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| Me Morrissey Interview - November 1983 |
| Posted on 06/05/05 at 06:49 by dead ball descendant |
Stepping on Toes - Morrissey Dances Home
The Smiths are prepared for success. Over the last year they have sweetly moved up from gear to gear with such awesome confidence in themselves as the only musical alternative, that the country is falling in love again. This time it feels like true love, this time it will be forever. The Smiths are not prepared for failure, there will be no more broken hearts.
I spoke to Morrissey, the voice of The Smiths on stage and off, in the wake of 24th November. The day The Smiths graced the 'ugly' face of Top Of The Pops, then rushed home to play to a Hacienda crowd who rejoiced in the reflected glory of The Smiths' assured success.
Morrissey spoke of the day's affairs.
"Today is important because of Manchester. It means we've conquered Manchester. Whereas we've made very inspiring appearances in the past, this one seems to legitimise everything we do, and that really pleases me. I got the impression tonight that we really didn't have to do anything, we didn't have to play and we didn't have to say anything. People were very accepting which I think implies that The Smiths are possibly something beyond music which is really a state of being, a frame of mind."
Morrissey's very real determination for success has two roots. One is the genuine, professional concern of a creator, perhaps even a teacher, to make what is basically a simple point understood by as many as possible. The second root seems much thicker, it has hardened over the years. This is Morrissey's personal determination for a personal victory over what he refers to as the Manchester clique.
"For a very long time I've struggled. People have spat on me and it's very fulfilling to come back here tonight and kick certain people in the teeth. It really is that brutal because so many people in the so-called music establishment of Manchester have been closing doors on me for a long time when I wanted to do exactly this. The whole thing about being charming and handsome, the cult of the beautiful, is something I proposed to several influential people in Manchester over six years ago and i was literally hounded out of the city and laughed at. So to come here tonight and t step on people's toes is immensely satisfying."
Morrissey admits that this opportunity would not have presented itself but for the meeting with guitarist Johnny Marr.
"If I'd never met Johnny I don't think I'd be here now to be honest because at the time he came it was really the 11th hour. I was quite desperate and he just turned up on his own initiative."
The inherent optimism of The Smiths is strangely mixed with a certain fatalism possessed by Morrissey.
"Nothing really lasts. This next year is going to be interesting but I don't make plans anymore, I just struggle through each day, it's the only way you can live. I don;t set guidelines by saying that in three months we should be doing this or that - whatever will happen will happen. If The Smiths last for a long time, that's wonderful, but if we don't, we don't. I think we've already made a point anyway."
Ah yes, a point has been made but The Smiths, and in particular their writer, have the potential for so much more. Politics?
"I've always been very strongly political but I think you can only take it so far before people get very bored and the whole thing becomes monotonous. Although having said that, I feel that a lot of what we do is quite political, if not concerned with governmental issues then certainly with sexual politics."
Sexual politics in a romantic way?
"I certainly couldnt deal with them in an obscene way, I can't talk about sex in terms of nipples"
Mammary glands but not nipples...?
"Well so many people that try to say something forthright in love songs tend to go all around the houses when what they really want to say is 'I want to get my hands on your mammary glands'"
Romance?
"Well you can look at anything in life and make it seem romantic, just as you can look at anything and make it seem absurd. To me romance is romance, but of traditional romance... well, I've not had a great deal of involvement in that direction, so all the observations I have are very distant. If you like, it's largely guesswork but I feel that is a very valid view of romance, as opposed to the kind of view that we always get from then person that's right in there, knows everything, has done everything and wants everything."
Some sort of romance seems to be the undercoat for The Smiths' paintings. Let's look at some of the finishing touches, most importantly - what no love affair should be without - the flowers of romance.
"People who don't like the idea of flowers mention hippydom. It's like an insult, a slur, but I don't recognise that at all. The pre-Raphaelites were drenched in flowers. Flowers are a reaction against the industrial ethic because Manchester's such a gloomy place that the people who live here are going to reflect the gloom, and for years this was happening and I found it impossible to come and see groups because everyone was so inverted and depressed, they wanted to kill themselves. I really wanted to break through this iciness and I think the flowers work in an absolutely perfect way."
Morrissey the philosopher. It does seem however that Morrissey, always very articulate, becomes his most fluent when philosophying, or talking about the very reason behind his word - what it's all about.
"I gaze upon the rest of the world and I see that people really do need voices in certain directions and I feel that I have a great deal to say, which sounds incredibly pompous, but there you are."
It took a long time to find any issue upon which Morrissey admitted confusion but find it we did when I mentioned his newly-found popularity.
"I know, it's funny because I'll probably be stood at the bus stop in an hour not being able to get a lift anywhere. It's very strange, I haven't quite fathomed it. It's quite spectacular in one way because although these recent performances have been quite overwhelming, at the end of the day, when you're sat on your own at home, your old fears are still with you."
Morrissey was taken away to meet drummer Mike Joyce's family at this point. Apparently his niece wanted to meet him. I can't blame her. There are so many adjectives to describe this man and, ironically, the most suitable are the ones that occur so regularly in his songs. He seems so in control with everything that is happening to The Smiths that one can only feel serenely confident in the future of our affair. Perhaps the fact that he has been waiting for the victory for so long means that he can be philosophical about it. Morrissey does have a great deal to say, this is nothing new to our world of popular music but it seems novel that this man is articulate, sincere and surprising. Hush now, and listen to what he is saying.
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