"I Started Something I Couldn't Finish" is a song by the English rock band The Smiths, written by singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr and released on the group's 1987 album Strangeways, Here We Come.

However, after the BBC banned the single in the aftermath of the Hungerford massacre (the lyrics contain a reference to "mass murder"), the band selected "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish" as the replacement A-side in the UK.

[7] The B-sides included alternate and live recordings of previously released Smiths songs, alongside a cover of James' "What's the World.

Morrissey later reflected on the commercial shortcomings of the song and its follow-up, "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me": "I approved [of the singles being released] in the sense that I believe Smiths records should be heard.

[7][8] The British 7-inch and 12-inch vinyls contain the etching: "MURDER AT THE WOOL HALL"(X)STARRING SHERIDAN WHITESIDE / YOU ARE BELIEVING, YOU DO NOT WANT TO SLEEP.

The B-side etching is a reversal of "You are sleeping, you do not want to believe",[9] a sample heard at the end of the Smiths song "Rubber Ring".

Reviewing Strangeways, Here We Come in 1987, the NME called it "a classic pop song that seems to echo―believe it or not―the treasured oeuvre of T. Rex, Mud, and the Glitter Band!