Morrissey A-Z: "Billy Budd"

I actually entertain that possibility too. And I sometimes wonder Morrissey, consciously or subconsciously, blends different experiences / lyric together in one song.
I think he does that a lot. His whole process is not premeditated at all. He himself once compared it to automatic writing and it explains why so many influences appear multiple times and seem only loosely connected. They're only linked via association.

For example I wouldn't be surprised if the parallels between Billy Budd and Hand In Glove are in fact not intentional. Maybe they just "happened".
 
He didn't want The Smiths to end.
Next thing he basically sees after the split is Ferry singing over a Smiths' tune with Marr in the background of the video.
Regardless of how they split, the fact it was that tune would have not helped things.
I remember fans being incensed by The Right Stuff at the time (keeping in mind - Marr knew about Ferry's offer prior to him going off soul searching).
Regards,
FWD.

That's true, but Johnny recorded with Bryan way back in 1986 before the Queen Is Dead tour of the US. There was a long delay before The Right Stuff came out because of the slow way Bryan works. That plays into how Guy Pratt was recruited into the Smiths, they met on that Bryan Ferry session. It's funny that Morrissey is so incensed about that particular session.
 
Jealousy, insecurity, a combination of both. He thought everyone around them was a threat to their relationship and was trying to lure Johnny away from him - John Porter, Joe Moss, Bryan Ferry, you name it. He also harboured paranoid ideas that people were trying to poison Johnny against him.
Re-read the section about the Smiths first visit to New York in 1983 - he becomes convinced that Joe (!) is actually trying to replace him as a singer, though it sounds insane and is completely at odds with the same story in Johnny's book. "It takes Johnny a few days to lance the views of others out of his system, and then he calls me. Hanging by a thread, we resume -- deloused of Joe Moss." Joe Moss, one of Johnny's closest friends, a 'louse'.

Those passages really give you a sense of what JM was dealing with back then, and that was four years before the end of the band. Every single person who got too close to him was 'banished' and when JM did leave, Moz continued blaming 'undesirables' who had come between them rather than reflecting on his own behaviour. He had an attitude of ownership when it came to Johnny.

Knowing everything we know about Morrissey now, it really is a testament to Johnny that he stayed in the Smiths for as long as he did. He did it for the music until it became literally a life or death situation.
 
The Bryan Ferry incident in Morrissey's book was deeply revealing. Why was he so upset at finding Johnny with Bryan in the studio? Johnny had worked with other people before while in the Smiths: Billy Bragg, Everything but the Girl, Quando Quango, etc. Was he jealous because Bryan was a handsome, older, much-admired man?
🤒
WTF? why do you think FFS?🛒
Moz is paying the Le:frogface: to work and he is off playing hooky:rage:
hes is supposed to be doing work, carrying the amp into the van.:censored:
 
The Bryan Ferry incident in Morrissey's book was deeply revealing. Why was he so upset at finding Johnny with Bryan in the studio? Johnny had worked with other people before while in the Smiths: Billy Bragg, Everything but the Girl, Quando Quango, etc. Was he jealous because Bryan was a handsome, older, much-admired man?

Yeah, it was because ‘Bryan was a handsome, older, much admired man.’

:rolleyes:


It’s probably the same reason why Marr wanted to work with Bryan.

:brows:
 
Surprised that there isn't greater love for this.

It was seen as a 'return to form' at the time, meaning the closest he'd sounded to the Smiths in a while.

The second best song he's opened a gig with in his solo career in my opinion, behind IWTOICH.
 
I just realized that this is the first Morrissey solo song I've heard live in concert . One of the best days of my life ...
 
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