School's About to Start

Insomnia is one of those problems that starts to trickle and sneak its way into too many aspects of your life. While you’re awake far more hours than the average person, it’s likely you'll end up getting far less done because you're feeling chronically exhausted, or as if you’re constantly wandering around in a fog. I’ve been struggling with sleep these past few months, and I’m at least partially blaming my atrocious neighbours who seem hellbent on torturing me from above with the most bizarre noises imaginable.

Luckily, there are some ways to pass the time even if I feel too befuddled to enjoy my usual hobbies like reading. One benefit to the internet (which is perhaps more noticeable to those of us who are slightly... err... more 'mature' and didn't grow up with it) – is that it connects time zones - there’s usually someone awake somewhere. And, as a constant, of course, at any time of day or night – there’s music to listen to. The important thing is to try not to lie there in post-midnight silence (or lack thereof), where the temptation can be to veer off the cliff of overthinking – a habit wandering sleepless minds tend to flirt with recklessly and relentlessly.

Regardless, I’ve had enough of the noise in my place, so I’m taking off to Las Vegas this weekend. But no one really cares about that, what we do care about is...

MORRISSEY IS RELEASING A NEW ALBUM, LOW IN HIGH-SCHOOL, ON NOVEMBER 17TH.

Since I learned Moz and his band were recording in Rome earlier this summer, I have been waiting for this announcement. A couple nights ago, when I couldn’t sleep, a Manchester Evening News article was retweeted onto my Twitter timeline – and my heart soared. Morrissey has signed with BMG, partnering with his own label, Etienne Records.

“There are not many artists around today that can compare to Morrissey. He is an extraordinary talent. He is prodigious, literate, witty, elegant, and above all, courageous. His lyrics, humour, and melodies have influenced many generations. The music on this new landmark record will speak for itself and we are delighted to welcome him to BMG.”

- Korda Marshall,BMG

In addition to the album release date, a tour date at the Hollywood Bowl on November 10^th has been announced. Bliss!

The last time Morrissey played the Hollywood Bowl was in 2007, and some highlights included him wearing a decadently dashing deluxe white suit and singing an exquisite version of Life is a Pigsty and How Soon Is Now. The entire show was brilliant.

“And of course you only have to think of the incredible legends who walked on this stage: Charles Nelson Reilly, Bob Hope, Phyllis Diller... and me.”

Hooray For Hollywood

I’m truly excited about this album, which is described by BMG as"capturing the zeitgeist of an ever changing world."  Politics, veganism, the human condition, love, education, hope, and despair are all topics that lyrics could potentially cover, but I’m not going to over-speculate what it will be like, or what it will necessarily be about –my ears just want to discover and uncover it for themselves. What I do know is the record will be thought-provoking, ground-breaking, soul-stirring, and a beautiful work of art. I look forward (these words aren’t enough) to hearing about it in the coming weeks.

And yes... I can’t wait to sing my heart out to it.

Animal rights tracks on new album?
Moz is a hero for animals - a cow I recently met

I know I'm not the only one who absolutely adores singing along to Moz. One Friday night I had the place to myself, poured a big glass of Malbec, and turned my stereo on to Years of Refusal (as I’ve said before, I love playing this one extra loud!). As the first few notes of I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris engaged my ears, I lacked the inhibition provoked by the presence of other humans, and started CROONING along.

This, of course, led me to ask the question on Twitter....

"Do you have a favourite Moz song to sing at the top of your lungs?"

The first person to answer was my friend and fellow companion in insomnia drenched nights, Vanesa (@vnsdietz) from Argentina, who said she always sings along with Moz. Come to think of it, I usually do too - especially if I'm driving! My question received more answers than I expected - and perhaps the coolest part of it was the variety of songs listed - spanning Mozzer's whole career - from the blazingly uptempo to the mournfully melancholic. Here are your favourites to sing:

How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?
Hairdresser On Fire
Everyday Is Like Sunday
Staircase At The University (2 votes for this one!)
I Have Forgiven Jesus
The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores
Jeane (the Smiths)
Arthounds (2 votes - my life is opera!)
The Edges Are No Longer Parallel
All You Need Is Me (3 votes!!)
Ask (the Smiths)
Boy With The Thorn In His Side (the Smiths)
Stretch Out And Wait (the Smiths)
Southpaw
Irish Blood, English Heart (top volume in the car!)
Seasick Yet Still Docked
I Want The One I Can't Have (the Smiths)
Glamorous Glue
Our Frank
Sing Your Life
Tomorrow (2 votes!)
Boy Racer
Something Is Squeezing My Skull
Come Back To Camden
Trouble Loves Me
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (the Smiths) (2 votes!)
Action Is My Middle Name
The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get
Miserable Lie (the Smiths)
Nobody Loves Us
Lost

Many people, including myself, acknowledged our favourite musical number to sing changes quite often. For me it was Art Hounds for a few weeks, then I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris, and most recently, Jack The Ripper.  While we love singing along in our homes or cars... I'm not sure how many of us would be willing to sing in front of Moz... remember Rustle's embarrassment when he was asked to sing for our idol?

In other news, Twitter was able to help me out with a fashionable mystery this past week. While searching for info about Morrissey concerts in LA, I became entirely deliciously distracted as I discovered a concert photo of Moz that looks to be from the early 90's. In the picture, he appears to be wearing a cardigan - or double denim - and it's not 100% certain which it could be. If you'll remember, a few times I've had trouble discerning in photos if Morrissey is wearing a cardigan or not, and I took to Twitter to make a poll. Knowing that people would be able to help out with this tremendously important query, I took to Twitter once again.

New cardigan found found found?

As you can see, it's a little perplexing, because the clothing item looks denim-esque - but look again - the CUFFS! With baited breath, I posted the poll, and inwardly prayed cardigan would win...

Here are the results:

Cardigan won with a smashing 76% of the votes!

Some of the write-ins combined the two:

"Denim Cardigan"
"Denigan" (Why didn't I think of this?! - via @loserlicious)
"Cardenim" (And Why didn't I think of this?! via @rubajb)

One lucky person mentioned the first time they saw Moz live in the early 2000's, he wore a cardigan (2002-ish was a very good year for cardigans). I'm thinking it was perhaps paired with either a ruffle shirt or tie-up shirt, like this:

Early 2000's cardigan Moz

Have I discovered a new cardigan photo? And on the day of a tour date announcement again (yes, I know this time it was after)! I've always thought there is something very special about them.

Anyway, thanks for reading...

I'm still rather mystified that I've chosen a trip to Vegas in order to catch up on some sleep...

Happy 3rd Birthday World Peace Is None Of Your Business

I've been musing over this piece for the past week or so, and I'm so excited I don't even know where to begin!

How can I possibly open my article (I don't really like the word blog - it's a bit ugly) eloquently enough to do justice to this album?

Me, sitting here at my keyboard, in the humdrum heat of summer, with 8-legged companion Moogly the 2nd (as Moogly numero uno has since moved on) hanging out on my window-sill...

I thought about dragging you all back to 2014 and droning on about how I felt like a misfit at a family wedding: I was half-drowning in a sea of "what are you doing with your life" questions and clutching the edge of the bar as if it were a life preserver. (By the way, weddings at cideries are trouble, in case you were wondering).

Ugh. No one wants to hear that story.

The far more important fact about 2014 is that it was the year World Peace Is None Of Your Business was released. Yes, 31 years after the Smiths released Hand In Glove - I had only just discovered Moz... although back in 1983, I probably wasn't precocious enough - I think I only owned Barbie on vinyl... However, how Moz could have helped Oscar-Wilde-obsessed teenage me in the 90's, or disenchanted-young adult me in the 00's, I'll never know.

So all I can do is return to 2014, and think of how I am seated at this wedding in the middle of a sweltering orchard, corseted into a blue lace dress, silently giggling to myself that Morrissey has written a song called Kick The Bride Down The Aisle. Formal social situations perpetually seem to provoke anxiety, so it's strangely comforting, and feels a bit like Morrissey is whispering an inside joke in my ear, or... almost holding my hand (I wish). But in some sense he's here - and he's helping.
...And in doing so... he helps me feel more comfortable, because I am not alone in my dissatisfaction with certain aspects of existence. What makes his art so real, is that he is a human being with an opinion - and more than that, he isn't afraid to speak his mind, and sing his life.

World Peace Is None Of Your Business was the album we needed in 2014. And now, a few years later, I think we need it even more than ever. 

What does the 21st century look like to you?

What is being made 'great' again?

Was anything ever 'great'?

Are we, collective we, languishing under blundering, bullyish governments most of us never asked for, moving forward, or learning anything about ourselves, each other, our planet?

Or are we simply tacitly paying our taxes, trudging along begrudgingly, shackled to our daily lives of drudgery – because we aren’t sure what else to do?

As we know, Morrissey is anything but a crashing bore - so he - in all his musical and lyrical glory, asks us to confront the uncomfortable.

Morrissey at SXSW in 2006

In a 2006 interview for SXSW, Morrissey said he cannot bear the expression "lowest common denominator" and that it's tremendously unfortunate most modern pop music caters to such a notion; the world could change if we simply assume "everybody's extremely intelligent."

What's disturbing is I don't think it would be incorrect to consider the pop music industry a microcosm for nearly every other aspect of modern life: 

How often are we spoken down to by politicians, bosses, tv commercials, the news, our professors, our families? ... the list goes on...

With World Peace Is None Of Your Business, it's clear that Morrissey is singing to his audience as though we are a highly intelligent group of people. Covering topics ranging from politics, to animal rights, to gender roles, to mortality - his thought provoking, hope-and-despair driven lyrics weave seamlessly with genre-bending instrumental tapestries, and for the 55:00 min run time (longer if you count the bonus track edition, which is a work of art in itself) - there is never a dull moment.

I wanted to focus on my own experience with the album, so to start I simply listened and scribbled down whatever nestled its way into my scattered mind. For this reason, I generally decided to avoid reading the majority of professional magazine or internet reviews, but I did read some 2014 interviews with Morrissey to gain perspective. We approach music with our own ears and experience, and I believe in this sense our relation to art is very personal, so here goes...

World Peace Is None Of Your Business

The title track opens the album with the root shaking rumble of a digeridoo, soon joined by pulsating percussive pounds, together giving birth to an earthy heartbeat. QChord chords descend into Morrissey's smooth vocals: 

World peace is none of your business

You must not tamper with arrangements

Work hard and sweetly pay your taxes

Never asking what for

Oh, you poor little fool, oh, you fool.

He's captured my attention: who is he calling a fool? He's empathetic about our collective situation - but he's also bristled us a bit - are we truly "poor little fools," toiling under boring jobs and badly-coiffed authority, being taxed, yet numbly never questioning the nature of this system? In the first verse on the opening song of his album, Morrissey already has us looking inwards and outwards, questioning the state of ourselves and our world.

What strikes me so about Morrissey's vocals - and it really stood out to me with this song - is that he is able to capture a multidimensional mosaic of emotions extending well beyond primary emotions. His voice is not merely happy, or sad, or angry... rather, he succeeds in conveying a multifaceted blend of pity, teasing, empathy, disappointment, concern - and then towards the climax of the song... his tone shifts to defiance and empowerment, as he switches the line to, "No more, you poor little fool." I think of these as emotional subtones, or shades (a common example of emotional complexity we experience is "bittersweet"); Morrissey phrases and tones his singing to convey affective layers as an artist might combine brush strokes, shadows, and light to create complex mood in a painting.

Next track up is beat-poetry infused Neal Cassady Drops Dead, howling and growling with a conversation between aggressive crunching guitars and echoing drumbeats. Like any good slam poet knows, the rests are nearly as important as the notes, and instrumental rhythms, combined with Morrissey's musings over Allen Ginsberg's response to Cassady's death, throw us into the shock of the moment.

Ginsberg with Cassady, 1955. Photo by Natalie Jackson

While I had heard of Ginsberg, Neal Cassady was new to me, and Cassady had such a fascinating life story it's tempting to get into some detail here. A contemporary and lover of Ginsberg's, Cassady was also a beat poet, and was name-checked in Ginsberg's beat-gen masterpiece, Howl. Cassady's ecstatic, indulgent nights of drug use fuelled inspiration, but did not exactly sync-up well with his family life, wife, and children. Balancing an imbalanced tightrope walk between two lives he had trouble merging, Cassady drank and drugged heavily. The glare of fame also weighed on his frame, and Cassady dropped dead at the age of 41, of somewhat uncertain causes, at the side of a railroad track. 

The song's dramatic tension is traced with well-placed droplets of humour - at least I think so - with the image of tears shampooing Ginsberg's beard time fusing 21st century hipsters with 1950's beats for musical eternity. Neal Cassady then segues into deliciously germ-conscious free-style rhyme, where Moz laments "Everyone has babies, Babies full of rabies..."; the entire segment showcases his linguistic dexterity. Admittedly, due to my current cacophonous renting situation: living below scatterbrained landlords and their 4 screeching rug rats, I delight scrumptiously in the "get that thing away from me" line.

Sorrowful strings and effects evocative of helicopter chops slice into skillful flamenco guitar and the song's closing life-question: "Victim, or life's adventurer, Which of the two are you?"  

I'm Not A Man builds up suspensefully: the long, near-silence of creaking sound effects fold into shimmering chimes (to me they seem lullaby-esque) and Morrissey's voice guides us on a journey through the infectious myths of toxic masculinity. He lists macho male images force-fed and embedded into our consciousnesses since childhood - views perpetuated from fairy tales to cinema to parents - views that suggest gender is shackled to some predetermined binary cemented structure. Morrissey's lyrics, again feats of syllabic gymnastics, draw you into the symbolic pressures of "manliness":

Don Juan, picaresque
Wife-beater vest
Cold hand, ice man
Warring caveman...

Wife-beater vest: Brando as Stanley Kowalski

The idea that males should conform to whatever is deemed 'manly' is devastatingly restrictive and harmful, both to the individual and to the planet. I'm Not A Man made light bulbs and fireworks go off in my brain. Existing in my own female body, I've been so consumed with female cliched pressures that perhaps I wrongfully assumed men have it much easier. "Be-ladylike," pretty-in-pink, pageant queen, virgin-mother-crone, damsel-in-distress labels - or magazines crammed with bikini-ready body image issues galore - had gotten me down. However, crushing stereotypes of 'masculinity' saturate our cultures too: "ways to sit, and of course, ways to stand." How many people feel forced to become what they are not? ... and if you want to be an individual, stay true to yourself, and stand apart, it's not necessarily an easy route. As drums and guitars crescendo, Morrissey triumphantly shows his strength in sticking to his own individuality, singing "I'm not a man... I'm not a man... I'm something much bigger and better than... A man." Again, Mozzer's lyrics are not without touches of humour: "Beefaroni, but lonely."

Istanbul features intricately-woven guitars - a birdsong call and response between glorious grit and eastern flavours. The lyrics tell a short story so vivid, you yourself delve into the atmosphere of Turkish streets. I seem to remember reading somewhere that Jesse Tobias recorded snippets of sound from the streets of Istanbul, and you genuinely feel transported, as Moz describes "prostitutes stylish and glum" and "vicious street gang slang." Check out how beautiful this couplet is:

Moonlight jumping through the trees
Sunken eyes avoiding me.

Spanish guitars and fiery keyboards in Earth Is The Loneliest Planet lend both mournfulness and brightness as Morrissey sings, "You fail as a woman and you lose as a man... Well we do what we can." For me, the admittance existence feels so incomprehensible actually eases loneliness: it is pure catharsis. In catty Kick The Bride Down The Aisle, coupledom simply brings more loneliness for the doomed groom, and some highlights include Mozzer's sarcastic dig at saccharine greeting-card lingo: "treasure the day" and grandiose cathedral organs. Romance is not entirely dead, however, as Kiss Me A Lot features dreamy crooning from Morrissey, a catchy guitar riff, castanets, cascading brass, and Gustavo singing Besame Mucho.  The song always makes me imagine driving down palmy Sunset Blvd. with the top down... if I didn't live in Canada and I owned a convertible, that is.

Still from Kiss Me A Lot video, directed by SER

Staircase At The University glistens with more beautiful Spanish guitar work; musically, it's an upbeat tune complete with a vibrant horn section. The bright tempo and melody juxtapose with darker lyrics about crippling academic pressures leading to suicide (graphic - with a head that splits 3 ways!). Staircase somewhat reminds me of a non-fiction book I read many years ago called Runaway by a young woman, Evelyn, whose family forces unbearable academic stress on her; she becomes suicidal, runs away and eventually turns to drugs and prostitution.  Such pressure is certainly not an uncommon trigger for suicide. You can't help but wonder why we put so much strain on ourselves and one another to achieve some arbitrary definition of 'perfection.'

The Bullfighter Dies is an ode of support to bulls that are still tortured and tormented, so pointlessly, in the name of tradition and 'sport.' This short tune is cheery and punchy, with jubilant accordions and "Hoorays" as the tables turn and the victim - the bull - is empowered by the demise of his abuser, the bullfighter. Sadly, in actual bullfights, the bull is slaughtered no matter what. "Humans are not really very humane." The theme of cruelty, this time human to human, continues in melancholic folk masterpiece Mountjoy, about the horrific prison in Dublin:

What those in power do to you
Reminds us at a glance
How humans hate each others guts
And show it given a chance

Nobody cries: Bullfighter Fandino died last month

Smiler With Knife and the final track on the album, Oboe Concerto, both deal with mortality. Smiler is hauntingly beautiful, with fragile echoing notes, as Morrissey's voice sings poetically in a half-whisper. Life may feel exhausting, depleting, lonely, sad... yet the "why?" of death still rings. A meditation on love and loss, it leaves an ache in your heart.

Oboe Concerto is also reflective, yet less quietly so, with psychedelic bulletting drum beats, a pulsing, smooth bass line, and guitars that are simultaneously sad and lilting. While no oboes are present, Boz's brilliant clarinet solo is a little bit avant-garde, a little bit speakeasy-blues. Aging and loneliness consume the soul as one suffers loss after loss, leading to the eventual realization of the impending loss of oneself. We are often told to keep these darker thoughts private, and nothing really prepares us for the loss of loved ones or the strange feeling of seeing and feeling yourself age. In life, and all its absurdity, we are expected to accept the unacceptable: "round, round, rhythm of life goes round." An added bonus is that Mrs. Shufflewick makes an appearance

In a world of suffocating shoulds and should-nots, where others are continually trying to confine and define us, music holds the power to free us.

...And... if you have actually read this far, I'm honoured - thank you!

Finally, here are three interviews in particular that offered very interesting perspective from Morrissey on World Peace Is None Of Your Business. 

VEGAN LOGIC: "The Last Thing Security Forces Ever Want is Peaceful Protest"
VEGAN LOGIC: "Your Real Home Is Your Body..."
HOT PRESS: A Piece of His Mind

It will be fascinating to see and hear what Morrissey, Boz, Jesse, Gustavo, Matt, and Mando have in store for us on the next album. I CAN'T WAIT!

Via 8stitches9lives on Instagram

I will update this later with poll results on your favourite tracks from the album and bonus album!

Update with Polls:

Poll 1 - Tracks on Disc 1:

Kiss Me A Lot was first place, then Oboe Concerto, followed by World Peace Is None Of Your Business.

There were lots of write-in votes - Staircase was the big favourite with 16 votes:

Staircase At The University - 16 votes
Istanbul - 4 votes
Neal Cassady Drops Dead - 3 votes
Mountjoy - 3 votes
Smiler With Knife- 3 votes
And tied with one vote each:
The Bullfighter Dies
I'm Not A Man
Kick The Bride Down The Aisle
Earth Is The Loneliest Planet


Poll 2 - Tracks on the Bonus Disc:

Art Hounds was first place, then Scandinavia, Then One Of Our Own

Write ins:

Drag The River - 2 votes
Forgive Someone - 2 votes
Julie In The Weeds

Always Meet Your Heroes

I’ve always wanted to visit Italy – and ever since becoming a Morrissey fan – this desire has increased even more so. In the mid-2000’s, one of my favourite Morrissey records: Ringleader of the Tormentors, was recorded in Rome, so when I learned that Moz and the band are back there and appear to be recording a new album, my excitement began to crescendo.

We don't have truly old buildings where I live (not the kind of old you'd find in Europe, anyway), so mere photographic glimpses of the beautiful, intricate architecture and art found in Rome feels romantic, and exotic (well, at least to me). As a University student, I even studied Italian language (let's just say this was errr... some time ago), and while I've naturally forgotten nearly everything I learned, I remember it being a poetic language that I lamentably stumbled over grammatically at times.

I'd adore feeling surrounded by such history - this atmosphere of centuries of sonnets and paintings - centuries of muses, passions, and unrequited love - would be so dramatic and romantic. I'd certainly love to visit the Sistine Chapel, the Spanish Steps, lush fountains, hushed museums... Oh, but who am I kidding - the first place I'd check out is Pizzeria La Montecarlo...

Via 8stitches9lives on Instagram

There have been some fantastic photos appearing on Twitter and Instagram of fans meeting Morrissey in Rome. Here are just a few:

"Always meet your heroes" via seang2012 on Instagram

via @manuSsn on Twitter

Via mozzerie_dean and Matteo Contigliozzi

I am SO living vicariously through the lucky people in Rome right now... but at least where I live we do have ducklings. I feel I've become a bit of a part-time duck mum (or possibly nanny) as I go check on them. I've even named one of them Spooksy, after a run-in with a repugnant retiree and her off-leash dog. Thankfully, since then I haven't seen the woman, who wrongly believed her little lap dog chasing after wildlife was "nature taking care of itself." While she yapped more than her dog, I gently held the canine back and Spooksy got away unscathed, but I don't know why I'm calling him Spooksy, because he's brave and full of gusto every time I've seen him. In fact, in the following weeks, I can definitely say he's been the gutsiest guy at the pond.

Spooksy: "A very brave bird"

I also had a scare with Moogly, the pet spider living on my window ledge for 8 months. One evening, I entered the room and at fear of sounding too graphic, let's just say it appeared Moogly had split in half... I had no idea I could grow so attached to a spider, or perhaps it's because the image was so traumatic, but I freaked out. Luckily, it turned out Moogly was undergoing a natural process called molting, where spiders basically rip their own skeletons off to grow. This was news to me; humans don't do cool stuff like this!

The molting process, also known as ecdysis, is actually quite strenuous, and when spiders first shed their old exoskeletons, they are extremely vulnerable; the change leaves them initially delicate before they externally harden once again. Therefore, if anything touches or disturbs them, they can be damaged very easily. This metamorphosis seems metaphoric for emotional times in life: when we are in a fragile state emotionally, often during a painful growth process, a lack of emotional armour leaves us in a place where we can be hurt more easily than usual. It takes us a while to feel strong again and negativity that ravages us in these times can affect us deeply. On the other hand, unlike the molting spider, it's also possible we can be reached more profoundly than usual in a way that may help us - perhaps through the kindness of others, or perhaps through art.

You never really forget the songs that saved your life, so imagine, like those magnificently fortunate people in Rome these past few weeks, if you had the opportunity to meet Morrissey.

Can you imagine it? What would you say? How do you think it would feel?

Dickie Felton's book, The Day I Met Morrissey, can give you a window into this momentous experience: http://dickiefelton.com/books/the-day-i-met-morrissey/

The Day I Met Morrissey
Dickie Felton
Printfine Ltd, Liverpool
2009

Dickie presenting Morrissey with a copy of The Day I Met Morrissey

I was lucky enough to receive two of Dickie's books, The Day I Met Morrissey and Morrissey International Airport in the mail last month. I've just finished reading The Day I Met Morrissey and it's a tremendous read: it feels just like pulling up a chair, grabbing a pint and having a personal chat with each of the lucky fans who share their story within its pages. It's a glimpse into a moment where time stops: a taste and a touch of how it feels to meet your hero... and from these stories our hero sounds like an often-witty, ever-charming, kind, even humble and slightly shy man. Yes, while god-like, Morrissey is a human being, so building up expectations can be a tricky business (especially at time-limited events like signings, etc.) but I can honestly say after reading Dickie's book that it's clear Moz truly does care for us - and you can't help but feel touched by these interactions.

Published in 2009, The Day I Met Morrissey is 100 pages in length, and consists of interviews with Morrissey fans conducted by Felton over the two previous years. The format is slightly larger than a typical paperback to accommodate the numerous glossy photos within - and yes, a promise of loads of full-colour pictures picks up the pulse-rate of many a starry-eyed Moz admirer or collector.

Without giving too much away, the book begins with Felton's own experiences - from his initial discovery of Morrissey and the Smiths in 1988, thanks to his ripped-stockinged, spiky-haired punk rock neighbour, through to his first concert experiences in the UK during the 1990's.  He continues in captivating storyteller form, describing the times he actually manages to meet Morrissey, including adventures such as travelling across oceans to catch some tour dates in far-off places. Dickie even accomplishes snagging the holy grail of tattoos, which is - of course - Morrissey's sprawling signature scrawled across the arm, hand signed.

The book's following 30 chapters are sorted chronologically, and our journey begins in 1985 at a Wilmslow train station with a shy, shaking sixteen year old and her mum. One thing I noticed right away is that Dickie includes a "Then-and-Now" inset with a short update of each lucky storyteller's current life; it's clear how Morrissey impacts the devoted to this day - which shows us how the songs that saved our lives are never really forgotten - and stay engraved in our hearts and minds.

Fan Kenny meeting Moz outside his home in Hollywood

Snapshots in time flash by and leave us hungrily turning the pages for more as chance meetings at fragrance counters, hotels, and second-hand bookshops give us glimpses of what Morrissey - the man - is like to meet on the street. Sometimes it's mere moments, while others have the luxury of full-on conversations. As Morrissey's home base switches from UK to LA, there are some brilliant tales from The Cat And Fiddle and Sweetzer Avenue. Snippets of Mozzer's wit shine through, as he urges one fan to "get back into" cardigans, or shares his view on the current state of music: "most bands are crap".

Another aspect of the book I absolutely enjoyed was learning the stories behind some photos I recognize from over the years: from Morrissey crooning while holding up a little girl wearing pink bows in her hair, to a playful backstage pile up with a group of fans. You, the reader, might even recognize some familiar faces from shows you've attended yourself.

Young fan Winter with Moz on stage in Atlanta

Meeting Morrissey backstage in Tel Aviv

Dickie does a tremendous job of compiling and telling the stories in The Day I Met Morrissey, and I feel I will keep coming back to this book every time I crave a taste of what it could be like to meet our hero. For anyone who truly knows how it feels to be a Morrissey admirer, Felton conveys the essence of Moz fan-love - and quite beautifully - I think the book also captures a sense of how much we mean to Moz too.

I'm not sure I've ever heard of another artist who treats their fans with such kindness and gratitude as Morrissey, whether it be in face-to-face meetings, or from the stage itself. Late to the party as always, the first Morrissey concert DVD I ever watched was 25 Live, and I was completely transfixed by his interaction with his audience, accepting presents and letters; it truly felt like an actual, mutual, and lovely correspondence- he didn't just perform like many other artists do.  After watching, I remember feeling somewhat emotionally overwhelmed, but in a good way, maybe akin to a sense of catharsis. And this was simply after witnessing it all on my television screen; then when you're there in person... well you know the rest...

I've read that Morrissey sees it this way too: "the audience doesn't realize this but, I, in effect, come to see them, and my temperament depends on how they react and even how they look. I sing directly at the audience, and I look right into the audience - few singers do, I've noticed. I am addressing them with each line, and they react - one way or another - as if we are in conversation." Further, Morrissey has expressed he doesn't even like the word 'fan,' perhaps finding it a bit demeaning, and according to Mozipedia, he prefers calling us his audience, or in Smiths days, "apostles." Perhaps it's because at heart Morrissey is a music lover too - and understands the immense impact a band can have on your entire existence, particularly when this music shows up at certain times of growth, pain, or anything else that's particularly pivotal. Maybe this is why one of my favourite photos of Mozzer is him standing at the rail at a New York Dolls concert in Dublin:

Speaking of being late to the party, before I leave off, I'll share with you a poll I posted on Twitter the other week, asking my followers when they first discovered Morrissey. Admittedly, I feel a large degree of envy towards those who found him so much sooner in life than I did, yet I'm also interested in the phenomenon of fans who, like me, discovered him at a more... advanced age. I wonder if certain aspects of my life right now might be different if I had come across him sooner, and I really mean that, because I find his music, his words - have helped me understand myself - and life - more fully. That said, he came into my life at a very emotionally turbulent time, so in a sense, even though I found him at the tender age of 33 - yes - I did, in fact, grow up with him.

Here are a few of my favourite write-in responses to this poll:

"Late 20's w/ the Smiths, early 30's Solo. BUT I NEVER HEARD LYRICS BACK THEN. Rediscovered Moz 2 years ago and it has made my life!" - Pat M

"I was 15 (nearly 16) when I was captivated, nay mesmerised, by Everyday Is Like Sunday in Nineteen Eighty-Hate. It changed my life!" - Angie J Cooke (author of The World Of The Smiths And Morrissey)

"However old you are - it doesn't matter - our life is enriched for finding him at all." - Andy R

This takes me back to the featurettes in Dickie's book, updating where these fans from the 80's and 90's are now.  At the core, kind of like Moogly the molting spider - we are the same underneath; music, and especially lyrics, never really leave you.

Thank You, Morrissey.