Morrissey would not have been such a good writer/lyricist had he come from the South of England


He would have been a different lyricist, not necessarily worse. Like Hemingway in Michigan (or Africa, or Spain), Faulkner in Mississippi, Springsteen and NJ...take the place away and there's a shift. So M. is of his provenance, but he's more than that. All the good ones are.
 
I do think it is Morrissey's Northerness that makes him so laugh out funny and, at times, so bleak. Rusholme Ruffians and I Keep Mine Hidden are two examples that immediately spring to mind that could not have been written by a Southerner. They contain actual Northernisms. There will be more examples. Think of the humour of Caroline Aherne and Victoria Wood. The eye for the humdrum and mundane and the delight in the absurdity of North Country speech patterns.
 
I do think it is Morrissey's Northerness that makes him so laugh out funny and, at times, so bleak. Rusholme Ruffians and I Keep Mine Hidden are two examples that immediately spring to mind that could not have been written by a Southerner. They contain actual Northernisms. There will be more examples. Think of the humour of Caroline Aherne and Victoria Wood. The eye for the humdrum and mundane and the delight in the absurdity of North Country speech patterns.

Laugh out loud Butley :rofl:

Whatever next ? I bet you think Father Christmas comes from the North Pole :laughing:
Steven is about as northern as Ringo, McCartload or those Gallagher good for nothing southern softies "yer know what a mean !" :laughing:
A bunch of cockney arse holes as was Victoria. Always banging on a about how great " the North is "
Yer right on ! :laughing: :angry: :angry: :angry:

Benny-the-British-Butcher :greatbritain::knife:
 
Laugh out loud Butley :rofl:

Whatever next ? I bet you think Father Christmas comes from the North Pole :laughing:
Steven is about as northern as Ringo, McCartload or those Gallagher good for nothing southern softies "yer know what a mean !" :laughing:
A bunch of cockney arse holes as was Victoria. Always banging on a about how great " the North is "
Yer right on ! :laughing: :angry: :angry: :angry:

Benny-the-British-Butcher :greatbritain::knife:

I've been Benny the butchered. He is spot on. I'm from Ruislip, the North is shit. Public School Boys are the best lyricists.
 
Bullshit . If Paul Weller and Ray Davis would lived in the north . People would have said the same thing .
It's pure BS .
 
Could some examples be provided of Smiths/solo lyrics/titles altered as if they had been written by a South-of-England Morrissey? Or is that going to cause a fight?
 
I don't think they had heated water up north in the early 60's only in the south. So yes, it would have affected his writing.

Discuss.
 
People in the North know they get a raw deal. Or did until pretty recently. There is really no Southern writers in the style of Morrissey, Victoria Wood, Alan Bennett. The stoicism, the self-deprecation. Ray Davies and Paul Weller are good writers but they are different writers. Coronation Street could not have been written and produced in The South obviously. They were different worlds until very recently. I think a fair bit of Northern stuff has a much stronger identity and voice.
 
nature nurture? and what is 'better' and to whom ? he would have been a different writer (assuming he would be a writer at all)would be the best answer to such a question, but different to whom? I guess then we would need two M's one raised in the south the other north to make a better decision as to which would be or have become a 'better writer'. But we would also need to discuss what is a 'better writer'.
 
Morrissey's first lyrics for The Smiths were about the Moors Murders of course, so those kind of set the tone. Being local to the scene of those hideous crimes and a child in the 60's clearly influenced the subject matter. You can't (or should not) write flippantly about that subject so, yes, geography has helped make Morrissey the lyricist that he is.
 
It depends if his mother still had access to the same supply of literature that he could 'adapt' or borrow for his lyrics. Most of his early writing was lifted, so where he was at the time didn't matter.
 
Could some examples be provided of Smiths/solo lyrics/titles altered as if they had been written by a South-of-England Morrissey? Or is that going to cause a fight?

Pentonville Here We Come
Rotherhithe Ruffians
Oh Winchester, So much to answer for
What do we get for our trouble and pains, just a rented room in Maida Vale
I lost my bag in Hilton Park
Train heave on to Wakefield
Here is Barnsley, giddy Barnsley....
16 clumsy and shy, I went to Bradford and I...
Bramhall & I
 
Rusholme Ruffians and I Keep Mine Hidden are two examples that immediately spring to mind that could not have been written by a Southerner. They contain actual Northernisms.

Bull and shit. Let's look at 'I Keep Mine Hidden'. People down South also use the phrase 'touched' to mean mentally ill, and 'use your loaf'. Actually, 'loaf' is Cockney Rhyming Slang for 'head', so by your logic, Morrissey can't have written this song unless he came from London. Which, clearly he didn't.
 
People in the North know they get a raw deal. Or did until pretty recently. There is really no Southern writers in the style of Morrissey, Victoria Wood, Alan Bennett. The stoicism, the self-deprecation. Ray Davies and Paul Weller are good writers but they are different writers. Coronation Street could not have been written and produced in The South obviously. They were different worlds until very recently. I think a fair bit of Northern stuff has a much stronger identity and voice.

"People In The North know they get a raw deal, or did until pretty recently " I have always lived in the North and have never thought I get/got a raw deal. I travel to London a lot and pre congestion charging, used to think how the hell can people live with all this pollution.
 
Interesting topic.

Morrissey's Manchester formed him in many ways (aforementioned humour, self-deprecation etc), but it's a lot more than that otherwise he wouldn't have been such a unique voice. All of Manchester's best bands seem to share certain traits in terms of outlook & ego, even if the music, lyrics and style are wildly different.

Conversely, how is Morrissey's considerable London content viewed? Songs such as London, Come Back to Camden, Piccadilly Palare and others. And his forays into Irish territory.

You don't often see the reverse (a southern artist implanted and writing from a Northern perspective). Any noteworthy examples?
 
I think Is It Really So Strange? sums it up perfectly. Only a Northerner could have written that song because a Southerner does not see the North/South in the same way at all. As a Northener to move South is a statement and the reverse is simply not true. Unless Is It Really So Strange? Really was about oral sex all along and all the dirty minds were right.
 
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