Just who exactly is a Morrissey fan?
A Fan interview with Jenny
My name is Jenny, I live in the USA. I’m 40 years old. I’m a history teacher.
Why are you a loyal fan of Morrissey?
Morrissey is everything to me. Ever since I heard the first few notes of “Strangeways” when I was 16 years old, it was like a light went off inside of me, and I immediately knew that I was to become a lifelong devotee. I bought all the Smiths and Morrissey albums that day and the rest, as they say, is history.
What is it that resonates between you and him?
Strangely, the older I get and the older Morrissey gets, he seems to resonate with me on more and more levels. When I was 19, I became a vegetarian partly because of his influence. I also raised my child as a vegetarian and took him to his first Morrissey show at age 8. His lyrics, of course, have always meant the world to me, but I also strongly agree with his stance against group-think, his passion for free speech, his dedication to being an individual and freedom of thought, as well as his extreme distaste for cultural and moral relativity. I read the book “The Strange Death of Europe” by Douglass Murray as he suggested, as well as Douglass’s new book, and am now a big fan of Douglass as well. I also have listened to Anne Marie Waters debates/speeches and find her to be perfectly delightful, sane, reasonable, and moral. I believe strongly that cultural practices or religious beliefs that sanction the abuse of anyone, whether it’s women, gays, apostates, or animals, should be condemned and challenged in the strongest way possible. Criticizing a cruel or immoral ideology, religion, or cultural practice is not bigotry; it is a moral duty. People have rights, ideas don’t. Anyone who calls someone “racist” or “Islamophobe” for criticizing a barbaric ideology or practice is morally defunct and intellectually unsound. Morrissey is on the side of ex-Muslims and Muslim reformers who are fighting for the rights of women, gays, and apostates within Muslim societies. The cultural relativist woke are on the side of those Muslims who engage in mass grooming, raping, and honor killing, who shield Chinese wildlife farming from criticism because bruh racism, who perform female genital mutilation on little girls, who celebrate the torture of animals. I wish the media would get this straight, but they are too dishonest and irrational to figure this out.
How has he inspired you?
Well, my cat is named “Oscar” and my puppy is named “Maudlin”. I married a fellow raincoated lover. Books, reading, independent thought, anti-totalitarian, vegetarianism, question the media, question everything, find the truth, don’t be boring.
What is it about his songs that inspire you? Strengthen you? Entertain you?
To me, the music of Morrissey and The Smiths means more than anything. My husband and I actually have a loose plan of dual-euthanization at the end of our lives sitting on a cliff overlooking the ocean listening to “There is a Light” on repeat. “There is a light” was the first song we danced to (we went to a Morrissey night in Chicago on our second date). The lyrics of “Rubber Ring” also are very special to me, because when I first heard them I was that young teenager, but I never did forget the songs that saved my life. I’ve always stayed true to Morrissey. Speedway, Still Ill, Lost, Home is a Question Mark, and Late Night, Maudlin Street are probably the most special to me.
What cause has he inspired you to pursue?
I found my husband on OkCupid by searching “Morrissey” in the search box. He had many references to Morrissey lyrics cleverly intertwined into his profile. We have been happily together for 5 years now. Our entire house is basically a shrine to music, and 90% of it is Morrissey/Smiths memorabilia.
Do you have a story about when you met him?
I wish I could meet him! I’ve seen him play more than 20 times. One time in Chicago while waiting hours to be one of the first ones into the show, my son (who was 8) and I saw him come from the tour bus into the venue and he walked right past.
Do you have a story about how you discovered him?
My boyfriend when I was 16 was a huge fan (I had never heard Morrissey’s music), and when we were first dating, we were in the car and he put in the “Strangeways” CD. Within the first minute of “A Rush and a Push” my ears perked up, and I said, “what is this?” I immediately ordered all of his music that day through BMG Music catalogue. I have never looked back and never wavered in my dedication to him since then.
Have you got any tattoos that are inspired by him?
No, I’ve seriously considered it many times, but I have no tattoos at all.
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Just Who Exactly Is a Morrissey Fan?
Letters to Morrissey 