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. The piano intro was composed separately. Marr later explained: 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. 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. Marr has called the song "the best thing we'd done" and "my favourite track at the time and probably still is." ==Release==

"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: ==Artwork and matrix message==

The cover of the single featured a photograph of the 1950s and 1960s-era British singer Billy Fury. The British 7-inch and 12-inch vinyl releases 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, 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. ==Critical reception==

"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'." 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." NME named it the band's 19th best. 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." ==Track listing==

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. In the booklet, the band describes it as "another cover that some may sneer at. After this, nothing is sacred". The Eurythmics covered the song, as released on their 2005 album We Too Are One. ==References==