On this day in 1986 (21 July 1986), The Smiths released the single “Panic”. Morrissey considered the song's appearance on daytime British radio a "tiny revolution" in its own way, as it aired amongst the very music it criticised.
In 2007, NME placed "Panic" at number 21 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever.
In 2017, Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone placed the song number six in his ranking of 73 songs by the Smiths.
[Verse 1]
Panic on the streets of London
Panic on the streets of Birmingham
I wonder to myself...
Could life ever be sane again?
The Leeds side-streets that you slip down
I wonder to myself...
[Verse 2]
Hopes may rise on the Grasmere
But, Honey Pie, you're not safe here
So you run down to the safety of the town
But there's panic on the streets of Carlisle
Dublin, Dundee, Humberside
I wonder to myself...
[Chorus]
Burn down the disco
Hang the blessed DJ
Because the music that they constantly play
It says nothing to me about my life
Hang the blessed DJ
Because the music they constantly play
[Verse 3]
On the Leeds side-streets that you slip down
Provincial towns you jog 'round
[Outro]
Hang the DJ, hang the DJ, hang the DJ
Hang the DJ, hang the DJ, hang the DJ
Hang the DJ, hang the DJ, hang the DJ
Hang the DJ, hang the DJ
Hang the DJ, hang the DJ
Hang the DJ, hang the DJ, hang the DJ
Hang the DJ, hang the DJ
Hang the DJ, hang the DJ
Hang the DJ, hang the DJ, hang the DJ
Hang the DJ, hang the DJ
Hang the DJ, hang the DJ
Hang the DJ, hang the DJ, hang the DJ
Hang the DJ, hang the DJ