Hairdresser on Fire

"Hairdresser on Fire" was first released as one of the B-sides on the "Suedehead" single in February 1988. Morrissey's record label EMI liked the song and pushed for it to be included on Morrissey's subsequent studio album Viva Hate, but Morrissey and Street had decided on a track list already and refused to include the track.^[6] The song ultimately appeared on the North American release of Viva Hate as well as on the 1990 compilation album Bona Drag. In 2012, Street remarked that the song should have been included on that year's expanded re-release of Viva Hate, though Morrissey ultimately refused to include B-sides from the period on the reissue.^[7]

It has since appeared on compilation albums The CD Singles '88–91' and The Best of Morrissey. Morrissey has performed the song live sporadically since its release, including for the 2004 birthday concert featured in the film Who Put the M in Manchester?. He began performing the song live again during his 2018 tour, marking the first time he performed the song live since 2004.^[8]

"Hairdresser on Fire" has seen critical acclaim since its release. Upon its release in 1988, the song was described by Sounds as "inspiring."^[9] In his 1990 review of Bona Drag, Stuart Maconie of the NME said the song was "right up there with the very best of The Smiths" and commented, "'Hairdresser' is perfect, from the warm lyricism of the string introduction to those great lines about 'busy scissors' - funny, tender and sad."^[10] In a retrospective review, The Quietus called the song "arguably the finest B-side of Morrissey's career."^[11]

Stereogum ranked it as Morrissey's sixth best solo song, writing, "The impeccably rendered character study 'Hairdresser on Fire' is the sort of thing one can only imagine Morrissey pulling off."^[12] The Chicago Tribune ranked the song as Morrissey's seventh best solo track, writing, "The only thing prettier than the strings on this song is the orchestra that is Morrissey's dulcet croon."^[13] Spin rated it his eleventh best,^[14] while The Guardian included the song in their unranked top ten Morrissey songs, stating, "For someone so routinely dismissed as a navel-gazing misanthrope, 'Hairdresser on Fire' is probably the greatest example of Moz poking fun at his own reputation as a harbinger of doom: it's intentionally ridiculous, the bathos of the grand, sweeping swings and chiming bells used to soundtrack a fusspot having kittens about his hair."^[15]