"Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want"
(Morrissey/Marr)

 

These words are transcribed without permission the way they appear in the "Hatful Of Hollow" album. Additions to the printed lyrics are in darker text while omissions are striken out.

Good times for a change
See, the luck I've had
would can make a good man
turn bad

So please please please
let me, let me, let me
let me get what I want 1
this time

Haven't had a dream in a long time
See, the life I've had
would can make a good man bad

So for once in my life
let me get what I want 1
Lord knows it would be the first time
Lord knows it would be the first time 2

 

Note: Because this song is basically under 2 minutes long, when it was performed live in 1984, 1985, 2006 and 2007-2008 Morrissey repeated the last seven lines above to extend the song. He didn't do this for the harder electric arrangement of the song from 2002.

1 In all solo live performances of this song (bar perhaps once) Morrissey sang "let me have who I want" instead of "let me get what I want".

2 This line was changed on very few special occasions to "Lord knows it would be impossible" or something similar.

 

Quote:

In an interview published in Melody Maker in 1987, Morrissey answered the question "Was 'Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want' [sic] the perfect Smiths song?" with "I think it was very close indeed, and hiding it away on a B-side was sinful. I feel sad about it now although we did include it on Hatful Of Hollow by way of semi-repentance. When we first played it to Rough Trade, they kept asking, 'where's the rest of the song?' But to me, it's like a very brief punch in the face. Lengthening the song would, to my mind, have simply been explaining the blindingly obvious."