Morrissey Writes Lyrics?

I've always been someone who experiences music primarily at a rhythm-and-melody level and only pays secondary attention to lyrics. I may be missing half the experience, but I'm getting all of what I really care about. That's probably why I like Murmur so much. But with The Smiths it was always painfully (or beautifully) obvious that Morrissey was sort of grafting a poem and melody over somebody's chord progression. It made for some interesting melodic and meter choices.

Most people who like the Smiths and Morrissey have very strong feelings about the lyrical content. I'm not one of those people. It's always weird for me to talk to a Smiths fan and have next to no connection with them that stems from a lyric that really got to me. Of course his lyrics warrnt analysis. Some people have gotten the idea that Morrissey is a racist. Now that I know what "National Front Disco" (from my favorite Morrissey album, Your Arsenal) is about, I can see where they may have gotten that idea. I think he's just playing games.

With You Are The Quarry out now (which I still haven't heard, except for "Irish Blood, English Heart"), it seems like everyone wants to write about Morrissey, instrospectively, and beyond standard "he's got a new album" pieces. I know it's been awhile since there was a new Morrissey disc, but I don't remember all this fuss around Malajusted or Southpaw Grammar (and rightly so).

A new Morrissey CD -- especially one that seems not to suck -- plus Morrissey characteristically bailing out of live television appearances plus Lollapalooza -- well, it's just a fine time to sing your life.

Comments

[sid]

i don't think morrissey feels strongly one way or the other about race; i'm sure he isn't a racist. but as a good-looking white man who doesn't care what he says about race, probably someone's going to take offense. i for one love his lyrics, even the ones on his bad albums, but i'm a lyric person. when lyrics and melody are both great... hey, how can you go wrong?