It could be that SER is his surrogate son, as he has no offspring of his own. I've only seen my niece once, but I feel a duty to be uvuncular towards her, its what your family expect of you, and being an uncle is like being a guardian by default - much the same as being a grandparent. It's a special role. Also, he's probably aware that Marr has kids who have played a role (even if minor) in his solo work, and doesn't want to feel as though he's having his nose put out of joint. It must also do something for his ego as he made his name by being fey and disassociated and probably regrets that to a degree now that he's middle aged and other ex Smiths are doing middle aged, family things. He's torn between what his fans expect him to be and what his peers (the ex Smiths) would expect him to be as an individual at this stage of his life. Morrissey can sing all he likes about still being alone and inept, as long as its his narrative. But for anyone else (especially ex Smiths) to point the finger and to be able to actually accuse him of still being that sad, lonely individual, is another matter. I even think he now puts the trappings of the influence his celebrity has over his immediate circle, above considerations of his career. He only ever wanted to prove himself in order to be on a par with his associates. He only wanted fame due to a lack of self esteem and now he has enough of it to generate that from his close circle, his mission has been accomplished. All he needs to do now is the bare minimum necessary to maintain that status quo. Basically, whether we like it or not, he's reached a certain level of contentment. Can't blame him for stepping down a gear now. But he can't let it go completely because he still needs that guarantee of comradeship and, to put it bluntly, COMPANY, after so many awful years feeling alone and unwanted. Fame for him was only ever the need for friendship and you're only as famous as the people around you allow you to be. The other fame is ethereal and intangible unless he goes on tour and experiences it for himself. It's telling when he sang 'she is famous she is funny' in Rusholme Ruffians, which he admitted was about that type of fame you feel with your school friends, a kind of infallibility and recklessness as part of the group. He never had that then, but he has it now. Two levels of fame, his own circle, and the wider public. We take the former as given, he has to work for it. Typical Morrissey to feel the need to go out and conquer the world in order to conquer his friends and family. We reaped the benefits of that almost pathological obsession. We were admiring bystanders. The fact that Morrisseys gone to such extraordinary lengths and made so much effort to attain a level of integration that others take for granted, marks him out as special for me. How many other people worked so hard to achieve the commendation of their family and friends when their natural inclination was to run away from the world and hide. It was his only chance of achieving some degree of love in his eyes. Egotisitic and yet unbelievably selfless at the same time.
