Fourth Q&A on true-to-you.net
posted by davidt on Tuesday February 21 2006, @01:00PM

goinghome writes:
Pop over to Julia’s website www.true-to-you.net for a fourth series of questions submitted by ‘Questions And Answers’ participants, with Morrissey’s responses.

Here is an example:

Does it dismay you that the intelligence you have expressed throughout your career has been interpreted by some as an excuse for cynicism and apathy, when you yourself are a figure far from apathetic?
Abigail, Sheffield.

”I always get a strong reaction, and my critics are very dedicated - they will stick with me till the end. I seem to infuriate so many people. Most groups get away with dreadful albums and appalling live concerts and it just doesn't seem to matter - because they don't. There is always a reason for a scathing review, and it's usually personal. If you refuse to be interviewed by a magazine they take the most ferocious revenge. Things are never what they seem. Also, if you are an artist whose career is quite persistently and attentively followed and documented then many writers will deliver unnaturally venomous articles or reviews simply with the hope of earning a special place in that artists' history. Praise is rarely shocking whereas maliciousness is, and the writers who burst the bubble are remembered forever, alas. For me personally, most album reviews tend to review me as a living entity - the actual songs or the singing or the musicianship is secondary compared to the writer's personal feelings towards .......my face. And, of course, my face rarely goes down well...”

 
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Fourth Q&A on true-to-you.net | Log in/Create an Account | Top | 119 comments | Search Discussion
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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
I love Moz but.... (Score:0)
... I wonder if he'll ever realise that occasionally, just occasionally, people dish out bad reviews because they don't like the album he's made. It's not always to do with grudges.

He's still my favourite artist.
Anonymous -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @01:05PM (#199172)
[ Reply to this comment ]
no way is that moz (Score:0)
"There is always a reason for a scathing review, and it's usually personal. If you refuse to be interviewed by a magazine they take the most ferocious revenge. Things are never what they seem."

Any tool can see that's not Morrissey.

No wit, no playfulness, no real elegance or eloquence.

Broken is behind it. Or julia just answered the questions herself, because flu-afflicted Moz was swanning around in his pool with a cup of lemsip.

by, erm, broken
Anonymous -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @01:05PM (#199173)
[ Reply to this comment ]
See how the outside contradicts what's inside (Score:1, Interesting)
First, the True-to-you opening:

"The True To You magazine and website are dedicated to Morrissey. In celebration of this great artist, True To You publishes news and information relating to Morrissey and his work; details about his albums, singles, and videos; experiences and pictures from his concerts and other events; tribute polls and poll results; and other features, articles, poems, photographs, drawings, and comments reflecting respect and appreciation for him."

So, don't say anything bad about Moz. He's perfect and never did anything wrong...

And then he says:

"I think it's important to lead a good life, and to try not to hurt anyone - or anything. This is difficult because we live in a world where violence seems to be the answer to everything. The courts, the police, tax officials, governments - they all rely upon the threat of violence to get their way."

Well... He forgot to mention Sanctuary (or his own) lawyers!!

God, the questions are terrible!! The answers just a little better than terible...

I just hope for great songs and good concerts. There is nothing more to expect from Moz.
Anonymous -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @01:47PM (#199177)
[ Reply to this comment ]
    Re:See how the outside contradicts what's inside (Score:2, Insightful)
    the lawyers are justified. nothing violent, it's owned by sanctuary/morrissey. and sanctuary, considering their financial situation, is going to protect ROTT as much as they can. despite the fact i think it's going to be Moz's best selling album, it still pales in comparison to other 'major' artists. and morrissey is their biggest act, so they have the time and need to protect it's release.

    and morrissey is only human. and he does say it's "important to lead a good life" but at the same time "it's difficult"...so if you read this statement correctly, he's not being hypocritical but being honest on what it is to being human in this world.

    the site is ran by julia and it's expected to be 'nice'.

    please..you trolls should try not to post anonymous.
    Puddle -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @02:06PM (#199180)
    (User #15599 Info)
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  • i mean, get over it already by Puddle (Score:1) Tuesday February 21 2006, @02:09PM
  • Re: Your answer! (last question) by goinghome (Score:1) Tuesday February 21 2006, @02:10PM
    just wondering.......... (Score:0)
    Does Julia's site ever get any traffic besides when MOZ does a QnA?
    Anonymous -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @02:16PM (#199184)
    [ Reply to this comment ]
    In Mexico (Score:0)
    I really liked this line of Q&A. It was neat to read that he enjoyed his concert in Mexico, he seems very fond of the country.
    Anonymous -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @02:20PM (#199186)
    [ Reply to this comment ]
    • Re:In Mexico by Anonymous (Score:0) Wednesday February 22 2006, @05:49AM
      something stinks in moz angeles (Score:1)
      something about these Q & A's -- especially this last set -- seem really false to me. i'm not sure if it's the questions which read fake -- either as if they were made up by julia and sent off to Morrissey or what, but everything just seems so safe and nonconfrontational.

      i'm sure that regular morrissey-solow.com readers could come up with far more significant questions than "who's your favorite author?" or "who's your favorite vocalist?"

      my guess is that julia sifts for the softball questions she gets, fabricates the rest of the questions and emails them off to morrissey who either responds to them or give them to jed to answer.

      proof is in the way the answers read -- the responses are written in an american tone, both in spelling and grammar. something stinks in moz angeles and the stench tracks back to julia.

      it's just another reason why true-to-you.com will always be an inferior product -- julia will never rock the boat and risk her number three position (second to jed).

      i think it's safe to say david t's hobby will be around for a couple more years as long as it's more relevant than the ringleader's official sites.
      eugenius -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @02:34PM (#199188)
      (User #1665 Info)
      I'm almost sure you can do better than that.
      [ Reply to this comment ]
      • Re:something sinks in moz angeles by goinghome (Score:1) Tuesday February 21 2006, @02:49PM
        • Re:something stinks in moz angeles by suzanne (Score:1) Tuesday February 21 2006, @03:04PM
        • Re:something stinks in moz angeles by Anonymous (Score:0) Tuesday February 21 2006, @03:34PM
          • Seems pretty obvious... by headlongintoharm (Score:1) Tuesday February 21 2006, @03:38PM
            • some of you need to take a long hard look.... (Score:2, Insightful)
              When will certain people in the Morrissey-solo community learn not to keep casting doubt or make disparaging comments about interviews and Q&As that don't happen to hit the main page here first?

              It's clear these Q&As are genuine, and anyone who says otherwise without proof is just a jealous bitch.

              Too many so-called fans here seem obsessed with conspiracy theories. It's as if everything Morrissey, Sanctuary or True-to-You do has a hidden agenda. Why shouldn't sanctuary clamp down on the illegal links and downloads on this site? After all, it's their material and the livelihoods of their staff which are affected.

              It may not have a message board (not a bad thing given the complete chaos of the Moz-solo board which has about 1 relevant post for every 20 abusive posts and hoax links) but it is increasingly becoming more relevant as a place for reasonable, sane-minded Morrissey fans to visit.

              Richard T (sorrow of stamford bridge)
              Anonymous -- Wednesday February 22 2006, @05:25AM (#199296)
              [ Reply to this comment | Parent ]
              • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
              Good stuff (Score:0)
              Marr ended the band.
              Nice answers, well, figure skater were a bit stupid. Nothing as silly as to go violent over animal rights or political stuff this time.
              Granvik -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @02:57PM (#199193)
              (User #14586 Info)
              [ Reply to this comment ]
              • Waaah! by the_wrong_boy (Score:1) Wednesday February 22 2006, @06:13AM
                Gotta love him. (Score:1)
                I love the Moz of today!
                Still very funny.
                shane sarabia <c.sarabia52259@gmail.com> -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @03:14PM (#199202)
                (User #11459 Info)
                [ Reply to this comment ]
                  I enjoyed that; better than today's NME interview (Score:1, Informative)
                  I thought they were pretty interesting questions and answers. Good to see Moz being honest about his classical music knowledge and comparing it to someone saying they like The Beatles!

                  Have read the NME piece. It starts off pretty well; NME describe the new album as 'thumpingly brilliant' containing 'piston-hard pop uppercuts' (You Have Killed Me, In The Future), doomy thunderstorm atmospherics resembling 'The Teachers Are Afraid' (but with a proper tune!) and 'military marching songs' (At last I am born: 'undoubtedly Morrissey's most positive song ever'). The album is his most musically daring since Your Arsenal.
                  However, the interview then descends into a humourless monologue about animal rights violence covering the same old same old. We're promised stuff on terrorism, Elton John and homosexuality next week.
                  Oh, other good bits include some interesting views on life in Rome and the admission that he has become friends with Chris Eubank!
                  Maurice
                  Anonymous -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @03:26PM (#199205)
                  [ Reply to this comment ]
                    heh (Score:0)
                    What I love is how some people are apparently such experts on Moz that they think they can tell whether a bit of text in a Q&A is him or not ... he doesn't have to be witty 100% of the time, what if someone asks a question and Moz feels like ... just answering it!
                    Anonymous -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @03:28PM (#199206)
                    [ Reply to this comment ]
                    • Re:heh by Anonymous (Score:0) Tuesday February 21 2006, @03:47PM
                      This is not Ouija Board (Score:2, Insightful)
                      I think some people's disappointment here with the Q & A thing is that they can't relax, enjoy Morrissey's light-hearted side, and not treat the questions as deep inquisitions and the answers as a spiritual guide. There is in fact, if you notice more carefully, a lovely mixture of teasing humour and humble wisdom (for lack of better definition) in Morrissey's tone. While some questions were déjà vu, others were more insightful, and that uneveness always comes with the package. It's never too unbearably ubearable (sic) to ask Morrissey which author is his favorite - I asked him if there was any author that had influenced his latest songwriting (looks like it didn't). It should have casualty - not casuality! - as if you were walking with him down through a park; it allows us to see he's human! And not only that blazing unachievable star we see on stage. Having given up coffee, and become less of a Medea I was, since the last time (yep, coffee was really bursting my nerves, I confess), I am able to appreciate this chatting, non arena aspect of those Q & A more. With a nice cup of greased tea!

                      It may not be an ultimate revelation to know Morrissey supressed a Kill Uncle video, or that he throws in shows the songs people are least likely to hear, but it is sure fun and it sure tells something about his 20-year-old comic acerbicness in defying people's (rather) stiffening tastes.
                      Mrs. Woolf -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @03:43PM (#199214)
                      (User #14157 Info)
                      [ Reply to this comment ]
                      fake fake fake (Score:2, Interesting)
                      I think this whole q and a thing is fake. I have submitted approximately 237 questions and none have been answered:
                      Highlights include:
                      Have you ever smoked cigarettes?
                      When was your last meat eating experience?
                      Do you believe in God?
                      Is terrorrism acceptable if the victims eat meat?
                      Have you ever slept with a bandmate?
                      Do you wish you were Italian?
                      Do you accept scientology?
                      What is your current drug of choice?
                      Who would you rather fight, Vin Diesel or Chuck Norris?
                      Are you sick of Oscar Wilde yet?
                      Others can be found at my e-mail addres
                      moho -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @04:03PM (#199219)
                      (User #10663 Info)
                      [ Reply to this comment ]
                      Oscar the Murderer (Score:0)
                      Responding to the perfectly reasonable question, "Who is your favorite author today," Morrissey responds with this altogether unreasonable answer:

                      "I like the American columnist Maureen Dowd - I think she's very funny, but then I read that she enjoyed eating chicken legs and .... well....that was the end of that romance."

                      I suppose there's some truth to the old adage that a fine line exists between genius and maddness, and I'm afraid you all too often straddle that line uncomfortably, Mozzer. Discrediting an author whose work you admire - simply because she doesn't follow your dietary habits?

                      Perhaps the daftest thing you've come up with in a long time, Moz.. and among the most hypocritical, too.

                      Methinks one Mr. Wilde devoured a few buckets of chicken legs in his lifetime. And mutton legs, and turkey legs, and..

                      Didn't sully the romance a bit though, did it?
                      Anonymous -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @04:13PM (#199223)
                      [ Reply to this comment ]
                      Is a Morrissey a "Crashing Bore"? (Score:0)
                      I love Moz but he seems to reveal nothing in these fan Q&A's. And I feel these Q&A’s are not working. Almost every answer is vague and so tongue and cheek to the point of being boring. Why is it that all his magazine interviews are far more interesting? Is it because magazines demand a bit more as people pay for them? By contrast, are we to expect less from these free bees? Does it all come down to money then?
                      Anonymous -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @04:20PM (#199225)
                      [ Reply to this comment ]
                      This website is full of twats (Score:0)
                      I come home from the pub cos it was my mates birthday.

                      I've read the two opening comments thus far.....

                      I think its fair to say he is often critiqued for who he is, or more pertinently who his so called fans think he is, rather than what he puts out on record.

                      The blokes been putting out, for the most part, far above average songs for more than two decades (and thats an understatement imo)

                      WHAT HAVE MOST OF YOU EVER DONE?
                      Anonymous -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @05:08PM (#199232)
                      [ Reply to this comment ]
                      ready with .... (Score:0)
                      The crack about the ten yr olds
                      who mug tourists at knife point
                      made me smile - as for songs to play on
                      the tour , up-southpaw grammer
                      slow-driving your girlfriend home

                      markmustb1 -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @07:47PM (#199245)
                      (User #13161 Info)
                      Cos no one ever turns to me to say...
                      [ Reply to this comment ]
                        Mister Morrissey (Score:0)
                        Read that round of questions and answers and see in all honesty if you don't die of boredom yourself.

                        Please stop doing that, honestly, it's depressing.

                        Anonymous -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @08:03PM (#199247)
                        [ Reply to this comment ]
                          Sad to hear about I'm Playing Easy to Get (Score:0)
                          IPETG should have seen a proper release, though I guess Moz has his reasons. Visconti surely could've created a better mix for inclusion on a ROTT single... hopefully Morrissey is right and the recorded version will leak on the net at some point.
                          Anonymous -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @08:40PM (#199251)
                          [ Reply to this comment ]
                            Enough (Score:0)
                            The irony of Morrissey's comments is that he does the very same thing that he just criticized others for doing.

                            Morrissey is the most righteous, hyper-emotional critic around, yet when others do it to him, then they are somehow devious, and involved in a great anti-Morrissey conspiracy.

                            It's this very self-obsession that makes you want to kick him the balls sometimes.

                            Morrissey's final album should be titled "You Reap What You Sew"
                            Anonymous -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @09:08PM (#199252)
                            [ Reply to this comment ]
                            • Re:Enough by Anonymous (Score:0) Tuesday February 21 2006, @11:25PM
                              Maureen Dowd? (Score:0)
                              Morrissey probably hasn't read her for very long because, while she can sometimes be funny (more often tries and fails to be funny), she really is shallow and in the end you realize she's Miss Conventional Wisdom for the twats at the Washington cocktail parties for the Democrat establishment. Her Sex Police obsession with Clinton's affairs was very tiring, too.
                              Anonymous -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @10:24PM (#199254)
                              [ Reply to this comment ]
                              Ad Nauseum, Ad Infinitum. (Score:1)
                              Once again, Morrissey answers fans' questions in a thoughtful, amusing way, and he gets slammed by a chorus of howling naysayers. He is right, people only despise people who matter. If you folks really want to do some damage, just shut up!

                              How the man has survived this unending, ridiculous din for more than two decades is beyond me...

                              Anaesthesine -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @10:55PM (#199259)
                              (User #14203 Info)
                              We will burn that bridge when we come to it...
                              [ Reply to this comment ]
                                The hoards of idiots (Score:2, Insightful)
                                You're absolutely right. From looking at this site I would imagine Morrissey fans are the most pathetic miserable people that exist on the planet (hence our reputation for being so). His fans alone are enough to get the man endless stick. It never ceases to amaze me how so many emotional retards managed to attach themselves to such a an inspirational artist.

                                The complaints you get here are superbly funny in reality. Morrissey doesn't sing what I want him to, Morrissey doesn't like the slaughter of animals, Morrissey's a hypocrite for not being a vegan, Morrissey's not witty with every breath, Morrissey dares to speak about things that matter to him, Morrissey dares to breath.

                                What a rum bunch you are.
                                ohglen -- Wednesday February 22 2006, @01:45AM (#199279)
                                (User #12046 Info)
                                [ Reply to this comment | Parent ]
                              Less repulsive than usual (Score:1)
                              Morrissey seems to be growing more comfortable with the Q&A format. His last batch of answers painted him as a crotchety, wannabe-Aspergian old man with a shed full of axes to grind and a stable full of dead horses to beat. These ones made him out to be much the same, but funnier. He must have remembered his meds.
                              Diasco -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @11:16PM (#199261)
                              (User #9532 Info)
                              I will take you from this sickness, dinner parties and champagne. I'll hold your body and make it sing again.
                              [ Reply to this comment ]
                                Note to Morrissey about Johnny Marr (Score:0)
                                Note to Morrissey: Please get over the Johnny Marr thing. Re your q&a response: He was not trying to hurt you, for chrissake. How do you know he didn't intend to help you?

                                Get over Johnny, Moz.
                                Anonymous -- Tuesday February 21 2006, @11:30PM (#199265)
                                [ Reply to this comment ]
                                I agree TTY looks fake to me and blog looks real (Score:0)
                                While the following all look eloquent, witty and interesting as Morrissey usually is in interviews:

                                  "I don't know why I never thought of hiring a third guitarist before, but for the next album, we intend to have four. Is anyone from Cream still alive?"

                                "I came to the conclusion long ago that for me, being on stage is reality and being off stage is unreality. I exist in pop music, and nowhere else, and so, for me, the most natural expression of reality is singing."

                                "It doesn't keep me awake at night. Have they affected my career? I would say about as much as Jools Holland has affected my career.

                                Is that a "no?"
                                M: It's a "yes" but also a "not much."

                                "Coldplay don't grab me, but nothing has recently."

                                "Finally, is there a theme you would never sing about?
                                M: The colour of somebody's eyes. Why sing about someone else's eyes when I have my own to sing about?"

                                This tty.net session looks like it was written by julia. He sounds bored, self-pitying and cliched.

                                I mean read the answers for heaven's sake!

                                here's the "fake" Morrissey interview - judge for yourself and email david tseng if you - like me - wonder why he won't post it.

                                http://ringleaderofthetormentors1972.blogspot.com

                                Notice it's already LINKED on this site on the "album preview?" section. If it was a fraud, morrissey would already have contacted tseng given how much he loathes this site. It's not rocket science, folks.

                                broken
                                Anonymous -- Wednesday February 22 2006, @01:13AM (#199278)
                                [ Reply to this comment ]
                                  Burnley wish (Score:1)
                                  If you ever do play Burnley Moz, don't play National Front Disco please
                                  Dodgery -- Wednesday February 22 2006, @01:50AM (#199280)
                                  (User #14486 Info)
                                  [ Reply to this comment ]
                                  That's my question (Score:1)
                                  And he answered it. So now I know if I never meet the man, at least somewhere, once, we had a point of connection.
                                  People who've submitted questions that haven't been answered, just keep trying. That was my third attempt (and there were at least seven questions each time).
                                  Anyways, this has made me very happy; it's strange how someone you admire, just giving two minutes of their time to answer a question can do that. Thank you Julia. Thank you Morrissey.
                                  Mozzersgirl -- Wednesday February 22 2006, @02:55AM (#199286)
                                  (User #14229 Info)
                                  But we can't give you love and rhetoric without the blood. Blood is compulsory.
                                  [ Reply to this comment ]
                                  Fantastic... (Score:1)
                                  Morrissey upbeat and positive...he deserves this level of ease he seems to be existing in...

                                  Thank God Maureen Dowd is a meat-eater...I hate to think of Morrissey reading her bullshit... She typifies the liberal media: lie about everything Bush and Conservatives do in the hopes of the Supreme Court overturning its 2000 Election decision... Maureen Dowd gives women (and America) a bad, bad name...

                                  I do find it quite interesting, too, that Morrissey has such a cynical view of negative reviews--like, they can only be negative because the writer has an agenda. Yet, when journalists are saying everything he agrees with, they are good journalists--honest, if you will--and are beyond reproach. And this is not just on music reviews...why do you think he liked Maureen Dowd? She was the most verbally-violent critic of Bush... Wait a minute, didn't Morrissey say something about living a life where you don't hurt anyone or anything? Dowd's entire m.o. is to hurt people who disagree with her by smearing them with lies and a skewed reality.

                                  (Didn't really mean to go on about the Dowd comment...just backs up a thought I have that artists live in bubbles and really don't have much of a clue about geo-politics and political debate...)

                                  On the whole, "you just do the best you can" may be the most profound lyric Morrissey has penned to date...it's a pretty big concept.

                                  dewdrop -- Wednesday February 22 2006, @05:00AM (#199293)
                                  (User #2326 Info)
                                  [ Reply to this comment ]
                                  • Re:Fantastic... by Anonymous (Score:0) Wednesday February 22 2006, @05:09AM
                                    Lighten up (Score:0)
                                    Those who leap with critical zeal upon each of the Stressford expatriate's remarks clearly take life far more seriously than he does. Why allow yourselves to become so animated over comments he plucks idly from the air? Why feel the need to resist his opinions so strongly, as if they're a personal accusation you have to deny? Of course Morrissey contradicts himself, of course his comments rarely stand up to intensive rational scrutiny, of course he says things that in many respects are absurd - he's Morrissey! Do your lives exist within such narrow channels of banal reason that anything remotely improper renders you incandescent?

                                    Relax. Don't take Morrissey's comments so seriously. I know he doesn't.
                                    Anonymous -- Wednesday February 22 2006, @06:36AM (#199307)
                                    [ Reply to this comment ]
                                    • Re:Lighten up by almareallymatters (Score:1) Wednesday February 22 2006, @06:55AM
                                      • Re:Lighten up by Anonymous (Score:0) Wednesday February 22 2006, @04:27PM
                                      Morrissey, I just Fu**ing Love You! (Score:0)
                                      I absolutely adore these Q&A's! Julia, great job and please keep them coming. I think his responses are hilarious he's trying to "reach" figureskaters, it just gets better and better. Viva Moz!!!
                                      Anonymous -- Wednesday February 22 2006, @07:28AM (#199312)
                                      [ Reply to this comment ]
                                        Champion Figure Skaters Hell Yes (Score:0)
                                        If Morrissey really wants to reach out to champion figure skaters, then there is yet another reason as to why he should have tour dates in Russia (and especially St. Pete in mid April ;) )! Just think of all the possibilities....Plushchenko, Slutskaya... Russia has more than its share of grade-A champion figure skaters, so Viva La Rossiya and Morrissey!

                                        As a side note: that poor Michelle Kwan and her downcast dream for the gold. She needs the reaching out most of all. Someone should contact her announcing the wonders of Morrissey's musical catalogue, or send her a Morrissey album to do their part so that she may bask in the warmth of musical goodness as a consolation to her soiled dream.
                                        Anonymous -- Wednesday February 22 2006, @07:16PM (#199551)
                                        [ Reply to this comment ]
                                          Advice? Anyone? (Score:1)
                                          What does one have to do to get a question published?
                                          Rodchenko -- Thursday February 23 2006, @10:33AM (#199680)
                                          (User #15320 Info)
                                          Stay handsome!
                                          [ Reply to this comment ]


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