Suffer Little Children

Morrissey does not neglect Brady's part in the killings, rather focuses on Hindley's. Morrissey is not a stupid man, what he does in his songs, he does carefully and calculatingly. Brady was beyond help, beyond the reach of this song whereas the more disturbing aspect of Hindley was that she was eerily human considering what she did. This song is written TO her. Morrissey hopes she remembers the voices and the children she helped to kill until the day she dies. Whenever she laughs or experiences pleasure, whenever she sleeps, he wants her to suffer for what she did. She's dead now, I hope those children were the last thing she thought of.

In October of 1965, the body of Edward Evans was found battered to death. The murderer, Ian Brady, was the son of a former meat porter at Smithfield Market. After moving from Glasgow to Moss Side, Brady had first taken a job at a meat market before securing a clerical post at Millwards, a chemical company in Levenshulme Road. Within weeks his work colleagues were commenting on his moodiness and quick temper. He appeared to spendmost of his time and money on boks, whose subject matter ranged from Naziism to the works of Marquis De Sade. Brady found a willing disciple and lover in a work-mate named Myra Hindley, who participated in his abduction and murder of children. It was Brady's attempt to extend that evil to a third party which proved his undoing. David Smith, the brother-in-law of Hindley, had witnessed the slaying of Evans and, after consulting his wife, duly informed the police. Evidence linking Brady and Hindley with the disappearance of Lesley Ann Downey emerged soon afterwards and a witness directed the authorities to a bleak spot on Saddleworth Moor where a corpse was exhumed from a shallow grave.

Among Lesley Ann's naked remains was a string of white beads that had been given to her as a Christmas present on the eve of her fateful visit to the fun fair.

On 6 December 1965, committal proceedings were opened against Brady and Hindley. While Separated, they sent each other a message in code, which threatened: 'SMITH WILL DIE'. During the interrogation, Myra offered the defiant refrain: Whatever Ian has done, I have done."

"Wherever he has gone, I have gone."

One of the most haunting songs I've ever heard

i think the song is ultimately about the effects of the moors murders on manchester society as a hole. with the first lines 'take me to the moor, dig a shallow grave and i'll lie me down' morrissey seems to put himself in the place of the murdered children, suggesting that everyone in manchester felt an very personal pain, that there was a sort of collective empathy, resulting from the moors murders. 'we will by your side, till the day you die' suggests the profound social effect of the murders, a crime the likes of which was truly shocking and unheard of in its day. 'manchester, so much to answer for' suggests a sense collective guilt that such a terrible thing could happen in manchester society

This is one of the best Smiths songs. Gives me shivers.

Hard to believe that this was the first song Morrissey and Marr wrote together. xod makes a good point about Hindley's sanity...after all, who could understand what was going through Brady's mind except maybe another psychopath? But Hindley? We have a sane woman of above average intelligence who helped a monster kill children for no other reason than that she loved the monster. Anyway! I feel that this is a brave song about a difficult subject.

A haunting, depressing song. Perhaps the bleakest The Smiths ever recorded. That doesn't mean it's not great, it just means it's not exactly a delight to listen to the same way some of their more upbeat singles are. None of them are exactly upbeat actually, so what does that say about this song? It's a downer even for The Smiths. Nonetheless, it's a very moving, if creepy, song about true events, which makes it all the creepier. Not to mention the crying at the end. I'm shuttering just thinking about it. Certainly one of the more powerful songs this band ever recorded, for better or for worse.

Having just learnt the guitar chords for this song, I've just been playing it over and over and really becoming absorbed into it. This song has so much going for it. The structure, the rhythm, the poetry, the plaintive vocals - so poignant and (I imagine) so cathartic for Morrissey. Thanks everyone for the above comments, it's really helped me appreciate Mozza's empathy towards the victims and his fascination with Myra Hindley. My research tells me that he was born in 59 and the Moors Murders were in 63-65 - so you can imagine the nightmares kids his age and moreso their parents were having at the time. In Sydney it was the Wanda Beach murders in 1965 that shocked a nation - but unfortunately we don't have a Morrissey to so eloquently and beautifully elucidate it. Well done Johnny Marr too!!

Apparently the line "Oh, whatever he has done, I have done" is taken from an actual quote by Hindley but slightly changed. she supposedly said "whatever Ian has done, I have done"

Ladyboygrrl, I'm not sure how exactly you got the impression that Morrissey implies the blame is Hindley's alone. What does the line "Hindley wakes, and says : 'Oh, whatever he has done, I have done' " say to you?