S3E9: Morrissey

An essay on the Smiths frontman whose music and lyrics turned the abject aspects of the identities of so many queer teenagers into something that made them stand out and shine – and whose focus on working class cultures of masculinity began to turn towards the far right. 

SOURCES:

Bret, David. Morrissey: Scandal & Passion. London: Robson Book Ltd, 2004.

Goddard, Simon. Mozipedia: The Encyclopedia of Morrissey and The Smiths. 8/29/10 edition. New York: Plume, 2010.

Jonze, Tim. “Bigmouth Strikes Again and Again: Why Morrissey Fans Feel so Betrayed.” The Guardian, May 30, 2019, sec. Music. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/may/30/bigmouth-strikes-again-morrissey-songs-loneliness-shyness-misfits-far-right-party-tonight-show-jimmy-fallon.

Morrissey. Autobiography. 1 edition. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2013.

Reynolds, Simon. “Pale Ire.” Bookforum, March 2014. https://www.bookforum.com/print/2005/in-his-long-awaited-memoir-morrissey-sheds-his-wilting-wallflower-image-12774.

Sandhu, Sukhdev. “Morrissey and Me: How an Ordinary Asian Fell in Love with the Smiths.” The Guardian, December 20, 2011, sec. Music.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/dec/20/morrissey-and-me-the-smiths.

Thomas-Mason·May 31, Lee, and 2019. “Remembering When Cornershop Set Fire to Morrissey Posters, 1992.” Far Out Magazine (blog), May 31, 2019. https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/cornershop-set-fire-to-morrissey-posters-1992-racism/.

Our intro music is Arpeggia Colorix by Yann Terrien, downloaded from WFMU's Free Music Archive and distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Our outro music is by DJ Michaeloswell Graphicsdesigner.

Image via: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Morrissey_crop_tie.jpg