Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me

Guitarist Johnny Marr wrote the chord sequence for "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me" after a Smiths concert in October 1986 in Carlisle.{{cite book |last1=Luerssen |first1=John D. |title=The Smiths FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Most Important British Band of the 1980s |date=August 2015 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=978-1-4950-4596-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tE_NCgAAQBAJ |language=en}} The piano intro was composed separately. Marr later explained:

{{quote|It's built around the guitar riff going round and round, the heart of it is the guitar riff but I orchestrated it using a keyboard and string sound. What I love about it is the drama in it – the drama sums up how I was feeling at the time. That song got written because at the core of it is a very melancholic and dramatic guitar riff that goes round and round and round. And first and foremost, amongst other particularly melancholic things in the Smiths, I hear myself in that. There's a side of myself, an introspective side, and probably melancholic side, that comes out because I'm a musician. Then I just blew that up musically with a superb performance by the rest of the group, and great composition by Morrissey.{{cite web |last1=Laing |first1=Rob |title=Johnny Marr on his favourite Smiths song: "It doesn't sound like any other group" |url=https://www.musicradar.com/news/johnny-marr-the-smiths-favourite-song |website=MusicRadar |access-date=28 April 2022 |language=en |date=12 January 2022}}}}

The album version contains a one-minute and 55-second introduction, consisting of piano playing against a backdrop of crowd noises from the miners' strike of 1984–85.{{cite web |title=Ranking: Every Song by The Smiths from Worst to Best |url=https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/02/ranking-every-song-by-the-smiths-from-worst-to-best/full-post/ |website=Consequence of Sound |accessdate=30 October 2020 |date=21 February 2019}} The 7-inch single release does not include the introduction, while the 12-inch single does. Both Morrissey and Johnny Marr, the co-writers, have nominated it as the best Smiths song.{{cite web|title=Marr interview by UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage|publisher=BBC Radio 4|date=July 2021|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000xmrq}}{{cite book |last1=Goddard |first1=Simon |title=Songs That Saved Your Life (Revised Edition): The Art of The Smiths 1982-87 |date=26 March 2013 |publisher=Titan Books (US, CA) |isbn=978-1-78116-259-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AU44CgAAQBAJ |language=en}}

Marr has called the song "the best thing we'd done" and "my favourite track at the time and probably still is." In a 1993 interview, Marr commented, "Strangeways has its moments, like 'Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me'. Last time I met Morrissey he said it was his favourite Smiths song. He might be right."{{cite book |last1=Lime |first1=Harry |title=The Smiths |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=978-0-244-17580-1 |page=34 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VFeSDwAAQBAJ |access-date=28 April 2022 |language=en}}

"Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me" was released as the final single from the band's 1987 album Strangeways, Here We Come. As the band had disbanded prior to the release of Strangeways, the release was billed on posters as "the Last Single." Ultimately, the single peaked at number 30 in the UK, continuing the underwhelming chart positioning of its predecessor, "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish."

Morrissey later reflected on the commercial shortcomings of the final two Strangeways singles:

{{quote|"I approved [of the singles being released] in the sense that I believe Smiths records should be heard. 'Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me' and 'I Started Something I Couldn't Finish' were great songs but, quite obviously, there weren't acceptable B-sides and quite obviously there was no acceptable reason for a CD and cassette single, but they occurred nonetheless. It's difficult because I wanted those songs to be heard, the death of the Smiths was far too convenient. If there was a last opportunity to invade and infest the airwaves I thought it should be done."}}

The cover of the single featured a photograph of the 1950s and 1960s-era British singer Billy Fury.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/photos/the-smiths-the-stories-behind-all-27-of-their-provocative-album-and-single-sleeves-1424816|title=The Smiths - The Stories Behind All 27 Of Their Provocative Album And Single Sleeves|website=Nme.com|date=3 August 2015|access-date=8 December 2021}}

The British 7-inch and 12-inch vinyl releasess contained the matrix message: "THE RETURN OF THE SUBMISSIVE SOCIETY" (X) STARRING SHERIDAN WHITESIDE / "THE BIZARRE ORIENTAL VIBRATING PALM DEATH" (X) STARRING SHERIDAN WHITESIDE. Sheridan Whiteside was one of Morrissey's pseudonyms,{{cite book |last1=Devereux |first1=Eoin |last2=Dillane |first2=Aileen |last3=Power |first3=Martin |title=Morrissey: Fandom, Representations and Identities |date=24 August 2011 |publisher=Intellect Books |isbn=978-1-84150-580-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=57mrDwAAQBAJ&dq=Sheridan+Whiteside&pg=PA121 |language=en}} taken from the protagonist of the play The Man Who Came to Dinner; that character was in turn based on dramatic critic and raconteur Alexander Woollcott and had been referenced in the etchings of the single "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish".

Morrissey initially sought to etch "Eaten by Vince Eager" on the vinyl single, but changed his mind after being warned of potential blowback.{{cite book |last1=Bret |first1=David |title=Morrissey: Scandal and Passion |date=2004 |publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag |isbn=978-1-86105-787-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hK6lUbtUxmAC |language=en}}

"Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me" saw critical acclaim from its release. Reviewing Strangeways, Here We Come in 1987, the NME named it one of the two songs on the album amongst "Morrissey/Marr's greatest moments since the Fab Four's inception" (the other being "I Won't Share You"), writing, "it's as great as 'I Know It's Over'."{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Len |title=Meetings with Morrissey |date=7 April 2010 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-0-85712-240-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q8nPi6BUf-QC |language=en}} Smash Hits wrote at the time, "If you fail to be moved by songs like 'Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me', then you're missing out on a beautiful experience."

Rolling Stone ranked the song as the 23rd best Smiths song, stating, "Playing this song together, the Smiths all sound intimately in sync."{{cite magazine |last1=Sheffield |first1=Rob |title=Rob Sheffield Ranks All 73 Smiths Songs |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/the-smiths-all-73-songs-ranked-195171/stop-me-if-you-think-that-youve-heard-this-one-before-1987-198001/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |accessdate=31 October 2020 |date=1 August 2017}} while NME named it the band's 19th best.{{cite web |title=The 20 best Smiths tracks, as voted by NME.COM users|url=https://www.nme.com/photos/the-20-best-smiths-tracks-as-voted-by-nme-com-users-1404696 |website=NME|accessdate=30 October 2020 |date=25 November 2011}} Consequence ranked the song as the band's 18th best, noting that the song has "one of The Smiths' most explicitly hopeless choruses".

André 3000 of OutKast told MTV in 2003, "I personally wish I would have written that Smiths song, 'Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me.' Genius song."

{{tracklist

| all_writing = Morrissey and Johnny Marr

| headline = 7-inch RT200

| title1 = Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me

| note1 = single edit

| length1 = 3:12

| title2 = Rusholme Ruffians

| note2 = John Peel session version

| length2 = 4:04

}}

{{tracklist

| headline = 12-inch RTT200

| title1 = Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me

| note1 = full-length version

| length1 = 5:04

| title2 = Rusholme Ruffians

| note2 = John Peel session version

| length2 = 4:04

| title3 = Nowhere Fast

| note3 = John Peel session version

| length3 = 2:39

}}

{{tracklist

| headline = CD RTT200CD

| title1 = Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me

| note1 = full-length version

| length1 = 5:04

| title2 = Rusholme Ruffians

| note2 = John Peel session version

| length2 = 4:04

| title3 = Nowhere Fast

| note3 = John Peel session version

| length3 = 2:39

| title4 = William, It Was Really Nothing

| note4 = John Peel session version

| length4 = 2:04

}}

Alternative band Low also covered the song, initially as a single, and later included it on their A Lifetime of Temporary Relief: 10 Years of B-Sides and Rarities.{{cite web |last1=Bodenner |first1=Chris |title=Track of the Day: 'Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me' by Low |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2016/11/track-of-the-day-last-night-i-dreamt-that-somebody-loved-me-by-low/622708/ |website=The Atlantic |access-date=28 April 2022 |language=en |date=22 November 2016}} In the booklet, the band describes it as "another cover that some may sneer at. After this, nothing is sacred".

{{Reflist}}

{{The Smiths}}

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Category:The Smiths songs

Category:1987 singles

Category:Songs written by Morrissey

Category:Songs written by Johnny Marr

Category:Songs about loneliness

Category:1987 songs