The English rock band the Smiths recorded 74 songs during their five-year career, which included 70 originals and 4 covers. Of their originals, three are instrumentals written solely by Marr, while the other 67 are credited to the songwriting team of Morrissey/Marr.

The band was formed in Manchester in 1982 and signed a one-off recording contract with independent record label Rough Trade Records, releasing their debut single, "Hand in Glove" in May 1983. The single found success in the UK, earning the group a full contract. Their follow-up singles, "This Charming Man" and "What Difference Does It Make?" fared better on the UK charts and helped increase the band's popularity. The next year saw the release of their self-titled debut album, several non-album singles, and Hatful of Hollow, a collection of B-sides, live recordings, and numerous non-album singles. The band's popularity increased with Meat Is Murder (1985), their only UK number one studio album, and The Queen Is Dead (1986), which reached number two on the UK charts and peaked in the US Top 100. Several non-album singles after Hatful of Hollow saw release on the compilations The World Won't Listen and Louder Than Bombs in early 1987. Despite their chart success, tensions began growing in the band, mainly between Marr and Morrissey and the band's label; the band announced their break-up shortly before the release of their final album, Strangeways, Here We Come. The live album Rank followed in 1988.

The majority of the Smiths' songs were written by the songwriting partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr. Throughout their career, their songs differed from the predominant synth-pop British sound of the early 1980s, instead fusing together 1960s rock and post-punk. In their early years, the band purposely rejected synthesisers and dance music, until Meat Is Murder, which contained keyboards as well as rockabilly and funk influences. The Queen Is Dead was notable for featuring harder-rocking songs with witty, satirical lyrics of British social mores, intellectualism and class. Throughout their career, Morrissey drew attention during interviews and live performances for his provocative statements, such as criticising the Thatcher administration and being pro-vegetarian, as shown in the title track of Meat Is Murder. The Smiths often addressed controversial topics in their lyrics, including homosexuality ("Hand in Glove") and the Moors murders ("Suffer Little Children"), as well as burning "the disco" and hanging "the DJ" ("Panic"). Since their breakup, the Smiths have been considered one of the most influential bands of the 1980s, with Ian Youngs of BBC News describing them as "the band that inspired deeper devotion than any British group since the Beatles."

Songs ABCDFGHIJLMNOPQRSTUVWY +KeySong released as a singleSong not written by Johnny Marr and MorrisseySong originally released as a B-side

+Name of song, writer(s), original release, and year of releaseSongWriter(s)Original releaseYear "Accept Yourself" Johnny MarrMorrissey Hatful of Hollow(B-side to "This Charming Man") 1984 "Ask" Johnny MarrMorrissey (Non-album single) 1986 "Asleep" Johnny MarrMorrissey (B-side to "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side") 1985 "Back to the Old House" Johnny MarrMorrissey Hatful of Hollow(B-side to "What Difference Does It Make?") 1984 "Barbarism Begins at Home" Johnny MarrMorrissey Meat Is Murder 1985 "Bigmouth Strikes Again" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1986 "" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1986 "Cemetry Gates" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1986 "Death at One's Elbow" Johnny MarrMorrissey Strangeways, Here We Come 1987 "Death of a Disco Dancer" Johnny MarrMorrissey Strangeways, Here We Come 1987 "" Johnny Marr 1986 "Frankly, Mr. Shankly" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1986 "Girl Afraid" Johnny MarrMorrissey Hatful of Hollow(B-side to "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now") 1984 "Girlfriend in a Coma" Johnny MarrMorrissey Strangeways, Here We Come 1987 "Golden Lights" Twinkle Louder Than Bombs(B-side to "Ask") 1987 "Half a Person" Johnny MarrMorrissey (B-side to "Shoplifters of the World Unite") 1987 "Hand in Glove" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1983 "" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1984 "Handsome Devil" Johnny MarrMorrissey Hatful of Hollow(B-side to "Hand in Glove") 1984 "" Johnny MarrMorrissey Meat Is Murder 1985 "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" Johnny MarrMorrissey Hatful of Hollow(Non-album single) 1984 "" (live)Doc PomusMort Shuman Rank 1988 "How Soon Is Now?" Johnny MarrMorrissey Hatful of Hollow(B-side to "William, It Was Really Nothing") 1984 "I Don't Owe You Anything" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1984 "I Keep Mine Hidden" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1987 "I Know It's Over" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1986 "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish" Johnny MarrMorrissey Strangeways, Here We Come 1987 "I Want the One I Can't Have" Johnny MarrMorrissey Meat Is Murder 1985 "I Won't Share You" Johnny MarrMorrissey Strangeways, Here We Come 1987 "Is It Really So Strange?" Johnny MarrMorrissey Louder Than Bombs(B-side to "Sheila Take a Bow") 1987 "Jeane" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1983 "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me" Johnny MarrMorrissey Strangeways, Here We Come 1987 "London" Johnny MarrMorrissey (B-side to "Shoplifters of the World Unite") 1987 "Meat Is Murder" Johnny MarrMorrissey Meat Is Murder 1985 "Miserable Lie" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1984 "Money Changes Everything" Johnny Marr (B-side to "Bigmouth Strikes Again") 1986 "Never Had No One Ever" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1986 "Nowhere Fast" Johnny MarrMorrissey Meat Is Murder 1985 "Oscillate Wildly" Johnny Marr (B-side to "How Soon Is Now?") 1985 "Paint a Vulgar Picture" Johnny MarrMorrissey Strangeways, Here We Come 1987 "Panic" Johnny MarrMorrissey (Non-album single) 1986 "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" Johnny MarrMorrissey Hatful of Hollow(B-side to "William, It Was Really Nothing") 1984 "Pretty Girls Make Graves" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1984 "" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1986 "Reel Around the Fountain" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1984 "Rubber Ring" Johnny MarrMorrissey (B-side to "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side") 1985 "" Johnny MarrMorrissey Strangeways, Here We Come 1987 "Rusholme Ruffians" Johnny MarrMorrissey Meat Is Murder 1985 "Shakespeare's Sister" Johnny MarrMorrissey (Non-album single) 1985 "Sheila Take a Bow" Johnny MarrMorrissey Louder Than Bombs(Non-album single) 1987 "Shoplifters of the World Unite" Johnny MarrMorrissey (Non-album single) 1986 "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1986 "Still Ill" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1984 "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" Johnny MarrMorrissey Strangeways, Here We Come 1987 "Stretch Out and Wait" Johnny MarrMorrissey (B-side to "Shakespeare's Sister") 1985 "Suffer Little Children" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1984 "Sweet and Tender Hooligan" Johnny MarrMorrissey Louder Than Bombs(B-side to "Sheila Take a Bow") 1987 "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" Johnny MarrMorrissey Meat Is Murder 1985 "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1986 "These Things Take Time" Johnny MarrMorrissey Hatful of Hollow(B-side to "What Difference Does It Make?") 1984 "This Charming Man" Johnny MarrMorrissey Hatful of Hollow(Non-album single) 1983 "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" Johnny MarrMorrissey Hatful of Hollow 1984 "Unhappy Birthday" Johnny MarrMorrissey Strangeways, Here We Come 1987 "Unloveable" Johnny MarrMorrissey (B-side to "Bigmouth Strikes Again") 1987 "Vicar in a Tutu" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1986 "Well I Wonder" Johnny MarrMorrissey Meat Is Murder(B-side to "How Soon Is Now?") 1985 "What Difference Does It Make?" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1984 "What She Said" Johnny MarrMorrissey Meat Is Murder 1985 "What's the World" (live) James 1987 "William, It Was Really Nothing" Johnny MarrMorrissey Hatful of Hollow(Non-album single) 1984 "Wonderful Woman" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1983 "Work is a Four Letter Word" Guy WoolfendenDon Black 1987 "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1987 "You've Got Everything Now" Johnny MarrMorrissey 1984

Notes

References

External links The Smiths BMI Repertoire The Smiths ASCAP Repertoire