Suffer Little Children

Album: The Smiths (1984)
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  • Over the moor, take me to the moor
    Dig a shallow grave
    And I'll lay me down

    Over the moor, take me to the moor
    Dig a shallow grave
    And I'll lay me down

    Lesley-Anne, with your pretty white beads
    Oh John, you'll never be a man
    And you'll never see your home again
    Oh Manchester, so much to answer for

    Edward, see those alluring lights ?
    Tonight will be your very last night

    A woman said : "I know my son is dead
    I'll never rest my hands on his sacred head"

    Hindley wakes and Hindley says :
    Hindley wakes, Hindley wakes, Hindley wakes, and says :
    "Oh, wherever he has gone, I have gone"

    But fresh lilaced moorland fields
    Cannot hide the stolid stench of death
    Fresh lilaced moorland fields
    Cannot hide the stolid stench of death

    Hindley wakes and says :
    Hindley wakes, Hindley wakes, Hindley wakes, and says :
    "Oh, whatever he has done, I have done"

    But this is no easy ride
    For a child cries :

    "Oh, find me...find me, nothing more
    We are on a sullen misty moor
    We may be dead and we may be gone
    But we will be, we will be, we will be, right by your side
    Until the day you die
    This is no easy ride
    We will haunt you when you laugh
    Yes, you could say we're a team
    You might sleep
    You might sleep
    You might sleep
    BUT YOU WILL NEVER DREAM !
    Oh, you might sleep
    BUT YOU WILL NEVER DREAM !
    You might sleep
    BUT YOU WILL NEVER DREAM !"

    Oh Manchester, so much to answer for
    Oh Manchester, so much to answer for

    Oh, find me, find me !
    Find me !
    I'll haunt you when you laugh
    Oh, I'll haunt you when you laugh
    You might sleep
    BUT YOU WILL NEVER DREAM !
    Oh...
    Over the moors, I'm on the moor
    Oh, over the moor
    Oh, the child is on the moor Writer/s: JOHNNY MARR, STEVEN MORRISSEY
    Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 6

  • Andrew from Old Saybrook, Connecticut, UsaThis wasn't my favorite song on the album when it first came out (I was first year of university) but it always keeps me coming back for a listen. Mesmerizing song.
  • Frankie from Miramonte, Sun, Tucson, Arizona, UsaI never knew the history of this til just now watching "Don't F--k with Cats" on Netflix!!!
  • Mary Jane from Sydney, AustraliaEdward Evans is also featured in the lyrics. he was the teenager who was hit over the head we an axe, this was the final murder made by Myra Hindley and Ian Brady before their arrest
  • Quinn from Toronto, CanadaMark 10:14 "Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God."

    Famous quote by Jesus, and incredibly ironic in its use here.
  • Mike from Ho Chi Minh City, OtherI think it's in the bible...suffer little children to come unto me, or something similar?
  • Murph from Peoria, IlI seem to recall (buried deep in a strict Catholic upbringing) that "Suffer Little Children" was actually a religious saying, although I never really understood what it meant.
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