Anyone who knows me knows how much I love The Smiths, a band who wrote songs that spoke so clearly to angst ridden young people such as yours truly back in the early 80s. Morrissey has increasingly become a right wing loon and general pillock as the years went by, and I wonder how someone of such sensitivity could become so self obsessed (try reading his dreadful autobiography) and with the subtlety of a blunderbuss. Can one separate the music and the man? And today I read this. Can it get worse?
Well not a Smiths fan, but never listened to them… but there are many bands that i liked the music, that just to my mind lost the plot. Most of my former heroes are a great memory, i just enjoy that moment in time.
I adore The Smiths, and like a lot of Morrissey’s solo work (especially Vauxhall And I). But he lost me a couple of albums ago. As his views have grown more rabid, his music has deteriorated. It’s all very sad – and even more tiresome.
I saw him live in Miami in 2014. The next day, he claimed to be too ill to continue his tour. But he was well enough to head to Brazil, where some England players were hobnobbing with him before the World Cup.
So a d***head, as well as disrespectful to fans who’d bought tickets and had made travelling arrangements from all over the States to see him.
Well, he always was a bit of a plonker who was harmless. But recently, he’s taken a darker turn. Don’t like him at all.
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I first saw them at Leicester Poly in November 83. With four encores it was, other than Joy Division, the best gig I’ve ever been to, with an atmosphere that was electric. He’s only two years older than me but I’ve not become a right wing moron spouting crap. Before anyone says anything I’m a left wing moron spouting crap… I guess I’ll just separate him from the wondrous Smiths albums and keep listening. It’s such a shame.
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It’s a shame as The Smith’s where superb. They hit home to those of us greatly effected by the Thatcher years like no other. It’s hard to imagine he’s the same person today. He was always highly strung and self obsessed but he sang with conviction about things that mattered and where were the county was imbalanced.
If you look now, there are no bands that have the same conviction in this area as they had back then, where has the protest gone this was what rock n roll.came from after all. I was hoping with the mess the countries in and years of Tory rule again politics would return to music, alas it’s not.
I think it is fair to separate the artist from their art. If we didn’t, a lot of artists would have their art ignored!
All people are imperfect, although some far more than others. I know I don’t feel guilty hearing a Michael Jackson song, even if I strongly hate everything he has been accused of.
I wonder how much of the royalties or proceeds from album sales (not much these days I’d imagine) go to funding hate through For Britain. I don’t think I could bring myself to buy a new release, just in case. Of course, The Smiths music comes from the genius of Johnny Marr, who wrote the songs and gave the music to Morrissey who then added the lyrics. But my goodness, the lyrics were brilliant. There’s a club if you’d like to go, you might meet someone who really loves you. So you go and you stand on your own, and you leave on your own, and you go home and you cry and you want to die. Haven’t we all felt like that? How can someone who can write that become so lumpen?
Agree that he always was a narcissist. Regrettably his politics have become more unpalatable over time but his self-obession is enduring.
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Hi Halibut,
Why not write a protest song? I believe you are a talented person and if there is one on this forum who is verbally gifted, it is you.
In the end music is a very effective medium.
Ardbeg
If you look too closely at the private lives of your favourite artists you’ll soon be pruning your record collection. Sadly it is not always a case of this charming man. I have no idea why Morrissey resents the Green Lantern Corps.
I used to be such a sweet, sweet thing
'Til they got a hold of me
I’d open doors for little old ladies
I helped the blind to see
But my dog bit me on the leg today
My cat clawed my eyes
Ma’s been thrown out of the social circle
And dad has to hide
So I went to church incognito
When everybody rose
The Reverend Smedley, he recognized me
And punched me in the nose
Perhaps the Moz will have the last laugh.
He seems to counter his darkness with a somewhat known light.
He always liked that in between being of a protagonist, antagonist and victim… perhaps you need to read between the lines more sharply.
The idea that he was anything other than self-obsessed is a little weird.
Loved their early Peel sessions; the first album; Hatful of Hollow and The Queen Is Dead. The solo stuff never rose above pale pastiche. Saw them live in Leeds early doors and later on too. Frankly, R.E.M. hammered them live. Every time. Marr is a lovely man and I enjoy hearing Joyce doing Radical Readings every so often but if ever a band were temporarily more than the sum of their parts.
No never have.
Clubbing is not my scene.
Seals are nice animals.
TBH I don’t dislike the Smiths, but I don’t find the song writing to be anything other than good. Morrissey is no Jacques Brel.
I think you do need to separate music from the individual, especially where politics gets involved, although at this instant I can’t think of a direct parallel where an artist has seemed to have views on social or political things aligned with mine in music, but opposed in real life opposed, or in time becoming opposed.
At a tangential, but I think valid, comparison of the principle, there are one or two people on the forum whose taste in music, approach to hifi, and hifi system appreciation seem to be quite similar to my own, yet when it come to consideration of Brexit their position was completely opposite to mine, with, it seemed, no common ground.
@anon4489532 I know exactly how you feel. There was a band in Aus in the 80s called Midnight Oil, they were politically motivated and spoke to generation that was begging for change. They sang about indigenous rights and lands, about big business’ lack of morals, western governments love of war and the cost to those that couldn’t defend themselves and saving the planet. They were raw and without doubt one of the best live bands I’ve ever seen.
They were like a breath of fresh air, something to unite behind.
Their lead singer, Peter Garrett joined the Greens and continued the fight, however he later jumped ship and joined the Labour Party from there he was parachuted into a safe seat. He quickly became just another boring self obsessed politician who was more concerned with re-election than actually doing anything. I felt he’d let us down (I still feel that way).
I didn’t like Mossisey simply because Bowie didn’t like him (I know I’m shallow), maybe Bowie saw something that you missed, or it could just been jealousy who knows.
Think these people start off with good intentions but then they become successful and as we all know money changes everything. Or could it be that we just have unrealistic expectations of people who after all are “just a singer in a rock and roll band” and we just set ourselves up to be let down.
Ah yes, Money Changes Everything. A fine Smiths song. I once worked on a project to save £1m at work with a little team, all of us Smiths fanatics. The whole project was run on Smiths lyrics. Great fun.
Yes, and it’s apparently changed him.
I’m going to take some convincing Morrissey has changed in any way. A number of his pronouncements in the band were entirely consistent with his world view now and a number of his finest lyrics could be read as looking down on people in a highly judgmental manner. Money has nothing to do with it.
A bigger question might be has the forum become miserable, I’ve noticed a few threads that are turning a little nasty recently. Even the joke thread went sideways. Is it because there’s now no political threads were arguments can be hammered out, steam can let off and feelings be expressed or are we just a bunch of angry individuals with too much time on our hands. Anyway back to the music.
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