D
dandysweets
Guest
Since I’ve been reading this Robbie Williams biography, which is good fun even for non-Robbie fans, and reading some of the speculating posts about Morrissey's sexuality on this site, I couldn’t help drawing a parallel between the two, not concerning their music or singing but the way they’re both playing with the public’s perception of their sexuality in interviews and particularly in the lyrics of their respective songs (though I prefer Morrissey’s songs). I wouldn’t dare guessing whether or not either of them is...whatever, but I thought this excerpt from the book (page 143-44) was quite interesting in terms of general public speculation about a famous person’s sexuality, and how that famous person is aware of that and can use it to their benefit to make people more intrigued about them than they probably otherwise would have been, because most people in general are more or less obsessed with sex and therefore also sexuality;
‘…”How do you prove you’re not gay?” he says. And he is right – in terms of proving that he has never had a gay sexual experience, proof is a problem of science and logic more than sexuality. A thousand contrary examples will not prove he hasn’t, any more than one can logically prove by induction that the sun will rise tomorrow just because it has risen every other day…We talk about what it is about him that makes people wonder. “I’m an entertainer”, he says. “I’m a vaudevillian. It’s very camp. Every entertainer is camp. From an old school perspective. It’s like, Mick Jagger; camp as you like. Jarvis Cocker; he’s camp. If Mick Jagger was born in this day there’d be a lot of people wondering whether he’s gay or not”. He smirks, “and Jarvis Cocker’s not the best- looking man on earth, so nobody’s really bothered. I mean, I think people would rather not think about Jarvis Cocker having sex, do you know what I mean?”…
Other excerpts from ‘Feel – Robbie Williams’ written by Chris Heath:
(Page 319)
‘…That evening we watch some of a TV-programme about Jeff Buckley until Rob can bear no more – “I mean, God bless him”, he says, “ but to me it just sounds like a load of wailing” – and then a video of the recent documentary The Importance Of Being Morrissey. Rob is perplexed by the wound-up madness of Noel Gallagher, gets excited when he spots Runyon Canyon behind a speaking Morrissey, and takes some delight in the moment when an Australian woman, who won a competition to meet him ten years earlier, finally gets to do so.
“You’ve made me and so many people so happy”, she tells him.
“I didn’t mean to”, Morrissey replies, but sweetly.
“He’s just amazing”, Rob says afterwards. “I’m so glad that the Pure Francis stuff is coming up, because I can take a bit of Morrissey and put it into that and see if I’ve actually got something to say, you know? You know with my stuff it’s always very A-B-C emotions, with a little bit of irony thrown in. But end-of-the-pier irony. With his stuff it sort of goes from A to F back to A to S to N, you know. I was listening to the lyrics and thinking, I really wish I’d got into him when I was depressed. I was thinking, f***, there would have been a kindred soul for me to listen to”.
In some ways, I point out, they’re so similar – even walking their dogs in the same place, living a very similar Los Angeles life – but in other ways they’re so incredibly different.
“Yeah”, says Rob. “He likes to be alone, I don’t. And where I would go out of my way to listen intently to a load of garbage that somebody would say, he just goes, ‘No, not having it’, “and it’s a genuine ‘Don’t care’”.
He stands up, “I’m going to turn on my computer and listen to him”, he says. ‘I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour…’ he sings, disappearing into the bedroom. ‘In my life, why must I waste valuable time…?’.
When he wakes the following afternoon, he looks out of his window at the café across the street, six floors below. At the tables outside he sees Josie and Lee and Gary enjoying a quiet afternoon coffee. He opens the window and shouts down at them. “That’s great”, he hollers, “you all have a great time. I’ll be in here. Alone. On my day off”.
He says that the next time he’s besieged by paparazzi he wants to put speakers out of the window and blast Morrissey’s Suedehead at them over and over.
Why do you come here when you know it makes me sad?
(Page 365)
‘…George Michael asks about Rob’s new music and Rob mentions Scott Walker and David Bowie and says at moments he’s singing like Morrissey and Neil Young. The two of them then enthuse about The Smiths for a while and discuss the fascinating conundrum of Morrissey (his next album comes up and I mention that it is said to be called Irish Blood English Heart. There’s no indication at the time that Rob even takes this in)…..
(Page 370 – at concert in Dublin)
….’…”Good evening Ireland’, he shouts in the middle of Let Me Entertain You. “I am Robbie Williams. This is my band. I’ve got English blood but I’ve got an Irish heart”. It seems that the Morrissey album title did sink in after all…’
(Page 381)
‘…We keep in touch via text iChats. One night he’s playing Morrissey’s songs as he types. ‘Right now”, he says, “I’m Morrissey for naff Britain”. A few days later he writes ‘I’m in semi-retirement mode again. I’ve got a bit of a bummer on…about my whole career so far. I’m having a melodramatic few days…about being a bit shit and fake….’
oh well, whatever, just thought i'd post it since it's sort of Morrissey-related
‘…”How do you prove you’re not gay?” he says. And he is right – in terms of proving that he has never had a gay sexual experience, proof is a problem of science and logic more than sexuality. A thousand contrary examples will not prove he hasn’t, any more than one can logically prove by induction that the sun will rise tomorrow just because it has risen every other day…We talk about what it is about him that makes people wonder. “I’m an entertainer”, he says. “I’m a vaudevillian. It’s very camp. Every entertainer is camp. From an old school perspective. It’s like, Mick Jagger; camp as you like. Jarvis Cocker; he’s camp. If Mick Jagger was born in this day there’d be a lot of people wondering whether he’s gay or not”. He smirks, “and Jarvis Cocker’s not the best- looking man on earth, so nobody’s really bothered. I mean, I think people would rather not think about Jarvis Cocker having sex, do you know what I mean?”…
Other excerpts from ‘Feel – Robbie Williams’ written by Chris Heath:
(Page 319)
‘…That evening we watch some of a TV-programme about Jeff Buckley until Rob can bear no more – “I mean, God bless him”, he says, “ but to me it just sounds like a load of wailing” – and then a video of the recent documentary The Importance Of Being Morrissey. Rob is perplexed by the wound-up madness of Noel Gallagher, gets excited when he spots Runyon Canyon behind a speaking Morrissey, and takes some delight in the moment when an Australian woman, who won a competition to meet him ten years earlier, finally gets to do so.
“You’ve made me and so many people so happy”, she tells him.
“I didn’t mean to”, Morrissey replies, but sweetly.
“He’s just amazing”, Rob says afterwards. “I’m so glad that the Pure Francis stuff is coming up, because I can take a bit of Morrissey and put it into that and see if I’ve actually got something to say, you know? You know with my stuff it’s always very A-B-C emotions, with a little bit of irony thrown in. But end-of-the-pier irony. With his stuff it sort of goes from A to F back to A to S to N, you know. I was listening to the lyrics and thinking, I really wish I’d got into him when I was depressed. I was thinking, f***, there would have been a kindred soul for me to listen to”.
In some ways, I point out, they’re so similar – even walking their dogs in the same place, living a very similar Los Angeles life – but in other ways they’re so incredibly different.
“Yeah”, says Rob. “He likes to be alone, I don’t. And where I would go out of my way to listen intently to a load of garbage that somebody would say, he just goes, ‘No, not having it’, “and it’s a genuine ‘Don’t care’”.
He stands up, “I’m going to turn on my computer and listen to him”, he says. ‘I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour…’ he sings, disappearing into the bedroom. ‘In my life, why must I waste valuable time…?’.
When he wakes the following afternoon, he looks out of his window at the café across the street, six floors below. At the tables outside he sees Josie and Lee and Gary enjoying a quiet afternoon coffee. He opens the window and shouts down at them. “That’s great”, he hollers, “you all have a great time. I’ll be in here. Alone. On my day off”.
He says that the next time he’s besieged by paparazzi he wants to put speakers out of the window and blast Morrissey’s Suedehead at them over and over.
Why do you come here when you know it makes me sad?
(Page 365)
‘…George Michael asks about Rob’s new music and Rob mentions Scott Walker and David Bowie and says at moments he’s singing like Morrissey and Neil Young. The two of them then enthuse about The Smiths for a while and discuss the fascinating conundrum of Morrissey (his next album comes up and I mention that it is said to be called Irish Blood English Heart. There’s no indication at the time that Rob even takes this in)…..
(Page 370 – at concert in Dublin)
….’…”Good evening Ireland’, he shouts in the middle of Let Me Entertain You. “I am Robbie Williams. This is my band. I’ve got English blood but I’ve got an Irish heart”. It seems that the Morrissey album title did sink in after all…’
(Page 381)
‘…We keep in touch via text iChats. One night he’s playing Morrissey’s songs as he types. ‘Right now”, he says, “I’m Morrissey for naff Britain”. A few days later he writes ‘I’m in semi-retirement mode again. I’ve got a bit of a bummer on…about my whole career so far. I’m having a melodramatic few days…about being a bit shit and fake….’
oh well, whatever, just thought i'd post it since it's sort of Morrissey-related
