David Cameron goaded over The Smiths at Prime Minister's Questions

Compared with that lot, she's far too good-looking to be suspicious!!! :lbf:

"Nah, can't be violent: she's a blonde girly with a silly tee".

Hurray! The Smiths have made it through the barricades and now is as good a time as any to listen to a bit of ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHm8HlUN5gI

:thumb:

I forbid you to EVER reply to me with Spandax Ballet songs! :p
 
Fantastic. Not only is it a great picture, but it seems as if the Smiths is now a symbolic weapon of political warfare - it's as if Cameron's avowed admiration for them is now wielded as a weapon against him by people determined to win ownership of the true Smithsonian mantle. :)

Which is of course very, very silly, on one level. But it also shows how much they actually mean to a lot of people, it shows that they have a cultural penetration strong enough to be effective on this kind of deep and general symbolic level (which is astounding!) and above all, it is very, very good news for the band in terms of their cultural impact.

Now, dare I say it? Could this be the miracle that could sweep Marr and Morrissey back together? Protest gig? Heck, I'd disavow all my politics and turn up burning Cameron in effigy if that's what it takes to be there. :)
 
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Fantastic. Not only is it a great picture, but it seems as if the Smiths is now a symbolic weapon of political warfare - it's as if Cameron's avowed admiration for them is now wielded as a weapon against him by people determined to win ownership of the true Smithsonian mantle. :)

Which is of course very, very silly, on one level. But it also shows how much they actually mean to a lot of people, it shows that they have a cultural penetration strong enough to be effective on this kind of deep and general symbolic level (which is astounding!) and above all, it is very, very good news for the band in terms of their cultural impact.

Now, dare I say it? Could this be the miracle that could sweep Marr and Morrissey back together? Protest gig? Heck, I'd disavow all my politics and turn up burning Cameron in effigy if that's what it takes to be there. :)

It's funny, I hadn't even connected the t-shirt with the recent flap over Cameron. To me it was just instantly obvious why a Smiths t-shirt would be worn by a protester fighting cops at a barricade. But I suppose I'm in the minority of people who see and appreciate the political content of The Smiths.

The photo brings to mind the old Billy Bragg lyric: "Revolution is just a t-shirt away!"
 
It's funny, I hadn't even connected the t-shirt with the recent flap over Cameron. To me it was just instantly obvious why a Smiths t-shirt would be worn by a protester fighting cops at a barricade. But I suppose I'm in the minority of people who see and appreciate the political content of The Smiths.

Minority - really?

Most people I know who carry the torch for The Smiths fully appreciate the deeply subversive nature of Morrissey's lyrics, and the fact that The Smiths managed to outdo the hardcores when it came to political/cultural smack-downs (at least here in the States). They said with a croon and a jangle what others said while screaming over distortion. Then again, we were a bunch of gender-neutral, tree-hugging art school radicals who truly believed that the personal was political. ;)
 
It's funny, I hadn't even connected the t-shirt with the recent flap over Cameron.

Well, it generates a bit of a subtext doesn't it?

To me it was just instantly obvious why a Smiths t-shirt would be worn by a protester fighting cops at a barricade.

Really? Why? Well, I sort of see what you mean (commitment, courage, anger and so forth). But can you imagine Morrissey fighting cops at a barricade? Or any other member of the Smiths for that matter, if perhaps for different reasons? It seems to me a mode of action that is ultimately very alien to anything I connect with the Smiths. Too collective, somehow?

The photo brings to mind the old Billy Bragg lyric: "Revolution is just a t-shirt away!"

Hehe. Good old Billy, always one to make parody superfluous. :)
 
Minority - really?

Most people I know who carry the torch for The Smiths fully appreciate the deeply subversive nature of Morrissey's lyrics, and the fact that The Smiths managed to outdo the hardcores when it came to political/cultural smack-downs (at least here in the States). They said with a croon and a jangle what others said while screaming over distortion. Then again, we were a bunch of gender-neutral, tree-hugging art school radicals who truly believed that the personal was political. ;)

The last three words being the key.
 
Really? Why? Well, I sort of see what you mean (commitment, courage, anger and so forth). But can you imagine Morrissey fighting cops at a barricade? Or any other member of the Smiths for that matter, if perhaps for different reasons? It seems to me a mode of action that is ultimately very alien to anything I connect with the Smiths. Too collective, somehow?

The Smiths, to me, represent anger over a broken collective. An aspect of any definition of tragedy is the individual's isolation from the community, but whereas the individual in Greek tragedy falls at the hands of fate (whether by external factors over which he has no control or some personal flaw he cannot escape) the Smithsian hero, as it were, is victimized by circumstances entirely human and therefore inherently changeable.

As for barricades, no, I can't imagine Morrissey out in the streets. I can imagine his fans doing so, however.

Hehe. Good old Billy, always one to make parody superfluous. :)

In fairness to Bill, he did imbue the line with all due irony. It's a punchline. :rolleyes:
 
Minority - really?

Most people I know who carry the torch for The Smiths fully appreciate the deeply subversive nature of Morrissey's lyrics, and the fact that The Smiths managed to outdo the hardcores when it came to political/cultural smack-downs (at least here in the States). They said with a croon and a jangle what others said while screaming over distortion. Then again, we were a bunch of gender-neutral, tree-hugging art school radicals who truly believed that the personal was political. ;)

Just basing my opinion on what I've observed over the years. I'm more like you and your friends, but most of the time I don't think people really have that reaction to the music. Which is fine. In any case the usual perception of The Smiths is more in line with Qvist's, namely, Smiths apostles aren't the ones to fight the cops, they're off to the side paring their fingernails and managing their James Dean quiffs. Who knows what the truth is? I just know that this picture is one of the greatest images connected with something I love that I've ever seen. I hope it isn't spoiled somehow.
 
The Smiths, to me, represent anger over a broken collective. An aspect of any definition of tragedy is the individual's isolation from the community, but whereas the individual in Greek tragedy falls at the hands of fate (whether by external factors over which he has no control or some personal flaw he cannot escape) the Smithsian hero, as it were, is victimized by circumstances entirely human and therefore inherently changeable.

As for barricades, no, I can't imagine Morrissey out in the streets. I can imagine his fans doing so, however.



In fairness to Bill, he did imbue the line with all due irony. It's a punchline. :rolleyes:

He went on a few marches in his youth or at least one.
 
Just basing my opinion on what I've observed over the years. I'm more like you and your friends, but most of the time I don't think people really have that reaction to the music. Which is fine. In any case the usual perception of The Smiths is more in line with Qvist's, namely, Smiths apostles aren't the ones to fight the cops, they're off to the side paring their fingernails and managing their James Dean quiffs.

Ah, but you said a minority of people appreciate the political content of The Smiths, which is a different thing altogether from a call to political action. The political content of The Smiths seems to be overwhelming: at least in America Morrissey was a different kind radical that inspired great love and great loathing in equal measure. I would think that most Smiths fans soaked up the political implications of the band along with importance of self-expression and pretty, pretty hair.

As far as The Smiths being a catalyst for political action, they may not have been The Clash, but they were certainly more motivational than, say, The Cure or Siouxsie, or any number of other British Invasion bands of the period. I can't see a Robert Smith fan going over the wall, but a Smith's fan? Sure - we marched for animal rights in the early eighties.

Who knows what the truth is? I just know that this picture is one of the greatest images connected with something I love that I've ever seen. I hope it isn't spoiled somehow.

I'm with you - that photo is dazzling.

I'm hoping that, in a day or two we won't find out that she borrowed the shirt from a friend and doesn't know who The Smiths are, or she's just a poser who couldn't resist a particularly daring photo op.

For now, let's assume that she got the message. :)
 
Who knows what the truth is? I just know that this picture is one of the greatest images connected with something I love that I've ever seen. I hope it isn't spoiled somehow.

Many of us will surely remember that The Smiths were very much an 'anti' band, and certainly an anti-establishment band.
I don't know whether the girl in the photo is a 'real' fan or not (though I very much hope she is), what I do know is that the photograph captures the essence of The Smiths almost perfectly.

This is why I decided to give it The Smiths 'treatment'. ;)

 
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