Fiona
Love Morrissey ♥
When I think about the music industry as a whole and the many artists within it, I feel confident in saying that Morrissey is surely one of - if not THE - most significant and important.
This is not measured in terms of album sales or the volume of media exposure (as many wrongly believe that these things somehow are intrinsic to being a great artist), but instead is a reflection on Morrissey's work and career as a whole.
I believe his longevity is testament to his talent: Whereas audiences are quick to dismiss or forget, there are a select few artists that stand the test of time because of the quality of their work, and Morrissey's long-standing position within the music industry - which has been strong since the early 80s - has not decreased or diminished with time, purely because the quality and value of his work has continued on the same trajectory in which it started. That is to say, his voice, lyrics, originality and distinction have continued unfalteringly throughout his career so far. This may be, in part, because Morrissey has never TRIED to be anything other than himself - it seems with the passing of music trends and fashions, certain artists may quickly descend into the trap of following whatever sells, whereas it appears that Morrissey never has, with no obvious attempts at following anyone or anything, instead content in being who he is - and allowing that to give shape to his music career.
Lyrically, Morrissey could be twinned to a poet. I have often said - and genuinely believe - that Morrissey has a talent for capturing poems within his music. An example of this could be Neal Cassadey Drops Dead; Dear God Please Help Me and I have Forgiven Jesus - to name just a few. There is a depth to Morrissey's lyrics that I find many other artists (even other artists that I rank amongst my personal favourites) do not quite reach. I believe this is why Autobiography was articulated and expressed so well as a journal - because he has a way with words that seem to surpass what is expected from a lyricist, and infringes instead upon what most would expect from a novelist of great standing.
It is apparent that here we have an artist who explores his ideas about life in front of his audience with truthful and unapologetic lyrics, someone who has remained true to himself musically while ignoring what is considered popular and selling well at the time - in order to allow his fans a transparent glimpse of the man himself. There is little veiling in Morrissey's work - his strong opinions, sometimes unpopular ideas and moral positions - seep out of the pores of his music. This is probably why he is both adored and disliked in equal measures - some will see these traits in him and his work and be drawn to such refreshing honesty - or be sickened by such a display of raw, untethered honesty in what is largely a barren, unexciting and sanitised modern-day music industry.
Some will agree with me, others will not. I haven't written this to either gain approval or to argue my standing, but rather to express what I have been thinking about for some time now. I consider myself to be open minded, and I have a very wide range of music in my collection, but so far, I remain faithful to my belief that Morrissey really is one of the most important and significant artists of our time, and I for one am glad to be experiencing his career while he is still out there, actively creating. So many greats seem to be from the far-off ages, where we can only witness their work from old recordings and shaky video footage. It seems that there was a glitch in the matrix, and we are lucky to be experiencing one of those greats in the here and now.
This is not measured in terms of album sales or the volume of media exposure (as many wrongly believe that these things somehow are intrinsic to being a great artist), but instead is a reflection on Morrissey's work and career as a whole.
I believe his longevity is testament to his talent: Whereas audiences are quick to dismiss or forget, there are a select few artists that stand the test of time because of the quality of their work, and Morrissey's long-standing position within the music industry - which has been strong since the early 80s - has not decreased or diminished with time, purely because the quality and value of his work has continued on the same trajectory in which it started. That is to say, his voice, lyrics, originality and distinction have continued unfalteringly throughout his career so far. This may be, in part, because Morrissey has never TRIED to be anything other than himself - it seems with the passing of music trends and fashions, certain artists may quickly descend into the trap of following whatever sells, whereas it appears that Morrissey never has, with no obvious attempts at following anyone or anything, instead content in being who he is - and allowing that to give shape to his music career.
Lyrically, Morrissey could be twinned to a poet. I have often said - and genuinely believe - that Morrissey has a talent for capturing poems within his music. An example of this could be Neal Cassadey Drops Dead; Dear God Please Help Me and I have Forgiven Jesus - to name just a few. There is a depth to Morrissey's lyrics that I find many other artists (even other artists that I rank amongst my personal favourites) do not quite reach. I believe this is why Autobiography was articulated and expressed so well as a journal - because he has a way with words that seem to surpass what is expected from a lyricist, and infringes instead upon what most would expect from a novelist of great standing.
It is apparent that here we have an artist who explores his ideas about life in front of his audience with truthful and unapologetic lyrics, someone who has remained true to himself musically while ignoring what is considered popular and selling well at the time - in order to allow his fans a transparent glimpse of the man himself. There is little veiling in Morrissey's work - his strong opinions, sometimes unpopular ideas and moral positions - seep out of the pores of his music. This is probably why he is both adored and disliked in equal measures - some will see these traits in him and his work and be drawn to such refreshing honesty - or be sickened by such a display of raw, untethered honesty in what is largely a barren, unexciting and sanitised modern-day music industry.
Some will agree with me, others will not. I haven't written this to either gain approval or to argue my standing, but rather to express what I have been thinking about for some time now. I consider myself to be open minded, and I have a very wide range of music in my collection, but so far, I remain faithful to my belief that Morrissey really is one of the most important and significant artists of our time, and I for one am glad to be experiencing his career while he is still out there, actively creating. So many greats seem to be from the far-off ages, where we can only witness their work from old recordings and shaky video footage. It seems that there was a glitch in the matrix, and we are lucky to be experiencing one of those greats in the here and now.
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