The 5 Best Solo Songs by Morrissey

Steven Patrick Morrissey self-consciously adopted Oscar Wilde’s aestheticism, James Dean’s working-class glamour, and David Bowie’s reinvention, and led one of music’s most important and influential indie rock bands.

The Smiths’ foundation lay in the songwriting partnership of Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr. Beginning in 1983 with their debut single “Hand in Glove,” the band changed British music before splitting up at the height of their career in 1987.

While Marr continued collaborating with The Pretenders, Bryan Ferry, and Talking Heads, Morrissey was left to prove he could continue without Marr’s jangly instrumentals. Always loveably insufferable, Morrissey began his solo career as brilliant and contrarian as ever.

Below, you’ll find the five best solo songs from Manchester, England’s fussiest poet. Viva Moz!

“Billy Budd” from Vauxhall and I (1994)

Herman Melville’s novella follows a young sailor who inadvertently commits mutiny. Though the ship’s captain knows the act wasn’t premeditated, Budd must nonetheless be hanged as the law requires. On “Billy Budd,” Morrissey sings he’d happily trade his legs for Budd’s freedom over driving wah-wah guitars and anxious drumming.

Vauxhall and I became Morrissey’s second solo album to reach No. 1 in the UK, following Viva Hate. Where Viva Hate sounds like an extension of The Smiths’ grandiose farewell Strangeways, Here We Come, Vauxhall and I is Morrissey’s solo peak—an album of high drama, dry wit, and dark humor.

Things have been bad
Yeah, but now it’s twelve years on
Now it’s twelve years on
Yes, and I took up with you

“The Last of the Famous International Playboys” from Bona Drag (1990)

Co-written with The Smiths producer Stephen Street, the track is Morrissey’s third post-Smiths single. Morrissey explores how tabloids glamorize violent criminals, but he also joked with NME that the international playboys are “David Bowie, Marc Bolan, Howard Devoto, and me.”

The recording is Morrissey’s first solo single to feature his former bandmates in The Smiths (minus Johnny Marr). “The Last of the Famous International Playboys” appeared on Morrissey’s compilation album Bona Drag.

Dear hero imprisoned
With all the new crimes that you are perfecting
Oh, I can’t help quoting you
’Cause everything that you said rings true

“Everyday Is Like Sunday” from Viva Hate (1988)

Stephen Street sent Morrissey demos of potential Smiths B-sides but Morrissey responded he’s finished with The Smiths and eager to begin a solo career. From there, Morrissey and Street crafted his solo debut Viva Hate, even as The Smiths’ single “Girlfriend in a Coma” remained in the charts.

Viva Hate topped the UK albums chart and “Everyday Is Like Sunday,” a Top-10 hit, is one of Moz’s finest. He’s stuck in a bleak coastal town that’s so lonely and sad he’s begging for Armageddon.

Hide on the promenade, etch a postcard
“How I dearly wish I was not here”
In the seaside town
That they forgot to bomb
Come, come, come, nuclear bomb

“The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get” from Vauxhall and I (1994)

Guitarist Boz Boorer, who spent 30 years as Morrissey’s collaborator, co-wrote the indie pop gem “The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get.” Boorer’s jangly guitar recalls Johnny Marr and foreshadows Oasis, who’d release their debut single two months later.

Morrissey sings about obsession, but this time he’s frustrating his critics and fans by occupying space in their minds whether they like it or not. It became a hit in both the UK and U.S., making it even harder to ignore him.

I will be in the bar
With my head on the bar
I am now a central part
Of your mind’s landscape
Whether you care or do not
Yeah, I’ve made up your mind

“Suedehead” from Viva Hate (1988)

The musical seeds for Viva Hate were planted while The Smiths auditioned replacements for Johnny Marr. When Morrissey decided to move on, he and Street continued working together, and “Suedehead” became his first solo single. It reached No. 5 in the UK, a higher position than any single released by his former band. Morrissey said it’s about someone he knew from his teenage years but when asked for a name, he added, “I’d rather not give any addresses and phone numbers at this stage.”

Suedeheads were working-class youth who wore their hair longer than the skinheads. Morrissey recalled the suedehead subculture in Manchester, which he described to Spin as “slightly softer” than the skinheads, though still violent. Facing intense pressure after The Smiths, “Suedehead” showed there was life after Marr. Also, post-punk legend Vini Reilly helped fill the void and played the track’s perfectly moody guitar riff.

You had to sneak into my room
Just to read my diary
“It was just to see, just to see”
All the things you knew I’d written about you

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