Morrissey: Final Paper

Half a Person

The mainstream music scene of the 1980’s was dominated by heavily produced acts that seemed to take excess to an entirely new level. The advent of MTV and vast entertainment monoliths such as Madonna and Michael Jackson also dominated the attention of the public and monopolized the press. It was into this image-obsessed world that a gladiola waving, introvert from Manchester hit the pop scene straight from living on “the dole”, sequestered in his room, writing, reading and listening to music. As lead singer of the Smiths, Morrissey helped usher in the age of “indie” music and college rock that has proved to be extraordinarily influential to this day. Morrissey in particular broke from the rock hero frontman archetype that had been popularized by Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones; instead of preening and strutting, Morrissey wailed and flailed around as if he were in a torment.
Even Morrissey’s influences were different than most in pop. Instead of looking back to American bluesmen, his American influences were James Dean and Patti Smith. Also important as influences were Oscar Wilde and the kitchen-sink dramas of the 1960’s that were prevalent on the British stage and in film. In fact, in one of the Smiths’ songs, “Cemetery Gates” on their masterpiece The Queen is Dead, Morrissey sings “Keats and Yeats are on your side, but you lose because Wilde is on mine”. This namedropping of poets was not part of the rock tradition, especially poets who were not seen as romantic, outlaw figures like Arthur Rimbaud or Francois Villon who had earlier influenced Bob Dylan and John Lennon.
Another thing that sets Morrissey apart from the typical rock icon is how his musical career was preceded by his avid fandom. This may seem odd to the reader but Morrissey took his fandom beyond many others as he wrote books about his favorite B-movie actors, James Dean and the band that he says influenced him more than any other, the New York Dolls. Throughout his career, Morrissey’s passion for the New York Dolls has remained constant and he even helped them to reunite in 2004 and become a vital band yet again. He has never been shy about hiding his influences and likely knowingly patterns himself after Wilde’s remark that “Talent borrows, genius steals”. He also has been extremely critical of those who he does not like, including at times the Cure, the Rolling Stones, Elton John and conservatives. This makes for very interesting and often controversial press and this outspokenness helps to cement his outsider status.
The title of the Smiths’ sophomore album Meat is Murder clearly shows another theme of Morrissey’s, which is staunch vegetarianism. This was a very provocative stand for the band to take and it did not shy away at all from making it, as in the first record, Morrissey wrote a song about the infamous Moors Murders titled “Suffer Little Children” which many critics misinterpreted as a mockery of the dead. Misinterpretation is something that Morrissey has dealt with throughout his career as he has been accused of everything from racism to conservatism and his sexuality has been debated through most of his career event though he usually maintained that he is celibate and even a “Representative of the fourth sex”. Morrissey’s sexuality is something that can be debated adamantly without a consensus ever being reached as many of his lyrics and statements on the subject contradict each other. In songs such as “William, It was Really Nothing”, Morrissey even takes the odd step of lyrically portraying himself as a friend advising his buddy not to marry a girl, which is not the usual fodder for a two-minute pop song. Though it must be said that Morrissey has never played the game much as everyone does. In 2006, he stated that he would not include Canada in his then tour as the country allows seal hunting, which as a vegetarian, he is vehemently against.
After the break-up of the Smiths, most critics and listeners expected Johnny Marr, the brilliantly melodic guitarist of the band to go on to having the lengthy career while Morrissey would fade away into obscurity but from his first single, the glistening “Suedehead”, it became clear that Morrissey would not be going anywhere soon and since then, he has had a productive and mostly brilliant solo career. He has had his fair share of detractors, who disparage him when he changes or who bemoan him for not subverting his sound and he took a seven year absence from his recording career but since he has been back, he has been more prominent than ever and has taken his position as an elder statesman of alternative rock and British rock in general. Since his ‘comeback’ in 2004 with You are the Quarry, his detractors no longer summarily dismiss him but Morrissey now finds himself held responsible for the legions of critically despised emo bands that littered the musical landscape of the noughties. Entertainers from all over the world proclaim his influence and the influential British music magazine NME even declared Morrissey to be the greatest musical artist of all time, which, while probably hyperbolic, does show the esteem that he is held in today. Songs such as “Please, Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want” or “Every Day is Like Sunday” are now covered by indie bands or included in movie soundtracks. Indeed, Morrissey has even become to some people a figure akin to Paul McCartney or Bob Dylan: a symbol of when rock music was grander and when rock music could really, truly mean something.
What served to bring back Morrissey’s popularity? The answer seems to lie in the sheer fact the generation who grew with the advent of college radio of which The Smiths were one of the beacons. Morrissey has his music, and just as importantly, his personality, handed down like secret knowledge from generation to generation. Though he has never had the monolithic popularity of The Beatles, like them, Morrissey provides music that is universal and filled with truth. The Smiths managed to be so of their time while also managing to be anachronistic with their references to kitchen-sink drama and Wilde references. Perhaps the most fascinating group of Morrissey devotees has been the Latino gang culture of Southern California. This is a fixation that has not been particularly studied yet but has been remarked on, as they have become, perhaps, his most devoted fans. Maybe they have found within the work of this working-class, willfully asexual lad from Manchester, the mix of bravado, sensitivity and self-aggrandizement. Either way, observing those attending a Morrissey concert today can be seen as something akin to a transformative religious experience for many of them. It cannot be said that his fans lack loyalty to the man.
Morrissey’s vitality shows no sign of waning and he has become something of an “Indie Godfather”. An endearing facet of his career sees him continuing to release physical singles, even though so much of music has moved to the digital realm and he continues to save many of his best songs for b-sides. While his most groundbreaking work was done while he was in The Smiths, his presence continues to be very strongly felt upon the music scene and reflected in music, that he with his usual contrariness often decries. As the man once sang “The more you ignore me, the closer I get” and a music industry that tried very dearly to ignore him for many years, has found that their efforts were clearly in vain.