You and
@ordinaryboy86 are correct in this. You both are very perceptive on this aspect of Morrissey's psyche. In other words, you are obviously true fans who understand that Moz's
For Britain dalliance follows on quite logically from his other interests and statements through the years. This is his
shtick. These rebellious flirtations and announcements were once expected and celebrated by his fans, part of the quirks his fans adored.
What will he do, what will he say next? It seems to me that the fans who are surprised by his latest direction perhaps never understood him in the first place. To me, and I presume for you two, it came as no surprise. Like me you probably laughed and shook your head.
What has he gone and done now?
But before you self-congratulate yourselves I must declare that I was saying this very thing 18 months ago when first I signed up here - all to deaf ears of course, (or perhaps mostly deaf ears) so I changed tack. Yes, if more people supported
For Britain Moz would indeed move off in another direction. It's what outsiders do. If they find themselves within the fold they'll quickly step outside.
Looking at it another way, it's not that surprising Moz declared an interest in Anne Marie Waters' party, because if we're honest we must admit it's hardly a
real right wing party anyway. It's not the NF or the BNP. In fact, Blair's New Labour was far more right wing in many ways that are very clear now in hindsight. Moz has always been steeped in the English romantic tradition, longing for England's lost garden etc, into vintage films and poetry of old; a love of an ungraspable past, so is it really surprising that he has no love for the modern looming bogeyman that is Radical Islam? After all, look at how many Northern towns have changed face in modern years due to Pakistani immigration. Does poetic English-eccentric Morrissey really seem like the kind of man to embrace that kind of thing? Philip Larkin didn't like it either. It's not surprising. It's the mixing of chalk and cheese. Two alien worlds.
What
is more surprising is just how
un-perceptive so many of Moz's fans are nowadays. How they acknowledge none of this. How they are surprised and offended, or feel something out-of-character has taken place. And conflate the whole thing with hatred. Sadly these people do not understand Morrissey. They can't sense the delight he derives from his mischievousness. His need to always be an outsider, even if it means flirting at the edges of danger. It can seem like self-sabotage, but it's a need that I (and I'm sure others) can relate to, or at least identify. This is Morrissey's world and what he's about. I feel that if you don't get him (he's never really changed) you never will.