What are the biggest songs by The Smiths?
31 October 2023, 20:42 | Updated: 9 May 2024, 11:44
As This Charming Man turns 40 years old this week, Radio X looks at the Manchester band's legacy... and their most popular songs.
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Ths Smiths only had a short lifespan - their first gig was in late 1982 and the folded as their final album, Strangeways Here We Come, was issued in the autumn of 1987. But within those five years, the Manchester band - Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce - made some impeccable music.
But which of The Smiths' studio tracks are the most popular in 2023? Forty years after their first singles were release, Radio X has looked at the data from Spotify and YouTube and come up with the definitive list...
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The Smiths - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
The Smiths - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
A tragi-comic tale of devoted love in which Morrissey sings like an angel and Marr’s arrangement brings tears to the eyes. Originally released as the penultimate track on the classic album The Queen Is Dead, and never issued as a single in the band's lifetime, this song is by far and away the most popular Smiths tune in 2023. It's had over 475 million streams on Spotify and over 79 million YouTube views.
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The Smiths - This Charming Man
The Smiths - This Charming Man (Official Music Video)
Hand In Glove may have been their debut single, but Johnny Marr’s pealing intro to The Smiths’ second single secured them immortality. The lyrics are an insight into Morrissey’s awkward-yet-humorous persona, while the powerhouse of Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce give the song indie dancefloor appeal.
Released on Marr's 20th birthday - 31st October 1983 - This Charming Man has had over 409 million Spotify streams and over 99 million YouTube views; in the UK the single has been certified double Platinum as of summer 2023.
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The Smiths - Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
The Smiths - Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now (Official Music Video)
The Smiths' fourth single was released on 21st May 1984, with a cover that featured football pools winner Viv Nicholson - another early Morrissey hero. Alongside Sheila Take A Bow, this track was the highest charting Smiths single during the band's lifetime, peaking at Number 10 and earning a Gold disc from the BPI.
A riff on Sandie Shaw's single Heaven Knows I'm Missing Him Now, the song has accumulated over 226 million streams on Spotify and over 62 million YouTube views.
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The Smiths - How Soon Is Now?
The Smiths - How Soon Is Now? (Official Music Video)
The ultimate Smiths song? Johnny Marr channels Bo Diddley as Morrissey depicts a pitiful night out at a horrible club - and millions ache in sympathy. “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.”
The track started life as a mere b-side - it appeared on the 12" of William It Was Really Nothing in August 1984, before being added to the compilation Hatful Of Hollow later that year, where it gained many admirers. How Soon Is Now was given a belated single release in January 1985, but by this point most Smiths fans already had the track and the song only made it to Number 24 in the UK charts.
In more recent years, the song has become a classic, having been streamed over 234 million times and viewed over 30 million times, while the single has been certified Platinum in the UK.
Read more: This is how Johnny Marr came up with the How Soon Is Now riff
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The Smiths - Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want
The Smiths - Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want (Official Audio)
One minute and fifty seconds of perfection. Morrissey says what we've always been secretly thinking, while Johnny plays the most beautiful chord progression known to man.
Originally appearing as the flip side of William It Was Really Nothing in August 1984, like its partner How Soon Is Now, Please Please Please was included on the Hatful Of Hollow compilation and again made a bit for fame on the 1987 American collection Louder Than Bombs.
In the digital age, this short but sweet track has amassed over 199 million Spotify streams and over 13 million views on YouTube.
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The Smiths - Bigmouth Strikes Again
The Smiths - Bigmouth Strikes Again (Official Audio)
It was seven months between the release of The Boy With The Thorn In His Side and its follow-up Bigmouth Strikes Again, so the latter had a "Smiths are back" feeling with its defiant opening riff. A preview of the band's then-forthcoming third album, The Queen Is Dead, the single only made it to Number 26 in the UK charts, but has sold enough copies to be certified Silver by the BPI.
In digital terms, the track has been streamed just under 180 million times and YouTube views top 16 million.
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The Smiths - This Night Has Opened My Eyes
The Smiths - This Night Has Opened My Eyes (Official Audio)
Recorded for a John Peel session for Radio 1 in September 1983, a studio version of this melancholic track was recorded the following year but remains unreleased (at least officially). Taking a line from Shelagh Delaney's play A Taste Of Honey ("The dream's gone, but the baby's real"), the song has gained popularity in recent years, totting up over 148 million Spotify streams and over 8 million YouTube views.
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The Smiths - Back To The Old House
The Smiths - Back To The Old House (Official Audio)
There are two official versions of Back To The Old House in circulation: a studio version with the full band and a beautiful acoustic take, recorded by Morrissey and Marr for John Peel in September 1983, which appears on Hatful Of Hollow. We've combined the stats for both versions, meaning the song has been streamed over 112 million times and gained over 5.2 million views.
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The Smiths - Asleep
The Smiths - Asleep (Official Video)
This tragic-yet-beautiful piano ballad first made an appearance as the b-side to The Boy With The Thorn In His Side in September 1985 and continues to affect fans to this day: it has had over 114 million streams on Spotify and over 7 million views on YouTube. The track has appeared on the compilations The World Won't Listen and Louder Than Bombs.
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The Smiths - I Know It's Over
The Smiths - I Know It's Over (Official Audio)
"Oh mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head." This epic ballad from the album The Queen Is Dead remains one of Morrissey's finest vocal performances. In the digital age, the song has had over 93 million Spotify streams and just under 10 million YouTube views.
