Re: Gaslight Anthem Singer Brian Fallon's Advice To Morrissey: "You Need To Get Over
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 f***ing 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 f***ing 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 f***ing 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 f***ing 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.