Dagenham Dave Video Analysis

sonandheir

Member
Yes, it's another of those vile conspiracy theories ...:p

After just watching the Dagenham Dave video, a few things tweaked in my head. However, firstly, some background information. The title is shared with a song by The Stranglers. Dagenham Dave to The Stranglers was Julia to Morrissey. Dave attended every gig and was one of the (if not the) band's most zealous fan. To cut a long story short, Dave and his girlfriend split - as a result of Dave giving The Stranglers so much of his time. Following the split, Dave committed suicide by jumping off Tower Bridge into the river Thames. (More can be found on Dagenham Dave here)

In Morrissey's video, Dave is shown to be a Morrissey obsessive, and even replaces his girlfriend's name with "Moz" on the window screen. The fact that Dave (and thus his girlfriend - who is reluctant to follow) is physically following Morrissey can be seen to be symbolic - as if Morrissey is dictating his life.

In the car park, Dagenham Dave is seen to split up with his girlfriend just after he appears to present his girlfriend with a framed record, presumably one of Morrissey's. The record could also represent "Rattus Norvegicus", the first album by The Stranglers:

"It was now 1977 and the Stranglers had finally got their record deal with United Artists which was a great triumph for them and everyone who believed in them from the start. Dave was present during the recording of Rattus Norvegicus and didn't think twice about telling producer Martin Rushent the way he thought the Stranglers should sound. Brenda, his long suffering lady, could no longer take any more and she left Dave to live with her mother in Sussex. Dave begged her to come back but to avail."

Following the split, Dave and Morrissey reverse roles, with Morrissey following Dave. The record symbolises devotion, which in the end of the video is shattered (DD's suicide).

Oh, probably nothing, but the real Dave came from a working class background in Manchester. Yes, it probably all is an elaborate coincidence (and a result of too much poetry analysis at school :p ), but it certainly does make you think... I may be way-off the mark on a few of the above points, but I'm positive Moz was only to aware of the real Dave when he was shooting the video.
 
Straight from the JFK / Diana conspiracy schools.... but interesting!

Does anyone know if the video was actually shot in Dagenham? If so, what pub / street / car park was it taken from. The film didn't give too many clues.

The Goat
 
Straight from the JFK / Diana conspiracy schools.... but interesting!

Does anyone know if the video was actually shot in Dagenham? If so, what pub / street / car park was it taken from. The film didn't give too many clues.

The Goat

One clue I saw was the FORD logo on the wall of the car park. The car Dave sits in looked like a Ford. What northern English city would have a Ford plant?
 
I definitely agree that Morrissey is making a statement about obsessive fans not living their real lives in the video. The Stranglers link sounds credible to me.
 
One clue I saw was the FORD logo on the wall of the car park. The car Dave sits in looked like a Ford. What northern English city would have a Ford plant?

Yes, I did see the faded Ford logo in the car park.
The only northern place would be the Halewood plant on Merseyside, but agree, this would have been from Dagenham.

The Goat
 
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