The Moz/Smiths Top 100, Part 148: RUSHOLME RUFFIANS

How do you rate Rusholme Ruffians?


  • Total voters
    125

Houdini

Junior Member
Let's compile our own Morrissey/Smiths Top 100 by rating all 232 Moz/Smiths-songs.

Song for Today: RUSHOLME RUFFIANS

Voting should be something along these lines:
10: Perfection
9: Near perfect, brilliant
8: Really good Moz/Smiths song
7: Good Moz/Smiths song
6: Decent, OK, Nothing special
5: Uninspired
4: Poor
3: Bad
2: Should never have been released
1: He/They should be ashamed

The songs so far (voting is still open):

Part 147: Rubber Ring
Part 146: Roy's Keen
Part 145: Reel Around The Fountain
Part 144: Redondo Beach
Part 143: Reader Meet Author
Part 142: Pretty Girls Make Graves
Part 141: Pregnant For The Last Time
Part 140: Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want
Part 139: Piccadilly Palare
Part 138: Pashernate Love
Part 137: Papa Jack
Part 136: Panic
Part 135: Paint A Vulgar Picture
Part 134: Our Frank
Part 133: Ouija Board, Ouija Board
Part 132: Oscillate Wildly
Part 131: On The Streets I Ran
Part 130: Oh Well, I'll Never Learn
Part 129: Nowhere Fast
Part 128: Now My Heart Is Full
Part 127: Now I Am A Was
Part 126: November Spawned A Monster
Part 125: Noise Is The Best Revenge
Part 124: Nobody Loves Us
Part 123: No One Can Hold A Candle To You
Part 122: Never Had No One Ever
Part 121: My Love Life
Part 120: My Life Is A Succession Of People Saying Goodbye
Part 119: Mute Witness
Part 118: Munich Air Disaster 1958
Part 117: Moonriver
Part 116: Money Changes Everything
Part 115: Miserable Lie
Part 114: Michael's Bones
Part 113: Mexico
Part 112: Meat Is Murder
Part 111: Margaret On The Guillotine
Part 110: Maladjusted
Part 109: Lucky Lisp
Part 108: Lost
Part 107: London
Part 106: Little Man, What Now?
Part 105: Lifeguard Sleeping, Girl Drowning
Part 104: Life Is A Pigsty
Part 103: Let the Right One Slip In
Part 102: Let Me Kiss You
Part 101: Late Night, Maudlin Street
Part 100: Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me
Part 99: King Leer
Part 98: Journalists Who Lie
Part 97: Jeane
Part 96: Jack The Ripper
Part 95: It's Hard To Walk Tall When You're Small
Part 94: Is It Really So Strange?
Part 93: Irish Blood, English Heart
Part 92: Interlude
Part 91: Interesting Drug
Part 90: In The Future When All's Well
Part 89: If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look At Me
Part 88: I've Changed My Plea To Guilty
Part 87: (I'm) The End Of The Family Line
Part 86: I'm Not Sorry
Part 85: I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now
Part 84: I'd Love To
Part 83: I Won't Share You
Part 82: I Will See You In Far Off Places
Part 81: I Want The One I Can't Have
Part 80: I Started Something I Couldn't Finish
Part 79: I Like You
Part 78: I Know Very Well How I Got My Name
Part 77: I Know It's Over
Part 76: I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday
Part 75: I Knew I Was Next
Part 74: I Keep Mine Hidden
Part 73: I Just Want To See The Boy Happy
Part 72: I Have Forgiven Jesus
Part 71: I Don't Owe You Anything
Part 70: I Don't Mind If You Forget Me
Part 69: I Can Have Both
Part 68: I Am Two People
Part 67: I Am Hated For Loving
Part 66: Human Being
Part 65: How Soon Is Now?
Part 64: How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?
Part 63: Hold On To Your Friends
Part 62: Heir Apparent
Part 61: Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
Part 60: He Knows I'd Love To See Him
Part 59: He Cried
Part 58: Have-A-Go Merchant
Part 57: Handsome Devil
Part 56: Hand In Glove
Part 55: Half A Person
Part 54: Hairdresser On Fire
Part 53: Good Looking Man About Town
Part 52: Golden Lights
Part 51: Glamorous Glue
Part 50: Girlfriend In A Coma
Part 49: Girl Least Likely To
Part 48: Girl Afraid
Part 47: Get Off The Stage
Part 46: Ganglord
Part 45: Friday Mourning
Part 44: Frankly Mr Shankly
Part 43: Found Found Found
Part 42: First Of The Gang To Die
Part 41: Everyday Is Like Sunday
Part 40: East West
Part 39: Driving Your Girlfriend Home
Part 38: Don't Make Fun Of Daddy's Voice
Part 37: Do Your Best And Don't Worry
Part 36: Disappointed
Part 35: Dial-A-Cliche
Part 34: Death Of A Disco Dancer
Part 33: Death At One's Elbow
Part 32: Dear God Please Help Me
Part 31: Dagenham Dave
Part 30: Cosmic Dancer
Part 29: Come Back To Camden
Part 28: Christian Dior
Part 27: Certain People I Know
Part 26: Cemetry Gates
Part 25: Break Up The Family
Part 24: Boxers
Part 23: Black-Eyed Susan
Part 22: Billy Budd
Part 21: Bigmouth Strikes Again
Part 20: Best Friend On The Payroll
Part 19: Bengali In Platforms
Part 18: Barbarism Begins At Home
Part 17: Back To The Old House
Part 16: At Last I Am Born
Part 15: At Amber
Part 14: Asleep
Part 13: Ask
Part 12: Asian Rut
Part 11: Angel, Angel, Down We Go Together
Part 10: Ammunition
Part 9: America Is Not The World
Part 8: Ambitious Outsiders
Part 7: Alsatian Cousin
Part 6: Alma Matters
Part 5: All The Lazy Dykes
Part 4: Accept Yourself
Part 3: A Swallow On My Neck
Part 2: A Song From Under The Floorboards
Part 1: A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours
 
9 from me. If only for the lyric "scratch my name on your arm with a fountain pen..this means you really love me"

One of my favourite lyrics and one I was glad to discover is completely Morrissey's and not borrowed from someone else..I hope!

Nice work from Johnny too :)
 
Lovely, wonderful lyrics, wonderful music, 9
 
One of the best, but the live version is the one I gave a 10.
 
How can anyone only give it a five or six? Are you mad?
Definitely my fave Smiths tune.

Her skirt ascends for a watching eye, it's a hideous trait on her mother's side.
 
Last edited:
I never cared much for the version on Meat Is Murder, maybe because it is sandwiched between my 2 favourite songs on that album...

On Rank though it is one of the highlights.
7 for the studio version.
9 for the live version.
So I have to go with 8.
 
Morrissey's lyrics just don't get any better than this and the music is great too. One of the best tracks from Meat Is Murder: 10.

FYI - here's a snippet of the lyrics from Victoria Wood's song "Fourteen Again" where you can see Morrissey's inspiration:

I want to be fourteen again,
Tattoo my self with a fountain pen,
Pretend to like the taste of rum and Coke,
Chuck my school hat in a bush,
Spit on my mascara brush,
Buy Consulate and teach myself to smoke.

I want to be fourteen again,
Free rides on the waltzer off the fairground men
For a promise of a snog the last night of the fair—
French kissing as the kiosks shut
Behind the generators with your coconut,
The coloured lights reflected in the Brylcream on his hair.
 
7/10. A good song from a great album.​
 
a 9

classic song from The Smiths masterpiece Meat is Murder
The music is brilliant, this is one of the great songs Johnny produced.
Morrissey put in some great lyrics.
This song is higly underesthimated.

can write 2 paragraphs about it, but the message is clear. A top song.
 
a 9

classic song from The Smiths masterpiece Meat is Murder
The music is brilliant, this is one of the great songs Johnny produced.
Morrissey put in some great lyrics.
This song is higly underesthimated.

can write 2 paragraphs about it, but the message is clear. A top song.

A great write up about a classic song. "The air hangs heavy like a dulling wine" The words to this song sum up a night out at the local funfare which was generally a violent place to be in the 70's. In Manchester it was anyway! I play this song everyday to brighten it up. Probably my fave Smiths' tune of all time. BTW have you read 'The Smiths' Songs That Saved Your Live by Simon Goddard. Highly acclaimed and factual.
 
I love these lyrics, they paint a picture for the listener.
I also love the version on the Rank album that begins with an Elvis song and then blends into Rusholme Ruffians.

That will be 'Marie's his Name' His Latest Flame.
Superb Elvis riff by JM.
 
FYI - here's a snippet of the lyrics from Victoria Wood's song "Fourteen Again" where you can see Morrissey's inspiration:

I want to be fourteen again,
Tattoo my self with a fountain pen,
Pretend to like the taste of rum and Coke,
Chuck my school hat in a bush,
Spit on my mascara brush,
Buy Consulate and teach myself to smoke.

I want to be fourteen again,
Free rides on the waltzer off the fairground men
For a promise of a snog the last night of the fair—
French kissing as the kiosks shut
Behind the generators with your coconut,
The coloured lights reflected in the Brylcream on his hair.


thanks Comtesse, never heard of this song, I'll check it out.
Curious about the whole lyrics.
Never read about this song being inspired by Morrissey, or I already
forgot about it.
Its pure torture to keep updated about Morrissey, his life and inspirations.:rolleyes:
 
thanks Comtesse, never heard of this song, I'll check it out.
Curious about the whole lyrics.
Never read about this song being inspired by Morrissey, or I already
forgot about it.
Its pure torture to keep updated about Morrissey, his life and inspirations.:rolleyes:

Here are the full lyrics:

I want to be fourteen again,
When sex was just called number ten,
And I was up to seven and a half.
Boys were for love, girls were for fun.
You burst out laughing if you saw a nun.
Sophistication was a sports car and a chiffon scarf.

I want to be fourteen again,
Tattoo my self with a fountain pen,
Pretend to like the taste of rum and Coke,
Chuck my school hat in a bush,
Spit on my mascara brush,
Buy Consulate and teach myself to smoke.

I want to be fourteen again,
Free rides on the waltzer off the fairground men
For a promise of a snog the last night of the fair

French kissing as the kiosks shut
Behind the generators with your coconut,
The coloured lights reflected in the Brylcream on his hair
.

I want to be fourteen again,
For all the things I didn't know then.
When I was funny, I was famous, I was never ignored,
I was a crazy girl, I had to laugh.
I had Ilya Kuriakin's autograph.
I had no idea you could wake up feeling bored.


And here are the lyrics to "Funny How Things Turn Out" which inspired (allegedly) the "My faith in love is still devout" line. I recognize quite a bit of Moz in these lyrics too, don't you?

Of all the letters that make me ill,
The rates demand, the telephone bill,
The ones that bring me really low
Are the ones from girls I used to know.
The girls at school you didn't like much
Have a terrible urge to keep in touch.
Those of whom you were not fond
Relentlessly wield the Basildon Bond.

Remember Bobbie Field?
I won the Drama Shield.
An embryo actress and terribly thin.
Very ambitious, determined to win.
Auditioned for RADA and didn't get in.
Funny how things turn out.

I got my Equity card.
But the life was awfully hard.
I advertised cat-food for years which was hell.
Did Equus at Windsor, which didn't go well.
And I asked for my key at the Crossroads Motel.
Funny how things turn out.

Though my kids are three, four and five.
I still keep my brain alive.
I've started to write, and I'm making some headway,
With humorous verses for Radio Medway.
My faith in myself is still devout.
Whenever I find I've a minute to kill,
I drive to the hospital up on the hill,
And sing Lerner and Lowe to the mentally ill.
Funny how things turn out.

Remember Jennifer Hill?
I was the first on the pill.
A bit of a hippie, and into 'tie-dye'
Trekked to Morocco, got ever so high.
Then I married a man from ICI.

Funny how things turn out.
We moved to Tufnell Park
With a cat called Muriel Spark.
I came off the pill 'cos it made me depressed.
I hated the cap and the coil and the rest.
So I've three in the infants and two on the breast.
Funny how things turn out.

Now I sit from dawn to dusk
Covered in snot and Farley's Rusk.
I look back on the days of my youth and my passion,
Wishing that loon-pants would come back in fashion
And wondering what it's all about.
The doctor's advice has been largely ignored.
We did try the sheath but we got very bored.
So I'm writing to you from the Labour Ward.
Funny how things turn out.

Remember Brenda James?
I was Captain of Games.
I practised all day till my muscles were sore.
Hockey was super and boys were a bore.
Didn't use Tampax till 'seventy-four.
Funny how things turn out.

At College I read sport.
But socially things were fraught.
I refused to have sex with a man called Des.
He went around calling me 'Brenda the Les'
So I slept with a girl in my hall of res.
Funny how things turn out.

I 'came out' at a Lesbians Ball.
Didn't feel 'glad to be gay' at all.
Whoever said that? Tom Robinson, was it?
I couldn't agree and got back in the closet.
Then saw the light and had no doubt.
I took all my savings and just disappeared.
And found a nice doctor who said, 'You're not weird',
Now I'm Jonathan James with a wonderful beard.
Funny how things turn out.
 
thanks Comtesse, never heard of this song, I'll check it out.
Curious about the whole lyrics.
Never read about this song being inspired by Morrissey, or I already
forgot about it.
Its pure torture to keep updated about Morrissey, his life and inspirations.:rolleyes:

Oh, and I didn't mean that Victoria Wood's song was inspired by Morrissey - I mean that Morrissey was inspired by Victoria Wood. It's his inspired shoplifting at work again!
 
Just cuz

Smiths in Madrid (year?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIaURk_UKCs

I agree w/Johan de Witt, it's best on Rank. I just love the vibe of this song and his energy. Oh, and that nip! Hello frink thread :p
 
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