And heaven knows I'm miserable now...
Posted by canvas on Tuesday, 20 February 2007 13:17:24
David Cameron - Do you realise that your punk sensibilities are one of your greatest assets?
Remember that trip you made (by tube and without your ticket) to Wembley in 2006 - to see the Morrissey gig? That says more about you than you realise. Personally, I think it's all great. I really can't bear 'perfect' politicians with 'perfect' lives - at least you appear to be human! I think you stand an excellent chance of winning the next general election - it's because so many people can relate to you.
*** This is a really interesting article about why oddballs, misfits, creeps and weirdos relate to Morrissey ***
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/david_tate/2006/04/the_songs_that_saved_your_life.html
"Caroline Sullivan is shocked to discover that the Tory party harbours a clique of fanatical Morrissey fans, which includes not only David Cameron but Spectator editor, Matthew d'Ancona. She shouldn't be.
Certainly, if you look at Morrissey's political pronouncements, which have been relatively few in number compared to the likes of Billy Bragg, Shane Magowan or the Manic Street Preachers, you'd get the impression that his sympathies tended to the left of the political spectrum. This is, after all, a man who dreamed of the execution of Margaret Thatcher on his debut solo album and subsequently received a visit from the police for his pains, an event recorded in another song, He Knows I'd Love to See Him. By 2004, and Irish Blood, English Heart, Morrissey's daydreams had crossed the party political divide and now looked forward to a time when "the English are sick to death of Labour and Tories".
Morrissey's remarkably loyal fanbase scours the press cuttings and lyrics for material that chronicles all Morrissey's attitudes on matters of public importance. Gems include jibes at fat Americans, a ditty about the British occupation of Ireland - the title of which is taken from a film about Australian skinhead neo-nazis - and some encouraging words for the "Animal Rights Militia". His political involvement in recent years has included signing the Unite Against Fascism statement and a boycott of Canada in protest against the seal cull.
All this is leftish but not the product of a particularly coherent or a deeply analysed set of political views. Indeed, when Morrissey urged his supporters to vote for John Kerry - although he preferred Jon Stewart - what appeared to have riled him was the rudeness of US immigration officials.
Morrissey is not essentially a political artist. His songs are filled with National Front supporters who are drifting away from their families, Bengalis who find themselves culturally marginalised, hooligans who chuck snooker cues around, and hopeless pissheads. His grand themes have always been intensely personal. His lyrics are about alienation, longing, and disappointment. He sings about the business of getting through life in a difficult world, with a bit of good humour and fortitude. "I once thought that time accentuates despair," sings Morrissey on Ringleader of the Tormentors, "but now I don't actually care."
Morrissey appeals to misfits and oddballs, because he is one himself. A commercially successful one, admittedly, but a congenital loser none the less.
This is the key to the man's appeal to political activists, Tories included. There is something very odd about the sort of person who devotes his or her life to politics. The days of the Labour-supporting working men's club and the Young Conservatives ball are over. Politics may be tribal for some, but it isn't a vital component of the social fabric of the nation. Party membership is steadily declining. The Tories have slumped from a million members under Margaret Thatcher, to fewer than 300,000 under David Cameron. Labour's membership is down to around 200,000. Politics is a fringe activity, and its practitioners resemble obsessive Morrissey fans: fierce in their rivalry, jealous in their loyalties, the type whose idea of a good time is exchanging tidbits of inconsequential trivia. To quote from another of David Cameron's favourite bands, Radiohead, a good proportion of the people you come across in political parties are creeps and weirdos.
Caroline Sullivan mistakenly believes that Morrissey-loving Tories are misguidedly trying to convince the electorate that they are "hip, daddy-o". But Morrissey has never been hip. He is pop's Philip Larkin.
David Cameron must know that - whatever the next few years holds for him - his political career, like all politicians, will end in failure. When it does, my bet is that he'll think of Morrissey's songs as the ones that saved his life."
Post edited by canvas on Tuesday, 20 February 2007 20:07:22
I want to live like common people, punk sensibilities, general election, oddballs, misfits, Morrissey, brilliant, pulp, cameron, weirdos, creeps