Has stayed a favorite song even when I stopped listening to The Smiths on a regular basis. It's beautiful.

more so then..
what makes most people feel happy
leads us headlong into harm -or
but me and 'my true' love will never met again...
no ,paint a vulgar pic is the1

At one time or other over the last 20 years I would have made a case for 9 of these 10 songs as being the best on the album...

I can't help but think, though, that if you were a fan of the Smiths before this album came out...when you first bought it, took it home and spun it...to hear a Smiths album begin with Morrissey's voice fading in with no music...that's a very confident opening track in that it's a Smiths album, where track 1's are crucial, and there's no guitar to be found on the song! Genius? Maybe...

'With the drive and the dream inside, this is my time..'

Simply magnificent.

I think "Stop me" is back at number one following some idiot providing us with a sad sorry cover...Origonal and best.

That said, "I won't" is near perfect as the last smiths song

Sheridan

Still original after 20 years! Their has never been a song before or after that has predicted the bands own end. This song is the only reason you would need to love this band. Morrissey at his best. Find another song as honest and original? One of my Top 5 Smiths songs of all time. Admit you played it in your bedroom wishing you could meet Morrissey backstage.

What i find most peculiar is people like Figueiredo Girl still come to this place to post comments against The Smiths and against Strangeways album.And they called themselves Moz fans!

OMG - has it been twenty years? Their last was definitely their best. Watch. Stop Me will overtake LNIDTSLM in no time.

1-paint a vuglar picture
2-stop me
3-rush and a push
4-last nite
5-death of a
6-unhappy b.d
7-i wont share u
8-girlfriend
9-i started something
10-death at one's

Stop Me is *THE* Smiths song, containing every element of what makes a Smiths song in perfect harmony...which is what makes that terrible cover hurt even more.

that said, it's not all weepy, so no doubt Last Night I Dreamt will come out on top 'cause yer all a bunch of sad sacks.

Over at the forums (see left) we're rating all officially released Morrissey/Smiths-songs on a scale of 1-10, alphabetically. We're 2/3 through now, and these are the ratings for Strangeways so far (voting will remain open till the end of the year:

A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours 8,96
I Started Something I Couldn't Finish 8,60
Death Of A Disco Dancer 7,93
Girlfriend In A Coma 8,92
Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me 9,42
Unhappy Birthday
Paint A Vulgar Picture 8,93
Death At One's Elbow 6,41
I Won't Share You 8,94

the death of a disco dancer, well it happens a lot around here..... how good were the smiths ehh, the best.

So, I won't vote. I cannot not. There are too many good songs. That album is the one I prefer.

Death of a Disco Dancer...But they're all good songs.

On of my poll ideas made it at last! Actually, this is the second one picked. Anyway, 'I won't Share You' says it all for me. It is a great song on a great album.... and it still sounds like it was recorded yesterday!
thetexasbloke

Very epic, apocalyptic form of expressing lack of love. Or is it lyric? Well, why not all of the above. It is Moz in heaven singing about hell. Or the other way around? Doesn't matter. It would make a greeeat song for this tour... Pavarotti would sure have liked to have participated in this one.

I'm puzzled to see Unhappy Birthday doing so badly in the poll. Admittedly, I didn't vote for it myself (Girlfriend In A Coma is unsurpassable), but I would have thought that it would eclipse the likes of I Started Something and Paint A Vulgar Picture, two of the weakest songs in the Smiths canon.

Paint a Vulgar Picture

So tell me how long before the right one.

The most heartbreaking song ever written and one of The Smiths finest, it's right up there with their very best. It is sublime.

Completely underrated..close to my fave Smiths song..great intro on Strangeways (rush/push should be played more often live) and then a genius close

Love it. The lyrics, the music, even the strange little video with all of the fans riding around on bikes.

LNIDTSLM is epic, beautiful and everything that makes one love the Smiths more than anything. But SM is still one of my most favourite :)

I still remember having the wind knocked out of me the first time I heard the lyrics...

"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...""

Still gets me every time.

Perhaps the most controversial song on the album and very memorable. It's a great song that brings very familiar and sometimes dangerous attitudes and feelings together. One of my favorite lines has always been, "There's too much caffeine in your bloodstream, and a lack of real spice in your life..."

The only song on the record that I really don't care for is Death at One's Elbow. Stop Me is the most rocking track on the record and it is brilliant, but second runner up I would have to say is Death of A Disco Dancer. I will never grow tired of Death of A Disco Dancer.

My favourite "Strangeways"-songs are "A rush and a push & the land is ours", "I started something I couldnīt finish" & "Death at oneīs elbow".

The latter always puts me in a good mood when I hear it, especially the first few lines of the lyrics & thereīs a lot of energy in the music.
The first one has a great sound to it & the caffeine-bloodstream-lack-of-real-spice-lyrics are something I can well identify with, the words "SURPRISED to still be on my own" are incredible & the part about the people who are weaker than you & I but take what they want from life sounds so true & to me itīs encouraging: I can do it too, so! :-)
As to "I started something...", I love it for itīs humour, for the brushed & parted hair, the way Morrissey once again takes the piss out of himself & also for the way he sings...the slightly disharmonic sound of his voice does it for me every time I hear the song!

I couldnīt make my mind up which song to vote for so I did a scientific experiment (& a very sophisticated one indeed - if slightly compulsive though): I put my cd-player on repeat & tested how many times I could listen to each of those songs in one go before I felt that I would have to go out & run amok. Hereīs the result, thereīs a surprisingly clear winner:

1. I started something... (41 times!)
2. A rush & a push... (26 times)
3. Death at oneīs elbow (14 times)

After this marathon I probably wonīt feel like listening to Strangeways at all for a while...oh, the sacrifices we bring for the benefit of science! ;-)

Iīm surprised "I wonīt share you" is doing so well...I always skip it & I also canīt get anything out of "Paint a vulgar picture". But tastes are different & thatīs the interesting thing about this poll. :-)

Sorry for taking so long to state my opinion...I started & then I just couldnīt finish - typical me! Must be the influence... ;-)

Even after 20 years, this line in Unhappy Birthday still jabs and moves my heart. I used to listen to this song on the album (yes, Vinyl ALBUM!!) over and over and over again. If I was feeling REALLY sorry for myself, I'd simply move the needle to the very end to hear....

"FRROOOOOOOMMMMMM the one you left you behind. From the one you left behind. From the one you left behind. From the one you left behind...Behind. Behind. Behind....."

Yes, those were the days!