Is Jackie about Brexit, Britain, or not?

[Irregular Regular]

I’d say it’s an ambiguous lyric, but the subject of Brexit is surely there in one reading. It’s also not the first time Morrissey has evaded the real meaning of a lyric in interviews. He said that ‘I can have both’ is about growing up working class with no choices...and then finding himself in a different position in later life. This is perfectly true, but there is another reading about gender and sexual preference.

He also said that When You Open Your Legs is about a bicycle. I believe him, there is no other interpretation.
Joking aside, I remain convinced Jacky is about Morrissey himself.

Moz is only happy when he's up on the stage
He'll make you believe what you'll never believe...

 

[Eraserhead]

I agree, but why can’t it be both?

 

[Anonymous]

It's about Jackie Collins,

 

[Tibby the cat 93]

It's about Jackie Collins,

Can't see any sexual neglect there!

 

[Quando quando quando]

He also said that When You Open Your Legs is about a bicycle. I believe him, there is no other interpretation.
Joking aside, I remain convinced Jacky is about Morrissey himself.

Moz is only happy when he's up on the stage
He'll make you believe what you'll never believe...

Uhm, don’t wanna be pedantic, which I know I can be sometimes, but didn’t he say before he started to sing the song live, “This song is about cycling” to the audience?

 

[countthree]

I agree, but why can’t it be both?

Since Morrissey said Jacky is not about Britain, that's it for me. If he had not said anything, it could well be interpreted as the use of a rhetorical figure called personification and that would fit with Brexit. I prefer to think it's about a female performer, an actress who lived better times

 

[Anonymous]

Morrissey has denied that 'Jacky's only happy when she's up on the stage' has anything to do with Brexit. Fair enough. But as I was listening to it again last night I started to wonder if it's about Britain, or Brexit, or both.

The line: 'Jackie cracks when she's not on stage' reminded me of the title of the Suede song 'Crack in the Union Jack;, which reminded me that 'Jacky' could also mean 'Jack' as in 'Union Jack'. As if Britain needs to be on stage and center of attention and calling the shots, instead of part of one big group.

Just a random thought!

oh NO, not AGAIN ! Sorry ACTON but this one has already been covered - in full & at length - in an earlier post. With "objective" opinion from "The Gang".....

Hazard
x

 

[Anonymous]

Claiming the song is about Brexit because that rhymes with "exit" is not the most convincing lit crit I've ever come across. A cursory glance over the lyrics doesn't support it. If Jacky is the UK then Brexit is certainly bad for her/it. According to this reading Morrissey's stance on Brexit would be ambivalent at worst, if not entirely negative - which is precisely the reverse of what people like Skinny were stating was the case.

Did he not say Brexit was"magnificent"

 

[Anonymous]

You do know that the song is about himself? It’s him speaking to his audience as he approaches giving up a life on the stage. He’s saying that it’s all been a joy and soon we will all walk out that door, never to return.

 

[Lost and found]

I think the song could be about Jackie Curtis, an actress from Warhol's Factory. Though her/his name is spelled another way. The one from Lou Reed's "Walk on the wild side":
Jackie is just speeding away,
Thought she was James Dean for a day
Then I guess she had to crash, Valium would have helped that bash...

Just a version.

 

[Peppermint]

View attachment 45697 I think the song could be about Jackie Curtis, an actress from Warhol's Factory. Though her/his name is spelled another way. The one from Lou Reed's "Walk on the wild side":
Jackie is just speeding away,
Thought she was James Dean for a day
Then I guess she had to crash, Valium would have helped that bash...

Just a version.

Interesting. And there's another connection, too. Jackie Curtis was in Warhol's Flesh starring Joe Dalessandro, a still from which was used as the cover art for the Smiths first album.

 

[Anonymous]

He’s been playing that movie in his intro as well. Could be but I don’t know enough about this person to say yay or nay. I do feel though that if it was about brexit he would have mentioned such in some interview in the past year as he’s not been exactly shy with his views

 

[gordyboy9]

View attachment 45697 I think the song could be about Jackie Curtis, an actress from Warhol's Factory. Though her/his name is spelled another way. The one from Lou Reed's "Walk on the wild side":
Jackie is just speeding away,
Thought she was James Dean for a day
Then I guess she had to crash, Valium would have helped that bash...

Just a version.

could be,good find.certainly more plausible than Brexit.

 

[Peppermint]

could be,good find.certainly more plausible than Brexit.

I agree, Gordy. The Brexit thing is really clunky, it just doesn't make any sense. Granted, he definitely shouts 'Brexit' a few times at the end in the live versions, but I think that's just him having fun winding everybody up, and because it rhymes.

 

[Anonymous]

More than his political views, or the likely identification with this Jackie person (I know I should research drag queens more than superficially, but every time I see Andy Warhol's face I die of boredom. It's like when I hear Lou Reed's voice, I feel like I've just had a sedative shot. I totally believe they were exciting at one point but...Nah who am I kidding.) , it's the apparent nod to R. Kelly that's disturbing I find. WTF? Who's he? Who listens to R.Kelly? Did Morrissey think people were going to be tickled? Er, fyi, fail.

That and the fact that he doesn't button his shirt anymore seem to indicate he's now free of any inhibition, like really old people, and believes he can do absolutely anything he fancies doing without any consequence.
Like, apparently he's really into the 70's porn film director look. Maybe someone told him he looked sexy like that and he believed them. Or the football coach/ retired PE teech look. That totally works too if unzipped. Just a touch of nail polish maybe...And a t.shirt with badly drawn animals on it a 5 y.o wouldn't wear... But really all you need to know is that in his head he's a drag queen.
Only problem is he can't bring himself to look like one.



Anyway, Morrissey probably believes he can flyyy n all now....which is handy when you're a cuckoo...

It pains me to insert the link, but some people here can't read, so...time to face the music.

 

[countthree]

More than his political views, or the likely identification with this Jackie person (I know I should research drag queens more than superficially, but every time I see Andy Warhol's face I die of boredom. It's like when I hear Lou Reed's voice, I feel like I've just had a sedative shot. I totally believe they were exciting at one point but...Nah who am I kidding.) , it's the apparent nod to R. Kelly that's disturbing I find. WTF? Who's he? Who listens to R.Kelly? Did Morrissey think people were going to be tickled? Er, fyi, fail.

That and the fact that he doesn't button his shirt anymore seem to indicate he's now free of any inhibition, like really old people, and believes he can do absolutely anything he fancies doing without any consequence.
Like, apparently he's really into the 70's porn film director look. Maybe someone told him he looked sexy like that and he believed them. Or the football coach/ retired PE teech look. That totally works too if unzipped. Just a touch of nail polish maybe...And a t.shirt with badly drawn animals on it a 5 y.o wouldn't wear... But really all you need to know is that in his head he's a drag queen.
Only problem is he can't bring himself to look like one.



Anyway, Morrissey probably believes he can flyyy n all now....which is handy when you're a cuckoo...

It pains me to insert the link, but some people here can't read, so...time to face the music.

Respect, please.

 

[Lost and found]

More than his political views, or the likely identification with this Jackie person (I know I should research drag queens more than superficially, but every time I see Andy Warhol's face I die of boredom. It's like when I hear Lou Reed's voice, I feel like I've just had a sedative shot. I totally believe they were exciting at one point but...Nah who am I kidding.) , it's the apparent nod to R. Kelly that's disturbing I find. WTF? Who's he? Who listens to R.Kelly? Did Morrissey think people were going to be tickled? Er, fyi, fail.

That and the fact that he doesn't button his shirt anymore seem to indicate he's now free of any inhibition, like really old people, and believes he can do absolutely anything he fancies doing without any consequence.
Like, apparently he's really into the 70's porn film director look. Maybe someone told him he looked sexy like that and he believed them. Or the football coach/ retired PE teech look. That totally works too if unzipped. Just a touch of nail polish maybe...And a t.shirt with badly drawn animals on it a 5 y.o wouldn't wear... But really all you need to know is that in his head he's a drag queen.
Only problem is he can't bring himself to look like one.



Anyway, Morrissey probably believes he can flyyy n all now....which is handy when you're a cuckoo...

It pains me to insert the link, but some people here can't read, so...time to face the music.

He is Morrissey. He never needed any glitter to shine.

 

[Anonymous]

He has said twice now that it's not. If it was why would he deny it? The majority of the UK population who voted, voted for Brexit. It's not a dirty word.

I'm surprised no one mentioned Shoplifters of the World. Autobiography, anyone? The label told him to lie about the meaning of the song so people would play it... or something. He said something about "spiritual shoplifting". Anyway, Jackie is a mostly anodyne song without the Brexit context, so isn't it possible that the label might tell him to lie about it's meaning in order to get it on the radio?

 

[Peppermint]

I'm surprised no one mentioned Shoplifters of the World. Autobiography, anyone? The label told him to lie about the meaning of the song so people would play it... or something. He said something about "spiritual shoplifting". Anyway, Jackie is a mostly anodyne song without the Brexit context, so isn't it possible that the label might tell him to lie about it's meaning in order to get it on the radio?

I don't buy the Brexit thing, but he lied about Shoplifters in Autobio. I'm pretty sure it's about the Clause 28 anti-gay laws in the 80s (ie 'shirtlifters') - it's been discussed on here at length.

 

[Old Mathew]

I don't buy the Brexit thing, but he lied about Shoplifters in Autobio. I'm pretty sure it's about the Clause 28 anti-gay laws in the 80s (ie 'shirtlifters') - it's been discussed on here at length.

Yeah, it's a compelling argument, and I've read the threads, but it could equally just be face value and another expressions of his romance of petty criminals, which exists throughout his work (Rusholme Ruffians, Now My Heart is Full, "pretty petty thieves," etc., etc.). What did he say in Autobiography, though? I don't recall.