Morrissey Central “TREASURE THE DAY” (July 3, 2024)

TREASURE THE DAY - MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY - MORRISSEY CENTRAL - TREASURE THE DAY

MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY on MORRISSEY CENTRAL

www.morrisseycentral.com

 

[j*e*t]

In a letter, he referred to the rest of the Smiths as his children. He was a significant few years older.

There's a scene in England Is Mine where his father tells him, aged about 12, to mind his mother, before leaving the family.

When he lost the court case, the possibility of his sister becoming homeless was mentioned, and of his mother being negatively impacted. I'm sure he covered this himself in Autobiography and elsewhere. He shouldered more responsibility for family than most. Not only was he the Mozfather but the Mozmother at times too. It's understandable if he occasionally feels like appealing for support to the saint in a stained glass window.

His celebrity has presumably compensated, but he's had his share of hardship and sadness. And the vicious persecution continues, and must hurt, while ordinary decent barbarians in suits run amok and make killings.

Still, in this and other songs, he may have had none of that in mind, but by design intended to provoke responses, because his main identity is as artist.

"As carefully constructed codes splatter out from the body of the song into the careful composition that is “Morrissey”, a rich textual reading is invited. Visual representations of the performing body feature prominently here, from decoding album covers to reading the potential provenance of gestures in Morrissey’s self-conscious poses , where the play with authenticity is at its sharpest. The lexicon from which Morrissey draws is rich in allusion and allegory. Eclectically mining the sounds and styles of cultural icons, musicians, poets, writers, Morrissey comes across as someone keen to pay tribute, to eulogize, and as a savvy bricoleur. The strategy sometimes involves ventriloquism and dialogism invoking those with a literary sensibility, for example, that may speak for and through him, and him through them . The outcome is a play, a deferral, a subversion and an elusiveness that makes it impossible to know the “real” Morrissey, including the gendered Morrissey, resulting in considerable ambiguity in his, literally, (re)presentations of them as him and vice versa."
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/298644322_But_don't_forget_the_songs_that_made_you_cry_and_the_songs_that_saved_your_life

I must admit that I wasn't really thining about The Smiths' musicians, but about those around him from the time this song was released. For example, drummer Matt recently hurt his head and I remembered that when I used to look at twitter he seemed to have a lovely wife and family and I was glad for him.

 

[goinghome]

he seemed to have a lovely wife and family and I was glad for him.

Nice.

You know how the step-child speaks in The Father Who Must Be Killed? Problems between step-children and step-parents crop up as an archetypal pattern, so wouldn't the contemptuous tone of the Bride lyric be very much in keeping with the step-mother? Or in modern times, the mother-in law? Feminists who studied marriage have warned that it is a dangerous institution for women, although previously in the nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth century, it was more men who warned each other of the marriage trap: pretty girls make graves. Freedoms curtailed. Since Morrissey has unusually dabbled more than casually in writings of all sorts, and bases lyrics on all these conflicting points of view. that could partly explain his frequent warnings about the state.

In the song I'm Not A Man, one of his put-downs is, 'workaholic', yet in Bride the protagonist can't bear the idea that she will 'laze and graze'. Hard to reconcile these positions. I came across this reflection on work the other day:

Trauma isn't what happens to us, [Gabor] Maté ritually explains in his public speeches devoured by thousands. Trauma is what happens inside of us as a result of what happens to us. There is no age cutoff for trauma. Parental stress can affect a child while they are still in the womb. Maté says one of the ways his childhood trauma has played up repeatedly in his own life is in the form of workaholism. "It made me a workaholic physician because I had to continuously prove that I was good enough."

The word workaholism was coined in 1971 by minister and psychologist Wayne Oates, who described it as 'the compulsion or the uncontrollable need to work incessantly'. As anyone who has lived this life knows, it feels very much like an addiction. You allow yourself to be swallowed whole by your work in the name of passion, dedication, professionalism, meaning, purpose. You collude with capitalism to torture yourself, and you can see in real time the personal becoming political becoming painfully personal. At the back of your mind, there's a voice that tells you it's okay to do just enough to earn your paycheque, like so many others do. But you. Can't. Stop. That emptiness in your soul never goes away, no matter how hard you try to fill it.

The adult chases after achievement and success. But all that the inner child wants is to be told that their mere existence is enough.

 

[j*e*t]

Nice.

You know how the step-child speaks in The Father Who Must Be Killed? Problems between step-children and step-parents crop up as an archetypal pattern, so wouldn't the contemptuous tone of the Bride lyric be very much in keeping with the step-mother? Or in modern times, the mother-in law? Feminists who studied marriage have warned that it is a dangerous institution for women, although previously in the nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth century, it was more men who warned each other of the marriage trap: pretty girls make graves. Freedoms curtailed. Since Morrissey has unusually dabbled more than casually in writings of all sorts, and bases lyrics on all these conflicting points of view. that could partly explain his frequent warnings about the state.

In the song I'm Not A Man, one of his put-downs is, 'workaholic', yet in Bride the protagonist can't bear the idea that she will 'laze and graze'. Hard to reconcile these positions. I came across this reflection on work the other day:


The word workaholism was coined in 1971 by minister and psychologist Wayne Oates, who described it as 'the compulsion or the uncontrollable need to work incessantly'. As anyone who has lived this life knows, it feels very much like an addiction. You allow yourself to be swallowed whole by your work in the name of passion, dedication, professionalism, meaning, purpose. You collude with capitalism to torture yourself, and you can see in real time the personal becoming political becoming painfully personal. At the back of your mind, there's a voice that tells you it's okay to do just enough to earn your paycheque, like so many others do. But you. Can't. Stop. That emptiness in your soul never goes away, no matter how hard you try to fill it.

The adult chases after achievement and success. But all that the inner child wants is to be told that their mere existence is enough.

Yes, I agree that the adviser in Kick the Bride doesn't have to be male. In fact, back when I was setting film clips to his songs (as a way of familiarising myself with them as well as joining the fan fun), I chose David Lean's 1946 film adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations, as it was the only one I could think of at the time that was about being jilted at the church. Miss Havisham was the one advising her adopted daughter Estella to 'write down every word I say'.

I think it's the leaving the jilting to the last minute that's so cruel, but of course adds drama. One of the good things about a wedding is that it's quite a test of the relationship. Sometimes lovers co-habit from convenience, but being proud to stand up in front of your friends and family and declare your love and commitment to someone is a test not all can pass.

As for workaholic, I can see how a husband who works long hours might resent a stay-at-home wife if he thought she was exploiting the situation, but often men don't really know what it's like. A friend of mine told me that when she was a young married she would ensure that she had the vacuum cleaner in hand when hubby came home, otherwise he'd think she did nothing all day! That was long ago, in the era of stereotypes, gender division and mother-in-law jokes.

 

[snapyou]

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TREASURE THE DAY - MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY - MORRISSEY CENTRAL - TREASURE THE DAY

MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY on MORRISSEY CENTRAL

www.morrisseycentral.com

D

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TREASURE THE DAY - MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY - MORRISSEY CENTRAL - TREASURE THE DAY

MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY on MORRISSEY CENTRAL

www.morrisseycentral.com

Funny,smart,enthusiastic,questioning and really listens to the songs.
Love the boy!

 

[goinghome]

Miss Havisham was the one advising her adopted daughter Estella to 'write down every word I say'.

I like that. I'll see if I can find it.

Sometimes lovers co-habit from convenience, but being proud to stand up in front of your friends and family and declare your love and commitment to someone is a test not all can pass.

Indeed. Plenty of happily-married folk about, although owing more to partners liking and being good to each other, rather than to the married state.

As for workaholic...that was long ago, in the era of stereotypes, gender division and mother-in-law jokes.

You'd think society has moved on, but wait!

In recent weeks of this very year, 2024,

on June 24, Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) introduced a bill to repeal the Comstock Act, calling it “a 150-year-old zombie law banning abortion that’s long been relegated to the dustbin of history.”

Part of that dark history of the Comstock Act is coming to light in an unusual venue: a request for a presidential pardon. In 1879, DeRobigne Mortimer Bennett, the founding publisher of The Truth Seeker, the country’s oldest continuously published “free thought” magazine, was convicted under the Comstock Act for the crime of mailing a 23-page anti-marriage pamphlet titled “Cupid’s Yokes, or The Binding Forces of Conjugal Life,” written by free-love advocate Ezra Heywood.

On June 17, Roderick Bradford, the current publisher of The Truth Seeker, submitted a posthumous pardon petition to President Biden and the Department of Justice on Bennett’s behalf. The case is being handled by Robert Corn-Revere, chief counsel of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a legal nonprofit dedicated to defending the First Amendment."

The Truth Seeker brought together men and women, devoted

"to “science, morals, free thought, free discussions, liberalism, sexual equality, labor reform, progression, free education and whatever tends to elevate and emancipate the human race.” With a national circulation, The Truth Seeker would become the most influential Freethought publication during the period following the Civil War into the first decades of the 20th century, known as the Golden Age of Freethought.

The offending anti-marriage pamphlet, called Cupid's Yokes, is up online - https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/e-h-heywood-cupid-s-yokes

The article about this history also includes a few lines about Lenny Bruce:

In 2003, then-New York Governor George Pataki pardoned comedian Lenny Bruce for his 1964 conviction for “obscene” comedy routines. Like the prosecution of Bennett, Bruce’s conviction was illegitimate even under the standards of his day. In announcing the pardon, Pataki said, “freedom of speech is one of the greatest American liberties, and I hope this pardon serves as a reminder of the precious freedoms we are fighting to preserve.” He described it as “a declaration of New York’s commitment to upholding the First Amendment.”

Morrissey covered Tim Hardin's song, Lenny's Tune in California Son.

 

[Stephen Hofmann]

watched this last friday,i watch his videos every friday when im having my dinner before i go out.
he always breaks down the the lyrics,sometimes i agree with him and sometimes i dont.

The problem with all these youtube reactions..............reacting to songs for the first time........they leave out all the emotions you felt hearing these songs for the first time.

 

[gordyboy9]

The problem with all these youtube reactions..............reacting to songs for the first time........they leave out all the emotions you felt hearing these songs for the first time.

yip its a way to get a lot of views,they will literally do ten songs in an afternoon.

 

[j*e*t]

I like that. I'll see if I can find it.



Indeed. Plenty of happily-married folk about, although owing more to partners liking and being good to each other, rather than to the married state.

You'd think society has moved on, but wait!

In recent weeks of this very year, 2024,

on June 24, Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) introduced a bill to repeal the Comstock Act, calling it “a 150-year-old zombie law banning abortion that’s long been relegated to the dustbin of history.”

Part of that dark history of the Comstock Act is coming to light in an unusual venue: a request for a presidential pardon. In 1879, DeRobigne Mortimer Bennett, the founding publisher of The Truth Seeker, the country’s oldest continuously published “free thought” magazine, was convicted under the Comstock Act for the crime of mailing a 23-page anti-marriage pamphlet titled “Cupid’s Yokes, or The Binding Forces of Conjugal Life,” written by free-love advocate Ezra Heywood.

On June 17, Roderick Bradford, the current publisher of The Truth Seeker, submitted a posthumous pardon petition to President Biden and the Department of Justice on Bennett’s behalf. The case is being handled by Robert Corn-Revere, chief counsel of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a legal nonprofit dedicated to defending the First Amendment."

The Truth Seeker brought together men and women, devoted

"to “science, morals, free thought, free discussions, liberalism, sexual equality, labor reform, progression, free education and whatever tends to elevate and emancipate the human race.” With a national circulation, The Truth Seeker would become the most influential Freethought publication during the period following the Civil War into the first decades of the 20th century, known as the Golden Age of Freethought.

The offending anti-marriage pamphlet, called Cupid's Yokes, is up online - https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/e-h-heywood-cupid-s-yokes

The article about this history also includes a few lines about Lenny Bruce:

In 2003, then-New York Governor George Pataki pardoned comedian Lenny Bruce for his 1964 conviction for “obscene” comedy routines. Like the prosecution of Bennett, Bruce’s conviction was illegitimate even under the standards of his day. In announcing the pardon, Pataki said, “freedom of speech is one of the greatest American liberties, and I hope this pardon serves as a reminder of the precious freedoms we are fighting to preserve.” He described it as “a declaration of New York’s commitment to upholding the First Amendment.”

Morrissey covered Tim Hardin's song, Lenny's Tune in California Son.

All very imteresting, and mostly new to me. It's hard to imagine the US in Ezra Heywood's day, but I find his phrase about the 'legalized prostitution of marriage' shocking even now. Of course, prostitution's image has been re-evaluated somewhat in modern times! We should admire pioneers of free thought and speech such as Lenny Bruce, though, especially those who suffered imprisonment or heavy fines (types of cancel culture). Of course, an anti-marriage campainger wouldn't get as far as the aisle, but I take the kick the bride bit as a metaphor. I wonder why Morrissey wanted to express anti-marriage views, and to 'treasure the day' - quite amusing to think of celebrating a non-anniversary of marriage with a nice card or gift to yourself! Another interpretation would be more about treasuring the day as in your own time being too valuable to share with anyone else, as he has seemed to say in his autobiography.

The alternatives to marriage can be just as bad: I was recently reading a biography of Germaine Greer, in which free love and abortions seemed to go hand in hand, sometimes resulting in infertility, which just shows that the free can be as ignorant as the en-yoked. I found her life sad overall. Perhaps same-sex co-habitation is the safest way, but not all of us can afford to keep a paid assistant to share our life with. I suppose posting the reaction video on Central shows Morrissey is interested in people's views about his art. I really don't feel strongly either way about marriage, but definitely would rather listen to his song than study Heywood's 'Cupid's Yoke' treatise!

 

[Ashley_TakeABow]

I've always thought about doing reaction videos with the remaining Morrissey solo songs I haven't heard yet (and other music) because there is a ton I haven't heard yet. I thought though, instead of sitting in a chair in front of a camera, doing it a bit more naturally, pretending the camera isn't there. Then I will cut away from that and talk about the song after its over. Maybe.. Maybe..

I just feel a lot of these reaction videos lack a sense of being.... truly genuine. I'd love to bring that to the table.

 

[j*e*t]

Unkind or truly laughable?

 

[goinghome]

All very imteresting, and mostly new to me. It's hard to imagine the US in Ezra Heywood's day, but I find his phrase about the 'legalized prostitution of marriage' shocking even now. Of course, prostitution's image has been re-evaluated somewhat in modern times! We should admire pioneers of free thought and speech such as Lenny Bruce, though, especially those who suffered imprisonment or heavy fines (types of cancel culture). Of course, an anti-marriage campainger wouldn't get as far as the aisle, but I take the kick the bride bit as a metaphor. I wonder why Morrissey wanted to express anti-marriage views, and to 'treasure the day' - quite amusing to think of celebrating a non-anniversary of marriage with a nice card or gift to yourself! Another interpretation would be more about treasuring the day as in your own time being too valuable to share with anyone else, as he has seemed to say in his autobiography.

The alternatives to marriage can be just as bad: I was recently reading a biography of Germaine Greer, in which free love and abortions seemed to go hand in hand, sometimes resulting in infertility, which just shows that the free can be as ignorant as the en-yoked. I found her life sad overall. Perhaps same-sex co-habitation is the safest way, but not all of us can afford to keep a paid assistant to share our life with. I suppose posting the reaction video on Central shows Morrissey is interested in people's views about his art. I really don't feel strongly either way about marriage, but definitely would rather listen to his song than study Heywood's 'Cupid's Yoke' treatise!

I enjoyed reading that reply

Is this the video you made?


Another video for this song was put on YouTube yesterday

 

[j*e*t]

I enjoyed reading that reply

Is this the video you made?


Another video for this song was put on YouTube yesterday

Oh, no, sorry I forgot to say that I deleted all my videos quite a while back. I enjoyed doing them but they weren't the best quality. I think that doesn't matter much for fan videos, but what really made me decide to remove them from YouTube was seeing that during the pandemic the drummer, Matt, had made videos for his own musical project (called of 1000 faces I think), and they were similar in that they used film clips and I thought how much better it was if the artist wants videos that he make them himself in line with his own vision of what the song represents. In Morrissey's case I thought he could easily get help from his nephew, who has video-making experience.

 

[goinghome]

Oh, no, sorry I forgot to say that I deleted all my videos quite a while back. I enjoyed doing them but they weren't the best quality. I think that doesn't matter much for fan videos, but what really made me decide to remove them from YouTube was seeing that during the pandemic the drummer, Matt, had made videos for his own musical project (called of 1000 faces I think), and they were similar in that they used film clips and I thought how much better it was if the artist wants videos that he make them himself in line with his own vision of what the song represents. In Morrissey's case I thought he could easily get help from his nephew, who has video-making experience.

Gotcha. Nice project anyway

I thought this comment by Nietsche seemed meaningful for some of the inconsistencies you noticed earlier: "It is certainly best to separate the artist from his work so completely that he cannot be taken as seriously as his work. He is after all merely the precondition of his work, the womb, the soil, perhaps even the dung and manure, on which and out of which it grows - and consequently, in most cases, something that must be forgotten if the work is to be enjoyed."

That's being discussed @ https://www.morrissey-solo.com/threads/paul-auster-on-flawed-artists.152266/

Artists like Morrissey who use so much of their lives in their work, presumably experience disorientating overlaps and switches.

Perhaps we'll revisit from time to time. Meanwhile, handsome testimony of survivors of the dreaded state

On this day

M was everywhere in those days,tv,radio,music mags,adverts,reviews and never ending concert tours. was just a great time be an M fan.

www.morrissey-solo.com

 

[j*e*t]

Yes, and I don't really know what it is about Morrissey's songs that made me want to know everything about his life history. I sometimes wish I could just go back to knowing nothing and just enjoying the music. I think I do see him in something of a teacher role, someone who introduces us to all sorts of cultural references we were unaware of before. Rather like some members here! I think I'll have to accept that much of it is beyond my understanding. For example, I just noticed that the Message fom Morrissey for 9th July 2021 quoted Kick the Bride and linked to a reappraisal article from Fiona Dodwell about the World Peace album, even though the song wasn't mentioned in the article. Perhaps he just liked the sound of 'beach' rhyming with 'reach' and wouldn't even be able to explain what he meant himself. That's why I prefer song to poetry, because if the music is beautiful, not all the words have to convey anything profound.

 

[goinghome]

Yes, and I don't really know what it is about Morrissey's songs that made me want to know everything about his life history. I sometimes wish I could just go back to knowing nothing and just enjoying the music. I think I do see him in something of a teacher role, someone who introduces us to all sorts of cultural references we were unaware of before. Rather like some members here! I think I'll have to accept that much of it is beyond my understanding. For example, I just noticed that the Message fom Morrissey for 9th July 2021 quoted Kick the Bride and linked to a reappraisal article from Fiona Dodwell about the World Peace album, even though the song wasn't mentioned in the article. Perhaps he just liked the sound of 'beach' rhyming with 'reach' and wouldn't even be able to explain what he meant himself. That's why I prefer song to poetry, because if the music is beautiful, not all the words have to convey anything profound.

Perhaps the songs are designed to be thought-provoking and/or to imbue an emotional atmosphere, as you describe.

If you don't mind staying with the bride/marriage theme too, the position in this piece goes against much of what tiptoeing commentators have to say:

"...David Paternotte and Martin Deleixhe, two Belgian scholars who have recently announced a new field of research similar to anti-gender research, believe the notion of ‘wokism’ normalises conservative and extreme-right discourse in the public sphere. But even they warn that if those who want to research ‘anti-wokism’ adopt the terminology of the protagonists, there is a danger of accepting its binary opposition (they are against ‘woke’, so we should be for). Progressive actors have a range of views on the associated issues and the authors question uncritical identification with a ‘woke’ attitude when certain of its manifestations require fuller discussion.

To get a handle on this, including its class dimension, Rob Henderson’s concept of ‘luxury beliefs’ helps. Inspired by Pierre Bourdieu and Thorsten Veblen, these are ‘ideas and opinions that confer status on the upper class at very little cost, while often inflicting costs on the lower classes’ and which ‘undermine social mobility’. Attacking marriage or calls for ‘defunding’ the police—positions one finds among progressive elites—are examples: these are institutions vital for the protection and mobility of members of the lower classes, whereas the upper classes can afford to live without them..."

Ostrich politics and its alternatives

In lieu of comforting, self-righteous myths, Eszter Kováts argues, progressives should take the 'anti-woke' challenge seriously.

www.socialeurope.eu

What I welcome about this is the refreshing reliance on a broad range of scholarly references. Do you think it holds water, or is it all bluster?

 

[Anonymous]

I just feel a lot of these reaction videos lack a sense of being.... truly genuine. I'd love to bring that to the table.

You can tell the really fake ones, as they usually show the thumbnail for the reaction (even if it's reacting to 10 hours of watching paint dry), as being shooketh like this:

 

[j*e*t]

Perhaps the songs are designed to be thought-provoking and/or to imbue an emotional atmosphere, as you describe.

If you don't mind staying with the bride/marriage theme too, the position in this piece goes against much of what tiptoeing commentators have to say:

"...David Paternotte and Martin Deleixhe, two Belgian scholars who have recently announced a new field of research similar to anti-gender research, believe the notion of ‘wokism’ normalises conservative and extreme-right discourse in the public sphere. But even they warn that if those who want to research ‘anti-wokism’ adopt the terminology of the protagonists, there is a danger of accepting its binary opposition (they are against ‘woke’, so we should be for). Progressive actors have a range of views on the associated issues and the authors question uncritical identification with a ‘woke’ attitude when certain of its manifestations require fuller discussion.

To get a handle on this, including its class dimension, Rob Henderson’s concept of ‘luxury beliefs’ helps. Inspired by Pierre Bourdieu and Thorsten Veblen, these are ‘ideas and opinions that confer status on the upper class at very little cost, while often inflicting costs on the lower classes’ and which ‘undermine social mobility’. Attacking marriage or calls for ‘defunding’ the police—positions one finds among progressive elites—are examples: these are institutions vital for the protection and mobility of members of the lower classes, whereas the upper classes can afford to live without them..."

Ostrich politics and its alternatives

In lieu of comforting, self-righteous myths, Eszter Kováts argues, progressives should take the 'anti-woke' challenge seriously.

www.socialeurope.eu

What I welcome about this is the refreshing reliance on a broad range of scholarly references. Do you think it holds water, or is it all bluster?

I do think scholarly articles are welcome because they validate ideas that we have picked up along the way from our own experiences. The idea of ''luxury beliefs' is what I was hinting at in Morrissey's case - as in the luxury of having a long-term, live-in personal assistant (who could be a spouse substitute) is something that most of us couldn't afford. But as for the status marriage confers, it isn't just for the poor. I recently watched two rock biographies, about Sterling Morrisson and Buddy Holly, in which it seemed to me that the status their widows had was of value to them in terms of the recognition it gave them as being the most imortant person in the lives of important people, compared with being just a girlfriend. Or even if the person isn't high status, being recognised as the next-of-kin can be important: for example, a friend of mine was keen to get married after her long-term, live-in boyfriend was hospitalised and she realised that technically his mother was his next-of-kin and she really didn't the same rights as her.

I was listening to Morrissey's concert in Helsinki in 2014 and he introduced Kick the Bride by commenting on Helsinki's unique architecture: 'There aren't many churches, which I know
are symbols of the past, but every time I pass a church I hear my favourite psalm, which is this.' So, even allowing for typical Morrissey exaggeration, I think possibly the anti-marriage stance is a reaction to being told what to do and think by established religions, which really are an insult to intelligent people. Interestingly, on this occasion in Finland, he changed the lyric from 'You're that stretch of the beach' to 'I'm that stretch of the beach'.

 

[goinghome]

I do think scholarly articles are welcome because they validate ideas that we have picked up along the way from our own experiences. The idea of ''luxury beliefs' is what I was hinting at in Morrissey's case - as in the luxury of having a long-term, live-in personal assistant (who could be a spouse substitute) is something that most of us couldn't afford. But as for the status marriage confers, it isn't just for the poor. I recently watched two rock biographies, about Sterling Morrisson and Buddy Holly, in which it seemed to me that the status their widows had was of value to them in terms of the recognition it gave them as being the most imortant person in the lives of important people, compared with being just a girlfriend. Or even if the person isn't high status, being recognised as the next-of-kin can be important: for example, a friend of mine was keen to get married after her long-term, live-in boyfriend was hospitalised and she realised that technically his mother was his next-of-kin and she really didn't the same rights as her.

I was listening to Morrissey's concert in Helsinki in 2014 and he introduced Kick the Bride by commenting on Helsinki's unique architecture: 'There aren't many churches, which I know
are symbols of the past, but every time I pass a church I hear my favourite psalm, which is this.' So, even allowing for typical Morrissey exaggeration, I think possibly the anti-marriage stance is a reaction to being told what to do and think by established religions, which really are an insult to intelligent people. Interestingly, on this occasion in Finland, he changed the lyric from 'You're that stretch of the beach' to 'I'm that stretch of the beach'.

Not only status is conferred by marriage. Consider, a double bed and a stalwart lover: for sure, these are the riches of the poor (I Want The One I Can’t Have)

What seems to be more in mind there is solidarity, for better or worse.Taking on the world together. People have a myriad of reasons though, and even when they don’t, new relationship roles never originally envisaged often emerge.

Morrissey’s change to the song in Helsinki is curious, and suggests to me he’s been playing around with point of view in this song; maybe in as striking if less evident way as is done with Slum Mums.

Martin J. Power’s contribution on Fandom (2011), headed, “The “Teenage Dad” and “Slum Mums” are Just “Certain People I Know”: Counter Hegemonic Representations of the Working/ Underclass in the Works of Morrissey”, looks at how Morrissey has continuously dealt with the “hidden injuries of class” that characterize contemporary society. Power and peers fret at the academic abandoning of class in theory.

Morrissey challenges postmodern arguments that individualisation weakens class identities by reconfiguring class analysis, and centrally locating issues of cultural identity, in the process demonstrating that individualization has merely altered how class operates. Despite the fact that communal class identities are fragile, our subjective identities continue to involve “relational comparisons” with those from other classes, signifying “the reforming of class cultures around individualized axes” (Savage, 2000: xii cited in Bottero 2004: 989). In such a context, by continuously using his work as a powerful tool for re-imagining people and places, Morrissey has built a counter-hegemonic discourse and image of the working/ underclass (Botta 2006: 123). As such it would appear that Morrissey’s Years of Refusal have been very well spent.

So there’s an A grade for the boy!

Here’s the bit about Slum Mums:

The use of the chav as a marker of class disgust is most evident through the construction of the chavette or “pramface”, complete with hoopy earrings, tracksuit, ponytail (“Croydon facelift”) and multitude of mixed-race kids. She has been constructed as the archetypal sexually extreme lone mother who is an “immoral, filthy, ignorant, vulgar, tasteless, working-class whore” (Tyler 2008: 26). Wilson and Huntington (2005: 59) argue that a new set of feminine norms has emerged (where the idyllic life-course of middle-class women now conforms to the neo-liberal needs of the economy, via higher education and increased female participation in the labour market), resulting in the denigration of the chavette (Tyler 2008: 30).

When middle-class women delayed having children so as to participate in the labour market, it increasingly caused non-working (young) mothers (especially those on welfare) to be viewed as problematic. Essentially the chavette was stigmatized as a result of “normality” being defined by “white middle-class cultural practices and family forms” (Griffin 1993: 38 cited in Wilson and Huntington 2005: 67). The class disgust discourse on the chavette or “slum mum” also conveniently allows governments to deflect attention away from cuts in welfare provision once they have framed the issue as an individualistic social problem (Skeggs 2005: 968). Accordingly, concerns for teenage mothers are almost always articulated through the discourse of welfare dependency, the ideological basis of which is camouflaged (Wilson and Huntington 2005: 62). Instead of framing such women’s poverty in terms of structural deficiencies (such as inadequate childcare, low levels of educational attainment, declining wages, less sustainable employment etc.), these women are most often depicted in a manner that “makes” them responsible for their own misfortune.

This is highly significant as a “political shift from redistribution to recognition politics” has occurred, and those who are not “respectable” now cannot “morally” seek assistance from the state (Skeggs 2005: 977). In this context the ‘Slum Mums’, which laments a coloured lone mother’s existence, powerfully critiques the impact of some of the myths which are continually advanced by neo-liberal governments through the Moral Underclass Discourse.


The narrator in Kick the Bride is equally likely to be an authority figure Morrissey is caricaturing. Or could it be someone looking out for a working class guy who's married up in some way detrimental to his own survival? Power focuses on the plight of such a groom being lectured; the poor devil now purportedly trapped as a slave/To break his back in pursuit of a living wage.

In Morrissey’s solo career, many of his tracks celebrate working-class hardness, idleness, criminality and social indifference (Botta 2006: 124). His descriptions imply “a gay viewpoint” on some occasions and “a straight viewpoint” on others, but “every instance is fraught with ambiguity” (Hubbs 1996: 269; see also Stringer 1992; Simpson 2004). Morrissey’s sexuality is vague and open to elucidation (Brown 1991) and his fascination with hard working-class males in particular can be read as homoerotic attraction. Indeed, reading this fascination with working-class hardness from a Queer Theory perspective might well see these characters as “rough trade” (Sheppard 2003). Hubbs (1996: 285) argues that Morrissey “chooses to explore queer themes, in the most knowledgeable ‘inside’ of queer-insider language”, and while the message is delivered in an ambiguous manner it “is abundantly meaningful to other insiders: for queer listeners, Morrissey’s work is about queer erotics and experience”. However, Hubbs (1996: 285) acknowledges that she knows many “straight fans” who have no idea that Morrissey’s work has anything to do with “queerness”.

Such a viewpoint is easily accounted for given mainstream society’s “ignorance of queer codes”, and the impact of “the economy of compulsory heterosexuality”. I am in agreement with Hubbs (1996: 288) assertion that those who ignore “the relevant codes and secret languages” are missing “a crucial part of the picture”, but to simply restrictively classify Morrissey’s work as a form of “gay rock” is to miss the point entirely.

As such Morrissey’s fascination with working-class hardness should also be seen as identification with the marginalized other (Zuberi 2001: 51). Coulter (2010: 166) suggests that Morrissey’s “gaze” on hard working-class males could also be “the result of another form of envy or desire”, one that suspects that these characters are “in some way authentically working-class in a way that he can never possibly be”. It is that understanding that informs the next section of this chapter. There are multiple ways of being a working-class male; there is however a dominant hegemonic form of masculinity, which defines (a stereotypical version of) what it is to be a man (Coulter 2010: 166).

In post-war Britain, manufacturing jobs presented opportunities for (predominantly white) working-class males, yet this form of employment also accumulated a particular type of masculine “body capital” (Nayak 2006: 813–814). With industrial decline, working-class youths had to negotiate a now uncertain transition to manhood via government training schemes or the dole (Bates 1984 cited in Nayak 2006: 814), in the process underpinning the class society (Beck 1998: 35 cited in Nayak 2006: 814), which in turn detrimentally impacted on their masculine identity (Nayak 2006: 816). Yet “real and symbolic acts of violence” offered young working-class males the prospect of maintaining their “tough” masculine identity (McDowell 2002 cited in Nayak 2006: 821). These young males began to adapt to the social inequalities they faced by performing an unrepentant “posture of survival” that was hard and streetwise, in order to demonstrate a survivalist response to the neo-liberal “reforms” that left many of their communities completely abandoned (MacDonald, 1999 cited in Nayak 2006: 826–827). The importance of place, locality and regional identities cannot be underestimated, and in spite of major physical and economic regeneration, the traditional working-class culture/identity of these young males steadfastly refuses to be erased (Nayak 2006: 828).

In such a context Morrissey’s work makes extremely interesting reading. ‘Reader Meets Author’ sees Morrissey castigate middle-class fascination with the working-class (Zuberi 2001: 60). The parachute journalist in this track writes their stories from afar (safety) without ever understanding what it means to live in such locations. Morrissey sees his work as providing a more authentic view of working-class life, though from the perspective of an outsider who never really fitted into that way of life. Songs such as ‘Dial A Cliché’, ‘He Cried’ and ‘Certain People I Know’ illustrate Morrissey’s fascination with working-class hardness. Additionally, his ‘Rusholme Ruffians’, ‘Sweet And Tender Hooligan(s)’, ‘Suedehead’(s) and skinheads can all be seen as part of his “reclamation of the working-class”…


The anti-marriage stance may be a reaction to the insult of being told what to do and think by established religions, as you say, just as his insistence on the continuous existence of class is an inconvenient response to the powers that be, which the recent article on ostrich politics above picks up on. The reminder about all the Morrissey songs on male working-class unemployment, slacking, and getting by somehow in hard times strongly adds to the sense that he is using drama in Kick the Bride, even if he’s coming at it after getting out, from his place in the sun. At least the luxury of assistant is put back in service of giving a voice to those who haven't got one from where he came from.

…Such views are unlikely to gain Morrissey many admirers in the Establishment. But Morrissey’s lyrics strive to create an alternative cultural text, which documents working-class life; in doing so he re-contextualizes class and challenges the hegemonic neo-liberal political ideology. He might not make much difference in practical terms but “if people can discover literature though pop music then why not politics? Sometimes a seed needs only to be sown” (Pye 1984).

Power and colleagues point out that the higher classes have far more access to means to feed their interests, and be represented, in popular discourse; the unfairness of which Morrissey seeks to combat:

Although (media) discourses of “undeserving poor” are hegemonic, it is important to recognize that counter-hegemonic ideologies have also emerged, though these are far fewer in number and do not penetrate into popular discourse to a similar extent. In essence a lack of access to the mechanisms of “symbolic production” has ensured there have been limited occurrences1 of sustained critiques of “middle-class pretensions” (Skeggs 2005: 975–976). In a society where the hegemonic discourse is produced by the upper- and middle-classes, the capacity to articulate a contradictory narrative to the marginalized is aided by the “reach” of popular music (Botta 2006: 123).

Speaking early in his career Morrissey argued that “The Smiths create their world and not many people do that” (The South Bank Show 1987). Morrissey’s work has the ability to realize people and places in a believable manner, creating innovative modalities to visualize them. He manages to do this through a process of layering “textscapes”, “soundscapes” and “landscapes” into his work (Botta 2006: 123). Morrissey’s “textscapes” consist of the lyrics and song titles which refer to people and places, while his “soundscape” is conveyed through the use of local dialect, accent or sounds. Lastly, the “landscape” is portrayed through visual elements such as his covers, posters, photographs, videos and stage backdrops etc., which may reflect a particular place, individual or way of life, often a valorized/iconic form of (white) working-class identity (Botta 2006: 123)

That goes back to an earlier point you made about ambiguity being easier to live with in songs than in poems. Didn’t he once say, artists aren’t really people. And I’m actually 40% papier mache! Where would a poor bride be with such a wisp of a thing?

 

[j*e*t]

Not only status is conferred by marriage. Consider, a double bed and a stalwart lover: for sure, these are the riches of the poor (I Want The One I Can’t Have)

What seems to be more in mind there is solidarity, for better or worse.Taking on the world together. People have a myriad of reasons though, and even when they don’t, new relationship roles never originally envisaged often emerge.

Morrissey’s change to the song in Helsinki is curious, and suggests to me he’s been playing around with point of view in this song; maybe in as striking if less evident way as is done with Slum Mums.

Martin J. Power’s contribution on Fandom (2011), headed, “The “Teenage Dad” and “Slum Mums” are Just “Certain People I Know”: Counter Hegemonic Representations of the Working/ Underclass in the Works of Morrissey”, looks at how Morrissey has continuously dealt with the “hidden injuries of class” that characterize contemporary society. Power and peers fret at the academic abandoning of class in theory.

Morrissey challenges postmodern arguments that individualisation weakens class identities by reconfiguring class analysis, and centrally locating issues of cultural identity, in the process demonstrating that individualization has merely altered how class operates. Despite the fact that communal class identities are fragile, our subjective identities continue to involve “relational comparisons” with those from other classes, signifying “the reforming of class cultures around individualized axes” (Savage, 2000: xii cited in Bottero 2004: 989). In such a context, by continuously using his work as a powerful tool for re-imagining people and places, Morrissey has built a counter-hegemonic discourse and image of the working/ underclass (Botta 2006: 123). As such it would appear that Morrissey’s Years of Refusal have been very well spent.

So there’s an A grade for the boy!

Here’s the bit about Slum Mums:

The use of the chav as a marker of class disgust is most evident through the construction of the chavette or “pramface”, complete with hoopy earrings, tracksuit, ponytail (“Croydon facelift”) and multitude of mixed-race kids. She has been constructed as the archetypal sexually extreme lone mother who is an “immoral, filthy, ignorant, vulgar, tasteless, working-class whore” (Tyler 2008: 26). Wilson and Huntington (2005: 59) argue that a new set of feminine norms has emerged (where the idyllic life-course of middle-class women now conforms to the neo-liberal needs of the economy, via higher education and increased female participation in the labour market), resulting in the denigration of the chavette (Tyler 2008: 30).

When middle-class women delayed having children so as to participate in the labour market, it increasingly caused non-working (young) mothers (especially those on welfare) to be viewed as problematic. Essentially the chavette was stigmatized as a result of “normality” being defined by “white middle-class cultural practices and family forms” (Griffin 1993: 38 cited in Wilson and Huntington 2005: 67). The class disgust discourse on the chavette or “slum mum” also conveniently allows governments to deflect attention away from cuts in welfare provision once they have framed the issue as an individualistic social problem (Skeggs 2005: 968). Accordingly, concerns for teenage mothers are almost always articulated through the discourse of welfare dependency, the ideological basis of which is camouflaged (Wilson and Huntington 2005: 62). Instead of framing such women’s poverty in terms of structural deficiencies (such as inadequate childcare, low levels of educational attainment, declining wages, less sustainable employment etc.), these women are most often depicted in a manner that “makes” them responsible for their own misfortune.

This is highly significant as a “political shift from redistribution to recognition politics” has occurred, and those who are not “respectable” now cannot “morally” seek assistance from the state (Skeggs 2005: 977). In this context the ‘Slum Mums’, which laments a coloured lone mother’s existence, powerfully critiques the impact of some of the myths which are continually advanced by neo-liberal governments through the Moral Underclass Discourse.


The narrator in Kick the Bride is equally likely to be an authority figure Morrissey is caricaturing. Or could it be someone looking out for a working class guy who's married up in some way detrimental to his own survival? Power focuses on the plight of such a groom being lectured; the poor devil now purportedly trapped as a slave/To break his back in pursuit of a living wage.

In Morrissey’s solo career, many of his tracks celebrate working-class hardness, idleness, criminality and social indifference (Botta 2006: 124). His descriptions imply “a gay viewpoint” on some occasions and “a straight viewpoint” on others, but “every instance is fraught with ambiguity” (Hubbs 1996: 269; see also Stringer 1992; Simpson 2004). Morrissey’s sexuality is vague and open to elucidation (Brown 1991) and his fascination with hard working-class males in particular can be read as homoerotic attraction. Indeed, reading this fascination with working-class hardness from a Queer Theory perspective might well see these characters as “rough trade” (Sheppard 2003). Hubbs (1996: 285) argues that Morrissey “chooses to explore queer themes, in the most knowledgeable ‘inside’ of queer-insider language”, and while the message is delivered in an ambiguous manner it “is abundantly meaningful to other insiders: for queer listeners, Morrissey’s work is about queer erotics and experience”. However, Hubbs (1996: 285) acknowledges that she knows many “straight fans” who have no idea that Morrissey’s work has anything to do with “queerness”.

Such a viewpoint is easily accounted for given mainstream society’s “ignorance of queer codes”, and the impact of “the economy of compulsory heterosexuality”. I am in agreement with Hubbs (1996: 288) assertion that those who ignore “the relevant codes and secret languages” are missing “a crucial part of the picture”, but to simply restrictively classify Morrissey’s work as a form of “gay rock” is to miss the point entirely.

As such Morrissey’s fascination with working-class hardness should also be seen as identification with the marginalized other (Zuberi 2001: 51). Coulter (2010: 166) suggests that Morrissey’s “gaze” on hard working-class males could also be “the result of another form of envy or desire”, one that suspects that these characters are “in some way authentically working-class in a way that he can never possibly be”. It is that understanding that informs the next section of this chapter. There are multiple ways of being a working-class male; there is however a dominant hegemonic form of masculinity, which defines (a stereotypical version of) what it is to be a man (Coulter 2010: 166).

In post-war Britain, manufacturing jobs presented opportunities for (predominantly white) working-class males, yet this form of employment also accumulated a particular type of masculine “body capital” (Nayak 2006: 813–814). With industrial decline, working-class youths had to negotiate a now uncertain transition to manhood via government training schemes or the dole (Bates 1984 cited in Nayak 2006: 814), in the process underpinning the class society (Beck 1998: 35 cited in Nayak 2006: 814), which in turn detrimentally impacted on their masculine identity (Nayak 2006: 816). Yet “real and symbolic acts of violence” offered young working-class males the prospect of maintaining their “tough” masculine identity (McDowell 2002 cited in Nayak 2006: 821). These young males began to adapt to the social inequalities they faced by performing an unrepentant “posture of survival” that was hard and streetwise, in order to demonstrate a survivalist response to the neo-liberal “reforms” that left many of their communities completely abandoned (MacDonald, 1999 cited in Nayak 2006: 826–827). The importance of place, locality and regional identities cannot be underestimated, and in spite of major physical and economic regeneration, the traditional working-class culture/identity of these young males steadfastly refuses to be erased (Nayak 2006: 828).

In such a context Morrissey’s work makes extremely interesting reading. ‘Reader Meets Author’ sees Morrissey castigate middle-class fascination with the working-class (Zuberi 2001: 60). The parachute journalist in this track writes their stories from afar (safety) without ever understanding what it means to live in such locations. Morrissey sees his work as providing a more authentic view of working-class life, though from the perspective of an outsider who never really fitted into that way of life. Songs such as ‘Dial A Cliché’, ‘He Cried’ and ‘Certain People I Know’ illustrate Morrissey’s fascination with working-class hardness. Additionally, his ‘Rusholme Ruffians’, ‘Sweet And Tender Hooligan(s)’, ‘Suedehead’(s) and skinheads can all be seen as part of his “reclamation of the working-class”…


The anti-marriage stance may be a reaction to the insult of being told what to do and think by established religions, as you say, just as his insistence on the continuous existence of class is an inconvenient response to the powers that be, which the recent article on ostrich politics above picks up on. The reminder about all the Morrissey songs on male working-class unemployment, slacking, and getting by somehow in hard times strongly adds to the sense that he is using drama in Kick the Bride, even if he’s coming at it after getting out, from his place in the sun. At least the luxury of assistant is put back in service of giving a voice to those who haven't got one from where he came from.

…Such views are unlikely to gain Morrissey many admirers in the Establishment. But Morrissey’s lyrics strive to create an alternative cultural text, which documents working-class life; in doing so he re-contextualizes class and challenges the hegemonic neo-liberal political ideology. He might not make much difference in practical terms but “if people can discover literature though pop music then why not politics? Sometimes a seed needs only to be sown” (Pye 1984).

Power and colleagues point out that the higher classes have far more access to means to feed their interests, and be represented, in popular discourse; the unfairness of which Morrissey seeks to combat:

Although (media) discourses of “undeserving poor” are hegemonic, it is important to recognize that counter-hegemonic ideologies have also emerged, though these are far fewer in number and do not penetrate into popular discourse to a similar extent. In essence a lack of access to the mechanisms of “symbolic production” has ensured there have been limited occurrences1 of sustained critiques of “middle-class pretensions” (Skeggs 2005: 975–976). In a society where the hegemonic discourse is produced by the upper- and middle-classes, the capacity to articulate a contradictory narrative to the marginalized is aided by the “reach” of popular music (Botta 2006: 123).

Speaking early in his career Morrissey argued that “The Smiths create their world and not many people do that” (The South Bank Show 1987). Morrissey’s work has the ability to realize people and places in a believable manner, creating innovative modalities to visualize them. He manages to do this through a process of layering “textscapes”, “soundscapes” and “landscapes” into his work (Botta 2006: 123). Morrissey’s “textscapes” consist of the lyrics and song titles which refer to people and places, while his “soundscape” is conveyed through the use of local dialect, accent or sounds. Lastly, the “landscape” is portrayed through visual elements such as his covers, posters, photographs, videos and stage backdrops etc., which may reflect a particular place, individual or way of life, often a valorized/iconic form of (white) working-class identity (Botta 2006: 123)

That goes back to an earlier point you made about ambiguity being easier to live with in songs than in poems. Didn’t he once say, artists aren’t really people. And I’m actually 40% papier mache! Where would a poor bride be with such a wisp of a thing?

Maybe in someone's imagination Morrissey is a 'wisp of a thing' as you say but he doesn't seem like that to me! Anyway, there's a lot in your post to consider. Firstly, I would say that some of the songs you mention, such as I Want The One I Can't Have, The Slum Mums, and Reader Meet Author are not necessarily about marriage per se, but I do agree that they are part of a 'counter-hegemic discourse'. I don't suppose Morrissey can help writing from a Northern underclass point of view, even if that isn't really his own identity now. I found his interview in The South Bank Show (1987) illuminating about such people 'having their tail trapprd in the door' when they wanted to get on, get out and be seen.

I think he feels sympathy for anyone who does what is expected of him by societal norms but finds that doesn't bring happiness. Teenage Dad on his Estate is an example where the person who has married is told 'Nobody cares about you/Just as long as you're out there bringing it in'. Of course, all these refences are old by now, but even in a recent song, Without Music the World Dies Morrissey is repeating the same theme: 'You don't need to lead a formatted life/And you don't need to find yet another wife'. Interesting that again it isn't a universal viewpoint but is explicitly a rejection of a female spouse. It's difficult to know if his anti-marriage views stem from his own family experiences of unhappy marriages or is more to do with homosexuality. Whilst you could see him as being ahead of his time, in that marriage is seen as being less the norm than it was when he was a young man, the institution has itself evolved to be less unfair, rigid and inescapable. As such, many people do try it more than once, often with more success as they make better chices as they mature.

 

[goinghome]

Maybe in someone's imagination Morrissey is a 'wisp of a thing' as you say but he doesn't seem like that to me! Anyway, there's a lot in your post to consider. Firstly, I would say that some of the songs you mention, such as I Want The One I Can't Have, The Slum Mums, and Reader Meet Author are not necessarily about marriage per se, but I do agree that they are part of a 'counter-hegemic discourse'. I don't suppose Morrissey can help writing from a Northern underclass point of view, even if that isn't really his own identity now. I found his interview in The South Bank Show (1987) illuminating about such people 'having their tail trapprd in the door' when they wanted to get on, get out and be seen.

I think he feels sympathy for anyone who does what is expected of him by societal norms but finds that doesn't bring happiness. Teenage Dad on his Estate is an example where the person who has married is told 'Nobody cares about you/Just as long as you're out there bringing it in'. Of course, all these refences are old by now, but even in a recent song, Without Music the World Dies Morrissey is repeating the same theme: 'You don't need to lead a formatted life/And you don't need to find yet another wife'. Interesting that again it isn't a universal viewpoint but is explicitly a rejection of a female spouse. It's difficult to know if his anti-marriage views stem from his own family experiences of unhappy marriages or is more to do with homosexuality. Whilst you could see him as being ahead of his time, in that marriage is seen as being less the norm than it was when he was a young man, the institution has itself evolved to be less unfair, rigid and inescapable. As such, many people do try it more than once, often with more success as they make better chices as they mature.

The wisp idea was just messing round imagining what someone who is missing person-hood and half made of paper would be like!

One of the articles above spoke about Morrissey writing like a ventriloquist from several points of view at once, both conventional, rebel outsider and other. I think there's some truth in that when he doesn't seem to be expressing a universal viewpoint. Also, wife rhymes better than husband with 'dies' and 'life'!

If one or the main voice is anti-marriage, rejecting the female spouse specifically, doesn't that echo one of the lazy dykes?: They pity how you live/Just "somebody's wife" /You give, and you give?

Also, consider the strength of feeling in Mama Lay Softly on the Riverbed:
Life is nothing much to lose/ It's just so lonely here without you.

Could there be some 'transgressive resignification', as Mitchell and Snyder (2000) put it, being applied to the bride in question?

As opposed to substituting more palatable terms, the ironic embrace of derogatory terminology has provided the leverage that belongs to openly transgressive displays […] The embrace of denigrating terminology forces the dominant culture to face its own violence head-on because the authority of devaluation has been claimed openly and ironically […] The effect shames the dominant culture into a recognition of its own dehumanizing precepts […] that detracts from the original power of the condescending terms.

Incidentally, again linking to above content, a John Betjeman Prize has been created to celebrate the repair and conservation of places of worship - https://www.spab.org.uk/about-us/awards/john-betjeman-award