"We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful" is a single by Morrissey

Morrissey

Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...

 released in April 1992. It was taken from the then-unreleased Your Arsenal

Your Arsenal

Your Arsenal is a 1992 album by British singer Morrissey, which was released through HMV Records. The album was regarded by many fans and critics as his strongest and heaviest effort yet upon its release...

album and was the first Morrissey single to be written by Alain Whyte

Alain Whyte

Alain Gordon Whyte is an English guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is most known for being Morrissey's main songwriting partner since 1991 and his lead guitarist from 1991-2004...

 and produced by glam rock

Glam rock

Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...

 legend Mick Ronson

Mick Ronson

Michael "Mick" Ronson was an English guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer. He is best known for his work with David Bowie, as one of The Spiders from Mars...

.

Reaching number 17 in the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

, the song shows a harder edge to Morrissey's sound and moves away from the lighter pop of his 1991 album Kill Uncle

Kill Uncle

Kill Uncle is Morrissey's second solo album, released on 4 March 1991 by EMI and HMV Records...

.

The Swedish synthpop band Universal Poplab

Universal Poplab

Universal Poplab is a Swedish synthpop band founded in January 2002 by vocalist Christer Lundberg and producer Paul Lachenardière. The band's two members have very different backgrounds: Christer is an old-school synthpop fan, influenced by acts like Soft Cell and Yazoo, Paul is a classically...

 covered the song on their debutalbum Universal Poplab from 2004, in a duet with the Swedish pop singer Håkan Hellström

Håkan Hellström

Håkan Hellström is a Swedish musician. He got his Swedish breakthrough in the year 2000 with the song "Känn ingen sorg för mig Göteborg"...

.

Reel Big Fish

Reel Big Fish

Reel Big Fish is an American ska punk band from Huntington Beach, California, best known for the 1997 hit "Sell Out". The band gained mainstream recognition in the mid-to-late 1990s, during the third wave of ska with the release of the gold certified album Turn the Radio Off. Soon after, the band...

 covered the song on their 2005 album We're Not Happy 'til You're Not Happy

We're Not Happy 'Til You're Not Happy

We're Not Happy 'til You're Not Happy is the fifth LP by Orange County ska punk band, Reel Big Fish.The follow-up to the band's moderately successful Cheer Up!, We're Not Happy 'til You're Not Happy was released on April 5, 2005 on Mojo Records...

, replacing the lyric "And if they are Northern" with "And if they are No Doubt

No Doubt

No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California that formed in 1986. The ska-pop sound of their first album No Doubt , failed to make an impact...

".

Morrissey claimed that the lyrics were about the music scene in Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, with bands contesting for success.

7" vinyl and cassette

1. "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful"
2. "Suedehead" (live London 4/10/91)

12" vinyl (UK)

1. "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful"
2. "Suedehead" (live London 4/10/91)
3. "I've Changed My Plea to Guilty" (live London 4/10/91)
4. "Pregnant for the Last Time" (live London 4/10/91)

CD (UK)

1. "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful"
2. "Suedehead" (live London 4/10/91)
3. "I've Changed My Plea to Guilty" (live London 4/10/91)
4. "Alsatian Cousin" (live London 4/10/91)

12" vinyl and CD (USA)

1. "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful"
2. "Suedehead" (live London 4/10/91)
3. "I've Changed My Plea to Guilty" (live London 4/10/91)
4. "Pregnant for the Last Time" (live London 4/10/91)
5. "Alsatian Cousin" (live London 4/10/91)

Country	Record label	Format	Catalogue number
UK	HMV	7" vinyl	POP1629
UK	HMV	12" vinyl	12POP1629
UK	HMV	Compact disc	CDPOP1629
UK	HMV	Cassette	TCPOP1629

Reviews

Andrew Collins in NME

NME

The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

gave a very negative review of the single, writing that "this is by far and away the ex-Smith's WORST single" and described the music as "the sound of five men bashing around in the darkness in search of a tune" before finishing the review by announcing "Moz is history, and we'd all do well to learn it."

Musicians

• Morrissey: voice
• Alain Whyte: guitar
• Boz Boorer: guitar
• Gary Day: bass guitar
• Spencer Cobrin: drums

Live performances

The song was debuted on the 2nd US leg of his tour promoting the Kill Uncle album. The first half of the song was performed during the aborted gig at Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, in 1991, in which 48 people were injured as the crowd rushed the stage. It was then performed in concert for the duration of his tour in 1992 promoting Your Arsenal.

External links

• "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful" at Passions Just Like Mine
• "[ We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful"] Review at Allmusic