gazmatazz

Morrissey: Heaven knows he’s not so miserable now

Morrissey appeared on Desert Island Discs last Sunday to present a selection of 70s punk records that have been his inspiration. A good mix that included the Ramones, Velvet Underground, The Stooges and the New York Dolls. He also shared an upbeat Marianne Faithful track from the 60s which he remembers performing to on his kitchen table when he was 6 years old. The Guardian reviewed his selection (“Mellow Morrissey picks his Desert Island Discs”) and reflected on how content Moggzy seemed to be these days. This seemed to be a surprise to most because it was contrary to Moggzy’s image as arch-miserablist. You’d have to be high on Prozac to not notice that most of his songs are about the darker things in life such as death, suicide, depression and unrequited love. But there’s another side to his music that, I think, is often over-looked.  In the interview on Desert Island Discs he did talk about those down-beat issues that frequent his songs and he was, as would be expected, a little prickly with some of Kirsty Young’s questions, but he was also engaging and witty, and reflected on how…

“If you reach 50 and are not at one with yourself then you’re in serious trouble”

I’ve always felt that the lighter side of Moggzy’s personality is often unfairly under-reported. Since beginning to listen to his back catalogue I’ve always been struck by the dark humour in his songs. I came to The Smiths and Morrissey late, mainly because of my age (I was 6 when ‘The Queen is Dead’ came out) but also because I’d been put off by all the talk of how miserable his music was. It didn’t help that he had such jolly and inviting song titles as ‘You Have Killed Me’, ‘Girlfriend in a Coma’, ‘Pretty Girls Make Graves’ and, of course, ‘Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now’. It also didn’t help that I had seen Dead Man’s Curve in the late 90s. Dead Man’s Curve is a grossly under-rated film (that sadly doesn’t receive the coverage it deserves) which features American college students using songs by The Smiths to try and get their room-mate to commit suicide. However, when I eventually gave it a go (The Smiths that is, not suicide) I quickly fell in love with Moggzy’s music. Not just because it was introspective and moody (which, admittedly, was very appealing to me as an introspective and moody teenager) but also because of his dark wit and his ability to stare death in the face and have a sly giggle. I think it was very telling that he chose to take the complete works of Oscar Wilde to his Desert Island, another man with an unconventional and darkly humorous outlook on life. Wilde has written…

“The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast”

…and…

“Life is much too important a thing ever to talk seriously about it.”

There are many Morrissey moments that, for me at least, are laugh out loud funny. Just one example is in ‘There Is a Light That Never Goes Out’…

“And if a double-decker bus
Crashes into us
To die by your side
Is such a heavenly way to die.
And if a ten-ton truck
Kills the both of us
To die by your side
Well, the pleasure - the privilege is mine”

It may be about death but it’s also just a bit silly. The whole of ‘Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others’ made me giggle the first time I heard it…

Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls are bigger than others
Some girl’s mothers are bigger than
Other girl’s mothers

… as did the moment where ‘Frankly, Mr Shankly’ (who I read somewhere was a record label executive who had got on the wrong side of Moggzy) is finally described as a “faltulent pain in the arse”. There are many more examples where these came from.

On Desert Island Discs, Moggzy agreed with many of his fans that, throughout his career, he has been “slighted and disregarded” by the music industry. I also agree. Morrissey is often written off by people (my girlfriend included) because he is seen as a miserable man who writes depressing songs. Maybe it’s about time Morrissey is re-appraised and re-branded. He’s not miserable, he’s melancholy, and has a wicked wit and sense of the absurdities of life and death. He also happens to be one of the greatest lyricists (and dare I say it, poets) of the present age. Maybe Morrissey would benefit by looking across The Pennines to have a peek at what Jarvis Cocker of Sheffield has been up to (although he won’t find him because Jarvis lives in France now). Jarvis is another great lyricist who peddles material set on the darker side of life with stories of stalkers, alienation and death, but he has avoided being tarred with the “miserable” brush by pushing his humour to the forefront. Jarvis also found it within himself to label Pulp’s final album with the jubilant title ‘We Love Life’. Maybe the new, “content” Morrisey could think about trying a similar strategy. How about he calls his next album ‘Heaven Knows, I’m Actually Quite Content Now, Thank You For Asking’?