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Why “Suffer Little Children” Is The Smiths’ Darkest Song

Poetic Wax | September 19, 2025



One of the first songs Morrissey wrote for The Smiths was “Suffer Little Children” and it was also one of his darkest. This is the story behind the song, its relation to the Moors Murders, the controversy it caused locally in Manchester, and its legacy. You DON’T want to miss this one!

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MORE BY THE SMITHS:
✓ Bigmouth Strikes Again: https://youtu.be/_RTDWQ0jM7o
✓ Meat Is Murder: https://youtu.be/blxw55-0kWA
✓ The Queen is Dead: https://youtu.be/CUDcg1cSy2s
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✓ The Smiths Debut LP: https://amzn.to/42imfq0
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BOOKS REFERENCED 📕
👉 Songs That Saved Your Life: https://amzn.to/3YmYOKo
👉 Autobiography by Morrissey: https://amzn.to/3BVQPfR

CLIPS REFERENCED:
Morrissey Interview (Nicky Horne for Ear Say, July 7th 1984): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlsQlQzgEIM
Morrissey Discusses Youth (1985): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JOl3YaDCQI
The Wonderful Ann West (1929-1999): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9TfnsMxD80
The Smiths – Live The Tube Studio 1984 HD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlrsMSgmBsE

CHAPTERS:
0:00 The Smiths’ Darkest Song
1:01 The Moors Murders
3:33 A Song Born From Tragedy
7:26 The Lyrics of “Suffer Little Children” And Their Meaning
10:23 The Backlash And Controversy
12:49 A Haunting Elegy

#thesmiths #morrissey #johnnymarr #sufferlittlechildren #songhistory #musichistory #albumhistory #musicstorytelling #musicdocumentary #albumdocumentary #albumstory #vinylcommunity #vinylrecords #vinylcollection #andyfenstermaker #fensepost #vinylchannel #poeticwax

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Written by Poetic Wax

Comments

This post currently has 39 comments.

  2. @bonesf200

    September 19, 2025 at 1:08 am

    I drive over Saddleworth quite a lot and the sadness of the place just never goes – even a generation later. We've had Harold Shipman and The Yorkshire Ripper too but neither of those have left such a profound effect. I've noticed that no matter how full my car is, not a single person ever utters a word as we pass over Saddleworth. I think it's because we know Keith Bennett is still there somewhere and in an odd way, the wound is still open.

  3. @swandaley

    September 19, 2025 at 1:08 am

    "Suffer Little Children" isn't an easy listen, but it honestly lifts my spirits when I'm down. I think it's because of Morrissey's empathy. Maybe I'm weird. I don't know.

  15. @jodagold5481

    September 19, 2025 at 1:08 am

    I'll tell you being a 70s kid , and who's Aunty was lesley Anne's freind attending that fairground that day when she was snatched – Particularly the tough working class women of ancoats / miles plattin and Gorton , there was no fear or paranoia but the zeitgeist of the town was pure hate for the moors murderers, and i do mean truly despised without fear- and i have no doubt that if Myra Hindley or Brady were to somehow walk those streets at the time , they would have been torn limb from limb and battered to death literally – they were utterly hated with real pure anger , and the slightest conversation of them two sparked immediate seething venom from they words of those working class communities – there was no lofty boogeyman / woman status with these two no marks , there was a death wish for those two and were regarded as simply as sex cases – But Hindly was greatly despised – being the first woman who crossed the perceived rubicon that all women were safe and you could leave your front door open and let your kids play on the streets , Morrissey and Marr caught some of that working class mirroring of how that particular crime resonated in Manchester and as a fan , i and my peers got it straight away.

  16. @MrDot9

    September 19, 2025 at 1:08 am

    This was was one of their first songs written , I mean first , first attempt , day`s after Johnny knocked on Morrissey`s door. Number One ,two or three , I can`t quite remember but the hand that rock`s the cradle was also one of them. They wrote in three`s.

  17. @petemc5070

    September 19, 2025 at 1:08 am

    I seem to remember that Morrissey lifted lines from Emlyn Williams' 'Beyond Belief', (1968) the semi-fictionalised account of the murders, and a masterpiece of crime journalism.

  20. @ThornyLittleFlower

    September 19, 2025 at 1:08 am

    The dark cloud of hindley was felt right across the country. I was south of london and felt it. Im lucky that i managed to see the smiths live aged 11 due to my big brother having a date so gave me and my dad the tickets😊 I think you are spot on with morrissey giving these kids a voice. The song has them teamed up haunting them( i still find it hard to name that evil) but importantly they are together and i think on some level morrissey has always seen himself on that moor with them.

  26. @narasimha7187

    September 19, 2025 at 1:08 am

    The images of Hindley and Brady were branded into the minds of all us British people young around that time or born shortly thereafter. I have the misfortune of sharing my birthday with when their killing spree began. The British press made many a pound of their mug shots and revived the story on a very regular basis for decades. Crass made a song about it " Anti- Mother". Foul and terrible people as they were the continuous hawking of their awful story was also another kind of crime. I felt the Smiths song was a generational act of mourning however and not in that category.

  30. @cph2004

    September 19, 2025 at 1:08 am

    I often wondered why the Smiths were named the smiths, but then I realised the guy that told the police about the Moors murderers was named david smith. It makes sense to me. I don't know if it is true, but that is my theory.

  31. @springb2249

    September 19, 2025 at 1:08 am

    I'm happy to explain (whether anyone believes it or not) the true interpretation of this song. First off, understand that 'Morrissey' was narcissitic from a young age (by virtue of his parents, moreover, his father), which consequently carried through his adulthood. His days were spent glued to the television and (by his own words) he formed unusual (even romantic) bonds with television/movie actors from afar. His knowledge of and reaction to the Moors Murders was not born of some sentient disappointment with the city he lived in (Manchester), as he was far too immature. Rather, he used the tragedy and subsequent coverage to relate to his own perceived plight at home. His parent's relationship and behavior toward him was the actual issue: "We will haunt you when you laugh. Yes, you could say we're a team. You might sleep, but you will never dream." The Morrissey trademark is double-entendre…understand that, and you'll begin to understand his music.

  34. @ashleyohohoh

    September 19, 2025 at 1:08 am

    Their debut album is still, and always will be, a masterpiece. That and Meat is Murder are my favorites.
    Suffer Little Children is such a haunting song — Literally. Its almost as though you can feel and the souls of the children within the song.

  36. @Al-iv3mb

    September 19, 2025 at 1:08 am

    I'm just old enough to be aware of the Moors Murders, and of course their legacy lived on in the psyche of the British, and in fact still does today, even years after the deaths of this evil duo.
    I clearly recall reading the sensationalist nonsense in the Sunday newspapers when they tried to stir up rabid hatred over the nonsense written about Suffer Little Children, a song which remains genuinely haunting.
    Well done, mate, on a well researched and respectfully made post.

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