As lovely as this Q & A is, does this detract at all from the mystery and allure of Morrissey? Should he save it for his autobiography?

please, there must be some intelligent mozzer fans out there to write some thought-provoking questions.
I give you:
Has being a vegetarian defined your life significantly?

What is the most important advice that you would give people to be happy?

i don't consider these fans a proper segment of his true fan population, because a real fan would know not to ask silly questions with obvious answers. can we get some meaningful questions please instead of wasting his time (although obviously he didn't mind since he answered them..)

Did think Get Off The Stage was a good, if a bit obvious, choice for Songs Morrissey Hates. Shame about I Don't Owe You Anything, though--certainly one of the best of the Smiths' slow songs, guess we'll never hear him sing it live again?

More interesting questions, please! Certainly people asked better ones? We can't all be that boring!

We walked a pace behind him at the soundcheck, but WE didn't care who HE was!

Well, he answered one question of mine from a list of fifteen or so that I submitted (yippee) and he did answer one of the more generic and less challenging ones.
I think we were all hoping for something a little bit more revealing but for now I'm just happy the King said (typed) my name! hee hee!!

Wow, Some Nice words:)
I know I am going to be so excited to see Morrissey Again
His Presence In America Is felt:(
Miss you Lots
  Marisela
"Viva Morrissey"

Seems you only get your question answered if you put a soppy one - liner after it saying something like "thank you for being you".

I can't bring myself to write something like that. I'd feel an idiot.

Or did Julia add those bits? They sound like the sort of stuff that comes out of her mouth.

As opposed to True-To-Propaganda.net we can still be objective on here.

Fair play to Julia Gulia and what money...sorry, she has accomplished but I still prefer 'the old house' which is David T's place.

Sure, we hardly learnt anything new, but we were prepared for that. And I would have thought his comments about the album
"It is not a continuation of You Are The Quarry, and it has no links to the past."
would have stood out and pleased those who were afraid it would be 'more of the same' or another batch of songs about lawyers.
Anyway it was worth a read for "I'm still at the stage whereby I have absolutely no idea where I'll be in seven days' time. Face down in the gutter?" alone.

"Holland remains a complete mystery."
Worth it alone for that quote!

I suppose we won't be seeing him anytime soon then, over here...

How predictable. Morrissey’s answers sound like they were generated by some sort of Generic Morrissey Answering Machine. Just type in a question and you get:

“Of course, some songs are better than others....”

“I'm no expert when it comes to happiness – I don't honestly think it's possible.”

“But I'm still at the stage whereby I have absolutely no idea where I'll be in seven days' time. Face down in the gutter?”

Morrissey is rapidly becoming a caricature of himself. What a shame.

Odd that he should say that the new album has "no links with the past" ....

Surely it has the same singer?

And same writer of the words?

And almost the same band?

And all the titles sound very recognisably 'Morrisseyesque' too.... so no change there either.

So all he can be saying is that he thought the last album was below standard (which it certainly was from a production point of view.) And the new one will be better.

Why is he so concerned with disassociating himself from the past.... perhaps he does have too many regrets to mention...

Or has he really freaked out on us with a dramatically new sound?

Anticipation for the new stuff just grows and grows..

I still can't get over my jealousy. Call me sad. "You are sad". It also ruins the fantasy. "I am sad". :/ :)

Wouldn't it be kind of funny if this all turned out to be a hoax?

Oh my. He sounds like a spoiled teenage brat ("cannot sit at a table where meat is served"). This is truly awful. Does getting older have to be this undignified?

this shows Morrissey is becoming a warmer and more approachable fellow as the years go by. As entertaining as his interviews were circa-85, there was always a certain degree of po-faced arrogance behind every barbed response.

It seems that, post-Maladjusted, if you listen to his between song banter and read his interviews, he comes across as a really lovely man whom one could easily enjoy a pint or two with.

That said, I'm really disappointed that he thinks "I Don't Owe You Anything" is a weak point in his cannon. I always loved that, and several other "slowies" from the debut album.

Jessica xx

She put questions from the UK first, then US, then Mexico... was there a reason for that!!! Should I be insulted! ;)

...but it feels strange that HE (i'm aware)has noticed that my city exists...

Cheers, Moz - the Tofurkey will taste even sweeter this Thanksgiving.

i didn't submit any, but i was hoping someone would have found my prior suggestions illuminating enough to ask.

if they have a second Q&A, may i suggest the following to those who wish to have an increased chance of having their questions answered:

1. If you could choose between a dish that had meat in it and one that didn't, which would you choose?
2. Doesn't it feel wonderful when you sing on stage and your fans recognize the words?
3. Do you think the world is full of crashing bores?
4. If someone offered you a plate of vile, disgusting meat from a mercilessly murdered cow, what would you do?
5. Isn't it wonderful that Boz and Alain find things to do to keep themselves busy when you are way too busy with your life to record or tour with a new album?
6. Have you ever told Dan from PETA to run for president? I'm certain that PETA's tactics will win the war on terror and Dan sounds like he could be our next Abe Lincoln.
7. Whose great idea was it to make the t-shirts that you sell on tour in a wide variety of sizes? it's very thoughtful of you to accomodate fans of all body types.
8. Are you amazed that you've been able to win against the terrorists in the music journalism industry?
9. Do you feel like Peter Jackson modeled the Elves in Lord of the Rings off of you?
10. Don't you hate it when bands namecheck your name in an interview and unfairly derive increased album sales from unsuspecting fans because they now appear to be hip?

what a crashing bore, blame it on bush and blair, how thoughtful. im not a huge fan of either of them, but i dont go slander to the fact that those two are reponsible for the horrible world...guess morrissey is just another person who sees things in such a black and white way. guess he wasnt lying when he said his news source was the daily show.

Wow, such cynicism on here!

Thought it was fairly unrevealing but id imagine Julia probably hand picked the questions which is why they may appear a bit tame, I cant believe no one at all sent one in re: Isle of White, for example, or more questions about the New album which Mozz wasnt willing to reveal yet.

Except, he did say that Ennio Morricone's influence would appear on 'Dear God, Please Help Me'. Which was quite interesting! Well, I thought so, anyway.

we only get proper strings on one song. let's hope we don't get any more ghastly synth strings like on 'Camden.
Moz is v embarassed abotu Get Off The Stage! He even mentioned the lyric in his other recent interview for GQ. I'm quite excited to hear what he thinks about the new album but he was saying very similar stuff about YRTQ (there are no links with the past, the best songwriting in the history of recorded music etc)...
J

in insomnia

very Sick and ill to this.

http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article328524. ece

Most of you expect too much of Morrissey these days when it comes to interviews. Interviews are merely interviews. Has it crossed anyones mind that the truest peephole into his life you'll ever get is listening to his records?

Personally, I think it was a lovely Question and Answer session. If you're one of those cretins who always mention with rehashed nostalgia, "the Morrissey of 1985", then I suppose you should read a Morrissey interview from 1985.

I had no idea he would answer the questions so FAST! Shit, I had better stop obsessing over the ten million ways I might potentially phrase my question, post the damn thing off to Julia, and hope very very hard that there is a Round 2.

love
math+

The fans who had their questions answered must be pleased! Think i'll send one although i havent a clue what to ask...!

Kinda off the topic but i thought i'd mention it. My boss came into work and we were talking about music and he claimed to be a huuuge Smiths and Morrissey fan, saying they were his fave band. Next day, at lunch, he comes in with a McDonalds burger...hmmmm...something wrong there!!! lol.

Katie

rare

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JAMES-DEAN-IS-NOT-DEAD-book- MORRISSEY-SMITHS-RARE_W0QQitemZ7562804753QQcategor yZ20079QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

I showed this to some Moz/Smiths admirers who’re not aware of these sites. One was incredulous and then sulky after seeing it. Another observed how detailed and well-thought-out the answers were, as did yet another who added that they really read like authentic Morrissey words, and that it was a very sporting gesture by him.

I enjoyed the account of the encounter with Morricone, which trails a funny image of them both playing darts in the pub – even if it’s the last thing that would happen! I also now have a new mantra: every day in every way I am less and less pressurized and intimidated! I wondered what the 5% of non-silly human activity consists of, and if it’s the better or worst for that. Anyway our patience paid off, as it will for the album. All that remained was to be bopped on the head by his newspaper!

(This is a part of Sapho's song- see this wonderful singer at www.TV5.org). I am absolutely startled at how accessible Morrissey is making himself and how he is reaching out not just to us veterans but the younger ones who are so freshly enthousiastic about this curious man. Although I am wondering how far he can go with answering questions ad infinitum, I am happy to be alive to witness this phenomena. I don't see actually any other artist doing the same thing. I was very sceptical about this at first, but I really can't feel to blame, since I never saw this kinda thing. I sent mine, but I guess there is a long line to wait and people who need answers more than I do - on vegeterianism, Moz's way of defining himself politically, etc. Some people thought basic questions like which was his happiest moment were dumb - but I actually think the simplest questions are the deepest ones. Not that I would ask "Why did you want to become a pop start" or "Why do you love animals so much", but probably because I already have been around enough to know - but those who haven't ... give them a non-judged chance to ask Morrissey things that (being more irreverent, less direct than now)he answered some 20 years ago! Please be kind and make room for the younger ones.

And ever ever so pointless.

Is this to put julia in the limelight or what?

Thats how it appears to me.

Nothing more and nothing less, oh how scared he is of her....

Oh dear, what goes on it that mind of his...
only he knows.

Never mind, at least I never had a hen pecked pop, quite the opposite in fact.

Men should be men, thats what nature intended.

Sigh

What a load of bollox

I'm so sad. None my questions got answered, or rather, Morrissey didn't choose or consider answering them. Perhaps, he wanted to answer them in person? Who knows. I'm so sad, I was trying to be clever and I suppose it wasn't considered cute, or rather, I wasted an opportunity to ask something, meaningful, deep, serious, and solid that he would've found relevant... But alas, just like everything else in my life, I wasted the opportunity and squandered it away. Oh well, I'll never learn. Just to give you an idea, here was one of my, like, 5 or 10 questions...

"Dear Morrissey, How do I apply for the job of 'knuckleduster'?"

(okay, go ahead now and tell me how silly and stupid I am)

"with love"

I wonder if what makes him shudder about "Get off the Stage" is the sentiment and not the technical workings of the song itself. Although the song doesn't compare to others from its era (pre-your arsenal?) its a fine song. BUT I wonder if what urks him is the fact that he is now becoming the geriatric-singer he used to complain so much ago in the eighties. I recall Moz quipping about the Rolling Stones and Jerry Garcia in "Landscapes of the Mind" saying that get off the stage was aimed squarely at these older singers. Guess we've come full circle.

"The trouble with youth is that it is wasted on the young"

-RG

To help Julia make a success of her rarely visited website and to stick two fingers up at David Tseng. If he really respected his fans he would subscribe to the website which is the most popular.

I wonder if he really will answer any more. All the ones I suggested, naturally enough, have been ignored - bother.

Never mind, does show you that he definitely is out and about on the internet more these days and perhaps even reads comments here occasionally.

It's simply good to know he's out there, somewhere. x

I've been thinking. Perhaps his saying he doesn't like this song is a little dig at Mike since Mike once cried when they played it in concert.