Morrissey - You Are The Quarry
(Released 2004)
I am Dreaming of a Time...
This is not really about the album so much as the effect it has had.
On paper, a fourteen year old American boy should have nothing to do with Morrissey. Forget the Smiths! At fifty years old, the sporadically genius solo artist should, by logic, be remembered if at all only by aging former fans. These were the beta version of the Indie Kids, who clutched their copies of The Queen is Dead like some holy artifact and Sang themselves to Sleep every night. In 2004 this seemed to be about to become a reality, as Morrissey's solo work became worse and far between. Having apparently lost his once resplendent boyish looks and with his audiences getting smaller still, Moz was losing relevance at an alarming rate.
Then.
The Single.
That slinky guitar line... then the drums come in...
The voice of a much younger Morrissey speaks to a new generation of hipsters and indie kids. Or is it? This can't be the same Morrissey who in 1986 declared himself Unloveable! This Morrissey wears suits and wields Tommy Guns and spits upon the name Oliver Cromwell! To think that he would be so daring!
But that chorus. My God... the chorus. With that chorus, "Irish Blood, English Heart" gave the world a reason to like, no, love the wonderful self-deprecating creature that is Morrissey. And love him the world did, with "Irish Blood" reaching number 3 in Britain and 4 in the United States.
But why did this very late career resurgence occur? What reason was their to trust Morrissey to make a good record containing perhaps the best pop song of the past fifteen years, with seven years having passed since the abysmal Maladjusted? Every generation needs an older genius gone unnoticed for them to discover and subsequently worship. In 1986, this was Lou Reed, with R.E.M. releasing the Velvet Underground styled guitar heavy album "Life's Rich Pageant", the Feelies creating the Velvets album that never was with "The Good Earth", and The Smiths themselves channeling the confessional lyrics of The Velvet Underground's self titled album into a little record called The Queen Is Dead.
For Generation Pitchfork, Morrissey was just this.
Six years and two very good albums later, he who was once declared "Unloveable" is the most respected Briton in alternative music if not music in general.
Ironic? Maybe. But I accept the graceful aging of the face of Indie music with open arms.