Steven Patrick Morrissey was born in Manchester (England) on 22 May 1959. Even though his parents were Irish immigrants, he has always been English in his heart. During his childhood, he already had a passion for music and films. Being a teenager, he was lonely and depressed and took prescriptive drugs in order to fight it. In 1982, he and Johnny Marr founded The Smiths, a band, which split up in 1987. Then Morrissey began his solo career. This has been successful and the release of his next album is planned for 2008.
One of the most important events of his life was his presence as a vocalist and songwriter in the alternative rock band The Smiths. It was made up of Johnny Marr (Guitar, Music), Mike Joyce (Drums) and Andy Rourke (Bass). It is characterized by Morrissey’s lyrics which are ironic, controversial and ambiguous, and by Marr’s dense and complex music. That is one of the reasons why the band emerged in the indie scene in Britain in the early 1980’s. Just like The Beatles and Oasis, they are said to influence a lot of other groups.
Here is "The Queen is Dead" by The Smiths.
His career as singer and songwriter didn’t end with the split up of the band, nor did his controversial ideas. His lyrics are often about themes like child murder, gang and domestic violence, racism (even though he was accused of racism), drug abuse, terrorism and politics. Talking about his political views, he attacked not only the Royal Family and Margaret Thatcher but also former Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush. A good illustration of this is the song "Margaret on the Guillotine". Apparently, he has no problem in murdering great political figures (figuratively, of course!), but as far as animals are concerned, he sings another song: "Meat is Murder" (don't watch this video if you are too sensitive!)
Here is "Irish Blood, English Heart" by Morrissey.
He is still very popular today, partly due to his singular identity.
Sophie & Anne-Sophie
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