posted by davidt on Thursday April 08 2004, @09:30PM
Benton sends:

'Somebody has to be me'

Morrissey loves his new album, his comeback show sold out in hours and he's been given London's Meltdown festival to curate. So why the long face? By Dorian Lynskey

Friday April 9, 2004 - The Guardian
---
Update: 04/09 14:25 GMT: Uncleskinny writes:

Here's the cover from the Guardian article today.

There are other pictures, but they are all stock pictures including the cover of My Early Burglary Years.


Click to enlarge

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  • Q: Were all these people women?

    A: "They seemed to be, as far as I knew. They would all be women if they had a choice." He laughs as if to say: "That's all you're getting."

    ??????????
    Does that mean that he's a top?
    Sharron Needles -- Thursday April 08 2004, @09:45PM (#94449)
    (User #762 Info)
    Inside every adult male is a denied little boy -Nancy Friday
    • Re:women.... by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday April 09 2004, @01:32AM
      • Re:women.... by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday April 09 2004, @02:52AM
        • Re:women.... by Anonymous (Score:0) Saturday April 10 2004, @01:10PM
          • Re:women.... by Sharron Needles (Score:1) Saturday April 10 2004, @10:54PM
            • Re:women.... by Anonymous (Score:0) Tuesday April 13 2004, @08:07AM
      • Re:women.... by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday April 09 2004, @02:07PM
        • Re:women.... by Georgethetwentythird (Score:1) Saturday April 10 2004, @02:11AM
          • Re:women.... by Anonymous (Score:0) Saturday April 10 2004, @09:17AM
            • Re:women.... by Anonymous (Score:0) Monday April 12 2004, @03:50AM
  • hands down (Score:0, Redundant)

    This is the best article/interview with/on Moz so far this year, and the most detailed, providing new insights into the man. He is in top form. Very Impressive.

    Belligerent Ghoul
    Anonymous -- Thursday April 08 2004, @09:53PM (#94450)
    • Re:hands down by Joshh (Score:1) Friday April 09 2004, @06:38AM
    • Re:hands down by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday April 09 2004, @09:50AM
    • Re:hands down by malina (Score:1) Friday April 09 2004, @01:01PM
    • Re:hands down by submission (Score:1) Friday April 09 2004, @06:54PM
  • ...but the interviewer seems pretty frustrated with him. It'll be interesting to see how the press respond to the album.
    gonzo -- Thursday April 08 2004, @10:07PM (#94451)
    (User #335 Info)
    Scene, but not herd
  • by far the best Moz interview i've read in a good long while...such a witty bastard
    mr. superinvisible -- Thursday April 08 2004, @10:11PM (#94453)
    (User #6367 Info)
  • I love him when he's like this, the quick wit.
    The best interview he's given in some time.
    ScottyK -- Thursday April 08 2004, @10:32PM (#94455)
    (User #7165 Info)
    Meet me in the alley
  • The artful dodger escapes full revelation yet again...
    I'm really just Some Totally Random Moz Fan
  • Of all the hundreds of brilliant quotes Morrissey has given us over the years, this one struck me like a thunderbolt:

    ""I think if you're remotely intelligent you can't help being depressed. It's a positive thing to be. It means that you're not a crashing bore. I mean, you don't get support groups for rugby players, do you?"

    ...
    king leer -- Thursday April 08 2004, @11:19PM (#94462)
    (User #80 Info)
  • another classicly frustrating morrissey article. not because the writer was shit, but because our hero just didn't really go in to depth with his answers as per usual. this line said it all:

    Actually he's not so much an escapologist as a verbal fencer, thrusting and parrying. Sometimes when I think he's being serious he says he's joking, and vice versa. He contradicts things he's reported to have said in previous interviews, then claims he never said them.

    that's morrissey though - giving just enough so the fans keep coming back for more. frustrating though - it seems like only a person who's willing to spend years digging up interviews with those around morrissey will ever put any content worth substance on paper. love him or hate him, johnny rogan got the closest. his second book (which i hear is supposed to be centered on morrissey as opposed to the smiths).

    and maya angelou? who knew he was a fan?
    eugenius -- Thursday April 08 2004, @11:46PM (#94464)
    (User #1665 Info | http://www.cherryplucker.com/)
    I'm almost sure you can do better than that.
  • Morrissey's interviews become more and more interchangeable.

    The wit and sarcasm are getting old. Fast.
    Eric Hartman -- Friday April 09 2004, @12:37AM (#94473)
    (User #5103 Info | http://www.patcondell.net/)
    It is a very mixed blessing to be brought back from the dead.
  • I think it's terrific that Morrissey embraces the fact that he's a loner. Thank God somebody out there doesn't loathe it all that much. ;) It makes me feel better knowing that, and I think that it reveals a lot about how he answers all these interviewers' questions over the years. He's just a private man. Period. This is something we've always known, of course, but we still always question his so-called "flightiness" or awkwardness when it comes to answering personal inquiries. Why he's a performer, I'll never truly understand because it seems like it's the opposite of his personality, and yet he loves performing, etc. He's simply this puzzling, mysterious masterpiece of a man, and that's why I'm so in love with him and everything he says. This is how I think it works in his mind: He doesn't want anybody to know what they don't need to know, which makes him all the more appealing.
    Anonymous-shnonymous <[email protected]> -- Friday April 09 2004, @12:47AM (#94474)
    (User #6230 Info | http://opendiary.com/entrylist.asp?authorcode=A128747)
    Anything is hard to find when you will not open your eyes.
  • ha ha,

    good interview, I wonder if ther's more in the paper?

    BlackwithEnvy
    Anonymous -- Friday April 09 2004, @01:57AM (#94481)
  • Cracking read, so good to have him back :)
    Agent Provocateur -- Friday April 09 2004, @01:59AM (#94482)
    (User #10171 Info)
    "Kiss him? Of course I didn't kiss him, he's ugly!"
  • Good interview.I like the fact that Morrissey is not ashamed to like being alone-just like me!And his private life is private.The mystery is one of the reasons his lyrics are opened to interpitation,and why people are still drawn to him.
    When I read about rock stars talking about their sex lives in magazines like Blender I think what does something so private have to do with the music?I have respect for artists like Morrissey and Eddie Vedder and Michael Stipe,who let the music do the talking.
    Anonymous -- Friday April 09 2004, @02:47AM (#94485)
  • "reggae is vile", despite being a reggae fan.

    "I said reggae is wild," he protests.

    This is his funniest answer in years!
    Anonymous -- Friday April 09 2004, @04:04AM (#94493)
  • "He contradicts things he's reported to have said in previous interviews, then claims he never said them."

    So Judge John Weeks was right when he branded him "devious, truculent and unreliable".

    And why is it so hard for him to give a normals answer when asked a question? This Smart Alec routine is getting soooo boring!

    He is becoming an extremely predictable Crashing Bore!
    Anonymous -- Friday April 09 2004, @04:23AM (#94497)
  • with all of the above!
    Lazy Sunbather -- Friday April 09 2004, @05:13AM (#94506)
    (User #843 Info)
  • Interesting to note that the journalist has clearly skimmed Simpson's 'Saint Morrissey' - '"You're stuck with you", I suggest' he writes at the end of the interview as if it were his own insight.

    At the end of 'Saint Morrissey' Simpson writes: '... Morrissey can't even give his soul away. He's stuck with it, poor lad.' (p.217).

    Mysteriously, the journo doesn't mention the book, even when the issue of Moz's canonisation comes up.
    Anonymous -- Friday April 09 2004, @05:52AM (#94512)
  • My favourite line:

    When I ask if the song 'I'm not sorry' is his Je Ne Regrette Rien he replies "No. It's my Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep".
    Anonymous -- Friday April 09 2004, @06:29AM (#94516)
  • On 'All The Lazy Dykes'

      'Doesn't that invite specualtion?
      Moz: No, Andy Williams could have sung that song. It just happens to be me who's singing it.'
    Interviewer: This od course is nonsense.'

      No, it is not!
    Anonymous -- Friday April 09 2004, @07:56AM (#94525)
  • Why'd you think I let you get away
    with all the things you say to me?
    Anonymous -- Friday April 09 2004, @08:47AM (#94530)
  • "I think he's becoming tired and predictable."

    I think my having to write this is getting annoying. So Morrissey has let you down a little, get OVER it! He isn't here solely to be everything you want him to be, he's here for him. Always has been, always will be. You people need to develop a more grown-up relationship with your music. Sure, these are the songs that saved your life but it's all just a laugh. Morrissey tells the joke, and ultimately anyone who takes it totally seriously is the punchline.

    I love Morrissey, he's great. He doesn't give a fuck what anyone thinks, and that's the point.

    In this world of crashing bores we should be greatful we have him at all!

    So... shut up! There are far more deserving targets for your bitching. Find them and go bitch. Leave Moz alone, he doesn't owe you anything.
    bobmozza -- Friday April 09 2004, @09:21AM (#94535)
    (User #6533 Info)
  • It reveals a lot about him. The more I learn about the man the more I love about the man.
    mozangeles23 -- Friday April 09 2004, @11:32AM (#94550)
    (User #10590 Info)
    "Somebody has to be me so it might as well be me."
  • As Pete Burns caustically, but astutely, observed in the mid 80's (remember this unlikely pair were proverbial peas in the pod at this point in time), Morrissey has made a lucrative career out of being the lovable loner.

    In the early days of his Smiths career, Mz Moz carried out some studious market research - unmarried/unattached loners always sell more records than anyone else. Look at Mz. Cliff Richards for born-again-chrissakes! And Mz Barry Manilo! And Mz. Sandie Shaw! And Mz. Marianne Faithful etc. And of course we mustn't forget the late&great Mz. Nico! Though I don't recall her selling much - I think she sold a few vinyl frisbees but not many records. Anyway...

    By pretending to be alone and not involved in sexual relationships, this public lie fuels fantasies of lovelorn fans who believe if ONLY they could meet him at a CD signing or whatever they, like gullible Lottery gamblers, could be in with a chance. NOT!

    He has lots of friends and lovers. But he doesn't want the general public or more precisely the people who butter his bread (i.e. you and me) to know this! It ruins the mystery, the aura. It's a stage act - that's performed brilliantly each time he finds himself interviewed by a 'wet behind the ears' journalists, usually British. The American press seem too prudish to take an interest in his sex life. Best not ask is their policy, you never know what could be revealed to unsuspecting viewers/listeners.

    And like any typically lapsed catholic, he enjoys lots of sweaty skin to skin sex but doesn't like talking about it. It really is too embarassing! You see talking about it opens the doors to shame ridden guilt and self-loathing. Can't have any of that now - people might start thinking he's a mere ordinary mortal like the rest of us.

    Best to put a lid on it, and talk about other self obsessed loners like Maya Angelou and Alan Bennett - "that'll take the public's mind off my sex life" he says to himself.

    Always aloof, always alone, always so lonesome. Yeah right!

    My arse bleeds for him everyday and I must rush out and buy 'You Are The Quarry' when it is released next month - otherwise the poor sod will think I'm ignoring him! And you never know, if I write a lovely adoring fan letter, I just might be in with a CHANCE!
    Lazy Sunbather -- Friday April 09 2004, @04:33PM (#94592)
    (User #843 Info)
  • This was the perfect Morrissey interview. He answered some questions seriously while others he had a great amount of wit.

    It kept me interested the whole time.

    "Absolutely no point whatsoever"
    LeJentle -- Friday April 09 2004, @11:16PM (#94643)
    (User #9846 Info | http://public.fotki.com/LeJentle)
  • I know I have left some very negative posts lately. I was never my intention to rain on anyone's parade.

    I am not well. There is a place I must go. I will be signing off for quite some time, but I will be back eventually.

    I hope everyone will enjoy the new album.
    Eric Hartman -- Saturday April 10 2004, @04:19AM (#94655)
    (User #5103 Info | http://www.patcondell.net/)
    It is a very mixed blessing to be brought back from the dead.
  • (well most of them anyway.)

    Linder Sterling, Michael Bracewell, Jo Slee, Nancy Sinatra, James O'Brien, Bono, Maya Angelou, Sheena Easton, Alan Bennett, Chrissie Hynde, Michael Stipe, Janis Long, Sandie Shaw,a series of Elvis impersonators, Lisa Marie Presley, Boz Boorer, Alain Whyte. All the pretty boys in Franz Ferdinand and The Libertines.

    Emmmmh. I'm sure there must be more names to add to this list!
    Lazy Sunbather -- Saturday April 10 2004, @07:00AM (#94665)
    (User #843 Info)
  • Above average, to put it mildly. How could Shelagh Delaney react other than a polite decline?
    condreye -- Saturday April 10 2004, @05:47PM (#94719)
    (User #8277 Info)
    Won't get in your way.
  • This interview was not as "masked" as some of his other famous interviews, but just as witty and insightful.

    Also, I think that comment about "they wish they were women" is just about the most telling of Morrissey's sexuality as I've ever seen.
    Anonymous -- Saturday April 10 2004, @07:50PM (#94733)
  • Morrissey's annoyance with this journalist reeked through this interview...

    I repeat from several weeks ago: Is there no one who can ask a fucking decent question to Morrissey?

    Give me a break...
    dewdrop -- Sunday April 11 2004, @05:08AM (#94749)
    (User #2326 Info)
  • I feel a bit sad for morrissey that hes 40-something and still making music. He would have got more hero-status if he was unknown and in hiding for the last.. 17 years.
    I think I'm the only Smiths fan that isnt interested in recent Morrissey/him now.(probably because he's the same age as my parents) Although his interviews are still good.
    I shall wait to see him on Jonathan Ross and see the 'future' version of him since in my mind he's a 25 year old in The Smiths.
    Anonymous -- Sunday April 11 2004, @10:14AM (#94770)


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