Top 10 Best Sam Smith Songs

Smith’s first single off his second studio album “The Thrill of It All,” this stunning ballad is as fresh – and characteristically melancholy – as you’d expect. Complete with gospel choir, plaintive crooning and sparse piano, the song goes in a different direction lyrically than the tracks off his debut: instead of a lonely man in the throes of unrequited love, Smith sings from the perspective of a man who’s had enough of his unstable relationship. “Too Good at Goodbyes” zoomed to #1 on the UK charts and stayed there for three weeks, his longest run at the top to that point – likely a sign of things to come.

One of the tracks from “In the Lonely Hour,” “Leave Your Lover” peaked at number 92 on the Billboard charts back in 2014. But that doesn’t really do the song justice, because it is pure Sam S. – beautiful, heartbreaking vocals, acoustic guitar and some truly melancholy lyrics. Like many of the songs on this album, “Leave Your Lover” is about one-sided love. Smith laments the fact that he’s fallen for someone who’s apparently already taken. He rather unsubtly sings, “Leave your lover, leave him for me.” It doesn’t get much clearer than that!

As a musician, being asked to compose the theme song for a James Bond film is like being asked if you’d like to play 007 himself. It’s an incredible honor, one that is almost always reserved for one of music’s brightest stars. So we can only imagine Smith’s delight when he was asked to write and sing the theme song for the 2015’s “Spectre.” And, it shows: the song set a record by becoming the first Bond theme to top the UK Singles Chart, and later took home both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song. The writing IS on the wall: Sam Smith’s got talent!

What is it with Sam Smith and love triangles? The man apparently has no shortage of lyrics devoted to his feelings for unavailable people. “Like I Can” proved to be yet another UK Top 10 song for him and served as the fifth single from his debut album. Unlike many of his other lovelorn tracks, this one has a decidedly upbeat tone – although that may just be a cover for how Smith’s really feeling. If the video’s any indication, the person Smith is singing about is getting married, and he’s attending the bachelor party. But if that is the case, then this one is way darker that we thought.

*SNIFF* Okay, now that we’ve composed ourselves after listening to this track, we’ll tell you a bit about Sam Smith’s debut single. Yeah, as you’ve probably guessed, “Lay Me Down” isn’t one of the British singer’s cheerier songs; in fact, it’s downright heart-wrenching. Smith’s lyrics describe a tale of loss and the grief that follows, and its music video tells a similar story. A hauntingly beautiful song, it remains one of Smith’s most recognizable – and agonizing – tracks, especially after it was re-recorded and re-released in 2015 as the sixth single from “In the Lonely Hour.”

Smith is no stranger to collaborating with other artists. In fact, “Latch,” which turned out to be his breakout hit, was actually created with Disclosure, an EDM group made up of fellow Brits – and brothers – Guy and Lawrence Howard. The song overflows with soul, as Smith’s hopeful lyrics mesh perfectly with Disclosure’s unique beats. Peaking at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, “Latch” catapulted all three musicians into the mainstream and served as the catalyst for future collaborations on songs like “Omen.” If you’ve been searching for the perfect banger, look no further.