I studied a couple of poems by Simon Armitage at school and I had no appreciation for them whatsoever. I couldn’t really understand them for a start and I never really digged poems about mother/son relationships. What I didn’t know about Armitage at the time was his undying love for Steven Patrick Morrissey and The Smiths. I have just re-read some of his poems and there is no evidence whatsoever of his ‘obsession’ with Morrissey – which is nice.
Armitage recently was lucky enough to get himself an interview with Morrissey that he published in The Guardian and I quite enjoyed reading it. So I thought I’d share:
And just so you know, Armitage bums Morrissey throughout the article. “It’s quickly apparent that Morrissey’s wit, articulacy and all-round smartness is always going to mark him out as an oddity in the music business.” I found some perfect evidence to back up that the music business is full of shit earlier; it is known as Kanye West’s Twitter page. I was (and still am I guess) quite a fan of Kanye West’s music but his Twitter page has really made him go down in my ratings. Not somebody who I would want to know in real life. I quite liked the way Morrissey came across in the interview though. It was a bit like how I imagined he would be – quick witted, patronizing and downright sarcastic. He does know some stuff though and likes to make it known what he feels passionately about – just have a listen to some of his lyrics.
Bitter, whingy, old man
Read further on in the article and you’ll realise that Morrissey, and he’s not alone on that respect, has become a whinging old man. He doesn’t care much for other artists, Alex Turner, the Royal family or the whole population of China – to which his views have caused quite an uproar. (I’ll get to that later..)
After his ‘offensive’ comments II reckon he must have lost interest in himself for a moment as he quickly turns the interview around and starts asking the poet questions and sounding genuinely interested. “When did you know you were a poet?” You don’t get that often with the likes of Brad Pitt and I guess Alex Turner to an extent these days; the fame got to him and now he’s an uptight arrogant bastard… well, someone had to say it. My recent outing to an Arctic Monkeys gig was enough evidence to prove he probably wasn’t even aware he was playing back in his home town. I at least expected maybe a special shout out, but no. Slightly bitter.
Anyway, Armitage replied to Morrissey’s inquisition with “Not until other people said I was.” which seemed a perfectly adequate and reasonable answer, I’d say that. But that isn’t really the answer. You’ve decided before then and just crave acceptance of it from other people and Morrissey agreed with me:“I think you discover you are a poet; someone doesn’t walk up to you, tap you on the shoulder and say, ‘Excuse me, you are a poet.”
I have always been curious about what Morrissey is exactly and where he gets his inspiration and say experience for his songs. He knows a lot of stuff but I’m not really sure where he experienced all of this stuff. A bit like Stephen Fry to an extent. Why is that chap so clever?
There have been previous allegations about him being celibate I think I can see his point: “You don’t need to be immersed to understand [a relationship]. And if you do take on a relationship you have to take on another person’s family and friends and it’s… really too much. I’d rather not. You find yourself working overtime at a factory to buy a present for a niece you can’t stand. That’s what happens when you become entangled with other people.” He does make being in a relationship sound a bit shit. Too much hassle. Puts you off a bit.
However all of that isn’t the reason he has found himself back into the news at the moment. That was just a mundane interview that only Guardian readers, fans of Armitage and Morrissey were likely to read. That won’t be the case now! I’ve got a feeling he knew what he was doing when he said it as well. Morrissey called the Chinese population ‘sub-species’ due to their cruelty to zoo and circus animals. So, the Guardian, along with every other newspaper, went right out there and dragged up every bad thing he has ever said just so they could fill an article and blow the whole thing out of proportion. The Times went as far as to call him a ‘racist bastard’.. just kidding. It was something along those lines though.
So, Big Mouth Strikes Again.
Armitage said: “In his view, if you treat an animal badly, you are less than human.” Right then Armitage, just ’cause you met him it doesn’t mean you have the right to act like you’re good mates. Morrissey said clearly what he meant – you just reiterated it because you must be clearly under the false impression the Guardian readers equate to the Sun readers. Shush.
Do they still eat cats and dogs?
Morrissey even then went into graphic detail in a statement he made afterwards: “If anyone has seen the horrific and unwatchable footage of the Chinese cat and dog trade – animals skinned alive – then they could not possibly argue in favour of China as a caring nation. There are no animal protection laws in China and this results in the worst animal abuse and cruelty on the planet. It is indefensible.” That is the sort of statement that will make people in Britain get the fuck up and do something about it. Forget child abuse in the UK, the British will care more about cruelty to animals in China now that Morrissey has had his say. And yes, they do still consume cats and dogs and various other weird animals.
Nobody wants to know about the cruelty to animals. Out of sight out of mind. That’s right people pretend it doesn’t happen. I don’t really have much of an opinion on it yet so this isn’t going to turn into a rant but I’m just stating I can see Morrissey’s point on the matter and he’s just doing it for attention, I’m sure.
However I will leave you with something that I do feel strongly about. It’s also related to China but I wouldn’t call the whole race sub-species but there is something sick and twisted about the people in this video depicting Chinese diners eating live fish.. [The video has been removed from The Times but I found another] [Please don't watch it if you're likely to be upset by it]
You watch. They’ll be an uproar on animal rights and cruelty sooner or later and I’ll be here writing an article saying I told you so..
Tags: Animals, Chinese, Circus, Cruelty, Fanta, Fish, Guardian, Morrissey, Simon Armitage, The Smiths
