For those who admire Morrissey

In to Bat for a Prat

Sunday Telegraph (October 2002) - Brendan Shanahan.

Thanks to the miracle of adult nappies, I didn't wet myself when it was announced that Morrissey was to play at Livid - but I came pretty close. In my opinion, the man they call Mozza was the greatest counter-culture icon of the '80s, and I think I know why.

Allow me this tentative segue... there's a scene in a recent film called Storytelling in which a girl who has found herself sexually involved with her black university lecturer has to stare into the bathroom mirror, repeating tantrically, "Don't be a racist,Don't be a racist." before she's able to bring herself to walk into the bedroom.

What on earth does this have to do with the one-time Smiths lead singer you ask? Well, the girl in the film is a middle class leftie. She has animal-rights posters on her walls, and she specifically dates people with disabilities. She is also a total phoney who discovers too late the utter ineptitude of her highminded political ideals when she is raped by her lecturer.

Morrissey is the complete antithesis of the right-thinking, first year university student. Unlike the character from Storytelling, he's utterly honest with his own feelings - and for this reason, people love to hate him. Since leaving the Smiths, Morrissey has been labelled everything from a self-pitying whinger to an out-and-out facist. A High Court judge even described him as "devious, truculent and unreliable".

On the surface, there would seem to be some truth to these charges: Morrissey is middle-class prattishness personified. However, those who label him a pain are usually missing the point, because Morrissey's great power is his refusal to apologize. People like Henry Bollins hate Morrissey for what they deem his posey "insincerity" and his "ironic" foppishness.

What I suspect they actually dislike is their own uncomfortable realisation that Morrissey, for all his catty vindictiveness, is actually far more honest about human nature than they are with their own brand of righteous indignation.

When Mozza reminds us that "we hate it when our friends become successful". the truth of this statement makes us squirm in our seats. When he channels the ghost of Cole Porter to tell us that we are "repressed but remarkably dressed", he's got our number. And I don't think anyone has listened to the track How Soon Is Now without realizing, "Yes, that's it. That's exactly what it's like: you go to a club and stand on your own, then go home and cry and you want to die."

Morrissey: the wimp's Bruce Springsteen. I don't care how much of a snide git he is, I love Morrissey.

I love the fact that he refuses to defend himself against charges of racism. I love that he gives voice to the petty complaints of middle-class angst. I love the way he allows those with small imaginations to stew in the juices of their own self-righteousness while he prances by showering the world in a hail of gladioli stems.

I love Morrissey because unlike his detractors. when he stares in the mirror, he has no time for fashionable re-education - he's too busy combing his quiff.

Morrissey...
The Queen Is Dead?

Nice article... and Morrissey is great. If only Prince were a little more like Morrissey...

Morrissey is great. He's the only artist that can dance around with a bouquet of carnations in his hand and still be considered cool.

He's the best...what a great article. Thanks

Prince and the Smiths - 2 best acts to come out of the '80s'.
Prince and Morrissey -2002, failing to recreate the magic they produced in the 80s.
Prince - Musician in most all areas of music + one of the very best.
Morrissey - Lyricist/poet in rock/pop/rockabilly/ballads and the best lyricist in all of music...ever...no1 better!
Prince - feel good, positive music
Morrissey - feel bad, mostly negative music
Prince - dance to the music
Morrissey - can't possibly dance to the music

A duet between the 2 would b hilarious!!
love 'em both!

Saw morrissey in royal albert hall, london on Sept 17th
Saw prince play in apollo london, thur 3rd, fri 4th, sat 10th Oct and point theatre dublin thur 10th and after show in spirit, dublin 11th
Morrissey played just over an hour
Prince played~2hrs45mins each nite
Prince was far superior - professional musicians
Morrissey's current backin band are poor. esp. drummer

Nice one Gavin. And thanks for the article Diva. I love the Mozzer.

Divo, what's Morrissey up to nowadays?