Thoughts on The Pin

[Gregor Samsa]

We'll have to agree to differ on that one, Gregor. Dog I thought was his best album in some time - probably since Quarry.
Bonfire from what we have heard also sounds like a great album. Veronica would have made a cracking single.
Without Music we haven't really heard enough of yet to make a judgment.
Notre Dame I have mixed views on. I wouldn't say it's his worst ever material, however. It's certainly interesting as a pop song, to say the least.

I thought Dog was alright as well, his best since Refusal. But to me that’s not saying a lot, since I think WPINOYB and LIHS are his worst albums by far. And I really don’t agree about Bonfire. I really like Rebels, and Saint has something, but the rest ranges from dire to mediocre. In my opinion. WMTWD is so far looking very bleak. Far, far from good enough when it comes to Moz.

 

[gashonthenail]

...that disgusting lying stinking wretched woman...

Don't beat around the bush, please tell us what you really think about her!

 

[Crisstti]

I do think that advising people to vote for a specific political party was a bad idea. As an artist he should dwell in the realm of ambiguity. It's where Morrissey has always belonged and will always belong. Coming out and saying vote for FB diminished him. To put his head above the parapet was a gamble, a very risky gamble, and it didn't pay off for either party, if you forgive the pun. The nature of the party itself doesn't bother me in the slightest. Would think exactly the same if he had said vote Green.
There is also an argument to be made that Notre Dame as a song lacks artistic ambiguity in a similar way. Too prosaic. Musically though it's not a bad song.

Probably. But, plenty of artists do just that, it's not at all uncommon. And it wasn't even Moz's first time doing so either. It's just that endorsing left-wing candidates it's apparently the only acceptable endorsement...

I do think it's a bit... not sure which word to use, for him to call on people to vote for anyone at all, when he himself has said he never votes (and insists on it)

 

[Crisstti]

I thought Dog was alright as well, his best since Refusal. But to me that’s not saying a lot, since I think WPINOYB and LIHS are his worst albums by far. And I really don’t agree about Bonfire. I really like Rebels, and Saint has something, but the rest ranges from dire to mediocre. In my opinion. WMTWD is so far looking very bleak. Far, far from good enough when it comes to Moz.

Moz for me is like Paul McCartney, in that I like/love pretty much everything he's ever done. In fact, there's one album I can't say I like by McCartney (Press to Play), which I can't say for Moz abut any of his...

 

[gashonthenail]

Probably. But, plenty of artists do just that, it's not at all uncommon. And it wasn't even Moz's first time doing so either. It's just that endorsing left-wing candidates it's apparently the only acceptable endorsement...

I do think it's a bit... not sure which word to use, for him to call on people to vote for anyone at all, when he himself has said he never votes (and insists on it)

There isn't just that but also the issue that he is advising people in Britain how to vote but he moved to the USA in the mid-1990s. Damon Albarn certainly argued that was a problem when asked about Moz's political stance.
Moz's current domiciliary arrangements have been unclear of late. There was a while he seemed to be moving from hotel to hotel.
Where is he living these days? Home is a question mark, indeed.

Damon Albarn on Morrissey's support of For Britain: "If you don't live in the country, then you shouldn't be dabbling in its politics"

Damon Albarn has spoken out against Morrissey's controversial political views and his support of the nationalist party For Britain.

www.nme.com

 

[Malarkey]

He supported the Labour Party until the invasion of Iraq - which he was against.

And he was againt the Tories because of Fox hunting & because they sold arms to the middle-east - rock solid left-wing concerns.

Morrissey praises 'intelligent' Jeremy Corbyn, calls Theresa May 'dishonest'

Ex-Smiths frontman hits out at British Prime Minister's support of fox hunting

www.nme.com

 

[Lionsy]

Was wearing The Pin the worst decision Moz ever made?

What other questionable things do you feel he has done?

It has to be the "subspieces" thing

The fact there are people defending this comment shows how many loonies he has truly attracted

China does a lot of things I don't agree with, but they're still the same as you and me. Humans suck.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

There isn't just that but also the issue that he is advising people in Britain how to vote but he moved to the USA in the mid-1990s.

Why is that a problem?




Besides Kerry. Seems that Ross Perot was the candidate he favored (not exact words) in 1992 during one or two of his shows, as I remember.


Curious, I also found this ….


‘I’d like to ask you what Ross Perot means to you, because I find him a truly magnetic figure, and I can’t come across anybody in this country who is really standing behind him. I find his speeches extraordinary and compulsive. Is he jeered because he’s small?’

-Morrissey

‘He’s like a throwback kind of character. He’s like an old American – there’s something about him that reminds you of the old America that I like very much.’

-Joni Mitchell


Morrissey seems to be easily taken by ‘magnetic figures’.




Entering stage, Morrissey greeted the audience before the band launched into standard set opener "You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side". After "November Spawned A Monster", Morrissey thanked a fan for a sign he had made: "Thank you for the sign which says - this is as far as I can tell - 'Morrissey for president 96'... however if that really happens, what would become of Ross Perot?". In "We'll Let You Know", besides the usual changes, he changed a line to "You wonder how I've stayed alive 'til now / I'll let you know / I'll let you know". After that song he returned to the earlier subject: "Did you vote for Ross Perot?... I thought so...".

Live 5 November 1992 - Municipal Auditorium, San Antonio, TX

 

[Crisstti]

There isn't just that but also the issue that he is advising people in Britain how to vote but he moved to the USA in the mid-1990s. Damon Albarn certainly argued that was a problem when asked about Moz's political stance.
Moz's current domiciliary arrangements have been unclear of late. There was a while he seemed to be moving from hotel to hotel.
Where is he living these days? Home is a question mark, indeed.

Damon Albarn on Morrissey's support of For Britain: "If you don't live in the country, then you shouldn't be dabbling in its politics"

Damon Albarn has spoken out against Morrissey's controversial political views and his support of the nationalist party For Britain.

www.nme.com

I don't agree with Albarn there. You can still have an opinion on the politics of your country even if not living there (I find it more debatable whether you should be able to actually vote if you're not living there though). Moz probably has always spent a lot of time in the UK anyway.

 

[gashonthenail]

I don't agree with Albarn there. You can still have an opinion on the politics of your country even if not living there (I find it more debatable whether you should be able to actually vote if you're not living there though). Moz probably has always spent a lot of time in the UK anyway.

There's having an opinion though and there's advising people to vote for a specific political party and effectively endorsing them. I just don't think that was a good look for an aloof, solitary artist like Morrissey. Takes away the mystery and the mystique.

 

[Malarkey]

There was never any mystery or mystique - what the press wanted was a reversal - & it won't stick no matter how much shit floods the zone.

The concert, which is billed ‘With Love From Manchester’, represents a major coup for the Labour leadership in Liverpool – and for Derek Hatton in particular, who spoke to Morrissey before The Smiths agreed to play.

With Love From Manchester

A benefit gig with The Smiths, New Order, The Fall and John Cooper Clarke at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool, February 8, 1986, in aid of the Militant Tendency. This NME article from January 1…

standupandspit.wordpress.com

 

[Mozzer1980]

Probably. But, plenty of artists do just that, it's not at all uncommon. And it wasn't even Moz's first time doing so either. It's just that endorsing left-wing candidates it's apparently the only acceptable endorsement...

I do think it's a bit... not sure which word to use, for him to call on people to vote for anyone at all, when he himself has said he never votes (and insists on it)

Yes, that's one of the weirdest things about Morrissey. I would call it a far-reaching inconsistency.
Each time you vote, you support the process

 

[gashonthenail]

There was never any mystery or mystique - what the press wanted was a reversal - & it won't stick no matter how much shit floods the zone.

The concert, which is billed ‘With Love From Manchester’, represents a major coup for the Labour leadership in Liverpool – and for Derek Hatton in particular, who spoke to Morrissey before The Smiths agreed to play.

With Love From Manchester

A benefit gig with The Smiths, New Order, The Fall and John Cooper Clarke at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool, February 8, 1986, in aid of the Militant Tendency. This NME article from January 1…

standupandspit.wordpress.com

Morrissey - always the radical.
There's playing a benefit gig though, and there's advising people how to vote at an election. Two different things.
Same goes for expressing an opinion about politics. Absolutely fine. Indeed, it's expected of an artist.
But advising people to vote for a specific political party I just don't think is the role of an artist.

 

[Malarkey]

Morrissey - always the radical.
There's playing a benefit gig though, and there's advising people how to vote at an election. Two different things.
Same goes for expressing an opinion about politics. Absolutely fine. Indeed, it's expected of an artist.
But advising people to vote for a specific political party I just don't think is the role of an artist.

He played on the Red Wedge tour - which existed to get young people to vote Labour.

 

[gashonthenail]

He played on the Red Wedge tour - which existed to get young people to vote Labour.

He was a singer in a band back then in 1985, beloved of the NME perhaps, but not the iconic figure that he is now.

 

[Malarkey]

He was a singer in a band back then in 1985, beloved of the NME perhaps, but not the iconic figure that he is now.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

 

[Troubled-Joe]

Can we at least agree that the Labour Party of the 1980s (and up to) have zero comparisons with the Labour Party of today (and the last decade or so)?

 

[Anonymo]

So, the choice I have made
May seem strange to you
But who asked you, anyway?
It's my life to wreck
My own way
(from Alma Matters)


If only he took his own lyrics less seriously when it comes to some of his choices in life . . .

 

[TheSmiths_1985]

He was a singer in a band back then in 1985, beloved of the NME perhaps, but not the iconic figure that he is now.

Gash, just stop now, this always ends the same way with her on threads like these.
Here’s a brick wall - you’ll get more intelligent debate from it.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

So, the choice I have made
May seem strange to you
But who asked you, anyway?
It's my life to wreck
My own way
(from Alma Matters)

If only he took his own lyrics less seriously when it comes to some of his choices in life . . .

who asked you anyway?