To all my friends back home: I have fallen in love. It is a pure love of admiration and joy. Sadly this love is not for a woman or a man. It is for a singer. I have spent the last term writing you all about the beauty of British music. And I always hinted at one of Britain’s best. So for my final article of the year I thought I would share my latest love with all of you. Hello, my name is Brad and I am in love with Morrissey.Whether it is his early work with one of the greatest bands of all time, The Smiths, or his later solo work – I love Morrissey. He is such an amazing singer. He can croon like Elvis or like torch singers for the ’50s, or he can sing like a rock star from today. His lyrics are witty and biting at times and then he quickly turns and sings a lovely ballad. Please, you need to get his entire catalogue, both from The Smiths and Morrissey.
But I am here today to talk about Morrissey’s newest album: “You Are the Quarry.” Morrissey is known for his great song titles, and “Quarry” is no exception. Just look at “America is not the World,” “I Have Forgiven Jesus,” “The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores,” and “All The Lazy Dykes.”
Lets start with “America,” a great British rock song about the sorry state of America. He opens singing, “America your head is too big.” He goes on to say “America / the land of the Free, they said and of opportunity in a Just / and a Truthful way but where the President is never black or female or gay / and until that day you’ve got nothing to say to me.” Not only true for Morrissey, but also I imagine true for most of my readers. If not, maybe you should think about that statement for a while.
“All The Lazy Dykes” is a call for all the girls to sleep with all the girls. Morrissey’s views on free love are just that: love whomever you want. Which is fitting since Morrissey’s personal life was and is constantly in question.
But I will close you with the song “Come Back to Camden.” It’s one of my favorite areas of London, and one of my favorite songs on the album. Most people say that Morrissey takes on a persona for his songs. And usually his views don’t actually match those in his lyrics. Well, I don’t really care about that idea since the song is full of London scenes and places. Yeah, sometimes the lines are cheesy like, “drinking tea with the taste of the Thames.” But still, it is a nice London idea. Just listening to this song will bring me back to the times I spent here in London.
So until next year, I will leave you with some lyrics from The Smiths’ “The Queen is Dead”: “I say Charles don’t you ever crave / to appear on the front of the Daily Mail / dressed in your Mother’s bridal veil?” Peace I am out.