Morrissey interview on New Music Hour - MTV (August, 1986)

Information

From The Smiths Archive / YouTube:

Description: The Smiths - Morrissey interview, New Video Hour, MTV, USA - August 1986 • 4K

Transcript

...It really detracts from the absolute urgent issues in England so like when there's a marriage ahead the government breathe a sigh of relief. Oh we don't have to talk about unemployment for a while. We don't have to talk about sanctions and wherever we don't have to talk about the real issues that affect people's lives. We can all slip into this like little Disney World of fairies and princesses and beautiful gowns that nobody cares about and whatever. It's all a political calculated distraction to take people away from reminding them of how they really live, how the ordinary people of England really live.

...It was an idea somebody at Rough Trade in England had, just to make a promotional film which wasn't a pop video and which indeed didn't even feature the group members at any point but just simply a soundtrack to go with the records. And so Derek Jarman, to somebody, seemed like a very natural choice and we had nothing whatsoever to do with the films themselves. So we didn't see them until they were absolutely completed and we were very very pleased. His imagery I thought was very strong, very provocative.