The Moz/Smiths Top 100, Part 199: THESE THINGS TAKE TIME

How do you rate These Things Take Time?


  • Total voters
    123

Houdini

Junior Member
Let's compile our own Morrissey/Smiths Top 100 by rating all 232 Moz/Smiths-songs.

Song for Today: THESE THINGS TAKE TIME

Voting should be something along these lines:
10: Perfection
9: Near perfect, brilliant
8: Really good Moz/Smiths song
7: Good Moz/Smiths song
6: OK, Nothing special
5: Uninspired
4: Poor
3: Bad
2: Should never have been released
1: He/They should be ashamed

Vote with your hearts...

The songs so far (voting is still open, click to vote):

Part 198: There's A Place In Hell For Me And My Friends
Part 197: There Speaks A True Friend
Part 196: There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
Part 195: The Youngest Was The Most Loved
Part 194: The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores
Part 193: The Teachers Are Afraid Of The Pupils
Part 192: The Queen Is Dead
Part 191: The Public Image
Part 190: The Ordinary Boys
Part 189: The Operation
Part 188: The Never Played Symphonies
Part 187: The National Front Disco
Part 186: The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get
Part 185: The Loop
Part 184: The Lazy Sunbathers
Part 183: The Last Of The Famous International Playboys
Part 182: The Headmaster Ritual
Part 181: The Harsh Truth Of The Camera Eye
Part 180: The Hand That Rocks The Cradle
Part 179: The Father Who Must Be Killed
Part 178: The Edges Are No Longer Parallel
Part 177: The Draize Train
Part 176: The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
Part 175: The Boy Racer
Part 174: That's Entertainment
Part 173: That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
Part 172: Teenage Dad On His Estate
Part 171: Sweetie Pie
Part 170: Sweet And Tender Hooligan
Part 169: Sunny
Part 168: Suffer Little Children
Part 167: Suedehead
Part 166: Such A Little Thing Makes Such A Big Difference
Part 165: Stretch Out And Wait
Part 164: Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
Part 163: Still Ill
Part 162: Spring-Heeled Jim
Part 161: Speedway
Part 160: Southpaw
Part 159: Sorrow Will Come In The End
Part 158: Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
Part 157: Slum Mums
Part 156: Skin Storm
Part 155: Sister, I'm A Poet
Part 154: Sing Your Life
Part 153: Shoplifters Of The World Unite
Part 152: Sheila Take A Bow
Part 151: Shakespeare's Sister
Part 150: Seasick Yet Still Docked
Part 149: Satan Rejected My Soul
Part 148: Rusholme Ruffians
Part 147: Rubber Ring
Part 146: Roy's Keen
Part 145: Reel Around The Fountain
Part 144: Redondo Beach
Part 143: Reader Meet Author
Part 142: Pretty Girls Make Graves
Part 141: Pregnant For The Last Time
Part 140: Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want
Part 139: Piccadilly Palare
Part 138: Pashernate Love
Part 137: Papa Jack
Part 136: Panic
Part 135: Paint A Vulgar Picture
Part 134: Our Frank
Part 133: Ouija Board, Ouija Board
Part 132: Oscillate Wildly
Part 131: On The Streets I Ran
Part 130: Oh Well, I'll Never Learn
Part 129: Nowhere Fast
Part 128: Now My Heart Is Full
Part 127: Now I Am A Was
Part 126: November Spawned A Monster
Part 125: Noise Is The Best Revenge
Part 124: Nobody Loves Us
Part 123: No One Can Hold A Candle To You
Part 122: Never Had No One Ever
Part 121: My Love Life
Part 120: My Life Is A Succession Of People Saying Goodbye
Part 119: Mute Witness
Part 118: Munich Air Disaster 1958
Part 117: Moonriver
Part 116: Money Changes Everything
Part 115: Miserable Lie
Part 114: Michael's Bones
Part 113: Mexico
Part 112: Meat Is Murder
Part 111: Margaret On The Guillotine
Part 110: Maladjusted
Part 109: Lucky Lisp
Part 108: Lost
Part 107: London
Part 106: Little Man, What Now?
Part 105: Lifeguard Sleeping, Girl Drowning
Part 104: Life Is A Pigsty
Part 103: Let the Right One Slip In
Part 102: Let Me Kiss You
Part 101: Late Night, Maudlin Street
Part 100: Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me
Part 99: King Leer
Part 98: Journalists Who Lie
Part 97: Jeane
Part 96: Jack The Ripper
Part 95: It's Hard To Walk Tall When You're Small
Part 94: Is It Really So Strange?
Part 93: Irish Blood, English Heart
Part 92: Interlude
Part 91: Interesting Drug
Part 90: In The Future When All's Well
Part 89: If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look At Me
Part 88: I've Changed My Plea To Guilty
Part 87: (I'm) The End Of The Family Line
Part 86: I'm Not Sorry
Part 85: I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now
Part 84: I'd Love To
Part 83: I Won't Share You
Part 82: I Will See You In Far Off Places
Part 81: I Want The One I Can't Have
Part 80: I Started Something I Couldn't Finish
Part 79: I Like You
Part 78: I Know Very Well How I Got My Name
Part 77: I Know It's Over
Part 76: I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday
Part 75: I Knew I Was Next
Part 74: I Keep Mine Hidden
Part 73: I Just Want To See The Boy Happy
Part 72: I Have Forgiven Jesus
Part 71: I Don't Owe You Anything
Part 70: I Don't Mind If You Forget Me
Part 69: I Can Have Both
Part 68: I Am Two People
Part 67: I Am Hated For Loving
Part 66: Human Being
Part 65: How Soon Is Now?
Part 64: How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?
Part 63: Hold On To Your Friends
Part 62: Heir Apparent
Part 61: Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
Part 60: He Knows I'd Love To See Him
Part 59: He Cried
Part 58: Have-A-Go Merchant
Part 57: Handsome Devil
Part 56: Hand In Glove
Part 55: Half A Person
Part 54: Hairdresser On Fire
Part 53: Good Looking Man About Town
Part 52: Golden Lights
Part 51: Glamorous Glue
Part 50: Girlfriend In A Coma
Part 49: Girl Least Likely To
Part 48: Girl Afraid
Part 47: Get Off The Stage
Part 46: Ganglord
Part 45: Friday Mourning
Part 44: Frankly Mr Shankly
Part 43: Found Found Found
Part 42: First Of The Gang To Die
Part 41: Everyday Is Like Sunday (follow this link for first 40 songs).
 
Utterly brilliant. Excellent lyrics, upbeat melody, simply wonderful.

My eyes have seen the glory, of the sacred wonderkind
You took me behind, a disused 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


And "The most inept that ever stepped"?! :D 9
 
Utterly brilliant. Excellent lyrics, upbeat melody, simply wonderful.

My eyes have seen the glory, of the sacred wonderkind
You took me behind, a disused 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


And "The most inept that ever stepped"?! :D 9

I agree, but gave it a 10. I can see how some may think its a little bland or simplistic but I think its a great example of an early smiths song.
 
"Oh the alcoholic afternoons
when we sat in your room
it meant more to me than any living thing on earth"

I love this song, it was testimony to the strength of their early material. A song this great was a b-side! One day, I really hope Moz and Marr reunite to recreate genius like this. It just has to be a 10.

"Vivid and in your prime, you will leave me behind."
 
I was just listening to this song today and thinking about how perfect these lyrics are. I mean, how many amazing lines can one song have?

I know that I'm the most inept that ever stepped...
The hills are alive with celibate cries...
You said I was ill and you were not wrong...
Oh, the alcoholic afternoons when we sat in your room...
Vivid and in your prime, you will leave me behind...

Absolute genius from the first line to the last. THIS is the Morrissey that I fell in love with, and this is the Morrissey that I miss. There was a time when you felt like he lovingly hand-crafted each line of the song, and then blended them together to create a work of perfection. Even if he stole half of the lines from other sources, there was still such care taken in blending the stolen lines in with his own handiwork. You just knew that these were the words of someone at his peak of concentration, someone determined to shake up pop music with intelligence, literacy and realism, someone determined to make his mark on the world. I just wish he still took such care in his craft instead of apparently just blathering any old boring thing that comes to mind like he does in songs like "I Just Want To See The Boy Happy" and "The Youngest Was The Most Loved". I miss the young lion! <sob>

However, as brilliant as these lyrics are, I don't think that Johnny's music is quite up to the challenge. The vocal melody isn't especially strong either, so I gave it an 8.
 
I just wish he still took such care in his craft instead of apparently just blathering any old boring thing that comes to mind like he does in songs like "I Just Want To See The Boy Happy" and "The Youngest Was The Most Loved". I miss the young lion! <sob>

I sometimes wonder how many of the Smiths and early Moz-solo b-sides, had they been released as singles last year, would have been hailed as the best to come from the Ringleader era.
 
"Oh the alcoholic afternoons
when we sat in your room
it meant more to me than any living thing on earth"

I love this song, it was testimony to the strength of their early material. A song this great was a b-side! One day, I really hope Moz and Marr reunite to recreate genius like this. It just has to be a 10.

"Vivid and in your prime, you will leave me behind."

Same bits I was going to quote. 10 from me.
 
I'm very fond of this song. The music is crisp and concise - even if Morrissey wasn't on form with his lyrics it would still probably be a 7 or 8.

But I agree with Comtesse - the lyrics are delightful. A good example of that Larkinesque thing Moz does in a lot especially in early Smiths stuff, mixing urban decay with love gone awry.

I think I like the studio version best rather than the Hatful one, actually. It's a bit tidier, more polished; although maybe a bit less atmospheric.

It's a 9 for me, would make my top-15 Smiths tracks.
 
Lyrically brilliant, spoke to me unlike any other Smiths song when I was 16...

"I know that I'm the most inept that every stepped" - what a rhyme!

"But I can't believe that you'd ever care
And this is why you will never care"
 
I remember when I was first getting into the Smiths, I was reading the lyrics to this song and thinking "holy crap, that's some good stuff."

oh, the alcoholic afternoons,
when we sat in your room,
they meant more to me than any,
any living thing on earth....


*sigh* loves it.

its not quite perfect, but close. 9.
 
I sometimes wonder how many of the Smiths and early Moz-solo b-sides, had they been released as singles last year, would have been hailed as the best to come from the Ringleader era.

Well you need wonder no longer! The joy of this poll thing is that we can now compare old songs with new. The fact that we vote in alphabetical order means we are forced to be objective about the whole thing.
The sad truth is that not a single song from the Ringleader sessions has, or will, score over 9.0 out of 10 and hardly any will even get 8 (except Pigsty and Ganglords).
There are tons of Smiths and early solo songs (virtually all the Marr and Bona Drag singles) that get over 9 but the ROTT songs are (objectively) nowhere near this quality.
We can only hope Moz can turn things around with his new batch of material..
 
a 9

also one of me favourite songs [not singles] from the early Smiths day.
Difference with other songs concerning the music, is that I find this one
very good, and no need to remaster.
One minor point, which I brought up at other songs allready, the song
is, very upbeat, lots of lyrics, and Morrissey has problems to stay
on key and to keep along with the lyrics at the same time
Now I mentioned them, the lyrics, it's one of the finest He penned in
his first year being a Smith, though lots of lines are borowed
My nick comes from this song, which is borowed from the musical/film
'The Sound of Music' ...the hills are alive with celibate cries/the sound of music

great song, I love Mike Joyce's drumming in this song
 
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8/10...... Really like this one. Takes me back.......
 
obviously closely linked with Still Ill, this has to be a ten, even though i think a few years later, morrissey would have sung it completely different and possibly different.. anyway, it´s like a raw diamond the way it is and i love it!
 
Solid 9! One of my favorite Smiths songs. The music isn't as inspired as the lyrics though, which is why I didn't give it a 10. The writing from start to finish is simply amazing though and is a perfect example of what I love about Moz's early work.
I am a die-hard Morrissey fan and as such, I guess I'm kind of biased towards appreciating practically anything he puts out to some extent or other. But I wonder where Moz's career would be today if he continued to craft songs lyrics such as this rather than "and the tiny children tell you that you smell. Well..." :rolleyes:
 
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