Oh, come on - when you say things like, "I'm lucky I wasn't born in a South American backwater / Shitsville, Florida"... surely you can see how offensive that is? Perhaps you're not doing it intentionally but you very, very much project this idea that English / Irish fans know Morrissey, own Morrissey and nobody else gets it. And then, of course, there is a natural backlash. I've never met a Moz fan who wasn't an Anglophile in some sense because it's such a big part of M's identity, but this reaction of "Bugger off, he's ours", does not do Brits any favours!
Apologies for butting in and I think I understand what you're saying but I think I also understand what he is saying. It doesn't offend me as an American. I'm not sure if he thinks all of the US is similar to Shitsville, and I think we would probably all agree that however proud you may be of whatever part of England is representative of the best there are also areas that are better off not mentioned.
It's okay to be proud of where you're from and while you don't say or even imply this in any way, it doesn't feel the same as nationalism or xenophobia.
There are people, other people, who do seem to believe that to truly understand Morrissey is somewhat dependent on where you were born. Since he mentions Springsteen, using that as an example, I'd say that someone growing up where and when he did might feel some shared identity with him. But Springsteen didn't work in factories or go racing in the streets. It's mythology, like a lot of what Morrissey taps into.
We've experienced many people making claims to have special insider knowledge of Morrissey, on this site alone, and while that can be amusing or tragic, it seems to be part of the effect he has. Probably better to put it down to location than to finding secret messages hidden in the songs, photos, and so on.
While the details of what Morrissey sings about might make him seem like "one of us" to people who also are familiar with those same places and social and political circumstances, at the core that's not really what makes people all over the world feel he represents them.
It's a bonus to fans from elsewhere to find out more of the meanings of specific details in songs like Maladjusted (southwest 6?) but that's texture. That song could be set anywhere in the world, even Shitsville, Florida.
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