The obligatory FAQ section of this site. Maybe someday when I have the sanity to add more here, it will magically appear.
1. Why are there 8 links on the top of the entry page?
Try turning the "8" ninety degrees. Then go back to your calculus (or physics I suppose, but I hated physics!)
book and think about it. (It's really not that hard. It's just a
Chinese superstition supposed to bring luck. To my knowledge, Aleister Crowley is not involved, but that would
be cool if he was. If Morrissey was God, everything would be unexplained and esoteric.)
2. Why slylvsngs?
That is an antiquated chatroom nick I used a decade ago, with extraneous vowels removed from a song title. First person
to figure it out wins...I dunno...maybe they could be featured on the Radcliffe and Maconie show. (See #716 for my suggestion for the Chain, I got to talk to Stuart Maconie on air, on BBC2 Radio on July 16.) Would be very cool if someone could figure it out, it's not that difficult...I don't think it is, anyway. Hint: It started out as having nothing to do with Morrissey, but now that I think about it, it has a lot to do with the way he thinks :)
3. Explain the idea behind the "Brits Do It Better" section.
The obvious answer is that it's supposed to be a section in which I talk about why all things British (especially music!) appeal to me,
and who has particularly tickled my fancy. The esoteric answer is, Madonna once had a t-shirt in the '80s emblazoned with
the slogan "Italians Do It Better" (which is where Kelly Osbourne stole the idea to wear a similar shirt in her "Papa Don't Preach" video).
I'm not sure what Italians do better, except invent espresso (which I don't drink, because I don't drink coffee), have countless
recipes for pastas (of which I can't eat of it because I'm allergic to wheat), and run organized crime (which Morrissey seems to enjoy the idea of - I had
to get Morrissey in this answer somehow!). I've always thought that I was accidentally dropped off by the stork on the wrong side of the Atlantic. But you
can read more about that in the "Brits Do It Better" section.
4. Why are you trying to come up with interpretations to Morrissey's songs?
I dabble in poetry occasionally - that's the sort of thing I do in my free time. And certain poets fascinate me, call me a geek, but thought process for
writers is equally interesting to me as writing my own prose. As for Morrissey -
I do not - repeat, do not - claim to be some sort of Morrissey lyric expert. Interpretation
of course depends on who's doing the interpreting, and ultimately, only Morrissey himself knows what the songs mean and what they were meant to be about. (There
is at least one site out - the Lyrics and Song Information Database at It Might All End Tomorrow that does a pretty good job of describing song meanings, which you should check out, especially if you're interested in the potential meanings of Smiths songs.
As for poetry - I was required to take 2 poetry classes in high school, and I had a lot of trouble shoe-horning myself into the "accepted" schools of thought that "knew" what "The Mill"
by Edward Arlington Robinson was about (which completely ruined the poem for me), or what Anne Sexton was going on about in her book Transformations
and describing disgruntled Cinderellas.
I was equally unhappy in 2004 when I was told by a another member of a Stephen Duffy/Lilac Time mailing list that Stephen's lyrics were "art and should not be interpreted." Excuse me? What is so wrong in wanting to think for a moment and be intellectual about something that you feel strongly about? In short, my song interpretations presented on this site are my own and have been posted for your reading enjoyment - I welcome any and all good-natured discussions about them!
5. How did you become a fan of Morrissey?
In a roundabout way, you could say. The short answer: An "acquaintance" of mine was a fan of Morrissey's post-Smiths work and made me some CDs. At the outset, Morrissey never really entered in the equation as someone who was worthy to be studied. After all was said and done, I was over the moon about "I'd Love To" and "Jack the Ripper," then went through a withdrawal period from this person, going for weeks and months when I couldn't even listen to anything by Morrissey because it brought back too many memories and potential dreams
that I wished still existed in my life. Then my father died in May of 2004, just 3 days shy of Morrissey's 45th birthday, and I thought it was really eerie that there was this weird, almost
foreshadow-y connection
with my father's death and "First of the Gang to Die."
I'm an eternal student by nature - you can often find me reading up on whatever's the flavor of the month at the time, because I just naturally pick up interests (like
herb gardening, or a film I like, or, in this case, Morrissey) when I'm drawn to them. Morrissey's music just
seemed to fit in my life just right in 2005. I wish I had a better explanation - but I don't. I've always believed in fate and things happen for a reason - there
had to be a reason why Duran Duran "showed up" in my life when I had fallen ill
with exhaustion in the summer of 2000; so I figure there had to be a reason why Morrissey came along in my life as he did.
6. Have you ever seen Morrissey in concert, or met him?
I saw him for the first time on 29 September 2004 at DAR Constitution Hall. (I'm still a little surprised that he started his tour in D.C. - I mean,
that's unheard of! No one really cares about touring in D.C., unless you're an r&b artist.) To tell you the truth, I was scared to death, because
I thought I was going
to be engulfed by the fanatics in the crowd, although I managed to get an aisle seat (thank goodness) - I wondered if that's any better than being in the middle.
I was able to see the stage so even though I couldn't shake his hand, that
was good enough for me. For future gigs anyway, a part of me is hoping I'll be able to catch something that's thrown from his very hands - but then the other part is not
looking forward to wrestling with several people for whatever that piece of magic is. He was still recovering from respiratory illness so I decided I wouldn't try
and get close to the stage to try and grab his hand, I wasn't that desperate for Morrissey's germs! My first Morrissey concert is chronicled in this concert
review. All in all, I have seen him half-a-dozen times since my first gig of his in 2004.
Nope about the second part of the question, I would like to meet him someday though. (I've had all sorts of dreams about I think would happen should we ever meet, but I doubt I'm interesting enough for him to take notice.) I'd like to hear what he thinks of my song interpretations, if anything just to say,
"no, you're off the mark completely" or "yes, I'm glad I was able to convey feelings that were understood." But knowing him, he would be mysterious
and not say anything, changing the subject every time I brought up the subject of his songs! I'm sure I'm not being original by saying, "I know exactly
how Steven feels in this song," but it's funny how songs will come along and suddenly fit perfectly like a jigsaw puzzle into your life. If anything,
Morrissey lyrics are insightful into the human condition. Some people say Mark Twain was good at this; I'd take Morrissey's songs any day.
For the record I am not Morrissey (that should be obvious, but you would not believe how many times I've been emailed on my other websites about certain artists).
7.What else do you listen to?
I am a big proponent of the rock 'n' roll classics - the Beatles, the Supremes, the Beach Boys - plus I like a lot of classic rock - Led Zeppelin, the Who,
the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac. I wasn't until I was in high
school when I started listening to local radio regularly. I was never into grunge, hiphop, or rap, which is a shame because those are the genres that really
came of age during my formative years. Almost a decade ago now (yeah, I can't believe it either...) I got into '80s new wave. Duran Duran is one of my favorite bands,
and believe me, it's pretty uncommon to find a Duran fan who also likes Morrissey. If you looked at my musical tastes when I was
in college, you would not guess that in a few short years, I would be listening to Morrissey. I suppose I always had this mindset that "The Smiths were
depressing and suicidal" (I remember people telling me, "don't listen to them unless you wish to slit your wrists"). I have always - and still do - enjoyed pop for the catchiness of the songs, not necessarily for their lyrical content. Now that I have been educated about the Smiths and Morrissey's post-Smiths era work, I know that there are some pop songs in there, but I think overall, Morrissey's lyrics add to to much more than just feel-good pop.
Someone is going to come after me probably, but when I think of Morrissey's singing style, I think of him as a Frank Sinatra crossed with Elvis of my generation.
This may sound like blasphemy - I mean, Morrissey writes his own lyrics, Frankie and Elvis never did (or at least didn't regularly). But Morrissey has this
way about singing that everything that comes out of his mouth, when he sings, sounds so effortless. At the beginning, I used to laugh at all his "ohhs," "oh mys,"
the echoing, because I thought it sounded odd. But now I've come to the conclusion that he can get away with it; someone else wouldn't. And after seeing him
in concert doing this exact crooning, I come to the conclusion that he just wouldn't be Morrissey if he didn't sing like that. *swoons briefly*
In general, I consider myself a total music head and thanks to the internet, I can keep tabs on British pop and rock 'n' roll, of which accounts for probably at least 80% (if not more) of my most favourite music. It's gotten so ingrained in me that I have taken to writing in British English by force of habit in email conversing with my friends who live in Britain or on the Continent. I have to remind myself that I'm from "America," not "the United States." FYI: I do like Northern boys :)
8. What do you do for a living?
I wish I could work on websites for a living - websites of my favorite artists, that is. Or maybe work as some artist's publicist. But no, I went to college to get a degree in biology.
Cell, molecular biology and genetics to be exact. I had plans to be a uni professor and researcher, but I was sidelined by a chronic, genetic illness I've had since age 12. That unfortunately has caused me to make some choices other people don't have to make, including having what I perceive as a sensible career. For nearly 5 years I worked as a biomedical technical
editor and writer. I've written stuff about HIV/AIDS and other various immunologic conditions for the government, if you're interested.
I am now the managing editor of a biochemistry journal at a non-profit. It's been great for me to be able to combine my scientific background and editing/writing skills with graphic design and I'm learning a lot. I have it in my head that someday in the future I will be a great writer - of what, I'm not sure. I've written all kinds of stuff, from non-fiction essay, poetry, short story, novel, you name it. I haven't been published - yet.
Music is just one of those things that
adds color to my life where otherwise there would be none. A wise man once said to me, "to other people, music is in the background; for us, it is in the
forefront of our lives." It's weird sometimes being an American born Chinese girl who goes to these concerts and is inevitably a token minority at these
things; I don't know what happened, but it seems like there's no room in a Chinese mind for music, it's all about work work work. I would surely go
mad without all the music I listen to; it keeps me sane, it keeps my spirits up, and they're the only people in my life who don't really let me down. (Well
there was this one time...but I've moved on.) I've met some of my heroes and those were amazing experiences; it keeps me chugging along in this strange, sometimes
upsetting, sometimes invigorating world we live in.
9. Legal issues related to this website. Not a question, but more of a CYA issue. Other webmasters can relate to this.
This is a fan site and like all the websites I've done before this one, it is completely not-for-profit. Most photos found on here were probably taken
from someone else off a Morrissey message board or from someone else's site. Except for the long and winding road portion of this site, which so far contains photos I took myself on my first trip to Manchester and London in 2006. If you'd like to have credit listed for a photo on here that's yours, let me know, I'm a reasonable person. I'm not
trying to rip anyone off. This Web site is a Morrissey/Britain appreciation page that I do in my spare time and it's just something fun.
