„Happy New You” - Morrissey

I like Morrissey, why is everybody pushing me towards The Smiths?!

Note to self
I am not a fan. I lack this „feature”. I do however like music very much. All kinds of music. I listen to everything. I like to listen to albums, not just singles. I like to read about music and musicians. I am also interested in the artwork of an album. I like to go to concerts, even if I don't know anything about the performer of the night. As a matter of fact, I have discovered lots of bands and singers during a live show. It is all about the connection between the artists and the audience. When I don't like a concert or an album, the feeling is very strong, it's painful. My whole body aches, I get bored and it takes a while to recover. Music was always present in my life, it helped me get through very difficult times. But even though I like music so much, I was never the fan of X, Y or Z... I never really understood how can somebody „fell in love” with an artist, that is a person you know only from TV, radio or news articles. Is it really that easy to love somebody?! I was always amazed when my friends would tell me: „Oh, I love X so much, he is so gorgeous”. How can you LOVE a complete stranger?! I still don't get it! I am not the kind of person who collects photos with artists. I don't have many autographs either. I have a few autographs on books and albums, but getting autographs was never a goal to me. But I do listen to their music, I do read their books, and that's good enough for me. I don't expect anything from an artist, I don't fantasize about that artist life. I don't necessarily want to meet an artist I admire, though I am happy if it happens. But I enjoy the art even if I don't cross paths with the artist. THAT'S ME.

Last year, I discovered Morrissey's music. I went to his concert in Bucharest and my life changed. For me, everything started with the album „World Peace Is None Of Your Business”. I liked all the songs on this album. They are all so... visual... like paintings. Each song creates a short movie in my head. The lyrics are powerful. I even tried to create videos (or slideshows, to be more specific) for some of the songs. It is just my small tribute to this huge artist who changed my life by reminding me what is the true power of the written word, and how important it is to speak out. To me, „World Peace Is None Of Your Business” is the path that led me to Morrissey's music, and it will always be the most important album of his. Through it I discovered a whole new world.

But... since october 2015, each and every time I talk to my friends about music and about Morrissey, there is always someone who tells me: „You have to listen to The Smiths, those are his best albums”. Well, just between you and me and the lamp post... I have! I have listened to The Smiths, I have listened to his solo albums, I have watched videos of The Smiths and I have seen videos of Morrissey post-Smiths. I like The Smiths' songs, but I prefer the versions from his solo-years. When I first listened to the song „Still ill”, it was the version from the DVD „25Live”. I absolutely loved it. Then, I looked for the Smiths song and... well, I kind of... disliked it. The same thing happened with „How Soon Is Now”, „There Is A Light That Never Goes Out”, etc. The truth is, I will always prefer the versions from his solo years. Well, try and say these things to a Smiths fan... he will probably have your head... But... to me... Morrissey IS NOT The Smiths. Morrissey is the artist who showed me that pop music can be intelligent and it can open your mind. And also, Morrissey is the artist who made me aware of the fact that there was a band called The Smiths. Because that's the pure and honest truth: I found out about The Smiths thanks to Morrissey, not the other way round.

Morrissey in Bucharest (review): http://thisleftfeelsrightablogaboutmusic.blogspot.ro/2015/11/my-first-morrissey-concert-bucharest.html