Gaslight Anthem Singer Brian Fallon's Advice To Morrissey: "You Need To Get Over It"

[Anonymous]

Bennett was finished before he even began. I never said Morrissey was finished because he's 52. I simply said his vocal range has massively diminished. With every tour it becomes more of a strain for him to hit higher notes. However, how can you honestly compare Sinatra and Warwick of their twilight years to them in their youth? There is a massive difference. I'm not saying they aren't good or that Morrissey isn't good, I'm just saying he and they are hardly at their "peak" as you described it.

How did you describe yourself? "General laze about"
Fit, really fit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymRNpTP1aO8
Sinatra - 53 years old
You are a noodle.
"Bennett was finished before he even began."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQS_N...eature=related
God, just go, please, go and do something nice.

we'll let you know

[Worm]

As I stated before, Morrissey had a career before 2002 (Skylarker's cutoff date for criticism). If you enjoy 20 years of an artist's career but not the last 10, does that disqualify you from posting on a forum about them?

Your post is reasonable and well-stated, but you're obscuring the point. I don't care if there were people here who only liked "The Smiths" and hated everything he did after 1984. Bring them on, let's have a discussion. But Skylarker has viciously insulted Morrissey over and over again and he has ripped into anyone who has disagreed with him. It's not for me to decide who is "qualified" to post here or not. Nobody cares what I think. But let me ask you this. If he dislikes the last 10 years of Morrissey's career, thinks his current band is shit, and actually calls him "washed up" and "done", why doesn't Skylarker's own opinion keep him away?

There are plenty of artists I used to like but don't care about anymore because they're washed up. I don't go to Lou Reed's site, post YouTube clips of The National, and then belligerently take on any fans who come after me, calling them knuckle-dragging idiots, poseurs, and self-deluded victims of their own nostalgia, all while seizing every chance I get to go on trashing Lou Reed. Do you honestly not see the difference?

If anything, I believe the unmatched greatness Morrissey displayed in the first 20 years of his career breeds the rabid contempt among people who think his last decade has been a disappointment. Now, whether you love his entire career or just some of it, there is no debating his current situation and there is no debating that the reason he is in his current situation is solely because of choices he's made and continues to make. It is extremely frustrating when you feel someone who has been a constant in your life for so long starts letting you down consistently. Let's face it, anyone who actively participates on this forum for any length of time is going to exhaust all positives they can muster concerning his career. Especially with his recording career stalled and the best news you can get concerning him is about freeing an elephant! It's easy to criticize, and criticize viciously, when he's doing things like dressing his band up in speedos, making borderline racist statements, having his guitarist butcher your favorite songs, and denying his fanbase of music because he wants to be stingy and hold out on a major label contract that he doesn't really need. Criticism in whatever form does not make someone any less of a fan, just as blind adoration does not make someone any more of a fan.

All completely valid points. If you were to check, which you won't, you would see that at various times I've echoed most of your criticisms myself. But the criticism isn't really the main issue. If Morrissey has made all these mistakes, and he's "done", then why in the world would anyone want to discuss the ins and outs of why Morrissey stopped being great ten years ago? I don't understand. The patient has flatlined. The doctor has called the time of death. The sheet is over his head and the nurses are wheeling him to the morgue. What is there to discuss?

Or is this really nothing more than an exercise in venting resentment and frustration on an artist who has disappointed you, as well as on the last few fans who don't share your opinions?

[Worm]

I'm not saying he doesn't have a good voice when he wants to, it's just it is nothing compared to what it once was.

So you must disagree with Brian Fallon and Skylarker, then. They want him to go back and rediscover what made him great. According to you he's physically incapable of doing that. And in any case he doesn't seem to want to try. So what's left? What hope do you have for him? Compromise is even less likely than an Act of God. So what are you holding out for?

[Worm]

It's a real shame that in the absence of a new album, he can't do a "Your Arsenal" 20th Anniversary Tour, and just play that record through track by track.
That would be so awesome. *sigh*

Wha...?

I'm confused by this thread. People seem to agree that Morrissey is stalled or "done". People seem to agree that he's going nowhere. People seem to agree that he's so far out on the margins of pop music that he's an embarrassment to his own legacy. And yet nobody is suggesting he grow and move forward as an artist, really. It's not that Morrissey should be great again, in a new way, but that he should go back to doing what made him great before. He should impersonate himself more effectively, is the gist.

All this in a thread which contrasts Morrissey's present-day irrelevancy and paralysis with The Gaslight Anthem, whose breakthrough album was called "The '59 Sound" and who openly embrace the inspiration of bands who haven't been fresh and current since the 70s and mid-80s. In order for Morrissey to sound fresh again-- as fresh as The Gaslight Anthem-- he needs to sound like 1988 again. The irony is rich.

[Kewpie]

It's a real shame that in the absence of a new album, he can't do something interesting like a "Your Arsenal" 20th Anniversary Tour, and just play that record straight through.

That would be so awesome, and fans would go nuts for it. *sigh*

Thank goodness, Morrissey hasn't become a nostalgia act yet.

In reality if you went to see 2007 tour, you might have hoped that he could still sing songs from Your Arsenal in original tempo.

[Worm]

Just for the record, I would love him to continue to grow as an artist, and I think he has it in him for an excellent quality swan song-or two. But, since there is no record deal that we know of, right now, why not take advantage of the fact that one of the greatest albums of the 1990's is celebrating its 20th Anniversary and make fans happy in the process? That wouldn't make him a nostalgia act.
I mean, supposedly he will be touring in the fall anyway...

It just seems like a shame to let an opportunity like that- and the press it would generate-pass by is all.

I'm no hater. Just a little bored sometimes. I guess that comes from being an accounting student.

I know, I wasn't attacking you personally. The "Your Arsenal" quote just stuck out to me. I think the general argument in this thread is ass-backward. I don't care if The Gaslight Anthem really are the greatest band in the world, they're openly nostalgic for the past-- in fact, try wrapping your head around the fact that Fallon is nostalgic for Springsteen, a songwriter who was already pointedly nostalgic in the Seventies-- and it seems totally bizarre to deride Morrissey for not being as "current and fresh" as they are. In my view, I would prefer that Morrissey flounder trying to push ahead in his own misguided way rather than flourish doing a Wax Museum imitation of himself.

And obviously we're all bored or we wouldn't be rehashing the same stuff over and over again.

[applebuttaz]

The point being that The Smiths can't reform without Morrissey.

and if they do, no-one want's to see.. tom, dick, and harry...then it be a morrissey concert.

[SparkleBoy]

Brian Fallout? Oh I get it, you're doing that thing Morrissey does where he makes someone's name into a silly word, to insult them.

No, silly! If that were the case he would have said something like Brian Fibber McSqueeble!

[Skylarker]

The Gaslight Anthem are Against Me-wanna be's trying to be like Springsteen.

Works for me.

It's hard not to agree with Skylarker, irrespective of whether you're a Gaslight Anthem fan or not (I've never heard them).

There are still hints of brilliance in Morrissey's output

Yes. Hints.

Wow, Brian Fallon has piled it on. Compare that video of Old haunts to the clip of him being interviewed! No wonder the guy is asking him about Pizza.

I thought so too!

To get back on topic, he's got a point about Moz. However, I can't take him seriously since his band is essentially a fawning Springsteen impersonation machine.

Nothing wrong with that.

Imagine a Bruce Springsteen cover band doing a parody of The Replacements.

That's all I could ever ask for in a band!

Here you go again. Everyone else is shit-slinging, you're just an innocent bystander.

I'm not a bystander. I'm involved in this. I knew I'd get shit but I did what I had to do. People need to see him for what he is.

You're a smart guy, Skylarker.

Aww, shucks.

It's embarrassing to watch you disingenuously argue as if you've merely been defending The Gaslight Anthem. At every turn you've blasted Morrissey. And not just with "Jesse isn't as good as Alain" knocks, but annihilating remarks like "Morrissey's done", a "washed-up laughingstock", a guy who writes "shitty songs", etc.

I won't lie and say I'm not disgusted with Morrissey. I am. That much is obvious. Never in my life have I said anything against Justin Bieber. Is it because I'm a fan? No. It's because he doesn't exist to me. Morrissey does. I lived and breathed him for 20 years. Twenty fucking years.

But seeing what he has become...as a person, as an artist, as a cultural icon...how he treats his fans now...the way he markets his material, the total drop in finesse and integrity and subtlety...it makes me feel like I was lied to all that time, like that devotion was for nothing.

I hope more than anyone on this fucking board that he pulls another great record or hell even song out of his hat instead of continuing along the path that it seems he is set on going. I don't think it's gonna happen. I'm angry with him. Anger is a great motivator. If I didn't care, I wouldn't be here.

There's nothing wrong with The Gaslight Anthem. God knows Paul Westerberg needs the royalty checks.

Umm, that was dumb. They haven't recorded any of his songs. Try again.

But it's silly to claim you haven't propped up The Gaslight Anthem at the expense of Morrissey. You have. Everyone sees that.

Make no mistake...I truly, truly love The Gaslight Anthem. I put off listening to them for two years because Brian looked like a stroke and he came across as a mook in interviews. I didn't even give his music a chance because I had my head too far up Morrissey's ass. I was wrong; the lyrics are brilliant and I haven't felt this connected to a group since I found The Smiths when I was 15. But I'm not a teenager anymore, hell I'm not even in my 20s anymore. Morrissey doesn't speak to me, at least not like he used to. But Gaslight does. Their music and his words are the most invigorating thing I've heard in years. To me, personally, they are an extremely important band. I don't expect everyone else to like them. Hell, when I was a teenager, no one I knew liked Morrissey. I'm used to it. It's fine. But please don't second guess my motives because you don't fucking know.

You back off from everything you post. Why?

I don't, really. But I have a problem with absolutism. I'm willing to meet most people halfway. Across the sky. Out where the world belongs to only you and I.

A pseudo-intellectual bore isn't the worst thing you can be on a discussion forum, Skylarker. The worst thing you can be is a troll. Unless you want to roll back your remark that "Morrissey's done", you're going to have a hard time convincing anyone here that you're not a troll. This is a fan site for an artist who hasn't released an album in three years, whom you explicitly call "washed up". You come here and stir up shit with his fans. I don't care if you occasionally say intelligent things or make the odd amusing wisecrack. You don't like Morrissey's current music and you come here to lord your alleged superiority over the other fans here. By any definition, you're a troll.

I'd rather be a troll than dull. But these are objective opinions. I am not here to make friends. I'm here to speak my opinion on Morrissey. I am a fan. But I'm very disillusioned with him and what he's become, and I have been for years. I think he's an incredible writer and a very powerful force artistically; but I think he's settled for being a big fish in a little bowl and that's sad.

The point here isn't that Morrissey doesn't deserve criticism. The point is that Skylarker comes to a fan site for an artist he believes is "done", "washed up", and a "laughingstock". Question: why not Ignore Morrissey-solo.com? Why come here? Aren't there other discussion sites to visit where one can post threads about the lastest band you like, or the last movie you saw? Why come here? What purpose does it serve? Why would anyone who says what Skylarker said about Morrissey choose to frequent that artist's site-- especially when he's made it clear that he regards many of Morrissey's fans as moronic, delusional and stuck in the past? The answer is pretty obvious.

Yeah but you're making it sound as though in your opinion he doesn't deserve criticism, that he is beyond reproach...and that's so absurd a notion that I can't even begin to address it.

I come here because I should be able to speak my mind about Morrissey, even if it is to criticize him. I was and still am a fan, and I keep up with his activity and I don't hate all of it. I'm just very, very disillusioned. But for years and years I knew nobody that liked Morrissey. This site, though it came late in my life, was a revelation, and there are some wonderful people on here...I enjoy discussing something, a personal artistic interest of mine, that was esoteric and private in my life for years. Is that OK with you?

I'm confused by this thread. People seem to agree that Morrissey is stalled or "done". People seem to agree that he's going nowhere. People seem to agree that he's so far out on the margins of pop music that he's an embarrassment to his own legacy. And yet nobody is suggesting he grow and move forward as an artist, really. It's not that Morrissey should be great again, in a new way, but that he should go back to doing what made him great before. He should impersonate himself more effectively, is the gist.

All this in a thread which contrasts Morrissey's present-day irrelevancy and paralysis with The Gaslight Anthem, whose breakthrough album was called "The '59 Sound" and who openly embrace the inspiration of bands who haven't been fresh and current since the 70s and mid-80s. In order for Morrissey to sound fresh again-- as fresh as The Gaslight Anthem-- he needs to sound like 1988 again. The irony is rich.

What goes around comes around. Everything old is new again. Only a fool thinks there is "new ground" to break in rock and roll. "It ain't whatcha do it's the way 'atcha do it."

And Morrissey isn't far from the margins of pop music. He has never strayed from the guitar / bass / drums verse-chorus-verse thing. And that's fine; I love that formula, it's classic. He just doesn't do it very well anymore. He's far from the margins of good music.

Thank goodness, Morrissey hasn't become a nostalgia act yet.

In reality if you went to see 2007 tour, you might have hoped that he could still sing songs from Your Arsenal in original tempo.

Get out of my thread.

[mcrickson]

why not take advantage of the fact that one of the greatest albums of the 1990's is celebrating its 20th Anniversary and make fans happy in the process?

Because Morrissey hates his fans. But he loves them.

[nothappynotsad]

Your post is reasonable and well-stated, but you're obscuring the point. I don't care if there were people here who only liked "The Smiths" and hated everything he did after 1984. Bring them on, let's have a discussion. But Skylarker has viciously insulted Morrissey over and over again and he has ripped into anyone who has disagreed with him. It's not for me to decide who is "qualified" to post here or not. Nobody cares what I think. But let me ask you this. If he dislikes the last 10 years of Morrissey's career, thinks his current band is shit, and actually calls him "washed up" and "done", why doesn't Skylarker's own opinion keep him away?

Simple. Because there are usually more topics on this forum, dealing with different aspects of Morrissey and eras of his career, than just about his current work. And if that isn't enough, there is the downloads section, where under his current name and various others, Skylarker has been submitting his "Never-Played Symphonies" collections for the last 3 years. No one else is faster or more willing to upload something a user needs under the downloads section than Skylarker. Then you have the Off-topic section and Other music section that he actively participates in. There is plenty for him to do here and plenty of a career to discuss if he sees fit. That is why he doesn't leave. If Morrissey wasn't currently touring, there would be more of an opportunity and reason to discuss his past. But he is touring and with every new update, it is hard to take him seriously.

There are plenty of artists I used to like but don't care about anymore because they're washed up. I don't go to Lou Reed's site, post YouTube clips of The National, and then belligerently take on any fans who come after me, calling them knuckle-dragging idiots, poseurs, and self-deluded victims of their own nostalgia, all while seizing every chance I get to go on trashing Lou Reed. Do you honestly not see the difference?

I wouldn't have a problem with that. I don't know why you do. To each his own.

All completely valid points. If you were to check, which you won't, you would see that at various times I've echoed most of your criticisms myself. But the criticism isn't really the main issue. If Morrissey has made all these mistakes, and he's "done", then why in the world would anyone want to discuss the ins and outs of why Morrissey stopped being great ten years ago? I don't understand. The patient has flatlined. The doctor has called the time of death. The sheet is over his head and the nurses are wheeling him to the morgue. What is there to discuss?

The not-very-subtle-at-all contempt you have for me and Skylarker is palpable. I wouldn't take what people say or do on the internet so personally.

What is there to discuss about why he stopped being great that hasn't already been said before? In fact, almost everything could be discussed about what is wrong with and could be fixed about Morrissey's career was discussed here: http://www.morrissey-solo.com/thread...-For-Morrissey

Or is this really nothing more than an exercise in venting resentment and frustration on an artist who has disappointed you, as well as on the last few fans who don't share your opinions?

It is easy to vent on people who violently defend Morrissey as much as it is to violent criticize Morrissey.

So you must disagree with Brian Fallon and Skylarker, then. They want him to go back and rediscover what made him great. According to you he's physically incapable of doing that. And in any case he doesn't seem to want to try. So what's left? What hope do you have for him? Compromise is even less likely than an Act of God. So what are you holding out for?

That isn't true. I never said he was physically incapable of being great again. Just because he can't hit all the high notes, that does not change what he has to say, how he says it, and what music it is backed to. As far as vocal melodies go, he STILL has it. Does he have a good voice still, YES. The problem is and has been his choice of collaborators, his backing band, and his lyrical laziness.

Although a lot of this thread has made me cringe, let me say that you are dead-on in this last paragraph. His career is indeed, sadly, stalled. There's no other way to put it. With no albums, live or otherwise, not even proper singles of the new songs, no DVDs, and no autobiography (at least not this year), it is difficult to stay optimistic and interested at times. Even the setlist at the concerts on this tour is getting painfully tiresome.

It's even more frustrating when you know that he has purposely denied his fan base plenty of rarities and live concerts and proper deluxe editions of his back catalog for no apparent reason other than he felt like it.

Wha...?

I'm confused by this thread. People seem to agree that Morrissey is stalled or "done". People seem to agree that he's going nowhere. People seem to agree that he's so far out on the margins of pop music that he's an embarrassment to his own legacy. And yet nobody is suggesting he grow and move forward as an artist, really. It's not that Morrissey should be great again, in a new way, but that he should go back to doing what made him great before. He should impersonate himself more effectively, is the gist.

I think everyone is suggesting he grow as an artist! Working with tired old Boz and 3 chord Tobias is not only standing still, it is devolving. He's been stagnant for so long that he's content with it. Working with Marr again isn't necessarily the answer...but it would be a start. Marr at least obviously has more to offer than they do at this point. I think Morrissey must lack the confidence to try to seek out new collaborators. There is no reason an artist of his stature isn't out trying to work with the best talents available. He could. He just doesn't.

[123xyz]

Morrissey doesn't deserve criticism?! That 's so absurd a statement I can't even begin to address it.






Skylarker , in all fairness to Worm , I think the point he was making was that ( as indicated by the qualifying double negative in his remark i.e. "isn't" , "doesn't" ) Morrissey is, obviously, not above criticism.

[Anonymous]

"I'd rather be a troll than dull." says Skylarker.

That's the thing. YOU ARE DULL. The Gaslight Anthem are exactly as a previous poster described them, a nostalgia act of an already nostalgia act. There is nothing interesting nor fascinating about that band.

By comparison, Ke$ha is more interesting than The Gaslight Anthem. And you are a dork.

[Anonymous]

"Just because he can't hit all the high notes..."
nothappynotsad, are you mental, disturbed, what is wrong with you, why are you here; you know nothing about Morrissey, you never saw Morrissey live, you never bought his cd... Who are you?
I beg you, go, go and do something nice. Be a good girl, make something from your life; go to library, start to read (Benjamin Disraeli 'Vivian Grey' is book for you). It is not the end, you can catch meaninig in your existance. Start today.

we'll let you know

[Skylarker]

Simple. Because there are usually more topics on this forum, dealing with different aspects of Morrissey and eras of his career, than just about his current work. And if that isn't enough, there is the downloads section, where under his current name and various others, Skylarker has been submitting his "Never-Played Symphonies" collections for the last 3 years. No one else is faster or more willing to upload something a user needs under the downloads section than Skylarker. Then you have the Off-topic section and Other music section that he actively participates in. There is plenty for him to do here and plenty of a career to discuss if he sees fit. That is why he doesn't leave. If Morrissey wasn't currently touring, there would be more of an opportunity and reason to discuss his past. But he is touring and with every new update, it is hard to take him seriously.

Skylarker , in all fairness to Worm , I think the point he was making was that ( as indicated by the qualifying double negative in his remark i.e. "isn't" , "doesn't" ) Morrissey is, obviously, not above criticism.

Oh yeah. Just noticed that.

Fixed.

[Skylarker]

[Anonymous]

did you see the videos of jakarta gig?, you should, people and moz were really happy

finish this thread please!!

[Worm]

I won't lie and say I'm not disgusted with Morrissey. I am. That much is obvious. Never in my life have I said anything against Justin Bieber. Is it because I'm a fan? No. It's because he doesn't exist to me. Morrissey does. I lived and breathed him for 20 years. Twenty fucking years.

But seeing what he has become...as a person, as an artist, as a cultural icon...how he treats his fans now...the way he markets his material, the total drop in finesse and integrity and subtlety...it makes me feel like I was lied to all that time, like that devotion was for nothing.

I hope more than anyone on this fucking board that he pulls another great record or hell even song out of his hat instead of continuing along the path that it seems he is set on going. I don't think it's gonna happen. I'm angry with him. Anger is a great motivator. If I didn't care, I wouldn't be here.

So why is it you can't just say that? As forcefully and as colorfully and as brutal as you want to be, but just that, and no more. Do you realize this thread would have turned out completely different if you had posted the link to Brian's comments and followed that with: "The Smiths were a chemical, emotional, and psychological fusion between Morrissey and Marr. That is what should be sought after. To me, The Gaslight Anthem realize that ideal perfectly and maybe Morrissey could learn a thing or two from them."

Instead you planted your flag, unfolded your lawn chair, and sat down with your shotgun across your thighs waiting for the peasants to storm up the street with pitchforks and torches. That's trollish. Then you got mad because people who were angry you'd just pissed on Morrissey's head were now pissing on the head of your hero du jour. Hilarious.

Umm, that was dumb. They haven't recorded any of his songs. Try again.

That was a joke. They should pay Paul royalties. Anyone who has ever spent any time listening to The Replacements knows exactly what I'm talking about. Oh, and here's Brian in 2009: "I don't think there would be a Gaslight Anthem without the Replacements," Fallon said during his recent performance at SPIN's NYC office, before opening with an acoustic cover of the Minnesota indie band's "Left of the Dial," from 1985's Tim. Indeed, Fallon's rough-hewn vocals bring to mind a young Paul Westerberg." Google wins again!

Look, I know it sounds like I'm bashing The Gaslight Anthem, but as you point out below there's nothing new under the sun. To my ears a Bruce Springsteen tribute band doing a parody of The Replacements is pretty fucking cool. Just don't try and sell me on the idea that these guys should somehow stand as beacons of inspiration for Morrissey to find his way again. Tell me they're the best band in the world-- fine. Tell me they're as timely and groundbreaking as The Beatles, The Clash, et al, and I have to wonder what you're smoking.

Morrissey doesn't speak to me, at least not like he used to. But Gaslight does. Their music and his words are the most invigorating thing I've heard in years. To me, personally, they are an extremely important band. I don't expect everyone else to like them. Hell, when I was a teenager, no one I knew liked Morrissey. I'm used to it. It's fine. But please don't second guess my motives because you don't fucking know.

I wasn't speculating on your motives for liking The Gaslight Anthem. I don't know and I don't care. They're important to you. Great. But your motives for praising them at the expense of Morrissey are clear as day and they're right here in this thread. Look at your first post, before anyone hit you back with "Dahling, simpwee evvweebody knows that Gahslight Aneurysm, or whoever, ah simpwee dwedful". You came to a Morrissey fan site and said Brian was a genius compared to what Morrissey is now. And look at what you just said to me: "I knew I'd get shit but I did what I had to do." Trollish.

But since you basically owned that by saying, "I'd rather be a troll...", then let me just ask you: wouldn't it make more sense to wax poetic about the greatness of The Gaslight Anthem, in a Gaslight Anthem forum, and maybe start an Off Topic thread there devoted to how sad and embarrassing Morrissey has become?

If you post here because, despite your anger and your disappointment, you still care a little bit, deep down, then show some respect to the rest of us who happen to care more than you do. Knock off this bullshit about how stupid and delusional Morrissey apostles are. Do you think Morrissey loathes this site because it's full of sunshine-pumping dweebs whose only mission in life is to lick his boots? Pay attention.

Yeah but you're making it sound as though in your opinion he doesn't deserve criticism, that he is beyond reproach...and that's so absurd a notion that I can't even begin to address it.

Again, I don't know where this comes from. I get the fact that I'm a bore to you, so you probably don't keep track of these things, but as often as I've defended him I have been very critical of Morrissey, and for a long time.

I come here because I should be able to speak my mind about Morrissey, even if it is to criticize him. I was and still am a fan, and I keep up with his activity and I don't hate all of it. I'm just very, very disillusioned. But for years and years I knew nobody that liked Morrissey. This site, though it came late in my life, was a revelation, and there are some wonderful people on here...I enjoy discussing something, a personal artistic interest of mine, that was esoteric and private in my life for years. Is that OK with you?

Of course it's okay. Have at it. I'm not a mod. I don't get to decide who says what or how they say it. I'm just tired of your "I'm the only sane guy in the room" schtick. You don't just have a bone to pick with Morrissey. You don't like his fans, either, and that makes you an antagonist toward most of the people who visit this site. Someone should call you on it, and I just did. You're disillusioned and angry, and you take pleasure in mocking other people who haven't become as disillusioned and angry as you are. Please, carry on telling Morrissey and his fans why they should "get over it and move on" when you're a regular at a fan site devoted to an artist you haven't liked in ten years.

[Oh my god, it's Robby!]

So I listened to those songs and uhh, one was OK I guess
maybe I just don't get it, I am old

[Worm]

Simple. Because there are usually more topics on this forum, dealing with different aspects of Morrissey and eras of his career, than just about his current work. And if that isn't enough, there is the downloads section, where under his current name and various others, Skylarker has been submitting his "Never-Played Symphonies" collections for the last 3 years. No one else is faster or more willing to upload something a user needs under the downloads section than Skylarker. Then you have the Off-topic section and Other music section that he actively participates in. There is plenty for him to do here and plenty of a career to discuss if he sees fit. That is why he doesn't leave. If Morrissey wasn't currently touring, there would be more of an opportunity and reason to discuss his past. But he is touring and with every new update, it is hard to take him seriously.

Fair enough. Eloquent defense. You're right, that's reason enough to come here. But why would he not, then, apply what you said to me about the Ignore button? Why continually berate other posters? I know of collectors who visit this site and never jump into the fray, confining themselves to matters pertaining to 1983-2003. Why is it necessary to stir up arguments elsewhere?

As I told him, above, I'm not trying to be a cop. Everyone can speak her mind here. Go for it. But clearly he's taking pleasure in knocking other people. He's insulted me without provocation, and I've seen him insult others without provocation, many times.

The not-very-subtle-at-all contempt you have for me and Skylarker is palpable. I wouldn't take what people say or do on the internet so personally.

I don't have contempt for you and Skylarker. You just assume I have contempt for you and Skylarker because I'm a pseudo-intellectual bore, and as a rule one should always pre-emptively despise a pseudo-intellectual bore before he gets a chance to reveal his disdain for you.

It's even more frustrating when you know that he has purposely denied his fan base plenty of rarities and live concerts and proper deluxe editions of his back catalog for no apparent reason other than he felt like it.

Or, as Skylarker put it, "because it amuses him".

Morrissey is doing something very, very interesting by withholding from fans "what the fans want". I have a lot of reservations and concerns about it, and I can't honestly say that it's all going to end well, but I see what he's doing and believe me, as frustrating as it is, it's a damn sight better than capitulating to the nostalgia circuit.

You could say that Morrissey...

...is devolving.

In a sense that's exactly right. Unable to go forward, unwilling to go back, he's standing still, devolving on the spot. Instead of assuming he's lost it, washed-up and done, it might be worth asking what this devolution means. Perhaps there's some method to his madness. But that would involve exchanging ideas without unleashing withering insults on people who don't share one's anger and disillusionment. Take it away, Brian:

"There was a club in New York in the '60s that Dylan played at and all these young folk artists and so that's where it came from. The main point was that they weren't famous and they were all sharing their ideas. So we were like, 'Gaslight, hrm, anthem, hrm.' The collective idea of that, that's us." (PunkBands.com, February 26, 2008)