That's a lovely thought. Same here, I don't want them to kiss and make up so that the Smiths can come back, I want them to become friends again. They obviously loved each other so much, and it breaks my heart that they still haven't sorted it out.

Bittersweet is exactly the right word. For some reason lately I can't stop thinking about Morrissey and Marr and how sadly it all ended, and you've made some very keen and insightful observations. I was actually quite happy (in a rather sad way, naturally) at how gentle and hostility-free Johnny's words for Morrissey were. I know there were some comments above about the whole "room with the Jacuzzi" thing and Morrissey's diva nature vs. Johnny's urge to paint Moz that way for his own benefit—but I actually saw neither view in Johnny's words. I thought it was genuinely sweet—“we liked making him feel good. We all loved each other, and Morrissey spent more time alone than the rest of us.” To me, that doesn’t sound as though it’s meant to be self-aggrandizing or a dig at Moz at all, just true and simple. And there were others, too—“Our relationship was very emotional, complex and deep,” of course, but another that really got me was: “We'd sit face to face about two feet away. I'd have an acoustic guitar and I'd be holding a recording Walkman between my knees to get a rough arrangement down. We wouldn't breathe out until I'd pressed the stop button.” My god, how vivid that is, and really, very poignant in the detail and clarity of the memory.

And I absolutely, utterly I agree with your sentiment on the reunion—I've never been sure I wanted one, as nothing would be worse than one that went badly or awkwardly or even one that was merely average, etc., etc.—I have the very strong urge to leave the Smiths as they are/were, untainted and untouchable. But oh how I'd love for those two to find some peace with one other and to be friends of some sort once more.

I imagine if anyone asked him about his current or future projects, he'd be more than happy to talk about those instead; it's not like JM is calling up the BBC and asking, "Who can I talk to about the harpsichord in 'Rush and a Push'?" The problem is that anything he is doing right now is very boring.

Several facts: 1) the Smiths had two principal songwriters; 2) one of them seems completely uninterested in nostalgia interviews; 3) JM is a guitar god who gives good quote. And, if Morrissey had never had any solo success, he'd be yammering on about TQID too.