Julie Burchill article in "Spiked" - "Why I still love Morrissey, despite our feud" (January 28, 2022)

A typically entertaining article from the half-crazed mind of Julie Burchill, in defence of Morrissey.

The last few lines:

"Do I agree with everything Morrissey says? No. Does this make me want him vanished? No, because I am not a pathetic scaredy cat, frightened of views different from mine. Morrissey is a niggly, narcissistic diva – but he is also one of the greatest pop stars ever to have graced Planet Earth with his presence, and that’s all that counts."
 
I'm good with this article. She seems pretty honest about their interactions at this stage of her life. Moz is indeed a fascinating contradiction. I no longer imagine meeting him to be desirable unless you caught him on a lucky day when he didn't chainsaw you in half with a pithy comment because he can't help trying to feel superior and knowing that it always makes him feel inferior instead, which is his self-given burden. it could be cast off at any time but that would require the dire consequence of becoming REAL instead of fictional or idolized, and that cannot be allowed. Also, I suspect that his true characterization of Covid as "Con-vid" has nothing to do with ideology or even personal freedom, and namely to do with it cutting off his oxygen supply, which is live performance, during which he routinely insults his adoring audiences to, once again, prove to himself his inferior by acting superior and feeling ashamed.

Mozzer, you could give it your self-assigned CROSS if you wanted. But you don't want to. Or rather, in the parlance, "You could have said no, if you wanted to / You could have walked away, couldn't you?"
 
That seems like a very accurate assessment of Burchill. I've read her autobiography and a collection of articles some time in the nineties -- and while obviously she is a very talented and often funny writer, there's something very ugly in all her work. I went back and read her very long Morrissey "interview" in 1994, which she managed to make the whole article's point that she dared to be rude to her hero. That overshadowed the positive things she wrote about Morrissey.

She definitely seems to like being intentionally offensive. But let's be honest - that's one of the few basic pleasures in life, along with food, sex, sleep, and the wonders of nature.
And it's not hard to offend people these days. Social media is awash with people just waiting to be offended by absolutely anything. It's like shooting ducks in a barrel.
Give me Julie Burchill over Ash Sarkar any day of the week.
 
Did you not see the article that was posted about her comments on Twitter???
I have to be honest and say I haven’t. This Twitter thing is something I’ve never seen or been involved in, but I gather I’m in a minority. Am I to understand that everyone is all things there?
 
I'm good with this article. She seems pretty honest about their interactions at this stage of her life. Moz is indeed a fascinating contradiction. I no longer imagine meeting him to be desirable unless you caught him on a lucky day when he didn't chainsaw you in half with a pithy comment because he can't help trying to feel superior and knowing that it always makes him feel inferior instead, which is his self-given burden. it could be cast off at any time but that would require the dire consequence of becoming REAL instead of fictional or idolized, and that cannot be allowed. Also, I suspect that his true characterization of Covid as "Con-vid" has nothing to do with ideology or even personal freedom, and namely to do with it cutting off his oxygen supply, which is live performance, during which he routinely insults his adoring audiences to, once again, prove to himself his inferior by acting superior and feeling ashamed.

Mozzer, you could give it your self-assigned CROSS if you wanted. But you don't want to. Or rather, in the parlance, "You could have said no, if you wanted to / You could have walked away, couldn't you?"
Correction:

Mozzer, you could give UP your self-assigned CROSS if you wanted.
 
I'm good with this article. She seems pretty honest about their interactions at this stage of her life. Moz is indeed a fascinating contradiction. I no longer imagine meeting him to be desirable unless you caught him on a lucky day when he didn't chainsaw you in half with a pithy comment because he can't help trying to feel superior and knowing that it always makes him feel inferior instead, which is his self-given burden. it could be cast off at any time but that would require the dire consequence of becoming REAL instead of fictional or idolized, and that cannot be allowed. Also, I suspect that his true characterization of Covid as "Con-vid" has nothing to do with ideology or even personal freedom, and namely to do with it cutting off his oxygen supply, which is live performance, during which he routinely insults his adoring audiences to, once again, prove to himself his inferior by acting superior and feeling ashamed.

Mozzer, you could give it your self-assigned CROSS if you wanted. But you don't want to. Or rather, in the parlance, "You could have said no, if you wanted to / You could have walked away, couldn't you?"
I would imagine Morrissey regards Covid as Con-vid because being told where to stand, what to wear and basically what you can or can't do according to man-dates might not appeal to him. Losing freedoms around travel was already an issue when he was groped in that airport "security" incident a few years ago. To his credit he did not insist like Boo Hoo Adele, that punters had to be double/triple jabbed to attend a concert in Las Vegas. AND he turned up, did the gig, no fuss much to the disappointment of some on here. No energy harvesting in sight. Keep on truckin' Morrissey, we love it.
 
Correction:

Mozzer, you could give UP your self-assigned CROSS if you wanted.


Dear Dider,


What is his ‘self-assigned cross’?

and how do you think he could give this ‘cross’ up ?
 
I would imagine Morrissey regards Covid as Con-vid because being told where to stand, what to wear and basically what you can or can't do according to man-dates might not appeal to him. Losing freedoms around travel was already an issue when he was groped in that airport "security" incident a few years ago. To his credit he did not insist like Boo Hoo Adele, that punters had to be double/triple jabbed to attend a concert in Las Vegas. AND he turned up, did the gig, no fuss much to the disappointment of some on here. No energy harvesting in sight. Keep on truckin' Morrissey, we love it.
Ok I get your point. But infinite rebellion is unwise and selfish and problematic when it endangers others. For the first year of Covid especially we had no obvious way out. We were basically being ravaged by a brand new pathogen, either man-made (👀) or of nature. The vaccines are what allowed us to even dent it from killing even more and giving people permanent body damage.

One is not allowed to yell fire in a movie theater good reason even when one hates authority figures. Further, one is not allowed to yell fire in a movie theater at the beginning of Covid while on fire either literally or metaphorically and infected with Covid and without wearing a mask because the danger to others is too high. If Moz cannot see this he is either far stupider than I imagined, totally selfish, or being deliberately contrarian.
 
Ok I get your point. But infinite rebellion is unwise and selfish and problematic when it endangers others. For the first year of Covid especially we had no obvious way out. We were basically being ravaged by a brand new pathogen, either man-made (👀) or of nature. The vaccines are what allowed us to even dent it from killing even more and giving people permanent body damage.

One is not allowed to yell fire in a movie theater good reason even when one hates authority figures. Further, one is not allowed to yell fire in a movie theater at the beginning of Covid while on fire either literally or metaphorically and infected with Covid and without wearing a mask because the danger to others is too high. If Moz cannot see this he is either far stupider than I imagined, totally selfish, or being deliberately contrarian.

If you read the interview, Sam makes statements about Covid, then adds a question.

Morrissey doesn't say anything about masks, vaccines or not obeying the rules.

He just sounds very depressed.
 
I have to be honest and say I haven’t. This Twitter thing is something I’ve never seen or been involved in, but I gather I’m in a minority. Am I to understand that everyone is all things there?
I’m in the minority with ya. Never been on it in my life .
 
If you read the interview, Sam makes statements about Covid, then adds a question.

Morrissey doesn't say anything about masks, vaccines or not obeying the rules.

He just sounds very depressed.

He has been depressed a long time. He has presumably tried many medications and therapists. At some point we all have to face the things we lack and decide that what we have is ENOUGH anyway. And to live in gratitude.

Do you know how many of my dreams haven't come true? And likely you too. Yet my life is still amazing and it isn't over yet and I will go down in a blaze of love because the clock won't stop.

Moz has had a ONCE IN A BILLION YEARS type of life. No one has been who he has been and gotten so far! EVER! He broke every mold, conquered every hill, but it's not enough for him. There's always a GRIEVANCE. If he was able to see his amazing life with any degree of sustained GRATITUDE he could free himself from endless, self-assigned misery. And he'd be a lot nicer to US, his loving fans, too.
 
Oh, one additional comment. The original posting linking to Julie's article characterizes her as 'half insane' or something like that. Which is deeply disrespectful and unnecessary. And likely a case of PROJECTION. I call a spade a spade when I see it. will this get posted? We shall see.
 
Oh, one additional comment. The original posting linking to Julie's article characterizes her as 'half insane' or something like that. Which is deeply disrespectful and unnecessary. And likely a case of PROJECTION. I call a spade a spade when I see it. will this get posted? We shall see.
"Half-crazed" was the phrase I used, which I don't think is disrespectful: Burchill has made a living out of being disrespectful and seems to derive great glee from it, so I'm sure she can take it - but it was possibly "unnecessary", I'll give you that.
 
Oh, one additional comment. The original posting linking to Julie's article characterizes her as 'half insane' or something like that. Which is deeply disrespectful and unnecessary. And likely a case of PROJECTION. I call a spade a spade when I see it. will this get posted? We shall see.
I find your suggestion that a deeply depressed man could free himself from 'self-assigned misery' just by learning to have more gratitude, to be quite disrespectful.
 
I find your suggestion that a deeply depressed man could free himself from 'self-assigned misery' just by learning to have more gratitude, to be quite disrespectful.

I'm sorry you feel that way. There's a point at which my empathy is extinguished. Some people like the comfort of their misery and make no effort to seek anything beyond its familiarity. That's their business, but I'm free to feel as I do about the waste of time this involves. When does a person decide to have agency? There are many many many methods of treatment. After a certain point how do we explain no improvement in mindset. Such a person should likely be indefinitely hospitalized for their own safety. But that's not my call to make either, it's just an opinion. The other ugly option is suicide. I recognize the severity of suggesting this. But then again that's the topic of the opening track on the last record too.

When I have tired of life I hope legal assisted suicide is available should I wish to end this incarnation. With any luck I won't think of this for decades, but who knows?
 
He has been depressed a long time. He has presumably tried many medications and therapists. At some point we all have to face the things we lack and decide that what we have is ENOUGH anyway. And to live in gratitude.

Do you know how many of my dreams haven't come true? And likely you too. Yet my life is still amazing and it isn't over yet and I will go down in a blaze of love because the clock won't stop.

Moz has had a ONCE IN A BILLION YEARS type of life. No one has been who he has been and gotten so far! EVER! He broke every mold, conquered every hill, but it's not enough for him. There's always a GRIEVANCE. If he was able to see his amazing life with any degree of sustained GRATITUDE he could free himself from endless, self-assigned misery. And he'd be a lot nicer to US, his loving fans, too.
UHHHJJJJJ fuuuuuuuuu como dijo!!!!!
 
I wasn't talking about "simply " music . . In fact the post you are talking about was hardly about music at all.

So your whole " Music is universal " point, although true.. Is not relevant
Our shared love of M, is rarely just about Music.


News flash, I didn't think you were in a back garden in Hackney with a colt 45 aimed into a barrel of fish saying "You talking about M" either

Im not Tommy Robson, Im not standing near my record player with union Jack underwear
saying " Only the lonely British are allowed here"

That was not the point I was making . I was talking simply and only about the world we brits live in, people that exist in it and what they mean, do not mean to us.
I don't pretend to know what the inner workings and politic of Perth are.

I am not saying they do not "connect" with the music , I am not saying some don't feel aliened to M.
That being said, The Smiths were a band loaded to the hilt with British reference points based on lived experience, that you do not get if you are a Mexican , who has never called a "sickie" and watched Cash In The Attic on a cold winter English afternoon.

You can clearly see even when lots of Americans ( and yes I do a straw poll after every Morrissey gig) are told a reference point . they miss the point by a large fly over state.

Heres an example,-you get these Smiths fans in their 40s , they just discover kitchen sink films.. but they do not understand them, they do not relate. They just see is as a cool " hey i love this film M does" . Its pathetic. Loads even think Suffer Little Children, is a M Manson serial killer type song.

It can seem like I am being cruel, I am not, just because I am a fan of Dolly Paton and buy a Cowboy hat, it doesn't mean i suddenly understand every reference point and impulse of a your average Texan.
Many people feel strongly connected to the Harry Potter universe. Even though the stuff in these books is far beyond anything they've ever experienced, they can still understand, empathize and relate to these stories. That fact wouldn't change if there was a real place called Hogwarts with real wizards who have experienced drinking butter beer on a hot afternoon or whatever.
Just because something isn't within someone's direct lived experience doesn't mean they can't understand it or relate to it. Of course they don't get the same things out of it than people who grew up around the corner from the iron bridge, but I don't think you can say that other people's appreciation is more shallow than yours just because of that.
 
What feud is this? I must've missed this one.
Also, who is Julie Burchill?
 
What feud is this? I must've missed this one.
Also, who is Julie Burchill?
Not someone Morrissey needs in his corner right now, she makes him look measured when it comes to certain topics. She is/was a talented writer and columnist for newspapers and an author that ended up getting hooked on controversy and going too far.
 

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