The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (track)
by The Smiths
Year: 1984
From the album The Smiths (track #5)
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The Hand That Rocks The Cradle appears on the following album(s) by The Smiths:
- The Smiths (track #5) (this album) (1984)
- Complete (track #5) (compilation) (2011)
- Meat Is Murder / The Smiths (track #15) (compilation) (1986)
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The Hand That Rocks The Cradle ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
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Showing latest 3 ratings for this track. | Show all 304 ratings for this track.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Track ratings | Avg. track rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 09/01/2026 10:33 | Siromynian | 20,078 | 71/100 |
| ! | 08/17/2026 23:11 |  VictorVale | 44,392 | 89/100 |
| ! | 06/22/2026 14:57 |  DommeDamian | 78,468 | 51/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some tracks can have several thousand ratings)
This track is rated in the top 3% of all tracks on BestEverAlbums.com. This track has a Bayesian average rating of 82.2/100, a mean average of 81.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 82.4/100. The standard deviation for this track is 12.0.
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The Hand That Rocks The Cradle comments
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DriftingOrpheus 03/31/2020 07:30 | #249328
Simply the most underrated piece of music the Manchester boys ever put out. Lovely song that is devastatingly poignant.
Martini 11/01/2020 15:32 | #260049
One of the first songs Morrissy and Marr wrote together. Their brilliant combination immediately shows in the beautiful music and gorgeous lyrics. One of their most beautiful songs in my opinion, and that says a lot when talking about The Smiths.
Musically repetitive, as it sits on one chord progression from beginning to end, but nonetheless beautiful. The final "I did my best for her" repeating section is so gorgeous.
GandalfORiley345 06/22/2014 18:08 | #115015
So, this is the song that rocks the cradle, amazing sound, acceptable, decent, incredibly good in my words, I´m sure of that
