Morrissey's Eternal Choir

mozmic_dancer

One of the Good Guys
I found this essay posted in the Radiohead feature on the main page. I thought it had some interesting comments about gender, so I am posting it here. The author is only known as boybefore xmas. His writing style reminds me of our old friend Armond White.

Enjoy.

_________________________

Morrissey's Eternal Choir
by boybeforexmas on Wednesday November 14 2007, @06:37AM

What is it about Morrissey that makes us want to sing? At his recent 5-night gig at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom, the audience sang along with nearly every song (save for the new singles), not only echoing those words that have meaning for them, but effectively rendering themselves as a passionate and universal chorus. The global harmonies that Morrissey has inspired and maintained from his audience for the last 25 years both during and outside of his concerts is perhaps one of the most distinctive features of his artistry. From The Smiths’ first album to his latest solo album, “Ringleader of the Tormentors,” Morrissey has managed to transform the pop audience’s role from that of domestic, languid consumers into compulsively faithful collaborators within the live arena- what one might refer to as Morrissey’s Glee Club. In addition, as I considered the audience/performer dynamics within an ecological perspective, the event offered a rich and complex litany of observable behavior.

As he sang the chorus to “Last of the Famous International Playboys” on Saturday, Morrissey intentionally paused to allow the audience to playfully complete the multi-syllabic “International” piece of the song’s irresistibly catchy refrain. Morrissey consistently reframes the performer/audience relationship as a means of reflecting the latter’s lyrical expertise of his songs as well as his love for them as listeners and sonic partners.

Now critics of the artist might view the participation that Morrissey elicits as a disingenuous ploy to manipulate his fans into believing that they are an integral aspect of the performance. But I would argue that Morrissey’s invitation to sing connotes his belief in a relational dynamic rather than one that is exclusive and hermetic. Although he always maintains his leadership as the front man, the concept of the shared chorus expresses a comfort to temporarily shift his power to the audience as well as the pleasure of its immediate return. Ultimately, the reciprocal design serves the function of integrating Morrissey with his audience, not only in terms of emotional connection but, more specifically, by the fact that their voices are heard.

It was the audiences’ knowledge that Morrissey was listening as well as their self-recognition as a chorus that reflected a role switch and, even if only momentarily, the co-authorship of the song. The singer was not merely placating or condescending his fans through this tactic. Rather, he intentionally and exactly defined the role and temporality of the part he wanted the audience to play as a functional element of his improvisational performances and his gender performativity. It is this enactment of gender that proves to be behaviorally fascinating not only in terms of Morrissey’s performance but in the specific behavior that the singer attracts from his audience.

In his song, “Sing Your Life,” Morrissey writes, “Sing your life/Just walk right up to the microphone and sing/All the things you love/All the things you loathe/Oh, sing your life.” The notions of joining him as a vocalist and taking the part of singer in one’s own life are a consistent thread throughout the artist’s oeuvre, a relatively unfamiliar concept within the realm of British pop that not only serves to set the stage for the emotional and spiritual fusion between the artist and the spectators but social conflicts between the fans as well.

While the age range of his audience was composed of nineteen to thirty-five year olds, there was a multiplicity, ambiguity and volatility of gender roles that spanned the core his fan base. Indeed, as the opening act was ending, two women between twenty and twenty-four years old began fighting over personal space as they both tried to make their way closer to the stage in anticipation of Morrissey’s arrival. One of the women was visibly drunk and she screamed out, “Get the f*** away from me! You’re too f***ing close!” In turn, the other woman yelled back, “What’s the matter with you, you drunk bitch?” Although they did not engage in a physical altercation, their verbal disagreement lasted for over ten minutes until they relocated. Both women were of small physical build and I found it surprising that their respective boyfriends took comfort in the observer role, smiling at each other, without any attempt to break up the fight.

Viewed under the lens of gender roles, the core of the women’s behavior seemed to be strictly located within the arena of competition. They were not only vying for the closest area to the desired object of the performance, but also battling for personal space. Furthermore, their resultant behavior bespoke a sustained violence and willfulness that society would not generally expect from “feminine,” petite women. Rather, their actions echoed a competitive spirit as to who could be more forceful or “masculinized” within the encounter, particularly within the context of their male partners’ idle social stance. It was within the temporality of this moment that the women’s socially prescribed gender roles as heterosexual female fans and girlfriends shifted into an unfixed, mutable space, where their behavior adopted the muscular, obstinate characteristics so often associated with heterosexual men when engaged in a physical or verbal conflict.

While I cannot fully assess the personalities of the two women given my brief observation, it is unlikely that they would have encountered each other in this manner outside of the concert’s environment. It is also possible that the women were asserting their personal definitions of womanhood to each other and to their partners as a means of (un)consciously debunking the Cartesian binaries of male/female and masculine /feminine. Butler (1999) discusses how the notion of gender is not a fixed ego-oriented identity but rather a repetitive, stylized performative act that finds resonance in the structure of its duration:
As in other ritual social dramas, the action of gender requires a performance that is repeated. This repetition is at once a reenactment and reeexperiencing of a set of meanings already socially established; and it is the mundane and ritualized form of their legitimation….
Gender ought not to be construed as a stable identity or locus of agency from which various acts follow; rather, gender is an identity tenuously constituted in time, instituted in an exterior space through a stylized repetition of acts. The effect of gender is produced through the stylization of the body and, hence, must be understood as the mundane way in which bodily gestures, movements, and styles of various kinds constitute the illusion of an abiding gendered self. This formulation moves the conception of gender off the ground of a substantial model of identity to tone that requires a conception of gender as a constituted social temporality. (pgs. 178-179)

Morrissey’s performance itself was riddled with fantastical and multifarious acts of gender performativity, wherein he would repeatedly play out ambiguous mannerisms, denoting his co-existence between the masculine and feminine. For example, he alternated between actions such as pounding and flashing his chest while drawing attention to the tulip petals he had connected to the crotch of his pants. After the encore, Morrissey confidently took off his shirt but covered up his chest as if to hide his breasts. Here, it appeared as if Morrissey was oscillating between the proud, confident exposure of the male physique and the shy, self-conscious demeanor of a woman who was ashamed of her body. From my perspective, the performer was astonishing in his management and freedom to shift between these seemingly naturalized acts of gender that rendered his live identity all the more elusive, seductive and intangible. Butler (1999) provides another particularly salient observation on this issue:

If gender attributes and acts, the various ways in which a body shows or produces its cultural signification, are performative, then there is no preexisting identity by which an act or attributes might be measured…Genders can be neither true nor false, neither real nor apparent, neither original nor derived. As credible bearers of those attributes, however, genders can also be rendered thoroughly and radically incredible. (pg. 180)

As an attentive listener and fully engaged participant, I reflected upon how identifying as a gay man has been expanded and shaped by fictive acts of gender~ especially those performed by Morrissey~ that derive from my authentic sense of identity as well as my presumptions about other people’s behaviors. Perhaps the garish, Argentinean ring I wear every day, my love of singing, covering Smiths and Morrissey songs, and my visual presentation~ indeed, all of the collective behaviors that inform my daily life and career pursuits~ are performative acts of gender that serve to politically and culturally negotiate my worldview and further enrich my transformative notions of self. Morrissey’s on-stage persona has not only functioned as an inimitably masterful reconstruction of sexuality but, more importantly, has effectively collapsed and reshaped Western society’s bifurcated notions of gender.

boybeforexmas -- Wednesday November 14 2007, @06:37AM (#284373)
(User #20310 Info)
 
orginal quote from mozmic dancer

While the age range of his audience was composed of nineteen to thirty-five year olds, there was a multiplicity, ambiguity and volatility of gender roles that spanned the core his fan base. Indeed, as the opening act was ending, two women between twenty and twenty-four years old began fighting over personal space as they both tried to make their way closer to the stage in anticipation of Morrissey’s arrival. One of the women was visibly drunk and she screamed out, “Get the f*** away from me! You’re too f***ing close!” In turn, the other woman yelled back, “What’s the matter with you, you drunk bitch?” Although they did not engage in a physical altercation, their verbal disagreement lasted for over ten minutes until they relocated. Both women were of small physical build and I found it surprising that their respective boyfriends took comfort in the observer role, smiling at each other, without any attempt to break up the fight.

Viewed under the lens of gender roles, the core of the women’s behavior seemed to be strictly located within the arena of competition. They were not only vying for the closest area to the desired object of the performance, but also battling for personal space. Furthermore, their resultant behavior bespoke a sustained violence and willfulness that society would not generally expect from “feminine,” petite women. Rather, their actions echoed a competitive spirit as to who could be more forceful or “masculinized” within the encounter, particularly within the context of their male partners’ idle social stance. It was within the temporality of this moment that the women’s socially prescribed gender roles as heterosexual female fans and girlfriends shifted into an unfixed, mutable space, where their behavior adopted the muscular, obstinate characteristics so often associated with heterosexual men when engaged in a physical or verbal conflict.

While I cannot fully assess the personalities of the two women given my brief observation, it is unlikely that they would have encountered each other in this manner outside of the concert’s environment. It is also possible that the women were asserting their personal definitions of womanhood to each other and to their partners as a means of (un)consciously debunking the Cartesian binaries of male/female and masculine /feminine.



love that scene:) "get away from me!" and the boyfriends next to them , amused...

thats indeed a very interesting read...can you give the direct link to that thread with that post?
 
The writer seems to have very fixed, old fashioned ideas on gender.

I don't think Morrissey hides his body sometimes because he is trying to act like a woman, or to redefine gender. I think he got bored of all that stuff about 20 years ago. I think he's just a bit embarrassed about being a bit chubby.
 
An insightful essay.
 
You're right. It's just about bad enough to be Armond White's. I think Armond White, however, would probably have been to a few other concerts-- like maybe a few hundred gigs by other artists-- where people sang along with the vocalist and (like, gasp) the vocalist shut up and let them do it. I would love to read this person's theories on crowd surfing, sign waving and cigarette lighters during power ballads-- does David have the bandwidth?
 
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The writer seems to have very fixed, old fashioned ideas on gender.

I don't think Morrissey hides his body sometimes because he is trying to act like a woman, or to redefine gender. I think he got bored of all that stuff about 20 years ago. I think he's just a bit embarrassed about being a bit chubby.

Oh Jones, how could anyone ever get bored of redefining gender.

I interpreted the author as illustrating the point, based on these egghead sources he cited, that Morrissey neither exclusively male or female, he just is.

Well, no shit. Aren't we all.
 
Wow! I couldn't disagree with this article more. Yes, Morrissey has a devoted and rabid fan base. However, isn't it pretty typical for an audience member to sing along with a performer whose music they love? Surely, you are not suggesting this is a "Morrissey-only" occurrence? It happens at concerts everyday all over the world. As for the performer actively engaging the audience for their participation, even Guns n' Roses back in the day did that with their cover of "Knocking' On Heavens Door." In fact, one could argue Morrissey might even be disappointed by the fans. During this past tour, how often has Morrissey handed the microphone to someone in the front row, and they have uttered some mindless gibberish. At the Phoenix show, he handed the microphone to a male in the front row and asked him how his day was. The man replied, "Well, my car broke down today." To which Morrissey could only muster, "Well, that's life, that's life," as he walked away.

"It was within the temporality of this moment that the women’s socially prescribed gender roles as heterosexual female fans and girlfriends shifted into an unfixed, mutable space, where their behavior adopted the muscular, obstinate characteristics so often associated with heterosexual men when engaged in a physical or verbal conflict."

Again, not in my experience. The past two shows I've attended, Portland, Oregon and Phoenix, Arizona I had the pleasure of standing next to a couple of "petite" young ladies. They were a pleasure to talk to, and if Vauxhall didn't have Mrs.. Vauxhall I'm sure we'd still be talking. My experience at the Portland show was of a petite woman who kept getting pushed around by the crowd, so I stepped in (all 5-11 of me) and tried to keep people off her so she could enjoy the show. The second show at Phoenix, the girls were great but in no way violent. They were just excited to see Morrissey. I think you're reading way to much into a concert, especially one in New York city. What people who live in the city aren't going to be opinionated or more vocal?

"Here, it appeared as if Morrissey was oscillating between the proud, confident exposure of the male physique and the shy, self-conscious demeanor of a woman who was ashamed of her body."

I think you bring your own biases into this article. Males can't have body image issues? We all don't want to look like Brad Pitt or, in this forum, Morrissey? Conversely, I know plenty of women who like themselves just they way they are. Why the hell do we need to change to accommodate what Madison Avenue tells me a beautiful woman is supposed to look like? I like what I like, and I think a lot of other people do to.
 
Wow! I couldn't disagree with this article more. Yes, Morrissey has a devoted and rabid fan base. However, isn't it pretty typical for an audience member to sing along with a performer whose music they love? Surely, you are not suggesting this is a "Morrissey-only" occurrence? It happens at concerts everyday all over the world. As for the performer actively engaging the audience for their participation, even Guns n' Roses back in the day did that with their cover of "Knocking' On Heavens Door." In fact, one could argue Morrissey might even be disappointed by the fans. During this past tour, how often has Morrissey handed the microphone to someone in the front row, and they have uttered some mindless gibberish. At the Phoenix show, he handed the microphone to a male in the front row and asked him how his day was. The man replied, "Well, my car broke down today." To which Morrissey could only muster, "Well, that's life, that's life," as he walked away.

"It was within the temporality of this moment that the women’s socially prescribed gender roles as heterosexual female fans and girlfriends shifted into an unfixed, mutable space, where their behavior adopted the muscular, obstinate characteristics so often associated with heterosexual men when engaged in a physical or verbal conflict."

Again, not in my experience. The past two shows I've attended, Portland, Oregon and Phoenix, Arizona I had the pleasure of standing next to a couple of "petite" young ladies. They were a pleasure to talk to, and if Vauxhall didn't have Mrs.. Vauxhall I'm sure we'd still be talking. My experience at the Portland show was of a petite woman who kept getting pushed around by the crowd, so I stepped in (all 5-11 of me) and tried to keep people off her so she could enjoy the show. The second show at Phoenix, the girls were great but in no way violent. They were just excited to see Morrissey. I think you're reading way to much into a concert, especially one in New York city. What people who live in the city aren't going to be opinionated or more vocal?

"Here, it appeared as if Morrissey was oscillating between the proud, confident exposure of the male physique and the shy, self-conscious demeanor of a woman who was ashamed of her body."

I think you bring your own biases into this article. Males can't have body image issues? We all don't want to look like Brad Pitt or, in this forum, Morrissey? Conversely, I know plenty of women who like themselves just they way they are. Why the hell do we need to change to accommodate what Madison Avenue tells me a beautiful woman is supposed to look like? I like what I like, and I think a lot of other people do to.

I heard about sixty or seventy thousand Depeche Mode fans singing along to "Everything Counts" at the Rose Bowl-- ironical performance of Marxist dialectics, a touch of logos effacement, jouissance, disruptions of epistimelogical modes, spontaneous creation of temporary semiologies, alternative sociological histories mapped by the ever-shifting bulge in Dave Gahan's jeans?

I think, in re-reading parts of it, that this was a parody. If it is a parody, I hereby revise my earlier post and say it was damn good.
 
...As an attentive listener and fully engaged participant, I reflected upon how identifying as a gay man has been expanded and shaped by fictive acts of gender~ especially those performed by Morrissey~ that derive from my authentic sense of identity as well as my presumptions about other people’s behaviors. Perhaps the garish, Argentinean ring I wear every day, my love of singing, covering Smiths and Morrissey songs, and my visual presentation~ indeed, all of the collective behaviors that inform my daily life and career pursuits~ are performative acts of gender that serve to politically and culturally negotiate my worldview and further enrich my transformative notions of self...

A gay man with an Argentinean ring who covers Smiths and Morrissey songs?

Who the hell is this? :p
 
I heard about sixty or seventy thousand Depeche Mode fans singing along to "Everything Counts" at the Rose Bowl-- ironical performance of Marxist dialectics, a touch of logos effacement, jouissance, disruptions of epistimelogical modes, spontaneous creation of temporary semiologies, alternative sociological histories mapped by the ever-shifting bulge in Dave Gahan's jeans?

I think, in re-reading parts of it, that this was a parody. If it is a parody, I hereby revise my earlier post and say it was damn good.

True. This jejune article, when read as a parody, suddenly becomes piss-your-pants funny. I give you:

"...As an attentive listener and fully engaged participant, I reflected upon how identifying as a gay man has been expanded and shaped by fictive acts of gender~ especially those performed by Morrissey~ that derive from my authentic sense of identity as well as my presumptions about other people’s behaviors. Perhaps the garish, Argentinean ring I wear every day, my love of singing, covering Smiths and Morrissey songs, and my visual presentation~ indeed, all of the collective behaviors that inform my daily life and career pursuits~ are performative acts of gender that serve to politically and culturally negotiate my worldview and further enrich my transformative notions of self..."

Worm, do me a favor. Make sure I never meet this person, okay?
 
I think it's someone who is currently fascinated by gender (maybe considering a sex change?) and has tried to impose those feelings and thoughts onto Morrissey quite clumsily.

I suppose we all do that to Morrissey to a certain extent.

I do agree that trying to say the male is confident while the female is shy is a false opposition. I think this individual's ideas on gender are pretty badly thought out. Has he never met any forceful women before? The poor little flower is in for a shock out in the big world. :D

edit: I agree, if it's a parody it's very clever.
 
Worm, do me a favor. Make sure I never meet this person, okay?

I can't make sure you'll never meet, but to equip you for a possible meeting I'm sure I can direct you to a fine retail outlet that can sell you-- to borrow the words of Woody Allen-- a large polo mallet.

The 'article' is all the more inspired for having been buried on the main page in a Radiohead-related thread. Something McSweeney's about that. I salute the author.

As Danny indicated, if it's real it's probably the work of a college freshman who pulled an all-nighter before a gender theory exam and in an attempt to blow off some steam he or she (he or she-- isn't that the point?) adapted some theories to the subject. In which I case I say: give yourself a break before you break down! (And, sadly, remembering my university days, congrats on the 'A' paper.)
 
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