I never quite got The Smiths...

Primarily because I found/find Morrissey so objectionable. They have some very good songs certainly and I do like some of them, but any time Morrissey opens his mouth I find myself trying to control the urge not to break something. I did think for a while that maybe he had mellowed in his old age and that maybe he was more pleasant. Of course I was wrong. He's still a tube. Evidence? Well, have a look here here. It's an article in The Independent concerning an interview that he's given to the NME out today. Some choice cuts from the article if you can't be bothered reading the whole thing:

"England is a memory now," he says, in an interview with the NME published yesterday. "The gates are flooded and anybody can have access to England and join in."

and

"Although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears. So the price is enormous. Travel to England and you have no idea where you are. It matters because the British identity is very attractive. I grew up into it and I find it very quaint and amusing. Other countries have held on to their basic identity, yet it seems to me that England was thrown away."

Ah, of course! That old chestnut of conflating Britishness and Englishness. Indeed. I nearly forgot that Britain (purports) to represent Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales. And that's before I even get on to the irony of somebody who was shacked up in the Hollywood Hills for years, but now lives in Rome, who is the son of Irish immigrants talking about the gates being flooded and anyone getting access to join in. Yes, must have been a real killer for you to be able to be raised in England after your parents moved there, make all your money and then move to wherever you wanted to in the world, Steve. Xenophobic undertones? No not at all. Honest. Having made your money then buggered off after some less than well-received press in, oh wait! The NME! Surprise! Obviously Stevie-boy doesn't consider himself as diluting the culture of Rome or Hollywood whenever he decides to live somewhere other than where he was born. So is it on the basis of class or race that he has a problem with immigrants in Britain? Old Stevie makes his comments sufficiently vague as per usual so as to build up some mystery about what he really means. Only there's no real mystery is there?

What is the British identity anyway? Britain is a mongrel nation, just like more or less all nations. The notion of a particular British identity puzzles me. What is it? Allegiance to the Queen? Stiff upper lip? Adherence to the notion of Empire? Desire to be at the top table in world affairs? Pride in being a part of a group of countries? Drinking tea? Obviously most readers of this blog have a fairly good idea of what my opinions on the matter are, but I am genuinely puzzled by the ideal of a British identity. Morrissey's ill-advised comments regarding being flooded with immigrants are as repulsive as Enoch Powell's 'Rivers of Blood' speech nearly 40 years ago. Aye, maybe Morrissey is the new Enoch Powell?! Britain has a proud history of helping those less fortunate (well, except during times of Empire when it was busy shafting those less fortunate wherever possible) by providing a safe haven from persecution and it has contributed markedly towards Britain being a forward looking multicultural society. Even though I don't necessarily agree with the idea of there being a Britain per se, I still find Morrissey's musings offensive. He's controversial for the sake of being controversial- a desperate man desperate for reccognition in the twilight of his career. And here I am giving him it! Morrissey has the last laugh as always! A sad, desperate, misanthrope laughing at me? Boo hoo.