# What's your favorite song off of the Smiths' Louder Than Bombs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 4, 2010, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-song-off-of-the-smiths-louder-than-bombs/555997 "2010-10-04T13:59:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-song-off-of-the-smiths-louder-than-bombs/555997/1 "2010-10-04T13:59:26Z")
I decided to go with this odds ‘n’ sods collection, rather than **Hatful of Hollow** simply because I prefer this one. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-song-off-of-the-smiths-louder-than-bombs/555997/2 "2010-10-04T14:43:25Z")
After some consideration, I went with “These Things Take Time”, if for no other reason than this: > [@](#): > > Oh, the alcoholic afternoons > When we sat in your room > They meant more to me > Than any, than any living thing on earth > They had more worth > Than any living thing on earth ---
**Author:** ![monkeylucifer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@monkeylucifer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monkeylucifer)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-song-off-of-the-smiths-louder-than-bombs/555997/3 "2010-10-04T14:47:57Z")
I prefer “The Queen Is Dead”…so much more. One of my favorite 80’s albums. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-song-off-of-the-smiths-louder-than-bombs/555997/4 "2010-10-04T15:09:29Z")
Considering that every single song is great (although I’ve never been a fan of “Hand in Glove”), this was a tough one. I went with “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”, just because it was a recent earworm. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-song-off-of-the-smiths-louder-than-bombs/555997/5 "2010-10-04T15:53:53Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Considering that every single song is great Agreed. There were _many_ songs I could’ve chosen instead of what I picked. > [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I went with “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”, just because it was a recent earworm. And it nearly ended up being the song I voted for. ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-song-off-of-the-smiths-louder-than-bombs/555997/6 "2010-10-04T19:00:55Z")
This is, oddly, one of my favorite Smiths collections. So many great songs, so many different styles. I had a poster of the cover art hanging in my room for all four years of college. I love just about every song on here, but voted for “Panic,” just because it’s so much fun as a sing-along. My runner-up would be “Sweet and Tender Hooligan.” ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-song-off-of-the-smiths-louder-than-bombs/555997/7 "2010-10-05T01:20:09Z")
Decided to go with “Half A Person,” mainly because of this line: > [@](#): > > “Sixteen, clumsy and shy: that’s the story of my life.” I’m 38 years old now, and that line still gets me. Has any songwriter other than Morrissey captured adolescent angst so perfectly? My second choice was “Panic,” but you can’t really go wrong with any of these songs. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-song-off-of-the-smiths-louder-than-bombs/555997/8 "2010-10-05T16:52:42Z")
I chose “Ask” but it was a tough choice since this collection has so many of my favorite Smiths’ tunes. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-song-off-of-the-smiths-louder-than-bombs/555997/9 "2010-10-05T17:50:14Z")
I went with “Sweet and Tender Hooligan”, but it was a tough choice. “Ask” is a VERY close second. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-song-off-of-the-smiths-louder-than-bombs/555997/10 "2010-10-05T18:24:52Z")
This is a very difficult pick. I went for _Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want_ because it is just lovely. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-song-off-of-the-smiths-louder-than-bombs/555997/11 "2010-10-05T19:37:25Z")
This was really hard, but I went with “Asleep” because it’s one of the most depressing songs I’ve ever heard, and they had balls to close their album on that lowest of low notes. ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-song-off-of-the-smiths-louder-than-bombs/555997/12 "2010-10-05T19:40:26Z")
Like e’ryone else, I had a tough time choosing one. Ended up selecting **Shoplifters of the World Unite** , which if I remember correctly is the song that got me into the Smiths. It felt bad to pass up on **Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want** ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-song-off-of-the-smiths-louder-than-bombs/555997/13 "2010-10-05T19:42:41Z")
“I was looking for a job and then I found a job and heaven knows I’m miserable now” Brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-song-off-of-the-smiths-louder-than-bombs/555997/14 "2010-10-05T20:13:11Z")
> [@Gotterfunken](#): > > Decided to go with “Half A Person,” mainly because of this line: > > > [@](#): > > > > “Sixteen, clumsy and shy: that’s the story of my life.” > > I’m 38 years old now, and that line still gets me. Has any songwriter other than Morrissey captured adolescent angst so perfectly? That’s what I chose, too, for similar reasons. It’s odd, as I never was a particularly angsty teen. Still, Morrissey’s characterizations in that song, along with the music, have always made this one of my Smiths favorites. It was a very difficult choice, though, as I love so many songs on this album. “Panic” and “Ask” are very close also-rans, especially with “Panic”'s iconic “Hang the deejay” outro chorus. And I just love “Ask”'s pre-chorus: “Spending warm summer days indoors, writing frightening verse to a buck-toothed girl in Luxembourg.” The Smiths were the first (and one of the few) band whose lyrics I actually pay attention to. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-song-off-of-the-smiths-louder-than-bombs/555997/15 "2010-10-06T02:45:39Z")
This was my first Smiths album and there isn’t a bad song on it. (Well, “Golden Lights” ain’t great.) Every other song has been my favorite at one time or another. Right now it’s “Rubber Ring.” It’s a perfect distillation of what the Smiths meant to me growing up.