Morrissey Central "A WRITER WRONGED" (June 24, 2024)

A WRITER WRONGED

June 24, 2024

NME fax surfaces from 2002

Hello Moz
It's NME's 50th anniversary issue and it's brought out the magnanimous old fool in us, so we'd like to make up. We're really sorry about all that racism stuff and taking the piss about that Union Jack business at Finsbury Park - we just didn't get the point you were making to be honest. We're not the brightest bunch up here, frankly, any lyric more complicated than "Sing, sing, sing, sing, sing" pretty much goes over our heads. But we've had our Dodgy Politics Spotting Dept working on Asian Rut and National Front Disco since 1994 and this week they gave the all-clear. So let's bury the hatchet, shake hands and be men about it. Waddayasay?
Mark Beaumont, NME.

A WRITER WRONGED - MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY - MORRISSEY CENTRAL - A WRITER WRONGED

MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY on MORRISSEY CENTRAL

www.morrisseycentral.com

 

[Redacted]

Having already said, we already know this, it was discussed in a documentary by an NME journalist, I am really bored with Morrissey constantly trying to provide 'proof' of his 'victimhood'. This is from 22 years ago. Morrissey is constantly living in the past drowning in self pity.

 

[j*e*t]

I blame the dead black guy. No wonder........

Dele Fadele - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

So does Morrissey, I guess.

 

[Phranc & Open]

Truthteller on

 

[TheSmiths_1985]

Infinitely better.

 

[marred]

Shit cleaning is the worst.

Totally. No matter how hard you scrub it's still shit.

 

[marred]

They should have used that "Morrissey live in 2002" picture for the cover of the "Beethoven was deaf" reissue . I like it.

Yeah that's a good one!

 

[Phranc & Open]

View attachment 106282
Infinitely better.

Celebrating the first ten years of the album's recording in 2024.

 

[Famous when dead]

For anyone interested - Mark Beaumont bits that have cropped up (not exhaustive):

NME give Give Greatest Hits 6/10

NME give Give Greatest Hits 6/10

Pretty well-balanced and knowledgable review. Previously unpublished pic of Moz and the boys too. Pics later. Peter **EDIT** Also a quote from The Cribs, re Johnny Marr... "Yeah, by the time this is printed we should've played with him a couple of times. It's really exciting, I...

www.morrissey-solo.com

(February, 2008)

What is Morrissey's baby telling us?

Mark Beaumont: What is Morrissey's baby telling us?

Mark Beaumont: The cover art for Morrissey's new album, Years of Refusal, features a baby. Now his famously devoted fans are scrabbling to decode its meaning

www.theguardian.com

(December, 2008)

Morrissey – ‘I Am Not A Dog On A Chain’ review: his best album in years (if you can tune out his opinions) 3/5*s

Morrissey – 'I Am Not A Dog On A Chain' review: his best album in years (if you can tune out his opinions)

Moz's 13th solo album verges on the avant garde, marking a bold departure. It might even be worth crossing the Twittermob line for

www.nme.com

(March, 2020).

Morrissey live in London: the faithful defy lockdown to grudgingly admire a set of career oddities 4/5*s

Morrissey live in London: the faithful defy lockdown to grudgingly admire a set of career oddities

Wembley, SSE Arena, March 14: Moz's fans might be a limited resource in 2020, but that doesn't stop him putting on a hell of a show in the midst of crisis

www.nme.com

(March, 2020).

The story of NME in 70 (mostly) seminal songs

The story of NME in 70 (mostly) seminal songs

Today marks NME’s 70th birthday. As we go Platinum, let’s recount a journey that begins with the birth of the charts themselves.

www.nme.com

(March, 2022)

Mark, My Words: my weird weekend of gigging on the edge of lockdown

Mark, My Words: my weird weekend of gigging on the edge of lockdown

As a shark needs to keep swimming else it dies, Mark Beaumont must attend at least two gigs a week. And last weekend was a very strange one indeed...

www.nme.com

(March, 2022).

FWD.

 

[The Alchemist]

Totally. No matter how hard you scrub it's still shit.

No use polishing it either.

 

[Seymour Glass]

And why is he saying the first two Vegas shows are sold out when I can go to the website and easily buy tickets? If I want to spend $300-$600 that is.

 

[SuedeMoz]

And why is he saying the first two Vegas shows are sold out when I can go to the website and easily buy tickets? If I want to spend $300-$600 that is.

It's mostly people reselling their tickets.

 

[TheSmiths_1985]

And why is he saying the first two Vegas shows are sold out when I can go to the website and easily buy tickets? If I want to spend $300-$600 that is.

To create a sense of scarcity/urgency, in the hope of getting people who might be on the fence about going to buy the remaining tickets.

 

[All the things you love]

Seems kinda dumb when ya read it.
Almost seems like they were tryin' to set Moz up
for the hatchet.

It sounds like something a villain in the Looney Tunes would say with a shotgun behind their back.

I find it easy to interpret The National Front Disco positively. It's one of my favourites and the tone is pretty clear. Asian Rut I struggle with more, and Bengali in Platforms most of all. I'm all for songs that take perspectives other than the author's own or that contain ambiguities. I'm just not convinced when it comes to those two.

 

[marred]

No use polishing it either.

Ah yes the good old polished turd.

 

[j*e*t]

It sounds like something a villain in the Looney Tunes would say with a shotgun behind their back.

I find it easy to interpret The National Front Disco positively. It's one of my favourites and the tone is pretty clear. Asian Rut I struggle with more, and Bengali in Platforms most of all. I'm all for songs that take perspectives other than the author's own or that contain ambiguities. I'm just not convinced when it comes to those two.

Bengali in Platforms especially is one I see people calling racist and I really can't defend it. Perhaps Morrissey intended the phrase 'shelve your Western plans' as kindly advice but isn't it just a version of the 'Pakis go home' that was daubed on immigrants' homes and neighbourhoods? Also, 'life is hard enough when you belong here' implies that he thinks they don't belong here. For someone who doesn't seem to like being labelled or told what to do himself, what gives him the right to address others this way?

I wasn't following Morrissey at the time of Madstock, but it seems to me that whatever that twerp Mark Beaumont has to say is irrelevant today. I found an academic paper quite good at explaining the background - the Morrissey part starts on page 221 and considers how the combination of skinhead backdrop, Union flag, Morrissey's prior comments, lyrics and penchant for Oi! contributed to the backlash. In the section before that, it considers Madness' tolerance of skinheads in their fanbase.

I feel that Morrissey's continued posting of the skinhead image is unhelpful. For all I know they were two sweet young women just out to look rebellious, equal to the men, stylish and interesting, but from memory the Derek Ridgers book the photo came from included skinheads posing by giving the Nazi salute. Anyway, seeking to iconify skinheads of unknown allegiances was risky as the public perception of skinheads was generally negative. It really does just dredge up questions as to Morrissey's own allegiances currently.

pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/37259136/Benjamin_Bland_RHUL_PhD_Thesis_2019_Final_Digital_Submission.pdf

 

[The Alchemist]

Bengali in Platforms especially is one I see people calling racist and I really can't defend it. Perhaps Morrissey intended the phrase 'shelve your Western plans' as kindly advice but isn't it just a version of the 'Pakis go home' that was daubed on immigrants' homes and neighbourhoods? Also, 'life is hard enough when you belong here' implies that he thinks they don't belong here. For someone who doesn't seem to like being labelled or told what to do himself, what gives him the right to address others this way?

He's saying he doesn't belong either (because he's so often been made to feel that way, and people of different colours are told so also)

Life is challenging enough for people who do fit in, and Morrissey knows very well that's it's a hundred times harder when you don't fit in.

So in my view he is actually sympathising with their extradition to the fringes of society. It's society that tells people like Morrissey and people of different backgrounds that they don't belong.

Morrissey is offering a cautious warning, advising the west ain't all that (even if they harbour dreams of living here)

The British public will exclude even an 'average white male' if their face doesn't fit, or if they seem a little strange.

 

[j*e*t]

He's saying he doesn't belong either (because he's so often been made to feel that way, and people of different colours are told so also)

Life is challenging enough for people who do fit in, and Morrissey knows very well that's it's a hundred times harder when you don't fit in.

So in my view he is actually sympathising with their extradition to the fringes of society. It's society that tells people like Morrissey and people of different backgrounds that they don't belong.

Morrissey is offering a cautious warning, advising the west ain't all that (even if they harbour dreams of living here)

The British public will exclude even an 'average white male' if their face doesn't fit, or if they seem a little strange.

My unease would be with the question of why he thought his advice would be necessary or welcome. I'll give you an example: a friend of mine was brought here in the early 1970s by parents who had been born as British Subjects in India and had moved to the British Protectorate of Uganda and established a thriving business before Idi Amin expelled them and, like Morrissey, they moved to London, adopted the fashions of the time, and became successful in life. In what way would it have been helpful to tell such people to be cautious about living here, at a time when there were plenty of anti-immigrant voices already?

 

[All the things you love]

He's saying he doesn't belong either (because he's so often been made to feel that way, and people of different colours are told so also)

Life is challenging enough for people who do fit in, and Morrissey knows very well that's it's a hundred times harder when you don't fit in.

So in my view he is actually sympathising with their extradition to the fringes of society. It's society that tells people like Morrissey and people of different backgrounds that they don't belong.

Morrissey is offering a cautious warning, advising the west ain't all that (even if they harbour dreams of living here)

The British public will exclude even an 'average white male' if their face doesn't fit, or if they seem a little strange.

I want to believe what you're saying, I really do. I can kind of see it. I think it's possible you're right, but lines like "And an ankle-star that...blinds me" just make it sound like he finds Asian immigrants unpleasant. You could say lines like that are saying "you won't fit in here", but it seems like such a dangerous game to be playing to assume people will interpret it that way, because it's not that obvious.

 

[The Alchemist]

My unease would be with the question of why he thought his advice would be necessary or welcome. I'll give you an example: a friend of mine was brought here in the early 1970s by parents who had been born as British Subjects in India and had moved to the British Protectorate of Uganda and established a thriving business before Idi Amin expelled them and, like Morrissey, they moved to London, adopted the fashions of the time, and became successful in life. In what way would it have been helpful to tell such people to be cautious about living here, at a time when there were plenty of anti-immigrant voices already?

That's great that they were successful, many were. But whether they were successful or not, they would still have been likely to suffer discrimination.

I don't believe Morrissey's voice was one of anti-immigration. I think that he was just conveying the thoughts pertaining to his own experiences.

He himself thought more than once about giving up life as a bad mistake - which would mean disappearing from the world completely, let alone Britain.

So I think it is helpful to the extent of opening their eyes to the reality of what could be a misleading dream.

 

[The Alchemist]

I want to believe what you're saying, I really do. I can kind of see it. I think it's possible you're right, but lines like "And an ankle-star that...blinds me" just make it sound like he finds Asian immigrants unpleasant. You could say lines like that are saying "you won't fit in here", but it seems like such a dangerous game to be playing to assume people will interpret it that way, because it's not that obvious.

Yes, I do understand what you're saying also.

But I think M is pointing out the naivity of the character in the song, to think that they can shine as who they truly are without any repercussions.

Morrissey was persecuted and outcast for years just because he was who he was.

It's not that he didn't want them to shine, it's that he didn't believe the conditions and the environment allowed for it. And in many ways, he was right in that regard.