I stayed up especially to watch Morrissey on Johnathan Ross' show last night.I'm not sure why, I guess I was just interested to see what he'd be like - I'd not realy been aware of him for years and, for me, he was still caught in a timewarp from the late 80's/90's.
I don't mind admitting that I was quite keen on quite a number of his works, especially The Smiths. He got quite a rough ride at times, became ridiculously pretentious and smug, but beyond it all wrote and sung some wonderful songs in his own, unqiue angst-ridden way. You always knew when it was a Morrissey song.
So what would he be doing now and what would he look like. Quite alarmingly, he was singing very similar sorts of songs in a very similar way. To me it sounded less edgy, more like going through the motions than really feeling every word and sentiment, and the voice had lost some of its raw power, but it was obviously him.
But when I looked at him performing, 20 years on from the big-time, it just struck me that he looked like a cross between an aging Country-and-Western singer and one of your mates Dad's from when you were a kid. It just didn't seem right that he was still singing these songs. I don't know if that's wrong of me or wrong of him - I know I still have many of the emotions I did 20 years ago, but I guess I can't pretend they are the same ones or that they still keep me awake at night. I think most of us find some way of finding some peace with ourselves later in life, which is a place we just haven't got to when we're in our 20's.
So, I felt a little sad. Sad that, as much as you might want it to, time never stands still. We all get older, we all change, and I think, if we're wise, we accept that this happens. There's nothing wrong with this, it's inevitable. But then, maybe it's not him, maybe it's me. When I heard his old songs for the first time, I was in a very different place than I am now. I like to think that I am happy with this and accept it, but perhaps from time to time I still like to think that I could change the World, just like we all thought at one stage in our lives.
To quote the man himself, has the World changed or have I changed?
1 comment:
I know exactly what you mean. I saw Morrissey 2 or 3 years ago (I think it was also Jonathon Ross). I found him quite sad person. He seems to try and be the passive aggressive new age type which he was in the 80 (and most musician I liked were).
But time has moved on and that era has passed (for better or worse).
I think he seems to stuck in the 80's (probably where he feels safe); in perpetual ground hog day state. But if you are rich and live in certain countries you can surround yourself with people and things that will make you feel like nothing has changed.
But he needs to face the reality that time have changed and live moves one and that some issues and attitudes have changed (core ones don't seem to change too much, just watch yes minster/prime minster :-))
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