The Smiths & Morrissey thread

Johnny guested on a couple of numbers at the Crowded House gig at Castlefield last night.
Great to see him.
 
No doubt the journalists will pick up on this one the wrong way and wade in.
Morrissey's response to the Manchester Arena bombing.

Bonfire of Teenagers:

Bonfire of Teenagers
Which is so high in May north-west sky
Oh, you should've seen her leave for the arena
On the way, she turned and waved and smiled: "Goodbye"
Goodbye

And the silly people sing: "Don't Look Back in Anger"
And the morons swing and say: "Don't Look Back in Anger"
I can assure you I will look back in anger 'till the day I die

Bonfire of Teenagers
Which is so high in May north-west sky
Oh, you should've seen her leave for the arena
Only to be vapourized
Vapourized

And the silly people sing: "Don't Look Back in Anger"
And the morons swing and say: "Don't Look Back in Anger"
I can assure you I will look back in anger 'till the day I die

Go easy on the killer
Go easy on the killer
Go easy on the killer
Go easy on the killer...

 
Last edited:
Mad Eyed Screamer said:
No doubt the journalists will pick up on this one the wrong way and wade in.
Morrissey's response to the Manchester Arena bombing.

Bonfire of Teenagers:

Bonfire of Teenagers
Which is so high in May north-west sky
Oh, you should've seen her leave for the arena
On the way, she turned and waved and smiled: "Goodbye"
Goodbye

And the silly people sing: "Don't Look Back in Anger"
And the morons swing and say: "Don't Look Back in Anger"
I can assure you I will look back in anger 'till the day I die

Bonfire of Teenagers
Which is so high in May north-west sky
Oh, you should've seen her leave for the arena
Only to be vapourized
Vapourized

And the silly people sing: "Don't Look Back in Anger"
And the morons swing and say: "Don't Look Back in Anger"
I can assure you I will look back in anger 'till the day I die

Go easy on the killer
Go easy on the killer
Go easy on the killer
Go easy on the killer...

Click to expand...

Why?

Don't understand why he wants to antagonise people with such an event that is still very raw to mancunians!

Or have I totally missed the point?
 
manimanc said:
Why?

Don't understand why he wants to antagonise people with such an event that is still very raw to mancunians!

Or have I totally missed the point?
Click to expand...
I think he's making a point about how he saw the 'display' of grief and the pursuit of justice. Not sure I agree with him or it's a hill I'd choose to die on, but it's a free world and he's every right to raise these questions I suppose - even if it only makes us use rather than change our minds.
 
Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese said:
I think he's making a point about how he saw the 'display' of grief and the pursuit of justice. Not sure I agree with him or it's a hill I'd choose to die on, but it's a free world and he's every right to raise these questions I suppose - even if it only makes us use rather than change our minds.
Click to expand...
I think - like Suffer Little Children about the victims of Hindley & Brady - he approaches the song with empathy / sympathy for the victims and families.
See the lines 3 and 4.

And the next thing is thousands of folk are in St Anne's Sq singing Don't Look Back In Anger. But it's not their kid or relative who has been killed so very easy for them to sing the song.
Morrissey is putting himself in the relatives (more likely) position of being very angry about the event particularly when it is known that the perpetrator was known to security forces but not watched closely enough.
 
I love Morrissey and I love The Smiths but I think he's out morriseyed himself with this one.
Thanks to @Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese for pointing out what I missed about the 'display' of grief, I get that as I feel people jump on the public display and want to be seen being part of it though it means nothing to them but the lyrics are too close to the bone.
Yes sing about the arena bombing by all means or if it was up to me just leave it alone but some of words in it are totally inappropriate.

I get it that you need exposure and you got a new album to promote but please don't piggyback it off a tragedy that is still raw like an open wound.
 
Mad Eyed Screamer said:
I think - like Suffer Little Children about the victims of Hindley & Brady - he approaches the song with empathy / sympathy for the victims and families.
See the lines 3 and 4.

And the next thing is thousands of folk are in St Anne's Sq singing Don't Look Back In Anger. But it's not their kid or relative who has been killed so very easy for them to sing the song.
Morrissey is putting himself in the relatives (more likely) position of being very angry about the event particularly when it is known that the perpetrator was known to security forces but not watched closely enough.
Click to expand...
Couldn't agree more, but like suffer little children I expect he'll get pelters until one of the bereaved parents says they like it.
 
manimanc said:
I love Morrissey and I love The Smiths but I think he's out morriseyed himself with this one.
Thanks to @Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese for pointing out what I missed about the 'display' of grief, I get that as I feel people jump on the public display and want to be seen being part of it though it means nothing to them but the lyrics are too close to the bone.
Yes sing about the arena bombing by all means or if it was up to me just leave it alone but some of words in it are totally inappropriate.

I get it that you need exposure and you got a new album to promote but please don't piggyback it off a tragedy that is still raw like an open wound.
Click to expand...
The grief thing is difficult, some folk love to put it out there but for others it's a very private thing. For me it's a private thing, but what matters is how we cope and get out the other side, so if for some people making a huge flower display and singing an oasis song helps then who am I (or Morrissey) to criticise? I'd be sad if he is just piggybacking a tragedy to sell records - I think art, poetry, theatre should be difficult at times and make us think.
 
manimanc said:
I love Morrissey and I love The Smiths but I think he's out morriseyed himself with this one.
Thanks to @Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese for pointing out what I missed about the 'display' of grief, I get that as I feel people jump on the public display and want to be seen being part of it though it means nothing to them but the lyrics are too close to the bone.
Yes sing about the arena bombing by all means or if it was up to me just leave it alone but some of words in it are totally inappropriate.

I get it that you need exposure and you got a new album to promote but please don't piggyback it off a tragedy that is still raw like an open wound.
Click to expand...
Which lines are inappropriate?
 
Mad Eyed Screamer said:
Which lines are inappropriate?
Click to expand...
Maybe I'm being sensitive but saying people get vapourized and go easy on the killer.

Oh my fuckin lordy lordy.

The penny's just dropped. I get it now.

Deary me, it's just clicked. As I'm typing my reply out it's hit me the angle which morrissey is viewing it at.

What a tit. Mind you it is 430 in the morning.
 
manimanc said:
Maybe I'm being sensitive but saying people get vapourized and go easy on the killer.

Oh my fuckin lordy lordy.

The penny's just dropped. I get it now.

Deary me, it's just clicked. As I'm typing my reply out it's hit me the angle which morrissey is viewing it at.

What a tit. Mind you it is 430 in the morning.
Click to expand...
The Great Man is a lyrical genius....
 
Mad Eyed Screamer said:
I think - like Suffer Little Children about the victims of Hindley & Brady - he approaches the song with empathy / sympathy for the victims and families.
See the lines 3 and 4.

And the next thing is thousands of folk are in St Anne's Sq singing Don't Look Back In Anger. But it's not their kid or relative who has been killed so very easy for them to sing the song.
Morrissey is putting himself in the relatives (more likely) position of being very angry about the event particularly when it is known that the perpetrator was known to security forces but not watched closely enough.
Click to expand...
I couldn’t disagree more. This is an ugly, crude lyric.

I think to compare it to Suffer Little Children is just wishful thinking on your part. Suffer Little Children is everything this new song is not. It had a genuine sense of empathy and was entirely lacking in the sensationalist language that Morrissey has chosen to employ on his latest song. Vaporisation? I really don’t know how anyone can read that line and not think it is sensationalist and entirely lacking in empathy with the victims and their families.

Similarly, his attack on the community response to the bombing by sneering at crowds of people singing Don’t Look Back In Anger is, in my view, spectacularly ill-judged. The response was based on the (again, in my view) wholly correct view that hatred should not be the response to the bombing and that extremism shouldn’t win - a view articulately expressed by Dan Hett, the brother of Martyn who was killed in the bombing.

Again, this song lacks any of the beauty and dignity of Suffer Little Children, a song that actually did speak to the sense of the collective view of the community and the sense of shared guilt felt as a result of the murders in the line “Oh Manchester, so much to answer for”.

I have a genuine, deep and lasting love for The Smiths. They were funny, charming, eloquent and warm. For many of us, they really did give us the songs that made us smile, made us cry and saved our lives.

But the Morrissey that wrote those songs is long gone, long consumed by hubris, vanity and bitterness.

Some of you appear so unable to see what is staring you in the face about what Morrissey is now, so invested in what he used to be that you’re unwilling to admit who he now is: an angry, embittered old man with increasingly dodgy views and lacking in any of the enormous charm, grace and style of his younger self.
 
union city blue said:
I couldn’t disagree more. This is an ugly, crude lyric.

I think to compare it to Suffer Little Children is just wishful thinking on your part. Suffer Little Children is everything this new song is not. It had a genuine sense of empathy and was entirely lacking in the sensationalist language that Morrissey has chosen to employ on his latest song. Vaporisation? I really don’t know how anyone can read that line and not think it is sensationalist and entirely lacking in empathy with the victims and their families.

Similarly, his attack on the community response to the bombing by sneering at crowds of people singing Don’t Look Back In Anger is, in my view, spectacularly ill-judged. The response was based on the (again, in my view) wholly correct view that hatred should not be the response to the bombing and that extremism shouldn’t win - a view articulately expressed by Dan Hett, the brother of Martyn who was killed in the bombing.

Again, this song lacks any of the beauty and dignity of Suffer Little Children, a song that actually did speak to the sense of the collective view of the community and the sense of shared guilt felt as a result of the murders in the line “Oh Manchester, so much to answer for”.

I have a genuine, deep and lasting love for The Smiths. They were funny, charming, eloquent and warm. For many of us, they really did give us the songs that made us smile, made us cry and saved our lives.

But the Morrissey that wrote those songs is long gone, long consumed by hubris, vanity and bitterness.

Some of you appear so unable to see what is staring you in the face about what Morrissey is now, so invested in what he used to be that you’re unwilling to admit who he now is: an angry, embittered old man with increasingly dodgy views and lacking in any of the enormous charm, grace and style of his younger self.
Click to expand...
I can't really argue with that.
 
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