Hatful of Hollow is a compilation album by the English rock band The Smiths, featuring BBC Radio 1 studio recordings and two contemporary singles with their B-sides. It was released on 12 November 1984 by the band's British record company, Rough Trade, just months after the band's debut, The Smiths. The album reached No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart and stayed on the chart for 46 weeks. Eventually, on 9 November 1993, it was also released by their American label, Sire Records, which had initially declined to release the album. Sire instead released Louder Than Bombs in the US in 1987, which contains several of the same tracks as on Hatful of Hollow, as well as The World Won't Listen.
In 2000, Q magazine placed Hatful of Hollow at number 44 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.
The current sleeve for Hatful of Hollow is the CD issue sleeve, featuring a cropped photograph of the otherwise unknown Fabrice Colette taken by Gilles Decroix. The original sleeve, pictured above, included a tattoo of a Cocteau drawing on Colette's left shoulder, which he had had done in June 1983 because he idolised Cocteau. The photograph is taken from a July 1983 special edition of the French newspaper Libération. Additionally, the old cover had a large sky blue frame with the legends "The Smiths" and "Hatful of Hollow" above and underneath the picture. All editions after 1987 however feature the cropped version with the text superimposed.
In a river the color of lead
Immerse the baby's head
Wrap her up in the news of the world
Dump her on a doorstep, Girl
This night has opened my eyes
And I will never sleep again
You kicked and cried like a bullied child
A grown man of 25,
Oh, he said he'd cure your ills
But he didn't and he never will
Oh, save your life
Because you've only got one
The dream has gone but the baby is real
Oh, you did a good thing
She could have been a poet or she could have been a fool
Oh, you did a bad thing
And I'm not happy and I'm not sad
A shoeless child on a swing
Reminds you of your own again
She took away your troubles
Oh, but then again she left pain
Oh, please save your life
Because you've only got one
The dream has gone but the baby is real
Oh, you did a good thing
She could have been a poet or she could have been a fool
Oh, you did a bad thing
And I'm not happy and I'm not sad