Morbid thoughts on Morrissey and Marr?

Catholic

English Blood, Irish Heart
Years ago an anonymous poster here said:

I hate to be morbid, but Morrissey and Marr - eventually one of them is going to die before the other. And, I suspect, like the Beatles, whichever one is left may eventually get round to finishing off some old unfinished demo that was never completed at the time.

That's really as close to a 'reunion' as we're going to get.

This side of the grave? Never.


What occurs to me here is that if Marr died first, Morrissey might not need any access to old Smiths demos.

There would be a catalogue of Marr songs that could THEORETICALLY could be re-recorded by Morrissey with new Morrissey lyrics and vocal melodies, analogous then to the situation with Whyte's earlier version of "Irish Blood, English Heart".

Probably impossible, but has anyone ever raised the idea of Morrissey recording any of Marr's work with new lyrics?
 
Marr's not going to die first though. He's super fit, Morrissey not so much. Take a look at them both and who looks closer to shuffling off this moral coil?

Anyway, don't think either would touch each other's demos. John and Paul reconciled before John's death.
 
There would be a catalogue of Marr songs that could THEORETICALLY could be re-recorded by Morrissey with new Morrissey lyrics and vocal melodies, analogous then to the situation with Whyte's earlier version of "Irish Blood, English Heart".

Probably impossible, but has anyone ever raised the idea of Morrissey recording any of Marr's work with new lyrics?

It has been discussed but probably more in terms of 'what modern Moz might have done with The Messenger/New Town Velocity/Tracers', rather than "Would Moz exploit Johnny's work and re-badge it after he's dead"...I don't think he would ever do that. How would he even frame it - a "Morrissey song" or a new Smiths fragment, like the Beatles did with John's demos on Anthology?

"Leave my music alone. I'm spinning in my grave, you money-grabbing bastards" :ROFLMAO:

 
Is this the first post-Dettol-drinking thread...?

.
 
Neither of them would touch each other's tracks. It's not the same situation personality-wise as Lennon/McCartney.

If, in the extremely unlikely event Marr passed first, then Morrissey would (continue to) make a point to not mention Marr for the rest of his life.

Marr will absolutely say something about Morrissey when he dies. My thought is that it would be brief, and I imagine it would acknowledge their political differences - but affirm the impact that their partnership had on the trajectory of their lives.
 
I reckon what better not happen is all the anti-American terrorists on this board making a pilgrimage to Moz Angeles when the California Son dies and showing up at Hollywood Forever cemetery for his funeral and ruining his celebration of life. You terrorists will get beat down. He was in the f***ing shitty smiths for 2 1/2 years and had to commute between LA and Brittin for gigs. You people better leave him alone in death. Get your own f***ing music twat c*** tit chipper curry northern base lives in hotels inn nn nn nn nnn nnn nnn nnn n nn nn it.

I reckon I'm worried if Nancy goes first, then the California Son will be devastated and probably die of a broken heart inn nn n nnn nnn nnn nnn it.
 
Last edited:
If, in the extremely unlikely event Marr passed first, then Morrissey would (continue to) make a point to not mention Marr for the rest of his life.

As in, publicly ignore his passing and write him out of history? What on earth makes you that?
 
Sure - it's morbid, but it's going to happen, and as the older and less healthy one the odds are it will be Morrissey who leaves the stage first. As such, the only difference I can forsee is that maybe the vaults will be opened, and we'll finally get all those Smiths and solo unreleased tracks and demos. That said, it's entirely possible that Moz will leave his intellectual copyright legacy in the hands of Sam or some other family member, with explicit intructions to block any archival releases (I know the survivng Beatles still have to obtain permission from the estates of Lennon and Harrison).

In the unlikely event of Johnny going first, and Morrissey getting his hands on the rights, I'd expect some new bastardised re-issues, with new cover art and fonts, jumbled tracklistings and edits to songs remove some of the boring instrumental bits. Also Mike Joyce's drums will be overdubbed to cut him out of any royalties.
 
As in, publicly ignore his passing and write him out of history? What on earth makes you that?

Literally everything Morrissey has said about the Smiths in the past decade. Since Autobiography, he doesn't really seem to acknowledge Marr anymore. And it was easy enough for him to ignore Bowie's passing; yeah, they weren't collaborators. But I personally think it's a template for how he could treat Marr. Morrissey's mindset of the past twenty years or so is that he's made it completely on his own steam.

But as indicated above - barring some sort of tragedy/accident - Morrissey seems less physically healthy than Marr, so I can't see Marr passing first.
 
Literally everything Morrissey has said about the Smiths in the past decade. Since Autobiography, he doesn't really seem to acknowledge Marr anymore. And it was easy enough for him to ignore Bowie's passing; yeah, they weren't collaborators. But I personally think it's a template for how he could treat Marr. Morrissey's mindset of the past twenty years or so is that he's made it completely on his own steam.

But as indicated above - barring some sort of tragedy/accident - Morrissey seems less physically healthy than Marr, so I can't see Marr passing first.

I really hope you're wrong. Autobiography was (generally) very positive and complimentary about Marr. I understand that they tend to avoid discussing each other but it's a big leap from that to assume that they would be indifferent to the other one's death - if anything, death usually urges you to reflect and put away petty arguments from decades before.

Ignoring Johnny's passing would also make Morrissey look like the most petulant, callous piece of shit on planet earth. I don't think he'd ever do it.
 
Last edited:
In the unlikely event of Johnny going first, and Morrissey getting his hands on the rights, I'd expect some new bastardised re-issues, with new cover art and fonts, jumbled tracklistings and edits to songs remove some of the boring instrumental bits. Also Mike Joyce's drums will be overdubbed to cut him out of any royalties.

Christ, I'm hope I'm dead before that horror happens...
 
Ignoring Johnny's passing would also make Morrissey look like the most petulant, callous piece of shit on planet earth. I don't think he'd ever do it.

I agree with you on the first sentence. I disagree with you on the second.
 
Grateful for responses.

But thank you for this, Amy:

It has been discussed but probably more in terms of 'what modern Moz might have done with The Messenger/New Town Velocity/Tracers' :ROFLMAO:



It is THIS that strangely fascinates. What could he do with such? And I wish there were a hope in hell that that question might be answered one day.

Certainly not looking forward to either one dying, but yes what Moz might do with "New Town Velocity" say ...

Would be grateful for any comments and/or links to where this has been discussed already.
 
Actually, I'm now worried that Morrissey would try and exploit it for a hit single: “Dear Warners - we are shocked that you have made no move this week to promote 'Death of a Disco Dancer' (download/special 7-inch/special CD) to support the memory of Johnny Marr. Any other artist would be number 1 with this song RIGHT NOW. Why are you doing nothing?”
 
Back
Top Bottom