Morrissey: The Pageant of His Bleeding Heart

by Gavin Hopps

Morrissey is arguably the greatest disturbance popular music has ever known. Even more than the choreographed carelessness of punk and the hyperbolic gestures of glam rock and the New Romantics, Morrissey's early bookish ineptitude, his celebration of the ordinary, and his subversive endorsement of celibacy, abstinence and rock 'n' roll revolutionized the world of British pop. As a solo artist, too, he consistently adopts the outsider's perspective and dares us to confront uncomfortable subjects. In his brilliant book, Gavin Hopps examines the work of this compelling performer, whose intelligence, humour, suffering and awkwardness have fascinated audiences around the world for the last 25 years.

Hopps traces the trajectory of Morrissey's career and outlines the contours and contradictions of the singer's elusive persona. The book illuminates Morrissey's coyness (how can he remain a mystery when he tells us too much?), his dramatized melancholy (surely more of a radical existential protest than the gimmick some believe it to be), and his complex attitudes towards loneliness and alienation, as well as his intriguing sense of the religious.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published June 15, 2007

Reviews

[Lawrence · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well... I've tried twice to slog my way through this book, and both time I eventually gave up. He takes a lot of the joy out of listening to Morrissey/Smiths songs with his half baked academic approach. Among his questionable assertions, he finds that the lyrics to Handsome Devil suggest a heterosexual orientation (p. 156), when it is pointedly one of the most overtly 'gay' lyrics in Morrissey's oeuvre. In my opinion, he laughably misinterprets the lyrics to The Headmaster Ritual (p. 186). He also spends a lot of time denigrating other books about Morrissey, and it comes off like he has several axes to grind, and often seems to be the main reason for writing this book.

I have many problems with Camille Paglia, but her analyses of artists such as Madonna are insightful, clever, and entertaining. Hopps, on the other hand, sucks the life out of his subject matter (the whole discussion of Morrissey's use of the word "no", as compared to the rock cliché "yeah, yeah, yeah", seems to be a grasping at straws that goes on for far too many pages), and there's very little enjoyment for the reader.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

dragged a bit in places but overall very enlightening: seemed to confirm/articulate things i knew on a subconscious/instinctual level. the depth of research is astounding

[Trevor · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting exposition

[Maccabee · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the moment he took his first faltering steps with pencil and pen to address the New Musical Express, Morrissey has deserved his very own book of literary criticism. But is this the book? Hopps admirably avoids the pitfalls of biography when examining the poetry of the lyrics. He also draws attention to the tropes of Morrisseyan language so often overlooked by the Mozketeers. (Highlight quote: "Morrissey's lyrics are a trap for the literalist.") His use of lacunae, his total evasion of pronouns are ably covered in "The Art of Coyness". Hopps must also be commended for his careful evaluation of Oscar Wilde's influence on Morrissey (hint: it's a little more complicated than camp/clever, folks). Hopps' chief triumph may be that he lays the groundwork to give Morrissey proper credit from appropriate channels. While it's clear Morrissey will never achieve Pop dominance of the Top 20, his lyrics ought to be studied alongside the finest poems of the 20th century.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

While an academic look at Morrissey's lyrics sounds necessary and appropriate in theory, it's execution serves to strip most of the fun from a very funny songwriter. Additionally, Hopps is quick to denegrate each critic who's tread this ground before him and his arrogance is tiring. He berates every critic who fails to see things he purports to find, though he either ignores or forgets to mention Morrissey's intense devotion to animal rights and its presence in his work. If you carefully comb your pompaudor prior to each Morrissey show you attend, this is probably worth taking a look at, but be prepared to be equally frustrated and enlightened by the experience.

[Diarmuid Hester · Rating 4 out of 5]

The very best critical appraisal of Morrissey's life and work available. Drawing on an extensive range of references, from Shelly and Coleridge, to Wilde, to Larkin, via Derrida, Zizek, Sontag and Eagleton, Hopps traces a number of Morrissey's modes of expression (the flowers, the irony, the misery, the camp, the religious, the violent) finding in them various modes of resistance calibrated to life in the postmodern world. Though distractingly replete with deconstructive epithets Hopps' book considers Morrissey with the care and attention deserving of one of 20th century music's most alluring enigmas.

[Matt Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Confession: I did not read this whole book. This never happens. I loved the idea of reading an in depth book about Morrissey. I didn't love how inaccessible most of this book was. Maybe inaccessible isn't the right word. If even half of what the author says about Morrissey is true, then Morrissey is on at least level pegging with Wilde and Shakespeare for shear genius. While I'm not totally convinced this isn't the case, I still think if Morrissey read this book he would say you're reading too much into things. I most likely am wrong.

On the positive I did enjoy some of this book, I think the author is at least as much in love with Morrissey as is necessary to write a book about him.

[James Haliburton]

Hopps takes an academic look at Morrissey's lyrics and eschews the usual references in favour of the less obvious - alongside Oscar Wilde he focusses more on the likes of Philip Larkin and Samuel Beckett. An academic read that avoids the literal interpretation of individual lyrics in favour of a holistic approach that leaves the accusations of racism, glorification of violence and sexual coyness looking weak. Just as it should be. Pop music treated seriosuly.

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scrupulously academic but never dull, this book made me so happy it set me off on a tear of Morrissey/Smiths-listening. Closer listening than I've done in years. Hopps' analysis of his lyrics and elusive persona is rigorous and well-informed. It situates Morrissey in the realm of literature, where he fits right in. It really pleased the hell out of me.

[l · Rating 4 out of 5]

l-oh-l. i kind of love this. this is like something i would write if i was slightly more batshit. it's by no means necessary, and there are so many places where you just roll your eyes, but it's interesting, and insightful (YES, really!) and and amusing enough to keep you reading.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting insight and deep-academic-analysis of the pop-singer Stephen Patrick Morrissey aka MOZZA. Made me think of him as a more subversive, radical artist, that the pin-up boy rockstar for rich private-school twats.

He's more like a classy Johnny Rotten than a David Bowie.

[Armand · Rating 3 out of 5]

Erudite, well-informed, stuffy and incredibly boring.