I was recently scouring the web for information on Morrissey and The Smiths - as i sometimes do from time to time. There was a poll on morrissey-solo.com that had already been archived, so I couldn't add my 2 cents to the discussion. The poll was something like "what is the saddest Smiths/Morrissey song"? You could only pick from a select few. Much to my surprise "Suffer Little Children" was NOT on the list of songs to chose. The song is about the Moors Murders - which happened in the sixties, not too far from Manchester. Several children were murdered and buried out on the moors. The line that gets me is "You might sleep BUT YOU WILL NEVER DREAM!"
from The Smiths, available on CD
24 Nov 03 ·executiveslacks: Great song. The laughing girl towards the end of the song gets me everytime. 24 Nov 03 ·MickeyPeas: Very powerful song indeed that provokes equally powerful emotions. The laughing girl is Annalisa Jablonska who also provides the "Oh really?" on "Pretty Girls Make Graves". 04 Dec 03 ·FlyingDutchman1971: This one is definitely the saddest Smiths song. I would vote the song 'Asleep' as a close second. One of the murderers, Myra Handley, died just one year ago in November 2002 and the other one, Ian Brady, was in court this past September for a sanity hearing. He wants the mental health tribunal to move him to an ordinary prison, where the authorities would be powerless to prevent him deliberately starving to death. He has been force-fed since 1999. I say let him starve! 30 Dec 03 ·daveshaw5: Its nice to see the power of the Smiths still at work. As a child of Manchester growing up in the eighties they had a profound effect on me. I rarely listen to them now but occasionally I dust off a 7" inch single and remember them fondly. There is a lot of humour in their songs as well so dont get too dark. Joy division were also massively influential and their music has survived a lot better.
This has been recorded by several others, including versions by both Dave Frishberg and Bob Dorough, the composers, but Blossom's version is the best! It swings!
fave part:
I dig! I'm in step.
When it was hip to be hep, I was hep.
I don't blow but I'm a fan.
Look at me swing. Ring a ding ding.
I even call my girlfriend "man," I'm so hip.
from Needlepoint Magic, Vol. 5 (Daffodil) available on CD - The Diva Series - Blossom Dearie (Verve)
11 Jun 04 ·mattias: yes, she's hip. There is a great version of this song on Blossoms album simply called 1975 (Daffodil, vol. II),, unfortunally not reissued on CD.
