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Steven Patrick Morrissey was born on May 22, 1959, in Davyhulme, Lancashire, and grew up in Manchester in an Irish family. His love of literature, film, and pop music became a major part of how he wrote songs. In 1982, his partnership with guitarist Johnny Marr led to the formation of The Smiths, whose four studio albums made them one of the decade’s most important British bands. The group broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career almost immediately.
Morrissey released Viva Hate in 1988, and the album went straight to number one in the United Kingdom. Albums such as Your Arsenal, Vauxhall and I, and You Are the Quarry kept his solo career moving through the following decades. In March 2026, he released his fourteenth solo studio album, Make-Up Is a Lie, through Sire/Warner Records. The ten songs below come from different stages of that career, from his first solo recordings to his strong return in the 2000s.
# 10 – Now My Heart Is Full
“Now My Heart Is Full” opens Morrissey’s 1994 album Vauxhall and I, which reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. Morrissey co-wrote the song with guitarist Boz Boorer, and Steve Lillywhite produced the recording. The lyric draws on Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock, naming Dallow, Spicer, Pinkie, and Cubitt as Morrissey fills the song with characters, memories, and private references. The music is patient and restrained, with Boorer and Alain Whyte on guitar, Jonny Bridgwood on bass, and Woodie Taylor on drums. Morrissey’s repeated admission that his heart is full sounds less like a simple declaration of happiness than a man overwhelmed by everything running through his head. It is one of the quietest songs on this list, but it carries plenty of weight.
# 9 – Speedway
“Speedway” closes Vauxhall and I with one of the hardest sounds on the album. Morrissey and Boz Boorer wrote the song, with Steve Lillywhite again handling production. The guitars push forward with a rough, grinding force while Morrissey sings about rumors, enemies, and the parts of his reputation that he refuses to deny. His line about those rumors not being “completely unfounded” is funny, defensive, and revealing all at once. Boorer, Alain Whyte, Jonny Bridgwood, and Woodie Taylor give the track a heavier backing than much of the rest of the record. It is Morrissey sounding cornered but still determined to have the last word.
# 8 – Hairdresser On Fire
“Hairdresser on Fire” first appeared in 1988 as a B-side to Morrissey’s debut solo single, “Suedehead.” Morrissey and Stephen Street wrote the song, and Street produced it during the early solo sessions that also produced Viva Hate. The premise really is as simple as Morrissey being unable to get the attention of a busy hairdresser, which he turns into three and a half minutes of impatience, humor, and longing. That ordinary situation gives him exactly the kind of setting he loved: London, frustration, vanity, and a little self-pity. The song later appeared on the North American edition of Viva Hate and on the 1990 compilation Bona Drag. Few writers could make trouble getting a haircut sound this dramatic.
# 7 – We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful
Morrissey released “We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful” in April 1992 as the lead single from Your Arsenal. He wrote it with guitarist Alain Whyte, and Mick Ronson produced the recording at Utopia Studios in North London. The song takes a feeling most people would rather deny and says it out loud: sometimes another person’s success can make jealousy come roaring to the surface. Morrissey makes the idea even funnier by singing it over an upbeat rock arrangement and laughing through part of the chorus. The single reached number seventeen on the UK Singles Chart. It is mean, funny, catchy, and probably more truthful than many people would care to admit.
# 6 – The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get
“The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get” was the lead single from Vauxhall and I and became one of Morrissey’s biggest solo hits. Morrissey wrote the song with Boz Boorer, while Steve Lillywhite produced it at Hook End Manor. The lyric is deliberately uncomfortable, turning romantic rejection into a promise that the rejected man is only going to move closer. Morrissey’s calm delivery makes the persistence sound even stranger because he never treats it like a joke. The single reached number eight in the United Kingdom and number forty-six on the Billboard Hot 100, his only solo single to reach that chart. It also topped Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart, giving Morrissey one of his strongest American successes.
# 5 – You’re The One for Me, Fatty
“You’re the One for Me, Fatty” was released in July 1992 as the second single from Your Arsenal. Morrissey co-wrote the song with Alain Whyte, and Mick Ronson produced it. The title plays on the Marvelettes’ “You Are the One for Me, Bobby,” but Morrissey turns the phrase into one of his own odd little declarations of affection. The music is bright and fast, with the band leaning into the rock-and-roll sound that defines much of Your Arsenal. The single reached number nineteen on the UK Singles Chart. It is funny, affectionate, ridiculous, and completely recognizable as Morrissey.
# 4 – Irish Blood, English Heart
“Irish Blood, English Heart” brought Morrissey back in a major way in 2004 after years without a new studio album. Written by Morrissey and Alain Whyte and produced by Jerry Finn, the song became the lead single from You Are the Quarry. Morrissey addresses the split in his own background directly, identifying with both his Irish family roots and his English upbringing. He also attacks Britain’s political establishment, taking shots at Labour, the Conservatives, the monarchy, and Oliver Cromwell. The single reached number three on the UK Singles Chart, tying the highest chart position of Morrissey’s solo career. At barely more than two and a half minutes, the song says exactly what it wants to say and gets out.
# 3 – First of The Gang to Die
“First of the Gang to Die” was released as the second single from You Are the Quarry in 2004. Morrissey wrote it with Alain Whyte, and Jerry Finn produced the recording. The song tells the story of Hector, a young Los Angeles gang member whom Morrissey describes with equal parts affection, humor, and doom. The lyric never pretends Hector is innocent, but it still mourns the waste of a young life cut short. The single reached number six on the UK Singles Chart and quickly became a regular part of Morrissey’s live shows. Its bouncing melody against a story of violence and death is a very Morrissey kind of contradiction.
# 2 – Everyday Is Like a Sunday
“Everyday Is Like Sunday” appeared on Morrissey’s 1988 debut album Viva Hate and was released as its second single. Morrissey wrote the song with Stephen Street, who also produced it and played bass, with Vini Reilly on guitar and piano and Andrew Paresi on drums. The lyric turns a dead British seaside town into a place where boredom has become so complete that even disaster sounds like a welcome change. The song’s nuclear imagery has often been connected to Nevil Shute’s novel On the Beach, while Morrissey himself spoke about the absurdity of the British holiday resort. The single reached number nine on the UK Singles Chart. Beneath all the gray skies and wet sand is one of the strongest melodies of Morrissey’s solo career.
# 1 – Suedehead
“Suedehead” was Morrissey’s first solo single after the breakup of The Smiths, released in February 1988 before Viva Hate. Morrissey and Stephen Street wrote the song together, with Street producing and playing bass alongside guitarist Vini Reilly and drummer Andrew Paresi. The single reached number five on the UK Singles Chart, immediately proving that Morrissey could succeed outside his old band. The title comes from the suedehead subculture, and Morrissey later said the lyric drew on someone he had known during his teenage years. The music is bright and immediate even while the words circle around an unwanted relationship and the memories it left behind. As a first solo statement, “Suedehead” was about as strong a start as Morrissey could have made.
Updated September 12, 2026.
Morrissey Songs Ranked article published on ClassicRockHistory.com © 2026
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