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Desert Island Discs
Presented by Kirsty Young
Rock star and cultural icon, best known as the frontman of The Smiths and for his lyrics and style that defined eighties pop.
Eight records
ShowdownFavourite
I've prattled on and rattled on for years and years and years about the New York Dolls, and here's one of their tracks from nineteen seventy four. I think they changed everything, and I'm very grateful.
I sang the disc that you're about to play now, which was quite perverted of me if you listen to the lyrics. But I was six, which is no excuse.
And listening to Lou Reed as a part of The Velvet Underground, we are really listening to the WH Orton of the Modern World. Once again not existing in print poetry, but in recorded noise, and this is the Black Angel's Death Song.
The next disc is by Klaus Nomi, and it's called a Nisbaum.
is Nico and it's her her very first single from I think 1965. called I'm Not Saint.
Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell
Do you know your pretty face is going to hell?
this is Mot the Hubble from nineteen seventy two, a track which um made me feel quite charged and quite emotional and quite sad, and still does in its own way. It's called Sea Diver.
The keepsakes
The luxury
I would [take] the bed, I think, because the going to bed is the highlight of everybody's day. I like to be hidden and I like to sink. And I think we all love to go to bed and we love to go to sleep. It's the brother of death. It means we can just switch our brains off when we go to bed and forget about ourselves, hopefully.
In conversation
Presenter asks
Do you mean you don't exist anywhere else in life apart from the moment that you're on the stage performing?
No, I mean geographically. I don't exist anywhere else. I can be found in yellow pages, but but nowhere else.
Presenter asks
What is it that moves you then? What are the things that you feel profoundly touched by?
I feel profoundly touched by people's uh sadness, really. Quite frankly, that's the thing I most see in other people.
The recording
Timestamps play the recording from that turn
Presenter
Hello, I'm Kirsty Young. Thank you for downloading this podcast of Desert Island Discs from BBC Radio 4. For rights reasons the music choices are shorter than in the radio broadcast.
Presenter
For more information about the programme, please visit bbc.co.uk/slash radio four.
Presenter
My castaway this week is Morrissey. Rock star and cultural icon, he is the Outsider's Outsider.
Presenter
As the Smith's frontman, his harsh romanticism spoke to a generation, hungry for a tortured truth they could recognise, his lyrics and style cutting through the slick glamour of eighties pop.
Presenter
And, in spite of being in his own words, an intensely private person, more than twenty five years later he's still at it, filling concert halls and column inches with his awkward grace and spiky reflections.
Presenter
It's one hundred percent a calling, it really is, he says, because, unfortunately, I don't really exist anywhere else in life. Do you mean you don't exist anywhere else in life apart from the moment that you're on the stage performing?
Morrissey
No, I mean geographically. I don't exist anywhere else. I can be found in yellow pages, but but nowhere else.
Presenter
Um the quotes come back to haunt you because you do give good quote.
Morrissey
Yeah.
Morrissey
Uh lots of them were never mine.
Morrissey
Astonishingly
Presenter
Was that one?
Morrissey
That was, yes. The ones that uh were mine I stand by.
Presenter
It interests me that the press seem given that you've had much more success as a solo artist, ten eleven solo albums that have done I mean, The Smiths did well, but it only lasted four years. The press, especially the music press, obsessed with your time with The Smiths. They al they always want to talk about it.
Morrissey
Yeah.
Speaker 1
Uh
Speaker 1
Yeah.
Morrissey
Yeah.
Morrissey
Hmm.
Morrissey
Oops.
Morrissey
Yeah.
Morrissey
Yes, they do, they they they do, and it baffles me.
Morrissey
So I don't understand why people seem to be locked in the past, and it irks me somewhat because it was a long time ago and time has passed.
Presenter
I heard you say in an interview that you are a continent away from the person you were then. Who who are you who are you now? Who do you feel yourself to be as a
Morrissey
Performer. That's unfair. I have absolutely no idea. I really do not. Life leads me.
Morrissey
I follow it and I have no idea where I will be in two hours time, which is interesting.
Morrissey
I do like to keep moving.
Presenter
Not a sentimental person, I think, from your list of music today.
Morrissey
No.
Morrissey
Sentimental, what do you mean?
Presenter
Well, I mean you're you're not
Presenter
Traditionally romantic. I mean, especially if you think you are.
Morrissey
I think I see see the poetry in everything.
Presenter
Right.
Morrissey
And I see that there's sadness in everything and I take that and I carry it with me and that's quite difficult. I think it's very difficult being in the world of music to begin with because it's all about artificial responses. But life is terribly serious, I find. And I think it's much better when you face it head on.
Presenter
What what is it that moves you then? What are the things that you feel profoundly touched by?
Morrissey
I feel profoundly touched by people's uh sadness, really.
Morrissey
Quite frankly, that's the thing I most see in other people.
Morrissey
Does that sound ridiculous?
Presenter
I don't think it does at all. No. Let's have some music. Tell me about the first track that you've chosen today.
Morrissey
I've prattled on and rattled on for years and years and years about the New York Dolls, and here's one of their tracks from nineteen seventy four. I think they changed everything, and I'm very grateful.
Speaker 4
Wanna be the show
Speaker 4
I'm gonna show that.
Speaker 4
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Gonna be a slowdown, slow down now.
Presenter
That was the New York Dolls and there's going to be a show down. Morrissey, tell me about Paul Marsh's record shop.
Morrissey
Is that really a serious question? Good grief, yes. Well, any education that I now presently have was gained at this record shop in Mossside, in Manchester, in the sixties, where I was raised. And I was fascinated by this little record shop with wooden floorboards exposed with sawdust on the floor. And I would go there as often as I could as a five-year-old, six-year-old, and I would simply stand and examine everything and read everything.
Presenter
What did you like about it?
Morrissey
I was completely entranced by um the the song, recorded song, and the emotion that came from people singing. I I found it so beautiful and
Morrissey
The recorded noise, the recorded song, I thought was the most powerful, beautiful thing.
Morrissey
And I still believe that.
Presenter
So was home a musical place?
Morrissey
Yes, it was. I came from a very large family, extended family.
Morrissey
and there were lots of young people and there was constant pop music. And I knew that I wanted to sing even then, and I knew there was nothing more powerful than singing nothing at all.
Presenter
Did you sing then? Did you sing for your monitor?
Morrissey
Yes, I did that.
Presenter
Would you do party pieces or would you
Morrissey
No, even as I was e even as a as a six-year-old I was qu quite um selective. Brahms on nothing.
Presenter
Is it true you spent a a lot of time in in your bedroom? You were quite a solitary little boy.
Morrissey
I had no choice, I was locked in.
Morrissey
I wasn't very nice to look at.
Presenter
Are you being serious when you say you're locked in? No. No. You're absolutely at it, are you? Because I'm thinking of.
Morrissey
No.
Presenter
There's a lyric in your latest album where you talk about My What Is It?
Morrissey
You see, you've forgotten.
Presenter
It was the little boy.
Morrissey
It had no effect upon you whatsoever.
Presenter
I was a small fat child in a welfare house. There was only one thing I dreamt about.
Morrissey
In a welfare hub.
Morrissey
Is
Presenter
Is that about you?
Morrissey
And fate has just handed it to me. Yes, it it it is about the the the the the moment of singing, singing to an audience.
Presenter
Yeah, it's
Presenter
What was your first moment of singing to an audience? When did you first
Morrissey
Uh
Presenter
A lot of people.
Morrissey
A lot of people.
Presenter
To hear the voice.
Morrissey
Uh
Morrissey
That's a very good question. Perhaps I was ten.
Morrissey
And fat.
Morrissey
In a council house.
Morrissey
Uh it's embarrassing and I would never really say this apart from the fact that we're on national radio and I don't have much choice, but I I would s I would stand on the table and sing. Yeah.
Presenter
You did, okay.
Morrissey
Yes, I did as a six-year-old and uh
Morrissey
I I was off even at that stage.
Presenter
Now we've gone this far, we may as well go further. What did you sing?
Morrissey
I sang the disc that you're about to play now, which was quite perverted of me if you listen to the lyrics. But I was six, which is no excuse.
Presenter
Okay.
Presenter
Let's hear the disc.
Speaker 4
I'll send away your mic for crying
Speaker 4
And I'll forsake all of my life
Speaker 4
Yes I'll be as true, it's true can be.
Speaker 4
If he'll come save me.
Speaker 4
Lovers of the past are leave behind.
Presenter
That was Marianne Faithful and Come and Stay With Me. Uh Morrissey, when did you become Morrissey then? You were Stephen with a V, and when were you Morrissey?
Morrissey
When the Smiths Began
Morrissey
That's the answer.
Presenter
Okay. It is unfortunate, I think, when you speak to somebody to to pull out quotes all the time, but but as I mentioned, you do give good quotes. You said in those teenage years you were constantly waiting for a bus that never came.
Presenter
That's a good one.
Morrissey
Why am I laughing? Yes, that's true. I think that's typical of teenage frustration, though.
Presenter
Yeah.
Morrissey
You you don't want whatever's on offer.
Morrissey
I knew I didn't want to be there. I knew I didn't want anything that I had.
Presenter
Right.
Morrissey
But I didn't really have the hope to believe that I would achieve.
Presenter
Because you didn't know there was nobody in your sphere who'd ever done anything like that in their fields.
Morrissey
And if no there wasn't anybody like me in
Morrissey
Pop music.
Morrissey
So there was no blueprint.
Presenter
And what about uh the little boy singing on the kitchen table? Did your mum say to you, Stephen, one day?
Presenter
Mark my words, not going to be in the charts.
Morrissey
Look at a field.
Morrissey
No, she marked me. Uh no, she didn't ever say that. She wasn't a stage mother, if that's what you mean. I wasn't dressed up and prepared.
Presenter
No, no, no, no, but but also to have encouraging parents is different. You don't necessarily have to have stage parents, but you can have parents who say, you know, you've got a talent there, boy.
Morrissey
Hmm. No, not really. I think I was just considered to be unbalanced, which helped.
Presenter
Helped what?
Morrissey
Me, greatly.
Presenter
In what respect?
Morrissey
In what respect? Because it simply confirmed everything I knew.
Presenter
Well, you're separateness, do you mean you're separate?
Morrissey
Yes, absolutely, absolutely. I didn't want to be a a lovely couple. I didn't want to grow up to be uh anything that I knew.
Morrissey
I wanted a completely different life.
Morrissey
and whatever that entailed
Presenter
What was it you saw that so repelled you?
Morrissey
Repulsed me.
Presenter
Yeah. What was it?
Morrissey
I think if it was fear above anything else, of uh normality.
Morrissey
I just didn't want the norm.
Morrissey
In any way.
Morrissey
And I didn't get it.
Morrissey
And I'm very glad.
Morrissey
I'm very, very glad indeed.
Presenter
How did you get on with your with your parents? Because the feelings that you've articulated about your teenage years are feelings that would be entirely familiar to a lot of people if they were to talk honestly about their teenage years.
Morrissey
I think my parents were very worried for a very long time. But then when you become successful it seems to authenticate any kind of insanity or madness, however people view it.
Presenter
And so pre-success, were were they railing against your separateness? Were they telling you to shape up and
Morrissey
Not necessarily.
Morrissey
But I think they were privately praying.
Presenter
Because of course get Catholic parents.
Presenter
Right.
Morrissey
Why do I laugh when you say Catholic? But yes.
Presenter
Why do you laugh?
Morrissey
I don't know, because your face looked a bit funny when you said it.
Presenter
That's just the way it looks. Um were you were you brought up in a religious household? Did you have to do it? It was very religious, yes.
Morrissey
It was very religious, yes, yes, it was very religious. Then we had a a couple of horrendous family deaths and everybody turned away from the church for a while.
Morrissey
But returned.
Presenter
Does it comfort you?
Morrissey
Nothing comforts me.
Presenter
Nothing.
Morrissey
Nothing I saw.
Morrissey
Nothing comforts me at all. I think the world is a mesmerizing mess. I think human beings are mesmerizing messes. And there we are. And the next song
Presenter
Yes, and on that note, which brings us quite seamlessly.
Morrissey
Which brings us quite seamlessly.
Morrissey
Brings us quite naturally to the Ramones.
Morrissey
How could it not?
Speaker 4
That's my favorite
Speaker 4
For your life, my favorite
Speaker 4
Well you alive, baby
Presenter
The Ramones and Loud Mouse.
Presenter
Why didn't you go to university? It would seem to me you would have been the ideal candidate. Somebody who didn't want what surrounded you, wanted something else, had a keen intellectual brain, loved poetry, was thoughtful.
Morrissey
Poetry was thoughtful. I was working class. We had no money. We lived in central Manchester in the late sixties, early seventies when I when I went to school and it was a it was a very barren time. Things didn't begin for me until I left school. Then I b began to become educated.
Morrissey
Which is
Morrissey
A bitterly sad story.
Presenter
Morrissey, your profound connection with the people who in the beginning were your fans, fans of the Smiths.
Presenter
It was this ability to articulate the truth of a working-class experience. People thought, here is somebody.
Presenter
Telling it as I've found it to be. W do you think that's about right?
Morrissey
Well, I often think this is just simply because most other people at the time were very, very, very drab.
Morrissey
So therefore anybody who had any interest in film and literature and so forth seemed to be
Morrissey
Messianic or something.
Presenter
You originally they were originally poems, were they not? The songs that you first wrote.
Morrissey
I always thought so. Yes, I always thought so. But the thing is, it's very difficult in pop music to find anybody, any musician, who has anything to say. So therefore I think in the very beginning, to go back to your question, I was seen as a bit potty and a bit loony because I had read books.
Speaker 1
Uh
Presenter
But I don't think you were seen by the people who were listening to you as potty. I mean, I like what you think. Well, no, I was one of them. I mean, you know, in 1983, I think it was. No, really. I remember.
Morrissey
That's what you think.
Morrissey
I think it was I remember. Maybe you were potting.
Presenter
Running through the school playground after seeing you on top of the pops, I think it was November 1983. I'm sure thousands of people have said this to you. I don't for a minute think this is an original story, but saying to my friends, Did you see that last night? People didn't think you people thought
Presenter
Really? Somebody's talking about me and my experience? That's what people thought.
Morrissey
Some
Morrissey
Which in itself was possible.
Presenter
So you were what were you twenty was it twenty two when the doorbell went?
Morrissey
Uh yes, yes, I was.
Presenter
At three eighty it was three eighty four Kings Road, the doorbell rang and it wa it was Johnny Marr at the door.
Morrissey
Yes, I believe so.
Presenter
And what did he say?
Morrissey
He said I'd come to pick up a parcel.
Morrissey
And you are that parcel.
Morrissey
He said hello and I said hello and I s he said can I come in? I said yes, of course And we got on absolutely famously. We were very similar in drive and ambition and it rocketed instantly.
Presenter
It was in it was instant.
Morrissey
It was instant. Yes, we we played a great deal, but we didn't struggle at all. It was very automatic. The press supported us instantly. There were massive reviews everywhere.
Morrissey
And uh life began at last.
Presenter
Do you remember that Top of the Pops performance?
Morrissey
Yes, I do, I do. And we were builders dismiss as in disregard.
Presenter
Right.
Morrissey
Which I thought was quite apt.
Presenter
Can you remind us of who was around in the charts at at that time?
Morrissey
I'd rather not.
Morrissey
For my own sake.
Morrissey
You'll just have to research that yourself.
Presenter
Okay, I will do.
Morrissey
Which brings us to Lou Reed in The Velvet Underground, of course, talking of the modern poet in modern music.
Presenter
Talking of
Morrissey
And listening to Lou Reed as a part of The Velvet Underground, we are really listening to
Morrissey
The WH Orton of the Modern World.
Morrissey
Once again not existing in print poetry, but in recorded noise, and this is the Black Angel's Death Song.
Speaker 1
Sacrificials remain, make it hard to forget where you come from, the stools of your eyes, serve to realize fame. Choose again.
Speaker 1
Rogan's refrain of the sacrilege recluse for the loss of a horse with the boughs and the tail of a rat.
Speaker 4
Tale of a rat.
Speaker 1
Come again.
Speaker 1
Choose to go
Presenter
The Velvet Underground and the Black Angel's Death Song. Your life then is is a sort of obsessive drive against normality, as you yourself have characterized it. Would does that mean that sometimes you're attracted to doing some s things that are rather conventional, but you still shy away from them? Or are you never naturally attracted to the conventions of life?
Morrissey
Uh I never am, no. No, no.
Presenter
No.
Morrissey
And by the conventions of life you really mean specifically what?
Presenter
Well, I suppose I
Morrissey
More like feeding the pigeons in the park.
Presenter
No, I I suppose I mean
Presenter
Well, the conventional things like settling down with somebody, like having children with somebody, that's
Morrissey
Yeah.
Morrissey
I'm waiting to explode, settling down, no I don't want to settle down until I'm uh carried out feet first.
Morrissey
I don't want to be any kind of a happy couple with a photograph on the television set. I find it quite embarrassing.
Morrissey
I'm happier with horses.
Presenter
Embarrassing that somebody would know you that well and get bored with you or what is
Morrissey
Yeah.
Morrissey
But specifically being in a frame on the television set.
Presenter
So you don't have to do that there.
Morrissey
Yes, you do. And you have to get involved with relatives and other people's great aunt Bessie's and things like that. And uh I I'd rather not. I'm fifty years old now and a pattern emerges and I accept that and I don't mind at all, really.
Presenter
Uh tell me about your fans. Th these um
Presenter
Obsessive wouldn't even really cover it. I mean, your fans are incredibly dedicated to the cult of Morrissey. Is that something that?
Presenter
I I d I I don't know, you seem to find a lot of things uncomfortable. Is that another thing you find uncomfortable?
Morrissey
No, not really. I I understand the reasons why. I think they they they feel I've been slighted generally and I'm disregarded and I'm overlooked and so forth and I think they're quite right. Nothing's ever easy. I I release a new single and it's
Morrissey
Very hit and miss whether anybody will play it and and most people don't play it.
Presenter
But something like throwing my arms around Paris got huge radio players. It was everywhere.
Morrissey
It was it was quite freakishly accepted.
Presenter
How do you reconcile any sort of acceptance then with the idea that you broadly disregard the popular music culture? I mean, if a radio station let's just pick one out of thin air, Radio Two says Morris is on the playlist, do you shudder slightly and wonder what you've done wrong?
Morrissey
Uh
Morrissey
No, I don't. I I I beam. I beam. Yes, I do. I I'm very, very pleased. Because I I want people to hear the music.
Morrissey
I don't want to be an island.
Morrissey
Except emotionally.
Presenter
Let's have some music. Tell me about your next track.
Morrissey
The next disc is by Klaus Nomi, and it's called a Nisbaum.
Morrissey
Which of course means
Presenter
The walnut tree.
Morrissey
You read that.
Presenter
I didn't, actually.
Speaker 4
Should I lose my forty hours?
Speaker 4
Looftis, Luft is brighter, electric electoral holes.
Presenter
Klaus Nomi and Schumann's Der Nusbahn, the Walnut Tree. I was reading it there, Morrissey. Separateness and this thing that you feel.
Presenter
You're you were a vegetarian before most people were a vegetarian. What what age were you when you became vegetarian?
Morrissey
Eleven years old.
Presenter
And uh and what was the c was there a catalyst for that? Was there a
Morrissey
Th there there was it was a BBC documentary on the abattoir, the workings of the abattoir, and I I couldn't quite believe that such a thing as the abattoir could exist, and obviously it continues to. And I could never be a part of a society that would condone the abattoir, and I still feel the same way.
Speaker 1
Yeah.
Presenter
Did you you must have talked to your mum mum and dad about that at the time?
Morrissey
My mother was vegetarian, and she doesn't consider anything to be inferior just because i it doesn't look like she does.
Presenter
Do you think that's something that is
Presenter
An important part of the heart of your separateness, then, the feeling that most people seem to subscribe to this thing that you find utterly abhorrent and unacceptable.
Morrissey
I think yes, most people do subscribe to it and and once I realized this I felt very, very, as you say, separate.
Presenter
Can I ask you, I mean, we touched there, that was very interesting that you say your mother was uh a vegetarian. What sort of person is your is your mother? We didn't know at all about it.
Morrissey
incredibly strict where food is concerned, and she will spend hours and hours rescuing any kind of animal or insect that's in distress.
Presenter
You said earlier, I mean, it was a sort of throwaway comment about your mum that you said, Oh, she marked me. I mean, was she was she a strict mother? Did you did you feel the back of her hand?
Morrissey
I was raised very firmly, not not roughly, but very firmly.
Morrissey
She was never a wishy-washy mother with a pinny on uh rolling out the pastry. She was never like that.
Presenter
Are you close?
Morrissey
Yes, she's an individual.
Morrissey
Which is very rare.
Presenter
How has she um dealt with your career and success?
Morrissey
She has a very balanced view.
Morrissey
So she remains aloof from it and
Presenter
But does she praise you? Does she tell you
Morrissey
Yeah.
Morrissey
Yes, she does, yes she does.
Morrissey
And she's never silly about it.
Morrissey
She's never silly, which is quite helpful.
Presenter
And what about your father? What sort of father was he when you were little?
Morrissey
He was quite happy and um very good looking and out there enjoying life and very athletic and uh so therefore when I hit my teens and I was very interested in things like the New York dolls, he thought I was uh a bit of a lunatic. So that was the great s separating point.
Presenter
Right. And so how did he handle your success? Because it came as you say, it came early and fast. He was very pleased.
Morrissey
He was very pleased. He was very pleased, yeah.
Presenter
Did he come to see you?
Morrissey
Yes, absolutely, yes. And he seems to enjoy it.
Presenter
Let's have some more music then, tell me what's next.
Morrissey
is Nico and it's her her very first single from I think 1965.
Morrissey
called I'm Not Saint.
Speaker 4
I think that I love you
Speaker 4
I'm not saying that I care if you love me.
Speaker 4
I'm not saying that I care, I'm not saying I'll be there when you want me.
Speaker 4
I can give my heart to you
Speaker 4
I'll tell you that I'll tell your name
Speaker 4
Under the sky.
Presenter
Nico and I'm not saying.
Presenter
So Morrissey, you you moved to LA in nineteen ninety eight, just over a decade ago. You were forty. Was that year was that a midlife crisis?
Morrissey
Yeah.
Morrissey
Yeah.
Morrissey
Yes, obviously. Why else would anybody go to Los Angeles?
Presenter
Um, you sold out the Hollywood Bowl faster than the Beatles. Why do you think they love you so much there?
Morrissey
I wouldn't question it too deeply, I just accept and I'm grateful.
Morrissey
Let's just leave it at that.
Presenter
Is is it true you've got a big Latino following that particular
Morrissey
It's very big, yes. It's very big. And I I think they're very taken by anything that has a a sweep of passion, a sweep of passion and urgency and rhodemontade, whatever that word is. Do you know what that word is?
Presenter
No, I don't.
Morrissey
Rodermontade.
Morrissey
No, nobody knows. Well, that's what I've got, anyway.
Presenter
Right. Well, we're all suitably impressed, whatever it is.
Presenter
And you talk about how difficult it is to exist in the the conventional pop music market. It must give you quite a lot of muscle though with the record companies if you sell tickets that fast and if they're if you have constituences who are as enthusiastic as they are.
Morrissey
Would you believe absolutely none? Does it not? No. I don't think they pay attention to anything like that.
Presenter
Is it not?
Morrissey
They are a strange breed of people.
Morrissey
But it just so happens that naturally I am
Morrissey
Quite separate. I'm not a celebrity. I'm not a part of anything.
Morrissey
And the music industry has never.
Morrissey
grabbed me in the way that the sea might grab a
Morrissey
A sailor
Presenter
Thank you for that analogy.
Morrissey
Am I talking rubbish now?
Presenter
I wouldn't dare say even if you were, but no, I don't think you are. Shall we have some more music?
Morrissey
That means I'm talking about the
Presenter
No, it absolutely doesn't. But we've got to get in the eight tracks on a very restricted amount of time.
Morrissey
Yeah.
Morrissey
Well, Kirsty.
Morrissey
Do you know your pretty face is going to hell?
Presenter
You're not the first person to say that.
Presenter
Uh
Speaker 4
Uh
Presenter
Uh
Speaker 4
Uh Yeah.
Speaker 4
Fire!
Speaker 4
Birthdays of the world.
Speaker 4
Oh, yeah.
Presenter
Iggy and the Stooges and Your Pretty Face is going to hell. I won't take it personally.
Morrissey
Well, did you know that at b the average modern funeral that that's a very popular tune? I had heard that.
Presenter
I had her.
Presenter
When I watched the young Morrissey, and I was I was fascinated like like so many people of my generation by the young Morrissey. Part of the fascination was in your discomfort with the world, the angles emotionally and often physically that poked out from you. When I meet you today you seem somebody at fifty.
Morrissey
And
Morrissey
Yeah.
Presenter
Entirely at home with themselves. You seem so.
Presenter
Well, I'm not going to use the word zen because it's ridiculously cheesy, but you seem.
Presenter
entirely unspiky and thoughtful.
Morrissey
Well, I think if you reach fifty and you're not at one with yourself, whatever that may be, then uh you you're in serious trouble.
Morrissey
Because you've had time to work things out.
Morrissey
And there isn't that much time left.
Presenter
You struggle with the proximity of death, about how little time we all have.
Morrissey
I'm fascinated by the brevity of life and how people use their time. Because we all know the axe will fall. It's inevitable, as you and I sitting here now, that the Tuesday will arrive when you, Kirsty, are not here. Nobody can reach you by telephone. Nobody can write to you, and nobody can email you. You just won't be here. So we all know this fact. And with that at the forefront of our mind in everything that we do, I find it fascinating how people spend their time.
Presenter
Are you happy with how you've spent your time then? Can you look at it to the point of fifty and think, yeah, time well spent.
Morrissey
I think so.
Morrissey
I think I was um i in a very awkward situation and I managed somehow to
Morrissey
Wiggle out.
Morrissey
And
Morrissey
Not much more can be asked of me.
Presenter
You mean by dint of your upbringing you're in an awkward situation?
Morrissey
Yes, yes, I I was.
Morrissey
I think the world is quite dark, and I think it is quite quite mad, and I think to be a human being is a is quite a task. Everybody dies screaming. They don't die laughing their heads off as far as I know.
Presenter
But as somebody who has chosen very particularly to fashion a life that that is different from most of us, a life that as you say most people might interpret as lonely, you absolutely do not see it that way. It is for you a a choice. Have you thought about being in control of your death? Have you thought about shuffling off this mortal coil at a time of your choosing?
Morrissey
Yeah.
Morrissey
Yes, I have. Yes, I have. And I I think self-destruction is honourable. I always thought it was. It's an act of great control.
Morrissey
And um I understand people who do it.
Presenter
You you can't really stand other people's company. I'm imagining you'll be very happy on your desert island, all by yourself.
Morrissey
I can't wait.
Presenter
Is that when you're happiest?
Morrissey
Yes, yes. Life is a series of fences, I find.
Presenter
Uh
Presenter
I'm never quite sure when you're joking. Are you serious about that?
Morrissey
Unfortunately, yes. Yes. God help me, I'm serious.
Presenter
I
Presenter
Tell me about your final track and tell me why you've you've chosen Motlahupo.
Morrissey
Uh this is Mot the Hubble from nineteen seventy two, a track which um made me feel quite charged and quite emotional and quite sad, and still does in its own way. It's called Sea Diver.
Speaker 4
I've tried so hard to leave you
Speaker 4
I tried to sleep.
Speaker 4
The Islesy Key.
Speaker 4
Oh, I wish I could escape this iron thing.
Speaker 4
Right on, my son
Presenter
That was Motlehoopel and Sea Diver. So, Morrissey, we come to the part of the programme where I'm going to give you the complete works of Shakespeare and the Bible. Do you want the Bible?
Morrissey
For what?
Presenter
You can use it for any purpose.
Morrissey
Well, it's a best-seller.
Presenter
It's yours then. And you take your own book too. What book are you going to take?
Morrissey
It would have to be the complete Oscar Wilde.
Presenter
Okay, that's yours. And a luxury too. You can have something on this island to make life more bearable.
Morrissey
Well, I would either take a bed, because I I like to go to bed, or I would take a bag of sleeping pills, because I might want to make a quick exit.
Presenter
Right?
Presenter
Okay. So which is it? You have to decide?
Morrissey
I would t really take the bed, I think, because the going to bed is the highlight of everybody's day. I like to be hidden and I like to sink. And I think we all love to go to bed and we love to go to sleep. It's the brother of death. It means we can just switch our brains off when we go to bed and forget about ourselves, hopefully.
Presenter
Okay. Soft mattress, eight hundred spread count sheets, lots of pillows, it's yours.
Morrissey
He understood.
Morrissey
So desert island or not, what's the point without a decent bed?
Presenter
Fair enough. And if you had to pick just one of the eight tracks that you've chosen today, which one would you pick?
Morrissey
Good grief. There has to be one question I can't answer.
Presenter
You're not allowed I won't let you out the studio. I may padlock the door, Quidditch answered.
Morrissey
I'm used to that. I would say track number one.
Presenter
Okay, that's the New York Dolls and there's going to be a showdown.
Morrissey
Yeah.
Presenter
Morrissey, thank you very much for letting us hear your desert island discs.
Morrissey
Young, thank you very much.
Presenter
You've been listening to a download from the BBC. You'll find more information on the Radio Four website bbc.co.uk slash Radio Four.
Presenter asks
What was your first moment of singing to an audience?
Perhaps I was ten. And fat. In a council house. Uh it's embarrassing and I would never really say this apart from the fact that we're on national radio and I don't have much choice, but I I would s I would stand on the table and sing. Yeah.
Presenter asks
What was it you saw [in normality] that so repelled you?
I think if it was fear above anything else, of uh normality. I just didn't want the norm. In any way. And I didn't get it. And I'm very glad. I'm very, very glad indeed.
Presenter asks
Why didn't you go to university?
I was working class. We had no money. We lived in central Manchester in the late sixties, early seventies when I when I went to school and it was a it was a very barren time. Things didn't begin for me until I left school. Then I b began to become educated.
Presenter asks
What sort of father was he when you were little?
He was quite happy and um very good looking and out there enjoying life and very athletic and uh so therefore when I hit my teens and I was very interested in things like the New York dolls, he thought I was uh a bit of a lunatic. So that was the great s separating point.
“I think I see see the poetry in everything. And I see that there's sadness in everything and I take that and I carry it with me and that's quite difficult.”
“Nothing comforts me at all. I think the world is a mesmerizing mess. I think human beings are mesmerizing messes.”
“I'm fascinated by the brevity of life and how people use their time. Because we all know the axe will fall.”
“I think self-destruction is honourable. I always thought it was. It's an act of great control.”