Jones said:As far as paying for sex goes, I don't think Morrissey would approve of something like that.
Jones said:It's no surprise to me that he's decided to spend time in Rome. I think from what he's said this is a moment in his life when he is inspired and full of confidence.
Much as he tries to brush it off as something he chose to do, my impression of his time in LA is that he fled there after the court case and more or less became a depressive recluse because he felt so hated. It's no surprise now he feels more loved he has the confidence to travel again and not hide away.
As far as paying for sex goes, I don't think Morrissey would approve of something like that. This is an old fashioned puritan socialist we are talking about. Prostitution is exploitation to someone like him. He disapproves of musicians exploiting groupies and prostitution isn't any different. I know in this postfeminist world a lot of people equate prostitution with freedom, but to someone whose politics were formed in seventies and eighties Britain, the Marxist analysis still stands.
bartvdp said:Could that be why he sings "You have killed me". I.e. "You have made me do something I don't approve of. I can never be my old self again."
Why the combination of mechanical sex and God/foregiveness in both "Dear God please help me" and "You have killed me"?
Guilt, or at least unease, are prominent in both songs, so maybe you're right: he might have done things he doesn't approve of. Maybe he knows he will do them again ("Dear God please help me").
(By the way: I'm trying to interpret Morrissey's work. Whether his work reflects events in his personal life, or just his fascinations is none of my business.)
bartvdp said:I don't know if this has already been suggested anywhere but if the lyrics of "Dear God please help me" and "You have killed me" are about being in love with 'something', my interpretation of that 'something' would be: the scene of male prostitutes in Rome.
'Dear God...' is obviously about a sexual encounter with a rentboy. It's the rather technical description of a sex act with a stranger who approaches men on the street. Not an account of personal romance, although it's clear that to the singer this encounter has the value of a religious ritual. What he is in fact implying in the 'now i'm spreading your legs' bit is that he's having sex with some manifestation of God (God is the 'you' throughout the song.) In literature this combination of gay sex and religious (Roman Catholic) imagery is far from uncommon. I had never heard it turned into popular song.
In the opening of 'You have killed me' the singer _is_ Pasolini and he is metaphorically 'killed' by someone who introduced him to the phenomenon of 'entering' and 'being entered'. (Pasolini actually was murdered, allegedly by a rentboy (an 'accattone'))
In short: it's 'Picadilly Palare' in Rome.
rank-dsgn said:That was good. Clever interpretation
bartvdp said:Thanks.
Of course Morrisseys work is more universal than this rather narrow casual sex (rentboy) interpretation. He is merely hinting at the things I describe far too directly.
That's why he's a poet and I'm not.
bauer24 said:But I would hazard a guess that uncle Moz would completely disregard your interpretation and we would find it was just a completely fictional story!
Dupree said:Just to add to the interpretations of You Have Killed Me...the lyric 'You have killed me' always reminds me of the French phrase 'le petit mort', which fits nicely with some of your other comments.
wolve said:i still believe my french is good enough (I had an examination about it today!) and petit mort means masturbation...
Comtesse said:I'm not sure what the confusion is about Morrissey's love for Rome. It seems like the perfect place for him to live: romantic, historic, stylish, eclectic. What I think is the better question is - what on earth possessed him to live in Los Angeles for seven years???? I could never figure that one out.