Song · The Smiths
“William, It Was Really Nothing” by The Smiths
Released 1984
“William, It Was Really Nothing” by The Smiths appears on 5 radio countdowns from 5 stations between 1984 and 2021. It was first released in 1984. Its best result is #23 on the John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1984. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #98 alternative song of 1984 and #4,268 alternative song of all time.
Watch
Video from YouTube (The Smiths). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"William, It Was Really Nothing" went out as a Smiths single in August 1984, and it came with quite the flip side: "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" and "How Soon Is Now?" rode along as the B-sides. Morrissey and Johnny Marr wrote it, and it reached 17 in Britain before settling onto the compilations Hatful of Hollow and Louder Than Bombs.
The moment people remember came on Top of the Pops, when Morrissey tore his shirt open to show a marriage proposal written across his chest, a wink at one of the song's own lines. Two decades on, in 2004, Rolling Stone placed it at 425 in its ranking of the greatest songs.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 23 | John Peel (BBC Radio 1) | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1984 | 48 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 340 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) | 1002 |
| 2003 | 1649 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
| 2005 | 472 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005) | 500 |
| 2021 | 306 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s | 909 |
Also listed as: William It Was Really Nothing; William, it was Really nothing.
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "William, It Was Really Nothing" by The Smiths.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.