The message of Morrissey's music
- Thread starter fergal_41
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georgejallen
New Member
"The fourth gender", i.e those who do not wish to be put into one gender, those who refuse to be classified, (sexually, but also otherwise) should be glorified and celebrated. That's one of the main messages I detect 
Jackie London
♥ Howlin' Pelle
I don't know. I have thought about it for 8 years and still I can't figure it out. The first 5 years or so I thought I knew. But now I have no idea.
CrystalGeezer
My secret's my enzyme.
His songs vassilate between hope and hopelessness because he is literally stuck on this wheel that dunks him underwater and he can't see or breath, then spins him toward the sky where he's warmed and face to face with his sphynx or muse, all the while blind. So the overall message of his songs are split, and deal with coming to terms with being in each state. It's a bit like that movie Stranger Than Fiction though, he decides, and by extension we as the listeners of the poetry he pulls out of the air, whether or not his life will be a comedy or a tragedy. I think he chooses the former 51% of the time which keeps him singing. God bless.
georgejallen
New Member
Thanks for that, CG, I loved it
What's the use of "a general overriding message"? No body of writing worth paying attention to has ever had a " general overriding message". Ever. Morrissey's is no exception. I mean, what'd be the point in something that can be summed up in two sentences? You can sum up a f***ing soap product in two sentences, things of actual value are more complicated. I'd rather recommend spending the rest of your life pleasurably trying to discover the endless layers of meaning that Morrissey's lyrics, much like other great literature, contains. If you want general overriding messages, listen to Paul Weller.
cheers
cheers
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Eraserhead
Accept Myself
It's hard to condense the many complexities, eccentricities, and contradictions into one message. I suppose for me the overriding theme is the acceptance and defiance of the outsider. I think it's really a very personal thing for Morrissey. As if he's taken all his neuroses/weaknesses and turned them into strength/vitality. Somehow his vision has managed to encompass many areas of human life, and his ability to dwell on people's bleakest experiences with a weary resignation somehow inexplicably resonates in quite a positive way within our lives, I think. I suppose its ultimately the old alchemy of turning darkness into something of beauty. 
I just don't belong.
CrookedLittleVein
Duck. Duck. Duck. Goose.
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
Re: message of Morrissey's music
I actually posted a thread last year, impossible to summerise in few words / sentences.
I actually posted a thread last year, impossible to summerise in few words / sentences.
CrystalGeezer
My secret's my enzyme.
Re: message of Morrissey's music
These are all great answers.
These are all great answers.
MindlessRuffian
Señor Member
Re: message of Morrissey's music
Keep it real.
Keep it real.
Media Whore
Nowhere. Everywhere.
Never try.
Anaesthesine
Angel of Distemper
Stop and smell the hemlock.
Girl-with-the-Thorn
Still here.
It's hard to condense the many complexities, eccentricities, and contradictions into one message. I suppose for me the overriding theme is the acceptance and defiance of the outsider. I think it's really a very personal thing for Morrissey. As if he's taken all his neuroses/weaknesses and turned them into strength/vitality. Somehow his vision has managed to encompass many areas of human life, and his ability to dwell on people's bleakest experiences with a weary resignation somehow inexplicably resonates in quite a positive way within our lives, I think. I suppose its ultimately the old alchemy of turning darkness into something of beauty.
What's the use of "a general overriding message"? No body of writing worth paying attention to has ever had a " general overriding message". Ever. Morrissey's is no exception. I mean, what'd be the point in something that can be summed up in two sentences? You can sum up a f***ing soap product in two sentences, things of actual value are more complicated. I'd rather recommend spending the rest of your life pleasurably trying to discover the endless layers of meaning that Morrissey's lyrics, much like other great literature, contains. If you want general overriding messages, listen to Paul Weller.
cheers
I agree with both of these posts. I really don't think there's an overriding message as such- the work is too complex, too ambiguous. Sure, there's a constant sense of identification with pain and 'otherness', and the plight of the outsider or the afflicted, and thematically and in terms of tone many of the songs are fairly consistent, but I don't think you can pin a message down as such. I wouldn't want to. I don't believe any good art can or should ever have any single message or moral; it should be complex, elusive, many-layered. It's what Morrissey does best, and I love him for that.
Good afternoon,
There are many facets to Morrissey's work but to me the overarching message is that of the self. By this I mean that we are what we are, and Morrissey most certainly is what Morrissey is! A combination of many factors including both natural and inherited traits and external influences merge to form us as individuals. It is my opinion that a lack of individuality is one of the greatest threats posed to our society. By accepting 'we are what we are', however different we may be to others, we allow our individulaity to blossom. I see individuality in all of Morrisey's lyrics, with a marked uncomfortable relation to the self in earlier work mellowing to a more accepting position as his career has progressed.
Kind Regards,
Boethius
There are many facets to Morrissey's work but to me the overarching message is that of the self. By this I mean that we are what we are, and Morrissey most certainly is what Morrissey is! A combination of many factors including both natural and inherited traits and external influences merge to form us as individuals. It is my opinion that a lack of individuality is one of the greatest threats posed to our society. By accepting 'we are what we are', however different we may be to others, we allow our individulaity to blossom. I see individuality in all of Morrisey's lyrics, with a marked uncomfortable relation to the self in earlier work mellowing to a more accepting position as his career has progressed.
Kind Regards,
Boethius
joe frady
Vile Refusenik
Good afternoon to you Boethius.
What a thoroughly agreeable and sensible post. I agree with every word.
Welcome to bedlam
Kind regards,
~ joe frady
Been interesting reading some of these responses. I agree it's not possible to sum up nearly 3 decades of albums into a nifty sentance but my thoughts on the overall message that it's said to me is to simply accept yourself, realise the insanity and barbarism of the world around us, try to find the romance and the happiness in the bleak and the mundane, do your best and don't worry.
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