Song · The Smiths
“The Boy With The Thorn In His Side” by The Smiths
From the album The Queen Is Dead (1986)
“The Boy With The Thorn In His Side” by The Smiths appears on 16 radio countdowns from 8 stations between 1985 and 2005. It was first released in 1986 on the album The Queen Is Dead. Its best result is #8 on the John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1985. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #38 alternative song of 1985, #1,133 alternative song of all time and #392 of the '80s.
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"The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" first appeared as a Smiths single in September 1985, reaching number 23 in Britain, and a remixed version turned up on The Queen Is Dead in June 1986. Johnny Marr wrote the music, Morrissey wrote the words, and the two of them produced it, with Stephen Street engineering. Marr's guitar shimmers and chimes, Andy Rourke's bass skips underneath and Mike Joyce keeps it light on its feet, while Morrissey croons as if he's already forgiven you.
The album version adds synthesised strings that the single did without. It was also the first Smiths single to come with a promo video, directed by Ken O'Neill, after the band had long refused to make them, and they played it on Top of the Pops. In 2003 Morrissey picked it as his favourite Smiths song.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 8 | John Peel (BBC Radio 1) | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1985 | 50 |
| 1985 | 27 | Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium | Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1985 | 30 |
All-time and decade countdowns
Also listed as: The Boy With the Thorn in His Side; The Boy with the Thorn in his Side; The Boy with the Thorn in his side.
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