Cover art for Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want by The Smiths

Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want

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Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want Lyrics

How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

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About

Genius Annotation

Perhaps the Smiths at their most delicate, “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” is a minimal, yet lush two minutes of almost otherworldly beauty.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did The Smiths say about "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want"?
Genius Answer

Because [“William, It Was Really Nothing”] was such a fast, short, upbeat song, I wanted the B-side to be different, so I wrote “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want” on Saturday in a different time signature — in a waltz time as a contrast. I was kind of happied out after writing “William.”

— Johnny Marr, Mad World: An Oral History of the New Wave Artist and Songs That Defined The 1980s

I think it was very close [to the perfect Smiths song] 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.

— Morrissey, Melody Maker, 1987

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