You're still my bad habit
My dark little secret
My illicit unseen drug
My secret hidden love
There's a track on the new Manic Street Preachers album about Morrissey.
Dear Stephen, please come back to us
I believe in repentance and forgiveness
It's so easy to hate, it takes guts to be kind
To paraphrase one of your heartbreak lines
Songwriter Nicky Wire has gone to great pains in interviews to state that the song has nothing to do with Morrissey's controversial public persona these days, his nasty opinions that have driven away so many long-term fans.
I'm still ill, I'm cursed to stay
Under your spell for all my days
I'm still a prisoner to you and Larkin
Even as your history darkens
Wire claims, “The only moral judgement on this album tends to be about me...”
“The song is about many things and it’s multi-layered. It’s about me critically looking at my own reliance on the past – about why those years were so scorched onto me. It goes for a lot of people, to be honest, but being between 12 and 18, I don’t think I’ve ever shaken them off for the imprint they’ve had on my aesthetic appreciation of music, literature and film. It’s an investigation of that.“The idea that I had this postcard off Morrissey as well that said, ‘Get well soon’ and I kept it, it was quite a worthless thing that I imbue with so much meaning. It’s about so many different things but mainly about not being able to get out of that, and the amazing comfort and joy it brings. It’s a love letter to my former self as much as it is everything else.”
Which is all very well, and I can see why Wire might want to tow this particular line in the press (particularly the NME), but it's blatantly obvious that there's another meaning to these lyrics, a meaning that goes beyond Wire's past and one that will touch the heart of lapsed Morrissey fans everywhere. Maybe not those who have cut him off completely, but those for whom his work meant so much in our earlier lives, that however we might want to hate the singer, we cannot hate the songs. I'm thinking of myself, of Martin, and of JC particularly here.
The passing of time and all of its sickening crimes
Is making me sad again
But don't forget the songs that made you cry
And the songs that saved your life
Yes, you're older now and you're a clever swine
But they were the only ones who ever stood by you
Earlier on in my blogging career, I spent many hours trying to defend Morrissey's slow descent into fascism as a mis-reading of his intentions. I was wrong, and I've got to own that now. But I still can't let those songs go, those songs that meant so much to me, that spoke to me like nobody else's ever have...
Yes, Nicky, songs are about many things and [they're] multi-layered. But this one is clearly saying what so many old Morrissey fans are thinking. Although the very fact that you steal a line from I Know It's Over suggests you know it's all just wishful thinking... too late, was the cry.
Still - thank you for writing it.
I've been the boy with the thorn in his side
I want you vivid in your prime
Dear Stephen, please come back to us
I believe in repentance and forgiveness
It's so easy to hate, it takes guts to be kind
To paraphrase one of your heartbreak lines
Like you, Rol, I tried hard to explain away increasingly questionable behaviour. I wrote something entitled "We need to talk about Stephen" that remains one of my most read posts, month after month, so there are clearly others who want to be convinced, or have it explained away somehow. But it doesn't stack up anymore. I'm with Nicky, I want Stephen to come back to us. Like you, I still love the songs, will always love the songs. But I didn't buy a ticket for this year's UK live shows and that's the first time I've given a tour a miss for I don't know how long. Come back Stephen!
ReplyDelete"...why those years were so scorched onto me. It goes for a lot of people, to be honest, but being between 12 and 18, I don’t think I’ve ever shaken them off for the imprint they’ve had on my aesthetic appreciation of music, literature and film."
ReplyDeleteFantastic lines - why you guys stuck with him for so long.
It's S-T-E-V-E-N.
ReplyDeleteHa. So it is. I imagine Nicky changed the spelling to add another layer of ambiguity.
DeleteAnd yet, and yet…
ReplyDeletehttp://www.johnmedd.com/2021/12/please-pease-please.html?m=1
JM
I don’t like Morrissey as a person, but I still listen to the Smiths. I like the music. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t like most pop stars, but the music means a lot to me. - Brian
ReplyDeleteBrilliant piece of writing, Rol. Sorry I was away when It appeared and only arriving to add my tuppence worth now.
ReplyDeleteI still find it impossible to comprehend how SPM metamorphosised into 'The Manchester Racist' after everything he said and seemed to believe in back in the days when The Smiths burst onto the scene and brought joy into the lives of so many.
If he had any self-awareness, he would look at what has happened politically in the USA these past few months and what is unfolding back in Blighty and come to realise he's been on the wrong side(s) from a moral and human perspective.
I am still unable to really separate the man from the music and I certainly don't listen to any solo material and it seems unlikely that I'll do so again. But I've softened on The Smiths. The songs are such a part of my life, and besides, the contributions of Johnny, Mike and the late Andy are every bit as important and meaningful as the lyrics/vocals.
I'm not a huge fan of the Manic Street Preachers, but fair play to Nicky Wire for tackling the subject matter - and yes, I'm with you that there is a blatantly obvious message in this one.