Johnny Marr interview in Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant; mentions Smiths split

‘Bij alles wat ik deed stonden fans en journalisten te luisteren of het wel genoeg op The Smiths leek’ - De Volkskrant

Some interesting comments by Marr on The Smiths split. Please note: these are (amateurish) translations from a (journalists) translation in Dutch.

"The best decision I ever made was running away from The Smiths. I never regretted it, it really was done. Always when somebody calls again: gee, what a shame, I think: dude, you should know. The chemistry between Morrissey and me had worked out. We weren't friends, the only thing that tied us were shared musical preferences. When we could no longer find each other in music, it was done."

"I initially laughed at Morrisseys sarcasm and was touched by his strong anti-macho texts. But after five years of references to Oscar Wilde and sixties films, I was slightly done with it. I myself read J.G. Ballard and William S. Burroughs. I loved dystopian literature. Morrissey was actually more romantic."

"Morrissey and I were different in almost anything. Always. OK, thanks to his lyrics to Meat Is Murder, I stopped eating meat, but otherwise I've never attached much value to his opinions. All I can say is that The Smiths stood up for the rightless and the oppressed, the marginalized ones in our society because of their sexual orientation, race or descent. That is what The Smiths stood for. And we called ourselves leftwing. Morrissey engaging himself with disseminators of hatred is horrible, but I have felt so far away from him for so long that I can't really worry about it. What he does, says or sings, doesn't interest me. And please note: even he can not rewrite our history. I do not recognize anything in him what we once stood for as a band. "
 
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It is really hard for Johnny to become interesting as a person. He’s tried for the last 30 years, and he failed. He tried and he failed, he tried and he failed, oh Jeane.... Still an amazing guitar player, though.
 
Why have you marked David K as a troll? He is asking that arsehole Ubanus if he is for real regarding his comment about Jewish people forgetting to tell us about the football pitches and swimming pools and other recreational spaces built for them. Or do you not like Jewish people either?

The fact you have marked my comment off topic and not answered tells us everything.
 
It tells us absolutely nothing except the fact that you’re not talking about Johnny Marr or his interview. Please stay on topic!
 
The fact you have marked my comment off topic and not answered tells us everything.
surface,one thing that's got nothing to do johnboy marr,can you change your avatar,gives me the creeps.
 
Do you know during his time with The Smiths and for a long, long time after I did not particularly like Johnny Marr. I always enjoyed his astonishing musical ability but for some unkniwn reason he annoyed me. As I have grown older I have come to fully appreciate him as a caring, honest person. He is THE ambassador for The Smiths. He has done all he can to respect the band and it's legacy; ending the band showed incredible courage. I actually disliked him hugely at the time for bringing this beautuful chapter in my life to a close.

Immediately after the band's demise I became a Morrissey fan. I was still a fan till quite recently.

Johnny Marr brought so much into my life and it took me too long to recognise just how much. He created The Smiths. He managed their success. I will be forever in his debt.

Now, he is being berated for wishing to distance Morrissey's views from those of his own and those of The Smiths. Why?

Morrissey has created this latest mess. Let Morrissey deal with it. Please don't attack those who's only reason for speaking is to make it quite clear that if these are Morrissey's views then they are his alone. His views were not the views of The Smiths; although all 4 would have been in agreement on some issues. I do however doubt there would have been any agreement on supporting far-right activism.

Morrissey is not and never was The Smiths ... let it be known.
 
I didn't go to see any of the London Morrissey shows earlier in the year despite knowing every one of his 300+ songs, having seen him 30+ times, and living in London.
His behaviour, his comments on UKIP/Ann Walter, his lying about a misquoted interview. I was just a bit sick of it all. So I'm no Steve apologist.
And I have a lot of time for Marr. Seen him live loads and have the first two solo albums.
But even with this background, I'm a bit sickened by some of these Marr comments. He's right to denounce Morrissey but to say they were never friends, had nothing in common, never really liked him etc is ridiculous. Marr is currently playing 6 or 7 Smiths songs in his set. He's written songs for tons of other acts - Billy Bragg, The Cribbs, Modest Mouses, Electrics etc. Morrissey's personality is stamped all over the Smiths songs. It was Morrissey who defined (90% of) the aesthetic of the Smiths with his words, interviews, singing, persona, proclamations etc. If Marr wants to distance himself completely from Morrissey, that's fair enough but please STOP SINGING THE SMITHS SONGS. You have tons (probably more than his 67 Smiths compositions) of songs written for other singers - play those and reconnect with those instead.
 
Their relationship reminds me of Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor - fantastic creative chemistry when performing but weren't great pals off screen
 
Except for 35 years they’ve both maintained they were the greatest of friends. And now suddenly they only shared ‘a taste in music’. Nah.
 
Except for 35 years they’ve both maintained they were the greatest of friends. And now suddenly they only shared ‘a taste in music’. Nah.

For me Johnny isn't talking about their entire relationship but the breakdown of it. Obviously they weren't friends in the end as it was a pretty bitter break up.
 
If there ever was a good time to distance himself from Morrissey once and for all it’s now isn’t it, when even his own long term fans are disillusioned with him.

This doesn’t surprise me at all. Maybe he played the tactical waiting game, in the hope of a smiths reunion, I’d imagine he doesn’t want one now? Morrissey is fast becoming a man only his mother will love.
 
For me Johnny isn't talking about their entire relationship but the breakdown of it. Obviously they weren't friends in the end as it was a pretty bitter break up.
True of course but in this interview he claims they weren’t friends to start with, just had a shared taste in music. Bit harsh.
 
If there ever was a good time to distance himself from Morrissey once and for all it’s now isn’t it, when even his own long term fans are disillusioned with him.

This doesn’t surprise me at all. Maybe he played the tactical waiting game, in the hope of a smiths reunion, I’d imagine he doesn’t want one now? Morrissey is fast becoming a man only his mother will love.
I think so too, but that’s a bit calculating and opportunist,wouldn’t you say? Interestingly he said this off the cuff to a Dutch journalist 1,5 month ago and hasn’t repeated the same sentiment in his recent UK press. He must have regretted what he said.
 
Gosh how I’ve changed after one cancellation :lbf: (it’s more than that! He has been chipping away at any loyalty I had for years)
 
Morrissey was so obsessed by music then his Smiths therefore his relationship with Jonny from his view point would have been intense. Jonny comes across as more of a rounded person who had girlfriends and life outside the Smiths during the 6 years.. Maybe that intensity was more one sided and Jonny moved on decades ago.
 
I think so too, but that’s a bit calculating and opportunist,wouldn’t you say? Interestingly he said this off the cuff to a Dutch journalist 1,5 month ago and hasn’t repeated the same sentiment in his recent UK press. He must have regretted what he said.

Yes, it doesn’t really fit in with previous interviews. He has seized the moment hasn’t he. And I really don’t blame him.
 

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