Enough about me, what's exciting is that Morrissey and the band are in Australia this week for 5 concert dates - and, judging by Mando's Instagram, are having a good time hanging out at the bar. In a recent video for Roland UK, Boz said one of his favourite ways to stay busy on the road is drinking, which came as a tremendous shock as I assumed everyone was terribly well-behaved (no, not really).
Give us a drink, and make it quick:
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| Via farkomalarco on IG |
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photo via mwbattery on Instagram
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Notebooks:
This week there has also been a new Morrissey interview. Last time Morrissey was in Australia, there was an interview with The Australian that contained one of my favourite all-time Morrissey quotes:
"Yes, I carry around notebooks because we do tend to hear things that we'll never hear again, so there's no point relying on memory all of the time. I also listen intently to what people say, and I have the annoying habit of constantly seeing it written down before me. This is only annoying because most people don't say anything interesting. Consequently, all of my notebooks are blank."
Thinking of this quote, along with my own - err... attempts - at writing - inspired me to compile a few Morrissey quotes about writing and the writing process. It's fascinating to get a possible window into how he writes, considering his words are what speak to so many of us about our lives. While he is most well-known for his lyrics, we've also gotten a taste of his brilliance for letter-writing (see his old letters to NME and other music mags, or penpal Mackie), post-card writing (often brevity shows wit in its finest quick-punching form), fiction (List of the Lost), and Autobiography. I've also heard in his youth he wrote play(s?). One thing I've picked up on is his ability not only to tap into the intricacies and truths of the human emotional experience (often things many are uncomfortable to speak out about) but also his ability to induce a vivid image inside the listener's or reader's mind (think of the "streets upon streets upon streets" intro to Autobiography). Anyone who has ever tried to write will admit this is not an easy feat. He also seamlessly entwines profundity, sadness, and humour - often all in one song. Just one example I thought of the other day is The Father Who Must Be Killed, which tells an entire short story in a song that's just under 4 minutes.
Let's take a look at some of the quotes:
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| Photo by Kevin Cummins |
"I understand well why many writers lock themselves away forever. With their words they can recreate the actions they couldn't develop in real life, and not because they are dysfunctional, but because the human race is not empathetic at all. To make true friends can take a lifetime, and at the same time, the more you know a person, the more they disappoint you. They say we are a civilized species, but I insist, turn on the television and you will see what we are: a bunch of crazy people in a global insane asylum." (El Mundo, 2014)
Once you've said you're miserable what's left for you to write about?
"Ooh. There's so much buried in the past to steal from, one's resources are limitless. I'm not saying everything I write has been written before but most of the way I feel comes from the cinema. I fed myself on films like A Taste of Honey, The L-Shaped Room." (The Face, 1984)
When you're writing a song, do you write it in one go, or do you take notes along the days, and when several can fit together, you just gather them?
"I'm less inclined towards notes these days, and have just finished two new songs without any consultation to any scribbled ideas. This happens more and more, notably 'That's How People Grow Up', for instance, just fell out. I'm not sure if they're actually even songs, or simply outbursts or showers of panic. Generally there's a central vocal hook, most typically the chorus, which comes first, and if it doesn't then there's no song. My aim, mostly, is to have every moment of the song as a vocal hook.... that's the hope, anyway." (TTY)
"[My mother] was instrumental in engineering the way I feel about certain things. She instilled Oscar Wilde into me and when the Smiths began, she was very strong-willed and business-minded. Frankly, she always let me do what I wanted. If I didn't want to work she said fine... If I wanted a new typewriter, she'd provide it. She always supported me in an artistic sense, even when many people around her said she was entirely insane for allowing me to stay in and write. It's this working class idea that one is born simply to work, so if you don't you must be of no value to the human race...But everything has worked out well - it's all proved to have some value and she feels as great a sense of achievement as I do." (The Face, 1984).
"I just take the basics of a backing track and shout along to it for a few days... Seeing where the syllables land, and seeing how the words balance out. Suddenly the lyrics form, and a configuration presents itself." (Mozipedia)
"[My] words are basic because I don't want anyone to miss what I'm saying. Lyrics that are intellectual or obscure are no use whatsoever... my lyrics are only obscure to the extent they are not taken directly from the dictionary of writing songs... My only priority is to use lines and words in a way that hasn't been heard before." (Mozipedia)
"I scribble things down in hundreds of notebooks and I have large boxes full of scraps of paper which I use... The title comes first and the vocal melody creates itself." (Mozipedia).
What is your most important inspiration when you write songs?
"These days it's unashamedly my own emotional position, which I now admit to being quite odd. When you're 23 you have poetic license to be searching and confused and obsessed with suicide and greatness in equal measure. But I am now 48 and can no longer be said to be developing a philosophy of life. Things, by now, are meant to be settled. For me, they aren't. I'm still trying to make sense of a world that makes none. As far as romance is concerned, my life has always been absurd, so it's only by the power of song that I attempt to keep body and soul together." (TTY)
How would you describe the process of writing your forthcoming memoir, and what do you hope readers will take from it?
"I think autobiography is mostly self-worship, or personal mythology. In my case, self-disgust is the spur, which doesn't mean it isn't poetic or elevated or even funny." (Rookie Mag, 2013)
Congratulations on the success of your book (Autobiography)
"Well, thanks, but it hasn't stopped selling yet.
...how long did it take you to write?
"Well, I had to live it first, so quite a long time. It was originally 600 pages, but I thought that was a bit too much self-disgust to expect anyone to plough through."
Was it a process you enjoyed?"
"Living it? No. Writing about it, yes. I wrote the childhood sequence almost as a child might, and the adolescent period as an adolescent might, and the adult section as a...suicidalist might. It's really just a factual account of how events affected me, so therefore any criticism of it doesn't make any sense, since I am me, and only I can know what it's like to be me, and so on. It was never meant to be The History of The World." (Hot Press, 2014)
Do you have a certain place where you'd like to be to write songs?
"The answer is in the bath. I lie there for hours singing my head off. Whenever I've moved house, I first call the agent and ask what the bath is like - nothing else much matters." (TTY)
Fave Looks:
In other news, I made another Twitter poll asking people what their favourite Moz look is. Naturally, I was on about my fourth glass of red wine at the time - and this question suddenly hit me as something of tremendous importance that I needed answers to immediately. Twitter still doesn't allow more than four choices, so I chose three categories, and Other (Please Specify), which judging by the number of votes - means that most people selecting this option - indeed - did not specify (I always find this funny because I don't have much to laugh at most of the time!).
I took it upon myself to make collages of the the three looks I selected, being:
Suit/Jacket:
Double Denim:
Cardigan <3:
I don't think it would take much guessing to figure out which category I was hoping would win... But, I had to do the right thing and give everyone who wanted to vote a voice in the matter - and the final breakdown was:
As we can see, the Dapper Suit/Jacket option came first with 43% of the votes, and in second place was the Dashing Cardigan option, with 32% of the votes. Dazzling Double Denim came in third with 16% of the votes. 9% preferred Other, and some write ins included:
"Thin see-through shirts, Kill Uncle Style"
"Flowery Shirt" (I have a soft spot for these as well)
"Nothing at all" (blushing!)
and
"Old Grey Whistle Test, as the Smiths singing Bigmouth. In tie, jacket, jeans, hearing aid, and glasses"
So I think I'll watch that clip myself - and then I'm off to stare at a blinkering cursor on a word document, or (not) sleep (probably). I'm looking forward to hearing about the Australian shows over the next while. Adelaide is up next - and Moz has also added three new US dates to his tour (Detroit, Cleveland, and Chicago):
*Oh and just as I'm about to publish this I see two more Australian interviews have appeared, so I'll link those:
Morrissey Says Animals Lose on Language
and
Morrissey Slams X-Factory Reality Shows
(Thanks to @MozzeriansATW for tweeting the links)
What is your most important inspiration when you write songs?
"These days it's unashamedly my own emotional position, which I now admit to being quite odd. When you're 23 you have poetic license to be searching and confused and obsessed with suicide and greatness in equal measure. But I am now 48 and can no longer be said to be developing a philosophy of life. Things, by now, are meant to be settled. For me, they aren't. I'm still trying to make sense of a world that makes none. As far as romance is concerned, my life has always been absurd, so it's only by the power of song that I attempt to keep body and soul together." (TTY)
How would you describe the process of writing your forthcoming memoir, and what do you hope readers will take from it?
"I think autobiography is mostly self-worship, or personal mythology. In my case, self-disgust is the spur, which doesn't mean it isn't poetic or elevated or even funny." (Rookie Mag, 2013)
Congratulations on the success of your book (Autobiography)
"Well, thanks, but it hasn't stopped selling yet.
...how long did it take you to write?
"Well, I had to live it first, so quite a long time. It was originally 600 pages, but I thought that was a bit too much self-disgust to expect anyone to plough through."
Was it a process you enjoyed?"
"Living it? No. Writing about it, yes. I wrote the childhood sequence almost as a child might, and the adolescent period as an adolescent might, and the adult section as a...suicidalist might. It's really just a factual account of how events affected me, so therefore any criticism of it doesn't make any sense, since I am me, and only I can know what it's like to be me, and so on. It was never meant to be The History of The World." (Hot Press, 2014)
Do you have a certain place where you'd like to be to write songs?
"The answer is in the bath. I lie there for hours singing my head off. Whenever I've moved house, I first call the agent and ask what the bath is like - nothing else much matters." (TTY)
Fave Looks:
In other news, I made another Twitter poll asking people what their favourite Moz look is. Naturally, I was on about my fourth glass of red wine at the time - and this question suddenly hit me as something of tremendous importance that I needed answers to immediately. Twitter still doesn't allow more than four choices, so I chose three categories, and Other (Please Specify), which judging by the number of votes - means that most people selecting this option - indeed - did not specify (I always find this funny because I don't have much to laugh at most of the time!).
I took it upon myself to make collages of the the three looks I selected, being:
Suit/Jacket:
Double Denim:
Cardigan <3:
I don't think it would take much guessing to figure out which category I was hoping would win... But, I had to do the right thing and give everyone who wanted to vote a voice in the matter - and the final breakdown was:
As we can see, the Dapper Suit/Jacket option came first with 43% of the votes, and in second place was the Dashing Cardigan option, with 32% of the votes. Dazzling Double Denim came in third with 16% of the votes. 9% preferred Other, and some write ins included:
"Thin see-through shirts, Kill Uncle Style"
"Flowery Shirt" (I have a soft spot for these as well)
"Nothing at all" (blushing!)
and
"Old Grey Whistle Test, as the Smiths singing Bigmouth. In tie, jacket, jeans, hearing aid, and glasses"
So I think I'll watch that clip myself - and then I'm off to stare at a blinkering cursor on a word document, or (not) sleep (probably). I'm looking forward to hearing about the Australian shows over the next while. Adelaide is up next - and Moz has also added three new US dates to his tour (Detroit, Cleveland, and Chicago):
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| http://www.true-to-you.net/morrissey_news_161024_01 |
*Oh and just as I'm about to publish this I see two more Australian interviews have appeared, so I'll link those:
Morrissey Says Animals Lose on Language
and
Morrissey Slams X-Factory Reality Shows
(Thanks to @MozzeriansATW for tweeting the links)
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