It's a catchy little throwaway pop song, a la "Dagenham Dave", to juxtapose some of the heavier stuff on the album, like "Oblivion". I don't think we're supposed to take a song like this very seriously!
It's kinda a heavy subject there BB.
Moz is singin' about Jack Kerouac havin' a psychotic break.
He’s made great nonsense songs since back in the eighties, that’s not the problem. The difference is that back then they were humorous, witty and well-written. These days, since 2014 at least, they’re way too frequent and lack any wit, humor or literary or poetic qualities.I think he's entitled to a nonsense song every once in a while, but I agree with you, it's getting more frequent, and this is terrible. There's so much about Kerouac as a song subject that renders this one a major disappointment.
Yes, it's too good a subject to just "tra la la" about and toss out the odd line or two. Kerouac is such a lovely tragedy; he couldn't cotton to the hippie generation the way Allen Ginsberg could, dancing around with flowers in his beard and singing Hare Krishna and befriending Bob Dylan. He's cooler, in his way, because he sunk into reclusiveness and alcohol and living with his crazy mother, becoming a crank and a Catholic and a conservative. The ones who crack up, like Kerouac and Syd Barrett and Paul Morrissey, are more compelling than those who settle in and make bland boring art into middle age and beyond. Morrissey (S.P., not Paul) has managed to avoid both fates. I don't like these lyrics, though. He could've done so much better.
Yes, it's too good a subject to just "tra la la" about and toss out the odd line or two. Kerouac is such a lovely tragedy; he couldn't cotton to the hippie generation the way Allen Ginsberg could, dancing around with flowers in his beard and singing Hare Krishna and befriending Bob Dylan. He's cooler, in his way, because he sunk into reclusiveness and alcohol and living with his crazy mother, becoming a crank and a Catholic and a conservative.
The ones who crack up, like Kerouac and Syd Barrett and Paul Morrissey, are more compelling than those who settle in and make bland boring art into middle age and beyond. Morrissey (S.P., not Paul) has managed to avoid both fates. I don't like these lyrics, though. He could've done so much better.
What is the relevance of beat poetry and its poets for the 21st century?
Young men on the backdrop who add a youthful touch to his concerts, like the new drummer and bass player as well.Morrissey’s mind may live in a different century, or he’s just indifferent to what century it is and if his interests are accepted or not.
I wonder if he’s even championing beat poetry, rather just drawing inspiration from outsiders he admires, be them poets or be them criminals.
Paul Morrissey the film director? Always thought he was conservative, strait-laced, in spite of the films he made. What happened to him that you would place his name alongside Syd’s?
I wonder if he’s even championing beat poetry, rather just drawing inspiration from outsiders he admires, be them poets or be them criminals.
Young men on the backdrop who add a youthful touch to his concerts, like the new drummer and bass player as well.
He should stick to the punk attitude on stage, which he has adopted for vegas this year. When it comes from him directly, then it's not just makeup.
And yes, what is the inspiration or relevance that he sees in them?
"Someway" indeed. The Crack-song doesn't offer much of an introduction to these characters. We don't know why the narrative voice cares for Kerouac. He remains just a name.Not exactly like them, but he seems to relate to them in someway, these unique individuals, the way they lived and the choices they made, always at odds with the world.
‘Oh, people see no worth in you
Oh, but I do’
"Someway" indeed. The Crack-song doesn't offer much of an introduction to these characters. We don't know why the narrative voice cares for Kerouac. He remains just a name.
The voice is self-fashioning itself as being sympathizing (in a sort of nonchalant way) in contrast to the listeners who are put into a position in which they simply can't, due to a lack of information. As a listener you feel like you are part of the problem and all you are worth is being emotional "jerking material" for the narrator to release his/her sentiments of half-baked compassion.
That's my impression after a few listens.
i appreciate that you reply but i fear that we won't reach a common ground when it comes to the Crack-song. Your second paragraph says it really well, but i can't find these topics reflected in the song.Maybe he’s just nonchalantly pointing to the things and beings he admires, leaving the rest for you to find out, a gift to you. Now enjoy the journey, that’s if… you’re really interested.
I said he relates to these types in ‘someway’ because we don’t know exactly. But I believe one can, through speculation and even through our own experiences in the way we all relate to Morrissey, that he also relates to those that I would call outsiders, in the way that they are at odds with this world and wouldn’t backdown from the choices they’ve made, even reveling in their own (self)destruction just to make their point, their point being, that they would rather be damaged and live a life of refusal rather than join the bullshit clown show that most call ‘normality’.
I don't even listen to new morrissey songs
I feel a pang of irritation, seeing my beautiful post, which I have tried to make it look all round and sound, being chopped up in pieces.As I already stated ….
‘Maybe he’s just nonchalantly pointing to the things and beings he admires, leaving the rest for you to find out, a gift to you. Now enjoy the journey, that’s if… you’re really interested.’
Meaning, he seems to be deliberately not giving you a song as biography on Jack, etc.
He’s giving you the listener/fan the opportunity to explore on your own, making the admiration of the individual Jack, etc your own experience, which is better than him just giving it to you, which wouldn’t be the same as you putting the effort into finding out for yourself.
Also I didn’t say that those topics addressed in my second paragraph are entirely reflected in this song. That is left to speculation. But I do find some description of someone ‘busting up their brains for the words’ or the right words to express themselves, and also some hints that may point to a lifestyle that does not conform to what was considered the norm, especially in the 50’s-60’s. That’s if the lyrics given by the anon are correct.
Yes you may not be interested, and that’s fine.
Yes, it seems he relates to these individuals, I’ll be your mirror, etc.
That’s fine. Also as I said, it doesn’t seem to be his intention to write a song as biography on Jack. We don’t really know why he uses the repetitive ‘Tra la la la’ phrase, to me it’s a juxtaposition/contrast, light against dark, as a way to emphasize and to point out the absurdity of life, such as Sisyphus and the boulder.
It may be to you, and that’s great. I never said the song was about being an outsider.
Yes we all have different needs, and we look to different artists to supply that to us. I try not to expect Morrissey to write a certain way always just to satisfy my needs, I prefer to be surprised, and even through disappointment I can find satisfaction by trying to understand why he does what he does or doesn’t do.
Like most artists, we create for ourselves first.
The intention is not always to win others over. But it’s nice when it happens.
i appreciate that you reply but i fear that we won't reach a common ground when it comes to the Crack-song. Your second paragraph says it really well, but i can't find these topics reflected in the song.
Imho, there are two or three lines which vagely hint at the tragedy of achieving fame at a young age and not being able to come up to your audience's high expectations ever again. The inability to do so is painful and then eventually kills the man. The sha-la-la perspective from which the song is delivered seems to be quite distanced from its subject's experience, almost drug-induced, and not at all interested. So, why should I be?
So, maybe he is using icons like Kerouac as a representation of his own autobiographical experience.
On the other hand, there is a universal approach of dealing with the human condition in art. The outsider perspective would somehow fall into this category as well. In the Crack-song, though, the iconic-biographical approach combined with the painkiller-induced sha-la-la perspective is too disconnected from my own experience, which leads to myself not emotionally responding to it, also because i think the Crack-song is not about being an outsider but rather about the pain of being a one-hit-wonder that has fallen from grace.
If this topic was presented in a non-iconic and sober, pain-accepting way, it might be more appealing to me.