Cossy is hereby nominated for Poster of the Year for the incredible interview footage. THANK YOU.
The Morrissey interview was, as they all are, totally enthralling. Not much was said of earth-shattering interest, though, besides two items: one, Morrissey liked A-Ha and went to one of their gigs (printer, 20 pt exclamation point here) and, two, as if reflecting Marr's outlook on their future, he says he realizes that at some point his lyrics will have to change-- a little, perhaps, but he recognizes the encroaching sameness of the words.
Two other notes. He talks about the lack of gender specifity in his early lyrics. His ideal of writing pop songs that could be read as applicable to either gender always seemed noble but slightly flawed, and clearly he abandoned it later in The Smiths' lifespan, but I'd never heard Morrissey explicitly repudiate his former style of writing. He also makes a quick mention of his favorite books and mentions both feminist and "masculinist" writers. I'm not sure that second term exists (and if it does, it shouldn't), but anyway I think his ideas about masculinity aren't commented upon as fully as they should be, as they're hugely important to his lyrics.
The real find here is the Johnny Marr interview. On a basic level, I was astonished at how cool Marr is. Everything about him is wonderful: hair, face, gestures of the hand, cigarette, and-- lo and behold!-- his opinions about Morrissey ("he's the front man"), politics, The Smiths, and pop culture in general. I've felt for so long that Marr has not been given enough credit as being a major intellectual force behind The Smiths and not merely the guitar player. He didn't come off as Stephen Hawking, no, but he did sound articulate, idealistic and visionary. Since 1987 he's been painted as a journeyman guitarist who'd rather hide behind a mixing desk, but the guy obviously had ideas as big as Morrissey's. I suppose I knew that before, but it was great to see an extended interview with him in which some of those ideas come out.
While I'd encourage anyone who wasn't quite sure if The Smiths were anything more than Morrissey's "first lineup", at the same time I can't help feel, more than ever, that as lamentable as their demise was, The Smiths split up at just the right time. You can already hear Marr talking about making "darker", "discordant" records, openly condemning "commerciality". The album "Strangeways" doesn't represent stagnation, as some have claimed, but a change in philosophy taking the band to the absolute limit of the Smithsian framework. Marr mentions the "Smiths sound" (or words to that effect) a few times; you can sense he knows what the mold is and he knows he can only stretch it so far. I find that interesting because, obviously, Marr was chafing against the restriction of The Smiths' "patented" sound, but also, more importantly, he seems to have put a great deal of thought into the construction and image of The Smiths-- see my comments above about his vision.
All of us can imagine dozens more brilliant Smiths LPs had they stayed together, but in truth, there may have been nowhere else to go. Coupled with Morrissey's statement about realizing his lyrics would one day have to change, Marr's comments make it clear that far from a tragic and untimely death, The Smiths peaked and perished as naturally as anyone could have hoped. (Not James Dean torn apart in twisted metal before his prime, but Romulus vanishing from his throne.) After watching the interview, "Strangeways" seems to round off The Smiths in a fitting and glorious way. "Viva Hate" was an inevitability. And with regard to Marr's solo career, his comments put a new light on his decision-making. Those who criticize him for failing to reach new, godlike heights apart from Morrissey should realize after his remarks here that he probably felt he had done that once, it only needed doing one time, and he was content to recede into the background.
Above all, as always, Marr comes across as one of the sanest people in music. He sounds no different today than he does in this 1987 interview, too. He went through the fire unscathed. Certainly it gives much weight to Morrissey's frequent complaints that he, and not Johnny, was the lightning rod for all the storms of criticism that came their way, but this fact reveals Marr's foresight and savvy as much as it reaffirms Morrissey's heroism. One of the two partners paid a higher price for fame and money than the other, and yet I imagine that both men got exactly what they wanted in life. Both of these interviews, viewed almost 20 years on, give the impression that-- gasp-- The Smiths had a happy ending after all.