Pop Playlist: The Smiths: “Please, Please, Please…”

The Smiths’ “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want” is just shy of two minutes long, but it efficiently goes straight to the heart of desperate longing. The lead singer, Morrissey sounds as if he’s in mid-prayer, a plea to experience “Good times for a change.” Acoustic guitar, and the defeated sadness in his voice, create a somber tone, yet not one of complaining, but contemplation. There’s disappointment, but he’s also hopeful; he’s the “good man” who doesn’t want to “turn bad.” The lyric, “Haven’t had a dream in a long time” may be the track’s most vulnerable, with the later “what” in “get what I want” open to interpretation, the “what” replaceable with “who.” (Morrissey has in fact applied this lyric change during live shows.)

The song works well in the heartwarming (and heartbreaking) film about the confusion of unrequited love, (500) Days of Summer, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Tom) and Zooey Deschanel (Summer). In the hopes of getting Summer’s attention, Tom plays the song out loud for co-worker and fellow Smiths admirer, Summer, only for Summer to walk right by his desk.

“Please, Please, Please…” has been covered by Deschanel (She & Him), and the Dream Academy, whose version appears in the film, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.