat Is Murder; n. 5

15. Oscillate Wildly
Instrumental

16. You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby
"You must suffer and cry for a longer time, you just haven't earned it yet, baby"
"When all I wanted from life was to be famous. I have tried for so long, it's all gone wrong"
"You must stay on your own for slightly longer.. You just haven't earned it yet baby"

17. Rubber Ring
"A sad fact widely known, the most impassionate song to a lonely soul is so easily outgrown. But don't forget the songs that made you smile and the songs that made you cry when you lay in awe on the bedroom floor and said: 'Oh, oh, smother me Mother'"
"The passing of time and all of its crimes is making me sad again. The passing of time and all of its sickening crimes is making me sad again. But don't forget the songs that made you cry and the songs that saved your life.. Yes, you're older now and you're a clever swine. But they were the only ones who ever stood by you"
"The passing of time leaves empty lives, waiting to be filled.. I'm here with the cause, I'm holding the torch in the corner of your room, can you hear me? And when you're dancing and laughing and finally living hear my voice in your head and think of me kindly"
"Do you love me like you used to?"
"You're clever, everybody's clever nowadays. You are sleeping, you do not want to believe"

18. Golden Lights
"Golden lights displaying your name, golden lights it's a terrible shame. But oh my darling, why did you change? Boy in a million, idol, a big star. I didn't tell you how great you were."
"Who do you turn to when you're backstage? Don't you remember you once knew a girl you loved her more than the world?"

1987

1. Is It Really So Strange
I left the North, I travelled South, I found a tiny house and I can't help the way I feel. Oh yes, you can kick me and you can punch me and you can break my face.. But you won't change the way I feel, 'cause I love you"
"Oh, is it really so, really so strange? I say no, you say yes (and you will change your mind)"
"I left the South, I travelled North, I got confused - I killed a horse. I can't help the way I feel. Oh yes, you can punch me and you can butt me and you can break my spine but you won't change the way I feel 'cause I love you"
"Why is the last mile the hardest mile? My throat was dry, with the sun in my eyes And I realised, I realised I could never, I could never, never, never, go back home again"

2. Sheila Take a Bow
"Is it wrong to want to live on your own? No, it's not wrong - but I must know: how can someone so young
Sing words so sad?"
"Come out and find the one that you love and who loves you"
"Is it wrong not to always be glad? No, it's not wrong - but I must add: How can someone so young sing words so sad?"
"Throw your homework onto the fire, come out and find the one that you love"

3. Shoplifters Of The World Unite
The Smiths - The World Won't Listen; n. 7

4. Sweet And Tender Hooligan
"He was a sweet and tender hooligan, hooligan. And he said that he'd never, never do it again. And of course he won't (oh, not until the next time)"
"Will you free me? Will you find me?"

5. Half A Person
The Smiths - The World Won't Listen; n. 12

6. London
The Smiths - The World Won't Listen; n.3

7. Panic
The Smiths - The World Won't Listen; n. 1

8. Girl Afraid
The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow; n. 13

9. Shakespeares Sister
The Smiths - The World Won't Listen; n. 5

10. William, It Was Really Nothing
The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow; n. 1

11. You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby
The Smiths - The World Won't Listen; n. 16

12. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow; n. 9

13. Ask
The Smiths - The World Won't Listen; n. 2

14. Golden Lights
The Smiths - The World Won't Listen; n. 18

15. Oscillate Wildly
The Smiths - The World Won't Listen; n. 15

16. These Things Take Time
"My eyes have seen the glory of the sacred wunderkind: you took me behind a dis-used railway line and said 'I know a place where we can go where we are not known' and you gave me something that I won't forget too soon"
"You know where you came from, you know where you're going and you know where you belong. You said I was ill, and you were not wrong but I can't believe you'd ever care and this is why you will never care... These things take time. I know that I'm the most inept that ever stepped"
"Oh, the alcoholic afternoons, when we sat in your room, they meant more to me than any, than any living thing on earth. They had more worth than any living thing on earth"

17. Rubber Ring
The Smiths - The World Won't Listen; n. 17

18. Back To The Old House
"When you cycled by, here began all my dreams. The saddest thing I've ever seen. And you never knew how much I really liked you because I never even told you.. Oh, and I meant to"19. Hand In Glove
The Smiths - The Smiths; n. 8

20. Stretch Out And Wait
The Smiths - The World Won't Listen; n. 13

21. Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want
The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow; n. 16

22. This Night Has Opened My Eyes
The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow; n. 10

23. Unlovable
The Smiths - The World Won't Listen; n. 11

24. Asleep
The Smiths - The World Won't Listen; n. 10

1987

1. A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours
"There's too much caffeine in your bloodstream and a lack of real spice in your life"
"Don't mention love"
"And people who are uglier than you and I, they take what they need, and just leave"

2. I Started Something I Couldn't Finish
"Typical me: I started something and now I'm not too sure"

3. Death Of A Disco Dancer
"Love, peace and harmony? Oh, very nice... But maybe in the next world"

4. Girlfriend In A Coma
"There were times when I could have strangled her. But you know, I would hate anything to happen to her."
"Let me whisper my last goodbyes"

5. Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One
"Nothing's changed, I still love you, oh, I still love you. Only slightly, only slightly less than I used to, my love"
"So I drank one, it became four. And when I fell on the floor I drank more"

6. Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me
"Last night I dreamt that somebody loved me. No hope, no harm, just another false alarm. Last night I felt real arms around me. No hope, no harm, just another false alarm. So, tell me how long before the last one? And tell me how long before the right one? The story is old - I know - but it goes on"

7. Unhappy Birthday
"I've come to wish you an unhappy birthday, 'cause you're evil and you lie. And if you should die, I may feel slightly sad but I won't cry.."
"From the one you left behind."

8. Paint A Vulgar Picture
"I touched you at the soundcheck, you had no real way of knowing in my heart I begged 'Take me with you I don't care where you're going'"
"They cannot hurt you, my darling. They cannot touch you now. But me and my 'true love' will never meet again"

9. Death At One's Elbow
"Oh, Glenn, don't come to the house tonight because you'll slip on the trail of all my sad remains, that's why, that's why. Goodbye my love."

10. I Won't Share You
"I want the freedom and I want the guile. Oh, life tends to come and go, as long as you know I won't share you, no. I won't share you. I'll see you somewhere, I'll see you sometime, darling"

1988

1. The Queen Is Dead
The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead; n. 1

2. Panic
The Smiths - The World Won't Listen; n. 1

3. Vicar In A Tutu
The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead; n. 4

4. Ask
The Smiths - The World Won't Listen; n. 2

5. Rusholme Ruffians
"She is famous, she is funny. An engagement ring doesn't mean a thing to a mind consumed by brass, money. And though I walk home alone... I might walk home alone but my faith in love is still devout"
"And someone falls in love and someone's beaten up and the senses being dulled are mine"
"So, scratch my name on your arm with a fountain pen (This means you really love me)"

6. The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead; n. 7

7. What She Said
The Smiths - Meat Is Murder; n. 4

8. Is It Really So Strange?
The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs; n. 1

9. Cemetry Gates
The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead; n. 5

10. London
The Smiths - The World Won't Listen; n. 3

11. I Know Its Over
The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead; n. 3

12. The Draize Train
Instrumental

13. Still Ill
The Smiths - The Smiths; n. 7

14. Bigmouth Strikes Again
The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead; n. 6