This is an excellent poll - I have gone for "William" because for me it encompasses all I loved about The Smiths - The music is joyous, the lyrics hilarious and sad at once and the sight of Morrissey on Top of The Pops with "Marry Me" etched in lipstick on his chest was and remains one of the best TV appearances of any band - EVER! All of these singles are amazing but William just edges it for me. Panic does make an excellent ringtone though!

Panic! The Opener. Overwhelming.

Ahh..now you're talking! I voted for Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now, but any of these are far superior to the Morrissey 45s we voted on recently.

This poll is incomplete.
Should also include...

This Charming Man (not on original Smiths LP, only cassette and CD reissue)

How Soon Is Now (only on US version of Meat Is Murder, NEVER on a proper studio LP)

bah! bet an American set this poll...

So I've gone for Sheila Take A Bow as it was the first Smiths single I bought - and is also the only one not on Hatful or World won't Listen.

to put some much emotion (both musically and lyrically) into 2 minutes and 11 seconds....it will never be done again. Morrissey solo has never or will he ever achieve this level of perfection. I dare anyone to go out and listen to it and tell me that all 4 members of the Smiths weren't crucial.

Back in the 80s, I was in this horrible night club in my humdrum town and the dance floor was full of people shaking their bits to the horrible hits, and then the DJ played a Smiths song - the dance floor emptied so quick, it was like a game of musical chairs, and I lost. The song was Sheila Take a Bow, so it gets my vote.

One of my all time favorite songs from any band is 'Shoplifters'. Just a great classic song.
thetexasbloke

William It Was Really Nothing, closely followed by Shoplifters and Panic.

I agree with the previous poster that This Charming Man and How Soon is Now should have been included in this poll, as we all know that 'The Smiths' is 10 songs long and 'Meat is Murder' nine, although some of our cd's might tell us otherwise...

My vote goes for "Shoplifters."

This song is amazing live-!

The best part is this lyric-

"I tried living in the real world/ Instead of a shell/ But before I began/ I was bored before I even began"

Classic.

Also

"A heartless hand on my shoulder/ A push and it's over/ Alabaster crashes down/ Six months is a long time"

With love,
Ken S.

This was the hardest poll ever... It's maybe my 7 absolute favourite songs... And I have to chose 1! Only 1! Gotto be Panic, this year..

Great song and great performance on The Tube.

Great memories of following Peter Powell (80's Radio One DJ Fat head) round streets of Reading chanting the chorus at him.

favorite shirt worn on a live
bonus b side or favorite glasses
this 1s a crashing bore
markmustb1

They are all brilliant. But this was the first song I've ever heard from 'The Smiths'!
It's still one of my Top5 'Smiths' songs!

Panic? The only Smiths song I can barely listen to anymore. It's the most overexposed Smiths track. The production is flat. In contrast, Ask's instrumentation is layered. Much more listenable. Plus, Ask is one of the few Smiths songs I knew before I knew who the Smiths were.

Shakespeare's Sister is a close second.

Hang the DJ
Hang the DJ
Hang the DJ
Hang the DJ
Hang the DJ
Hang the DJ

Not only is it the best song in this poll, but one of the best ever Smiths singles!

Shakespeare's Sister - it does everything a pop song should - its about sex and suicide (the ultimate pop song themes), its hilarious, its rockabilly rifftastic, changes speed in the middle, it actually explains the faddish and genre-led nature of all pop music, and it achieves all of this in 2 minutes and 9 seconds.
This makes it not only the best Smiths single, but the best pop single by anyone.

The Morrissey Showband do slaughter it when they play it live, though.

'Do You Really Want to Hurt Me' followed closely by 'Karma Chameleon'.

Yes,I want! You idiot!

No discussion.

Mac Hazzer you are so right!!!

Heaven Knows, Shakespeare's Sister, Ask and Panic are ALL amongst my all-time favourites. I only went for Ask cos I knew it wouldn't win... :)

if you voted if this youre such a newbie...

i choose William, It Was Really Nothing. The lyrics and music blends amazingly.

It was really nothing until i saw their TOTP videoclip, never better!! i dare to say, this is one of the greatest videoclip ever made with a tv programme show as a main setting. (the lipstick in Moz chest with 'Marry Me' is so so "provocative", am i rite) :D

PS: but the bad thing is, TOTP must R.I.P in a bad ratings, what a clumsy destiny

Ask
William, It Was Really Nothing
Sheila Take A Bow
Panic
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
Shoplifters Of The World Unite
Shakespeare's Sister

They're all great songs. Sheila, Ask and Shakespeare stand out as the best songs to play on an acoustic guitar.

I know lots of Smiths' fan seem to have it in for Ask but I got hooked up on it first time round. i love its guitar work, its retro-feel and its simple catchiness. The live version on 'Rank' is particularly impressive. I've known the song for the best part of 15 yrs now (old, arent i) but to this date I still occasionally find myself humming it.

Claude, Brum UK

has to be headmadte ritual!
ok ask it is...
wonder what julia would say?

that set beats anything of the last 4 Moz's LPs... :s

It's difficult to choose the best of these singles, but easy to choose the worst. Shakespeare's Sister is awful in every way.
It's the one song that almost makes me embarrassed to be a Smiths fan. It's that bad!

i vote for shakespeare's sister... One of the best smiths'song especially for the beatiful and very sad lyrics.
I love so much panic after this last tour of moz.
Goodbay and compliments for this beautiful site
by sybil from Italy

William.... is without the doubt the PERFECT pop song. It has everything that most bands today can only strive for.

In belief, "William" is The Smiths most influencal song ever (music and style wise), it's perfect in every sence of pop music. "How Soon Is Now?" may be most famous but for those with musical career dreams this is probably the song they have as their largest inspiration. And you've got to love the bitter cynical lyrics ("it was your life"). The music is so uplifting, it's like it's like flying on clouds(this expression got nothing to do with that it's a friday night :P, I kind of feel that way about it).

this song is my favourite record of all time, it's lyrics are in my opinion the finest ever written together with a great tune, this song alone set morrissey out as the finest songwriter ever, time will prove this correct, love you morrissey

only because it was the first smiths 7" single i bought . of course its not the best one here but it was , along with a copy of meat is murder taped for me by Sarah Bowyers my introduction to the smiths . I remember seeing the oxford road show performance on tv and being surprised by how meaty the sound was. i went out the next day and bought hatful of hollow on the gatefold vinyl from the chemists ( Chemists !!) for £4.99 and being totally blown away by the quality . and i have remained entranced for over 20 years. if i was not being nostalgic i would probably go for panic cos it is a great pop song and was the first time morrisseys worrying fascination with childrens choirs came to light ( only jokin).

I adore Shoplifters live, both The Smiths' version and Moz solo. But I've never really been big on the studio version. I don't think it rocks the way it does live. It just gets lost in the mix.

Then again, I don't think William worked live the way the studio version did.

So live - it's Shoplifters
Studio - William.

heaven knows i'm miserable now. it was a tear between This and "lover, you should have come over" and "going inside"....and relevant of the smiths catalog Is the song "shoplifters of the world unite" because of it's anti-war sentiment plus the involvement of impassioned lyrics that involve the motion to take things that don't belong to the liars. and really it's destroying our world. commerce is short for people and mercy, it has no way of contracting 'human evil".

brings back memories of me buying the 12" when it came out at Sam the Record Man in Montreal.....taking a 2 hour bus ride to get there....another 2 hours back...and , once the needle dropped, feeling happiness which, even today, comes in second only after the birth of my son. The Smiths man !!! The fucking Smiths !!! God bless all four of 'em. Let me preempt those of you who might tell me to get a life or to live in the present by saying...I don't care. I lived it...I saw it...and it's part of me...and I can honestly say that it was a turning point in my life.

Leave The Smiths alone - enjoy the legacy & music - But for Christsake MOVE on! The Smiths happened nearly 20 years ago - after which Morrissey has been a solo artist ever since. I love both Morrissey with the Smiths and solo - but never compare the two. What would be the point? I enjoy every record as it comes.
I feel very sad for people who live in the past; I've had conversations with them and I had to pinch myself to stay awake. The Smiths were great but...that's it. They will not come back. Ever. I personally love everything that Morrissey has to offer and always will.
ZZZZZzzZZzzzZ.