New Waver’s Weblog

Sometimes people (my long-suffering family in particular) ask me why I decided to up and move to England. There are several reasons: Mostly, England had the kind of universities that would let me do the kind of self-directed research I wanted to do at the Masters level, rather than having to wait until I got into PhD research. So there’s that.

I think secretly I really just wanted to move to England to understand the Smiths better. I always enjoyed their music and videos in college, dancing with a certain charming gracelessness in my dorm room or at the club, throwing my hands up in the air and chanting during ‘Panic’ or trying to catch a cute club-goer’s eye while singing ‘Ask’. And yes, I realize the irony of using Morrissey to try and flirt with someone.

However, it wasn’t until I’d actually gone to the UK that I started to actually get what the Moz was actually on about in all his songs. The first time I went to Manchester I felt a sort of *click*. ‘Ooohh,’ I thought,’ so this is what he’s talking about!’ It’s a level of understanding you just can’t get in the sunny, swampy swelter of central Florida, no matter how many times you dance around to The Queen is Dead in your living room. Englishness is a hard quality to define but a very easy one to recognize (I know it when I see it, if you know what I mean), and Morrissey has it— and the Smiths had it in spades. I also understand the irony of the son of Irish immigrants epitomizing this ephemeral quality of ‘Englishness’ but there we are… perhaps he’s so good at it because he’s also at a bit of a remove from it, and can look at what it means from both inside and outside, skewering the foibles and engaging in all the good traits (whatever you consider those to be—I’m guessing dry humor and a love of tailoring). I don’t know. All I know is, I love the Smiths and Morrissey. And, having lived in Northern England for close to two years, I love them even more.

I’m not sure where this video is filmed. I think that’s the point. It could be any coastal town anywhere in Britain. They all look like that, even the one near where I live (though it isn’t nearly so lively). See? That’s something I never would have understood until I actually saw it with my own eyes.

‘Everyday is Like Sunday’

‘Panic’ (One of my top 10 club tunes, I just can’t stop grinning when I hear it. Also, I dj’ed at friends’ parties from time to time, and I always liked to end with this one. Heh.)

Oh! And while I’m thinking of it, here is the song that ‘Panic’’s main riff is based on:
(T. Rex, ‘Metal Guru’)

Mmm glam!