I wouldnt go as far as saying that i was afraid for my own safety because im down with the Moz man. However some people do snicker at the fact. Of course never to my face cause then i would have to lay the smack down. Sometimes Morrissey has this misconception about him that hes dark and gloomy and always depressed. Therefore his fans act the same way. My whole take is if someone out there is more depressed than i am he must be a pretty cool guy. Also people tend to critize what they are misinformed about. Look beyond the fans and more towards the message and you will somewhat understand Morrissey.

this poll is crap and shows how boring moz fans can be

People have asked me if I'm a crazy Nazi vegetarian immediately after learning I was into Morrissey. Fucksticks.

One of my "friends" who is a Classic Rock Freak immediately calls me a "Fag" anytime Moz comes up in conversation or should a Smiths/Solo song come on in his presence.

Typical reaction of a Midwestern American who thinks any music without a 5 min guitar solo is crap. When I press him on the subject his point is that, he can not stand the "Whining Vocals". The funniest thing is every time "Some Girls are Bigger Than Others" comes on he hums along until he realized it is Mozer & Marr. Oh well, his loss.

Briansd

i've never been hated for listening to morrissey, but ive definitely been judged. and everyone says the same thing about the smiths - how miserable and whiney they are! this just makes it clear that they've probably only heard this from other people, or made the assumption based on one or two songs.

It does happen, but frankly they are in the 'don't get it' club (in more ways than one) and as Moz would say "long may they remain there".
In fact i personally like that people might not like me because of my love for Moz, who cares what others think? :-)

Enough said....

Isn't this just like the poll on "how may times you mention Morrissey's name at work, with friends, etc"? With all the intelligence that each Morrissey die-hard fan has to offer on this website, can't anyone come up with a better poll idea? Damm, there are enough Morrissey die-hards to start a revolution or even overturn the Government. WE NEED A FEW NEW POLLS THAT WILL IMPRESS US AND NOT DEPRESS US!

It seems many are "not liked" and "face discrimination" for being Morrissey fans right here on this site from OTHER Morrissey "fans."

- Truer Poetry

but that should be expected. imean, ive never been beaten up or denied entry or employment cos im a Moz fan (hahahaha- how hilarious would that be), but ive been pegged in a negative view based on someone's negative connotations of Morrissey. its a perfectly fair play.

people are always judged upon their tastes- ijudge others on their tastes all the time. if someone tells me that their favourite band is System Of A Down iautomatically lose respect for that person and will forever hav a hard time taking them at all seriously- and theres nothing wrong with that. its not shallow, its juste a matter of you personally hold to be important and for me taste matters.

ive also had people show me respect becos im a big fan of Moz (though ialways hav to take that with a grain of salt as ifind idislike more Moz fans than ilike).

oh the trauma

A few months ago I gave a talk on Morrissey in my English class. The Green Day/Linkin Park fans took the piss. It was more funny than anything.

Ticketmaster refused point blank to sell me a ticket for any of Moz's gigs, but were happy to serve fans of David Essex, Smokie and cleverly named tribute band "Tinn Lizzy", amongst others.

.... as a high school student in rural Wisconsin. No one in 1200 people at my school has ever HEARD of Morrissey or the Smiths so I can't really say.
Uncultured swine.

And one of my teachers keeps asking me if i'm "happy in the haze?" so i just sigh and say "no".....then plan my suicide.

absolutely nobody takes my taste in music very seriously now.

No, because, in antecipation, I know who's gonna say what about him or his songs - and it's usually not going to be very positive... So "I Keep My Hidden". I know this is a coward attitude, but I really don't believe that if I openly talk about Morrissey's songs, or play them to people who don't have the right personality to appreciate them, it'll be like playing classical music or talking about Bach to a heavy-metal affictionado, and converting him/her into what you are. I've known people to like both classical music and heavy metal, but usually people choose to like one or another. I believe that, to like Morrissey, you have to really have gone through a strongly emotional experience, because his songs (and him) are heavily emotional, and not for those who like to live without the sweeping intensity his songs bring. You can't listen to Moz as background music to relax to while you induldge in a luxurious scrubbing session in your bathtub. Only he is able to write his songs in such state, as far as I can tell! His musical intensity can be uncomfortable to some - to most people I know, actually. Once in a while, I'll ask, "Do you know a singer named Morrissey?", but they usually don't. The ones I know either like classical music or "mean rock", and by mean rock I mean "music" containing no emotional effect whatsoever, which otherwise would make them immediately change stations. And Morrissey's music has a type of romantic-period lyricism, a melodious kind of rock that keeps an acid ingredient to it. Of course I would like to share his music with other people, but I have to be in another environment for that, like this site, of course. And even in this site, it is hard to find agreement between what songs of his people like or not. I'm keeping my fingers crossed so that, before I reach the age of 80, I'll be able to sit in a table full of Morrissey fans...

I think discrimination is too harsh of a word choice here.But yes, there have been people who crack jokes or look at me like I'm crazy or just didn't like me because I'm a Morrissey fan. It isn't such a big deal now but in the late 1980's and early 1990's there was still a lot of talk about him being gay, etc. I grew up in Indiana and that didn't go over well with a lot of people. Now I live in texas and I only hear about how OLD he is. That's fine with me because I'm in my mid-30's now and I like the way Morrissey acts now because he acts his age. He's in his mid-40's and he looks like he's in his mid-40's. That's perfect!
thetexasbloke

I have been accused of being suicidal because I like Morrissey. The people who have said these things to me are narrow-minded and do not appreciate real music. I have also been labeled as the person who belongs to a cult.......these people claim that Morrissey is a cult leader...........whatever......

When I was at school I did a denim jacket up with 'The Smiths' written on it and a picture of Morrissey and Marr, I think there was one incident where one boy yelled "MORRISSEY SUCKS!" and really must have felt very proud of himself because all of his friends laughed heartily.
I may have been judged, but I think everybody there had no clue who Morrissey is.
Except a few teachers who seemed to like me better.

I think I get most abuse from my stepfather who constantly goes on and on about Morrissey being a fag and trying to be political and no-one caring and all that bollocks. But he's just jealous because I love Morrissey more then him.

...or faced discrimination just because you submit a bad poll?

I once dated a beautiful girl who also loved Morrissey, but her crabby roommate would make fun of us for our mutual idol. We ignored her and went back to kissing, so the discrimination could hardly effect the power of those Morrissey-as-Marvin-Gaye nights. Long live Moz!

i do get picked on a bit but i cldnt care less

All the scornful sneers and ignorant comments fade into insignificance when you meet just one person whose face lights up as soon as you say you love The Smiths.

they call me "gay" everytime I talk about Moz...sigh

I get it from a lot of people, when they know nothing at all about him or his music. My teachers say I am depressed because I listen to The Smiths and some even start singing Girlfriend in a Coma or There is a Light for more laughs. I have been asked if I walk about with flowers in my back pocket out of school! But I can’t say I am bothered because the majority of these people are ignorant people who pollute the world with their R'n'B and Dance and have nothing to say.

As a Teenager - growing up in Manchester, if you sported a quiff and went to the Indie clubs you were targetted by the punks and rockers who hated us - called us 'Morris Minors' and beat us up! Happily that was only in the 80's...

I went to see a comedian once, when he asked "Does anyone here like Morrissey?" i shouted a bit & may have let out a 'WOOOO'.
Then: "I bet you're a fucking vegetarian too aren't you". Everyone on my table laughed, as i am, then he said something along the lines of
"Ahh yes, she is, well i didn't see that one coming!". At which point everyone in the room laughed, this man is blatantly a comedy GENIUS!

I felt very stupid & wanted to go home after that.

It was the early 90's, I'm sure I had a quiff and was rifling through the Smiths and Moz section, and one of the employees looks at the other and says "There you go Kevin" (or whatever his name was). Kevin replied "Well at least *I* got over it."

that people who are not fans, and deride those who are, generally refer to the flailing, flouncing, flowery but "miserable" image of Moz circa 1983. For them, does this early phase of Morrissey's career automatically cancel out the later rockabilly, glam, boxer, Sinatra etc. periods? Do they hate everything Morrissey's ever done, or is it that they tuned out when The Smiths were around and refused to ever tune in again?

C'mon, use some imagination.

...because my answer would be "yes and no". Some people do smirk and start with their oh-so-witty quips about flowers and vegetarianism. However, I think that there's been a turnaround in attitudes towards Moz because so many "cool" bands cite him as an influence (Ordinary Boys, Arctic Monkeys etc.) and so a lot of people are quite impressed that I queued for three hours outside the Sage for tickets.
The worst thing though, is when they go "Morrissey? Who are they?". The winner has to be when I told a girl I had tickets for Morrissey and she said "Is he the one who does the voice for Bob the Builder?" Priceless!

this poll is not as bad as you think, if you were a smiths fan in the hateties, as i was, the smiths were very uncool, and as i remember it was hard to be a smiths fan and live in the trendy world, looked upon as miserable, and any disco's/ djs never played them, if they did i was the only person that danced, radio 1 never played the smiths, only janice long and john peel (both evening shows)unlike today, now it's cool to like indie bands, this was not the case in the 80's, and yet now to look back the smiths have stood the test of time and sell more than most 80's music, morrissey is a living legend, billy fury had a similar career, morrissey has done his own thing throughout his career, not sucked up to no-one, time this site started to appreciate the great man. wrighty

I work @ a Harley Davidson dealership and I was once confronted a couple years ago for playing "gay" music... I told them I enjoy good music... Regardless if the person is gay or not. And if they went as far as calling my music gay we could settle this with the GM or after work(No one disrespect Moz!). I still play Moz and I still get crap- but no ones gone as far to turn it off....

I still delight in the memory of another evening in O'Neill's (Gt Qn St, London, again!!!), standing by the bar with quiff and sideboards, when a girl sitting with her drink unfurls a Morrissey poster at me!! Inevitably it went downhill from there, but for a brief moment I had found happiness.

I have a math teacher that lets me listen to my Mp3 player in her class just cause she knows I like Morrissey. She tells all the other kids to put it away!

I have introduced Morrissey to many of my friends in a lot of times, and the general reaction is positive, they have liked the power of the lyrics and the voice. Only a few ones have complained about the depressing songs, but they know me very well, and they understand why I'm in love with that man's music. By the way, I dont care about the people that discriminates Moz music/fans, because the most of them have horrible taste for the music and a lack of poetry in their lifes...

Oh yes! C'mon folks, sometimes it's tough being a Morrissey fan. I've gotten some appauling looks at times when I've been, say, singing along to a song like This Charming Man. Yet we go out there day in and day out, scaring the crap out of the uptight "normal" people of the world. Great poll!!

What is this 'I'm special' victim culture? Get a life!

Just reported on CNN Entertainment News that "Die-Hard fans of Morrissey {former lead singer of the #1 Alternative band ever in England and the States and now the #1 Solo Artist as well} will be happy to hear that Harvard University in conjunction with M.I.T in Boston have put the final testing on the new Morrissey Spell-Repell Spray entitled "MozOff" will be on the shelves in all major Pharmacies in June of 2006.
    This new spray will not only protect fans of Morrissey from verbal and physical abuse from anyone who listens to other music. {that is music that has no apparent rhyme, reason or talent in this American Idol twisted world}. Bonus: The new Moz Spray will also turn the non-Smiths/Morrissey hater into an instant Die-Hard Fan when it is sprayed twice in someone's facial area.
    Double Bonus: The new Moz Spray, if bought in the first week of pre-orders, will come with a small 1/4 ounce bottle of liquid re-spell-ent. This liquid, when dropped into any friend's drink who is a fan of either Hip Hop or Top 40, will instantly turn that person against that music and into the only music that matters, the music of Morrissey.
    More news to come on every major News station. PRE-ORDERS can be obtained in 3 weeks on Interestingnewdrug.com
    Ok, I tried to make a few of you smile-No harm done. Right?

Q gives it 3 out of 5 (with no interview; presumably Moz still won't speak to them).
Mojo gives it 4 out of 5 (with an interview; looks interesting and has great photos).
The horrible lyric about kegs between legs is a key part of both reviews with journalists suggesting Moz is providing more information than necessary...
J

from the majority of posts on this site it doesn't surprise me that someone would indeed want to smack a Morrissey fan in the mouth if the bleatings on here are anything to go by.

In the '80s, here in the States, The Smiths were quite popular. They were played in the clubs, everyone danced, and, although the whole "twee" thing did come up, there was no real problem. Morrissey & Co. were part of the great underground British invasion. There was no stigma to being a Smiths fan that I can recall, unless you had completely lost your head, which goes for every fan of every band, I think.

It was only when Morrissey went solo that the trouble began. All my old-school friends look at me funny these days because "Morrissey fan" has always been shorthand for "nuts." Now, I've admitted that I am one of those people who drifted away when Morrissey ceased to speak to me. I am also one of those people who gratefully came back when he called. I do not face discrimination, but I can feel a certain "oh no, I can't believe you're one of those" vibe when the subject comes up.

I have a feeling that this will change with ROTT. Maybe a few of these folks will finally feel that Morrissey is relevant to their lives again - that is if I can get them to listen. Maybe his reputation as Ringleader of the Tormented will be a badge of honor, instead of a curse...

i was able to say yes to this one. 15 years ago when i was a freshman in high school i was labeled a lesbian because i had short hair & listened to "that faggot morrissey". people actually started spitting on me in the hallways & defaced my locker by writing dyke...although they spelled it dike. my best friend & i were harrassed on a daily basis. a group of boys actually went as far to beat us up one night...6 boys against 2 girls. still i wore my docs, little skirts, smiths/morrissey tees & cardigans to school everyday. it was a really hard time for us. we used to joke we were going to enter the prom with tommy guns in hand & shoot everyone down to our anthem "i don't mind if you forget me". this was of course before the time it was cool to kill your peers. it was just a dream though & we never did act upon it...there is always the reunion though. ;)

but if I don't know, does that make me a 'no'? I mean, I really have no idea. No one's ever said anything nasty to my face about me liking Morrissey, but how would I know why people don't like me? People who don't like me don't talk to me. Maybe they don't like me because of something to do with Morrissey... or something to do with anything in the world.

Is the poll about people being blatantly not-nice to you and telling you it's because you like Morrissey? That's definitely foreign to me.

love
math+

So this is a poll for people in junior high school, is that it?

Rarely have I read so much self pitying rubbish.

Discrimination because you like some singer? What a joke.

none in my clasroom (thanks god) knows morrissey, except for my friends and my literature teacher. the frequently asked questions are: is that guy gay? (always). who is that guy? (most of the time too) but the lowest point was when someone asked me why i liked elvis...

Only the music press, really. Yamaha

the one song that started this vendetta against the great man was girlfriend in a coma! how the world missed the irony and the not so subtle humour of the song. i've been in fights defending his honour and will do so till my dying breath. god i sound depressed, better put the kettle on and listen to kylie minouge or guns and fuckin roses to lift my spirits! lol

I'm a the smiths' nut, but i'm a morrissey's fan too. I'm from Chile, and here, this singer is seen like a singer for the gay community. Everybody is worng here, this society is rotten...
Well, my friends know i'm a fan, and they play some jokes with me, i dislike that!, 'cause in this society, if you think in a different way, you are rejected, rejected in everything.
Morrissey is the best, they sing for the shy people, for the people who has a life full of shyness, my life and our life.

Bye
sorry for my english

I'm afraid it looks like ROTT is yet another patchy Morrissey solo album. Uncut's review came out today and gave it a meagre 3 out of 5 saying that the music was good but the lyrics were pretty duff. Looks like the Observer review was something of a red herring...
Reviews to date:
Oberver 5/5
Q 3/5
Mojo 4/5 (the most Moz-friendly UK music mag)
Uncut 3/5
Some rock mag 3/5.
We really should learn not to get carried away by those early listening party reports...
J
PS I think the best we can hope for now is that (yet again) Moz has (foolishly) reserved some of his best songs for the b-sides of the singles.

But say that you´re fan of Marilyn Manson!

My workmates often have to confirm that he's the "Same Morrissey with the flowers sticking out of his arse", "is he still around" is another common one. Doesn't bother me but I will gladly lend anyone my tunes if they wish to hear more or understand my interest in Morrissey. I don't wallow smugly in the uniqueness of my musical tastes, everyone to their own. I always make a point of not being critical of other peoples tastes, not always reciprocated to me though but never in a discriminatory way just laughed at usually by people who barely know of The Smiths and have heard nothing outside of what gets radio airplay. The general misconception is that Morrissey is miserable and is a teenage fad that you are meant to grow out of, I know what I like and thats all that matters to me.

This question particulary touches me, as I have always faced issues being a Morrissey fan. Few artists inadvertantly galvanize some like Morrissey. I listen to many forms of music, but Morrissey has always been close to my heart.
I am an unabashed fan and will not hide it, although one time I wish I had.
I was in jail a number of years ago on a drugs charge for a few months.
I have a MOZ tatoo on my leg. One guy knew exactly what it was, called me a "fag" for liking Morrissey, busted my lip and we ended up fighting and getting in trouble. I was shocked that the periodic rude comment about the Mozzer could actually lead to violence, but then again my "peers" at the time weren't exactly class!

We like his art anyway, so?
Leonel.

Most people react negatively to what they call an obsessiveness I have about Morrissey. If I mention that I'd like to play some Morrissey on the collective sound system, even if it's seldom I do, the suggestion is feared. It makes me suspicious. I figure if you're afraid of Morrissey you are a very deeply blocked person, repressed excruciatingly, under a veneer of being above needing Morrissey for anything at all, or, being even remmotely, possibly, benefitted by him. It makes me feel sorry for them, and, myself, if I'm inextricably involved with them, because, honestly, they are as boring as they aren't interested in even knowing why they are afraid of Morrissey.

Most people, even if I spend alot of time with them, all chummy, aren't in the least curious about why I like MOrrissey. They just assume it's because I like fags or something so cliche like that. It drives me crazy that when I ask them why they don't like him, all they have to say is that they aren't gay, or, if they are politically hip and like to think of themselves as gay friendly, then they just say it's because it's all I ever want to hear.

So if they think it's all I want to hear, and we're so chummy, why don't they play it for me once in a while to humour me?

Because they don't care what Morrissey cares about. Loving those you would chum around with. If it's not too out of your way, and, without groaning about it as if it were a huge sacrifice.

I'm sure I don't, ...shove it down their throats or beat them up if they don't like it. They're just afraid of him, because he sees through cover-ups alot, to the real motivation in people. I think that's what really spooks them. So, why do I want to chum around...

I may as well stay in bed.

Being a Morrissey fan in a metal-head based community inadvertantly leads to some discrimination. Some of it is intelligent, usually spanning one sentence, such as "I don't care much for Morrissey, thank you." Other discrimination, from your friendly neighborhood anti-Moz's, is about as intelligent as an oreo cookie.

In the usual case, an anti-morrissey is only such because another anti-moz told him to be. These are the decadant-headed imbiciles whose entire vocabularies are riddled with terms such as "fag", "queer", "nazi-vegan", et nauseam. The term they use most, and is ironically the most moron-proving statement of all, is "If you like Morrissey, you must be gay."

Anti-moz's who harass anyone and everyone who ever tapped their foot to Viva Hate are invariably morons. If you don't believe me, please please PLEASE ask one of them just why they hate Morrissey so much that it consumes weeks upon months of their useless time. Invariably, their response will reflect the barren wasteland of their skull, something along the lines of "Because Morrissey's gay!"

I speculate that these are the same brain-rotted imbiciles that run around in frantic circles spewing anti-everything nonsense that they know nothing about, usually in attempts to distract themselves from their own miserable lives. Of course, they never preach anything different from the abortion-posterboy next to them, for the world would end if they ever stood out from the crowd and advocated something that everyone else didn't agree upon. And in that aspect, the unabashed Moz-lover has an indefilable victory.

Just to be sure, I'm not saying everyone who doesn't like Moz is an imbicile. In fact, nobody I know in this town likes Morrissey. Most of them do so intelligently. Others usually smell terribley of the dry-rot-scent of their brains drifting out their ears.

is the best Morrissey album yet. I have been listening to it for a week now, and I must confes, it’s absolutely brilliant. It’s much, much better than YATQ.

This is the first Morrissey album that feels like a whole. He sings with an urgency I haven’t heard on many of his solo efforts. All the songs work wonderfully together. Some are strong, some are less than strong, but they really work together. Morrissey comes full circle on this album. You can hear the golden talent shine through that won us all over in the past.

I am afraid though that this is the best he can do with this band. But enough said.

ROTT 4,5 / 5

Usually I get, "Who is Morrissey?". Or if they do know of him they'll say, "He used to be with the Smiths, right?". Most of the time I turn people on to Moz.

 

Since I am a same-aged man as Morrissey, it is assumed that I must be gay (guilty), and that I have some major personality flaw. Yea - like impeccable taste in music and artistry and superior intellect...

...of the nightclub, only to find the "No quiffs allowed" sign putting an ubrupt end to his night. "Get a proper hairstyle!" the others cackled with mockery, as they shmoozed their way past the bouncers.

The school of hard knocks indeed.

TT

Are most of you American? If you were British you wouldn't give a ####

The most verbal abuse I ever received for being a Morrissey fan was from fans of the now-disgraced British rock star Gary Glitter. It was 1992 and I was on the No. 900 bus travelling back to my hometown (Birmingham, England) from my first ever Morrissey gig, at the NEC Atrium. At the larger venue next door, the NEC Arena, Glitter had been performing his tired 'Gang Show' routine to his increasingly bald and flabby fanbase. So, on the way home the two sets of hideously ill-matched fans collided; well, I say collided, but what really happened is we sat at the front of the top deck whilst the hoard behind us tried desperately to invent insults other than 'miserable' and 'depressing' with which to taint the name of our idol. You get an idea of the quality when I say that the best thing any of them said on the 45 minute journey was 'Morrissey - he's Leonard Cohen's son, he is!'
Anyway, nearly 14 years of wonderful gigs and wonderful music from Moz (and 1 unfortunate visit to PC World for Glitter) later, and the 'leader of the gang' now spends his time indulging his perversions in the Far East while trying to evade the authorities, compared to Morrissey who sells out stadiums (never mind atriums) with ease.
I wonder how those fans feel now.

Only by morrissey, he never turned up at finsbury park or the isle of wight,and I used to wander in to Morrisseys gigs while shopping for brussel sprouts, these days its easier to get an audience with the pope.

Makes this poll a little difficult to answer. When I say I'm a Morrissey fan, people often don't know who he is, so I can't really say they've had any thoughts on the matter (positive or negative)...

i don't know anyone who doesn't appreciate the smiths or morrissey, even if they're not huge fans. discrimination? you all need new friends...