Still Obsessed

I've surely posted this song at least once before. I have a bit of an obsession with it. I admire the seamless mixture of the personal and political, the avoidance of literal lyrics, and the way it evokes multi-sensory impressions of absolute bitterness. It's so bitter in fact that, as in so many Morrissey songs, it rides that edge of being outright laughable. This is an important part of his style, to avoid preaching and make the listener conscious of the human foibles of the writer. If the listener is moping along in empathy with the lyrics they find themselves laughing at their own miserable state. In this way Morrissey's lyrics are actually empowering.

"I thought that if you had an acoustic guitar then it meant that you were a protest singer.

Oh I can smile about it now but at the time it was terrible"

-From 'Shakespeare's Sister' by the Smiths.

Morrissey has confessed an interest in Phil Ochs but I think his writing is in reaction to the political music that came before, the protest folk and punk that he would've been aware of growing up. He's also a fan of Buffy Sainte-Marie (the Smiths also have a song called 'Suffer Little Children') and Joni Mitchell, who he once said was his favourite lyricist. Apparently Mitchell's "The Hissing of Summer Lawns", a bitter and beautiful critique of suburbanization, made a deep impression on him.

Morrissey interviews Joni Mitchell This actually happened! What?!?!