Rename Viva Hate as Produced by The Smiths

[Morrissey Mailer]

In the "Its Not Solo, Its A Band" thread, boy_afraid_Liverpool noted that if The Smiths hadn't broken up, we'd never have gotten Viva Hate. That strikes me as true because I've read that Education in Reverse was renamed to Viva Hate as a reflection of Morrissey's bitterness at the break-up. Setting aside the working title of "Education in Reverse"...if you were to choose a song title from Viva Hate to be the name of the fifth Smiths' album, which song would you choose?

The choices are taken from the UK pressing.

Alsatian Cousin
Little Man, What Now
Everyday Is Like Sunday
Bengali in Platforms
Angel, Angel, Down We Go Together
Late Night, Maudlin Street
Suedehead
Break Up the Family
The Ordinary Boys
I Don't Mind If You Forget Me
Dial-A-Cliché
Margaret on the Guillotine

My choice is Suedehead, because as a terse, oblique, provocative title, it feels like the one Morrissey would have selected.

 

[Codreanu]

"Late Night, Maudlin Street", my favourite song on the album, is too generic to serve as an album title; ditto, most of the other tracks ("Everyday Is Like Sunday", "Suedehead", "I Don't Mind If You Forget Me"). "Dial-A-Cliché" would be ironically clever, and very much in the spirit of Mozzer. "Little Man, What Now?" has a certain "quirkiness" that is not without appeal. But I'm afraid that I will have to go with the rosewater "Angel, Angel, Down We Go Together".

 

[sid james]

Well, 'The Queen is Dead' was originally going to be called 'Margaret on the Guillotine', so it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that having been exhumed this old songtitle would finally get used as an album title. It would date it terribly now of course...

 

[boy_afraid_Liverpool]

I feel honoured that my little bit of a rant in the "its not Morrissey its a band" thread caused this poll.

Cheers Morrissey Mailer!

 

[Young And Alive]

"Late Night, Maudlin Street"

I think The Smiths would have been half-intending for VH to have been listened to late at night on a maudlin street. No? Well I'll shut up then.

 

[David]

I voted Breakup the Family - very appropriate.

 

[alainsane]

I like the self-deprecating touch of "The Ordinary Boys".

 

[Rushes]

Suedehead would have made a snappy title. There are votes right across the board on this poll, interesting.

 

[zom]

I think "Damn am I Glad I Convinced Johnny to Stay" would have been an acceptable title.

zom

 

[zither]

I think it'd have been great if they chose THE ORDINARY BOYS. it's so autoreferencial!

 

[Orson Swells]

Why would the next Smiths album be named after a Viva Hate tracK? Most of those songs.titles were written post-Smiths and influenced by the Smiths split. The known exceptions being "Bengali..." which he tried with Ivor Perry, although with different lyrics and "Margaret..." which was The Queen Is Dead's working title. And, Margaret On The Guillotine is the only one which has the same stylistic quality as the other Smiths titles.

 

[David]

I think it'd have been great if they chose THE ORDINARY BOYS. it's so autoreferencial!

True.