True To You - Listeners' Words And Pictures

Morrissey Listeners' Articles, Poems, And Artwork

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 14:29:06 -0400

The Articles, Poems, And Artwork section features articles, poems, and artwork relating to Morrissey.

To submit content for consideration for publication, please see Submit content to True To You.

Morrissey Listeners' Words And Pictures

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 18:14:27 -0400

To view listeners' articles, poems, and artwork, please see Articles, Poems, And Artwork.

To view listeners' comments, please see Comments.

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To submit content for consideration for publication in the True To You magazine, on the True To You website, or both, please see Submit content to True To You.

Morrissey Listeners' Comments

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 11:00:45 -0400

The Comments section features comments relating to Morrissey.

To submit content for consideration for publication, please see Submit content to True To You.

Comments: Morrissey vs. NME

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 16:40:24 -0500

To Morrissey:

Good luck on your battle with the NME. You have our support.

Go on making intelligent music that is real and has meant so much to so many people over so many years. For this you will be remembered.

Congratulations on your new deal with Decca. I look forward to your new songs and to seeing you in London next year.

Yours truly,

Michael
The Hague, Netherlands

5 December 2007

Morrissey,

Thank you for all the beautiful songs. Thank you for the words... Thank you for stopping these atrocious and miserable liars!

Bravo!!!!

Best Wishes from Brasil!!!

Oh... It's a shame, NMEvil!

Hector Lopes
Sao Paulo, Brazil

4 December 2007

Thank you for clearing up the whole stupid NME debacle, not that any of your loyal followers would ever have doubted your position on this subject, but it's always good to hear it straight from the horse's mouth! It saddens me no end that all these years on you still have such a hard time where the Brit press are concerned - please don't ever hold that against those of us who really care about you this side of the pond! Looking forward to seeing you next in Edinburgh in 2008 (saw you in Washington DC in Nov 07 and was amazed to find the passion for Moz is every bit as full on Stateside as I've ever witnessed in the UK!).

Gail Shackley
Lancashire, England

4 December 2007

Dear Morrissey, as an ardent fan of both The Smiths and your solo career, since 1983, I just wanted to wish you every success in your writs against the NME.

Your dignified statement regarding the NME interview goes a long way in wiping the smug grin off quite a few faces in the media who were, and I surmise still are, willing to have your head on a block. I am hoping that the clarification of your thoughts on such matters (as if it were actually needed), finally puts this issue to bed and "critics" can finally concentrate on your music for the first time since 1992.

Good luck.

Jack Hastings
Belfast, Northern Ireland

4 December 2007

I just wanted to drop a line to express my unstinting support for Morrissey in this ludicrous NME business.

Morrissey is one of the most human and humane of artists and public figures around. This is the greatest and saddest irony of the whole sorry nonsense.

The truth will out.

With much love and respect,

Simon Rea
Leeds, England

3 December 2007

I have just read everything about NME after buying the magazine.

When I saw the cover "bigmouth strikes again," I wasn't sure if I should buy it or not. I decided to buy it just because, as a Morrissey admirer, I wanted to have some fresh news about him. Unfortunately, I didn't know about all this mess, otherwise I wouldn't buy the bloody NME. It's a pity that such a famous musical magazine still carries on with bitchy and offensive comments about artists instead of doing good journalism. It seems like NME is getting closer to the Sun newspaper than other more clever press like The Guardian or Q. I personally will boycott NME and stop buying it (even when I don't buy it often) from now on.

I have always been a big Morrissey fan and I still am. One of the things I like about this man is that he speaks his mind out. He says things very often that many people think, but nobody says. The big problem is that we are now living in a society where it is extremely easy to paint someone as racist and political correctness is a way of keeping your mouth shut.

I don't see Morrissey as racist at all by just saying that cities like London are losing identity. It is true, that is happening everywhere. Unfortunately, countries are becoming more and more homogeneous, more mono-cultured, especially in big cities. I hope this nightmare finishes soon and all of you, mainly Morrissey, can go back to normality and carry on with your lives.

Greetings

Gejo
Camden, London, England

2 December 2007

I read about the fiasco surrounding Morrissey's comments which have been interpreted by some as "racism" today in a New Zealand newspaper.

What a load of rubbish! There wasn't an ounce of racism in what the man had to say!

What is wrong with being proud of your culture? Of wanting to retain some of the things you cherish in your culture in this age of globalisation and homogeneous blandness? To me that doesn't smack of racism one single bit!

Love and peace to all

Matt Paetz
Auckland, New Zealand

30 November 2007

I would just like to offer my support regarding the recent NME thing.

I have emailed their editor in disgust.

I hope Morrissey knows he has support about this...

cheers...

Rob
Uxbridge, Middlesex, England

29 November 2007

I today made the mistake of purchasing NME to read the Morrissey interview and wished I had not bothered. The NME's article is so obviously a hatchet job and, like this website says, is just a cynical exercise in trying to boost sales.

I think any half-intelligent readers will realise that Morrissey was not being racist, but the attitude that the NME has taken is rather desperate and pathetic. I have sent a response to their letters page, and I'm sure there will be lots of other similar support for Morrissey...

I hope that Morrissey will be informed of such support, and that he realises that not everyone will swallow NME's pathetic line.

Regards

Sally
Fernilee, Derbyshire, England

29 November 2007

Sadly, we live in a country where even bringing up the subject of immigration can get you into hot water. Whatever happened to the right of freedom of speech?

I will buy this week's NME (it will be my last after being a reader for 30 years) as I have run out of firelighters and the magazine will make a good replacement.

Looking forward to the Roundhouse shows, and seeing the pompous NME humbled.

Regards,

Rob Sinfield
Stroud, Gloucestershire, England

29 November 2007

I don't see why Morrissey should be ashamed of anything I read in the report of the article on the BBC news website. What he says is absolutely true. A visitor to London could be forgiven for wondering if they'd landed in England or somewhere else - you can't tell where by looking at the people that's for sure. This is a plain and simple fact.

The fact that people say they find this point of view objectionable is a part of the other change in the UK. You can't state the bleeding obvious if it in any way includes people of other races without being called a racist. It's crazy.

Best wishes to you Morrissey and I'm sure most people agree with you.

Silvia
Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England

29 November 2007

I wanted to take time to defend a man for simply stating facts. First of all if you will indulge me, I am a black, Irish lead singer of an indie rock band - SilverSky - and we are based in London.

Although, it's slightly naive of me to assume that Morrissey needs to be defended or justified - I do this out of respect for a fellow artist, who has inspired me. It seems that certain members of the press are continuously looking to hammer people in prominence for having a view, but I feel that in this case it's more than a view. It's a FACT that if you walk the streets of London you could be anywhere on the planet. It's a FACT that, I myself having lived in Norway, can tell you that there is no doubting where you are when you are in, let's say - Trondheim. What is wrong with stating FACT?!

Anyway - thank you for the inspiration and the honest, forthright views.

...but most of all Morrissey remain true to you..

With love and respect

Peter Smith
London, England

29 November 2007

Tell Morrissey he is spot on and he should tell NME to stick it up their arses. I am married to a Zambian woman and am 100% not racist but what Morrissey is talking about is the erosion of a culture and he is damned right about that.

Matthew Wall
London, England

29 November 2007

I'm not surprised at the uproar surrounding Morrissey's comments. HE SPOKE THE TRUTH!!! But, as expected, any comments on this very true and worrying issue are immediately wrongly condemned as "racist." It really pisses me off that intelligent people cannot comment on what IS a BIG problem in the United Kingdom without being accused of being racist! I hope he stands by his comments which were only HIS views of this problem and is not bullied to retract them.

This country is a joke. I'm fortunate enough to be Scottish and despite living in London for 20 years I have my strong Scottish identity. If I felt the Scottish identity was being lost in the way I've seen the English identity disappear over the past few years I'd certainly be shouting out loud about it.

Well done M....!!!

Scotty
London, England

29 November 2007

I have just read Morrissey's NME interview, having not been aware previously of the furore surrounding the interview, and it's left me feeling depressed, angry and annoyed at the NME. What a shoddy piece of journalism, from the out-of-context, sensationalist front cover to the patronising and judgmental editor's note ("Morrissey is ultimately just a nostalgic creature who pines for the England of his youth") and the slating commentary. The NME seems to presume its readers cannot read or think for themselves, and if anyone is hell bent on nostalgia it's the NME. It is they who have twisted the whole piece to tie neatly into what they wrongly perceived as racist tendencies in 1992.

The first sentence of the feature made my heart sink - the reference to the court case. What relevance is that to anything? The knives were obviously out. For me, Morrissey simply states the rapid change that's happened to the UK and yes, "Britain's a terribly negative place." As the NME's hatchet job illustrates, you're not allowed to express an opinion in this country, unless it involves celebrities. No one dares to publicly question UK immigration and the effect on British identity, well anyone who has records to sell anyway. I think that's part of why Morrissey is still relevant, because he isn't afraid to honestly state what he thinks and what a lot of people think but daren't say. In no way do I think he is racist or some misguided fool that the NME paints him to be.

I was pleased to see the real story posted on True To You. It shows the NME up for what they really are. And as for that Conor referring to Morrissey as a man in his 50s! He clearly hasn't done his research has he.

On a happier note...I'm ecstatic about seeing Morrissey at the Roundhouse in January - all six nights! I wouldn't bother seeing any other artist six nights in one week, but Morrissey is like no other artist. Thank god.

Thanks,

Katherine
Wakefield, England

28 November 2007

Salford Lads Club

Tue, 22 Nov 2005 14:22:31 -0500

Untitled poem

Tue, 22 Nov 2005 11:23:26 -0500

On the dole at nineteen, no place for me.
I was hesitant, clumsy, unsure of what to be.
Forty quid I blew, it was everything at the time,
on a Walkman, which melted, but it kept you in my mind.
Singing in my ears whilst I found out how to paint
and draw and work all hours, officially part-time, so I could claim.
You thought I didn't listen, distracted by the image,
but I heard and understood, you seeped all through the page.
The world fell apart around me, the north of Thatcher's Britain,
they seemed to think "if you kick their heads in, they might forget what made them."
No one seemed too bothered by our grim reality.
Who wants to play the Town Hall? Doris Stokes on endlessly.
You came to remind us who we are and what we could do,
and I packed it up inside me and left for somewhere new.
The art school was beautiful, grade one listed and bequeathed
for that purpose in perpetuity and us alone it seemed.
Writing on the toilet wall, I looked up and shed tears.
My home was written on steel girders where they'd been engineered.
Eventually I left, unemployable to a degree,
and found I'd crossed the country to the ocean from the sea.
Now I'm stalled, exiled, mired and pulled northerly,
your voice still in my head and mining at my quarry.
You pinched my thoughts, you must have done, we're thinking the same lines.
It's been going on for years and I never was inclined
to adore or be infatuated, you mean much more to me.
You're part of my history, beloved to me, Morrissey.

Mac
Barnstaple, North Devon, England

14 November 2004

Tattoo

Tue, 22 Nov 2005 08:30:36 -0500

Someone Somewhere

Sat, 19 Nov 2005 07:00:26 -0500

Reprinted from True To You, Issue 15

I have been listening to Morrissey since the early days of The Smiths. Through the years, he has influenced my life more and more.

With Morrissey, there is no hidden agenda. He does not become a different person at 5:00 p.m. every day. The personality of the man is there for all to see in his songs. He really does as he sings in "Sing Your Life."

I have so many similarities with Morrissey. I was born to Irish parents and brought up in an industrial northern town in Britain. I experienced the Catholic education system, poverty, and what the Tory Party did to Britain in the 1980s.

When I was growing up, books and records had always been my refuge, and again I shared this in common with Morrissey. And, through the years, he has encouraged me to read so many writers whose work I now love and admire, such as Oscar Wilde and A. E. Housman.

As a teenager, I had felt at times that I was plowing a lonely furrow, but Morrissey's music became my constant companion.

One of the main ways that Morrissey has helped me is that he has talked about and sung about loneliness. He has brought the subject into the open. His words on the subject are clarion calls to everyone who has felt isolated and alone.

Many times, when I am listening to Morrissey singing about the subject of loneliness, I experience his words as though he is singing them specifically to me. It is as though he is saying to me that it is OK, and that he feels like that at times, too.

What has sealed my love and admiration for Morrissey is that he is a vegetarian. And I am sure that "Meat Is Murder" has converted thousands to the cause of vegetarianism.

One of the most beautiful and profound experiences I have ever had was when I first listened to "I Know It's Over," and heard Morrissey singing the words "It's so easy to laugh/it's so easy to hate/it takes guts to be gentle and kind."

Morrissey has helped me to feel that I can be myself, and to feel confident in the knowledge that being myself is just fine.

For this, I give him my greatest tribute and thanks.

Johnny Donnelly
Edinburgh, Scotland

20 January 2004

Untitled painting

Sat, 19 Nov 2005 00:09:40 -0500