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This past week, Sinéad O’Connor died. Hers was a life of profound, often defiant convictions that put her at odds with mass culture. She was also, in so many ways, the definition of an artist. Now that she is gone, the world — much of which turned on her for her heroic stances or made sport of her mental illness and weight and refusal to conform to its expectations of her — is suddenly celebrating her. Morrissey, a singer-songwriter whose views I otherwise find appalling, addressed this cruel dissonance in a blog post on July 26th entitled “You Know I Couldn’t Last”. You can read it below.
What do you make of his words? What did Sinéad mean to you? How do we reconcile our vampiric addiction to artists’ suffering and the joy we take from their art?
“She had only so much ‘self’ to give. She was dropped by her label after selling 7 million albums for them. She became crazed, yes, but uninteresting, never. She had done nothing wrong. She had proud vulnerability … and there is a certain music industry hatred for singers who don’t ‘fit in’ (this I know only too well), and they are never praised until death - when, finally, they can’t answer back. The cruel playpen of fame gushes with praise for Sinead today … with the usual moronic labels of “icon” and “legend”. You praise her now ONLY because it is too late. You hadn’t the guts to support her when she was alive and she was looking for you. The press will label artists as pests because of what they withhold … and they would call Sinead sad, fat, shocking, insane … oh but not today! Music CEOs who had put on their most charming smile as they refused her for their roster are queuing-up to call her a “feminist icon”, and 15 minute celebrities and goblins from hell and record labels of artificially aroused diversity are squeezing onto Twitter to twitter their jibber-jabber … when it was YOU who talked Sinead into giving up … because she refused to be labelled, and she was degraded, as those few who move the world are always degraded. Why is ANYBODY surprised that Sinead O’Connor is dead? Who cared enough to save Judy Garland, Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse, Marilyn Monroe, Billie Holiday? Where do you go when death can be the best outcome? Was this music madness worth Sinead’s life? No, it wasn’t. She was a challenge, and she couldn’t be boxed-up, and she had the courage to speak when everyone else stayed safely silent. She was harassed simply for being herself. Her eyes finally closed in search of a soul she could call her own. As always, the lamestreamers miss the ringing point, and with locked jaws they return to the insultingly stupid “icon” and “legend” when last week words far more cruel and dismissive would have done. Tomorrow the fawning fops flip back to their online shitposts and their cosy Cancer Culture and their moral superiority and their obituaries of parroted vomit … all of which will catch you lying on days like today … when Sinead doesn’t need your sterile slop.”
Yes, it always makes me uncomfortable when the truthteller is such a generally terrible human being. He gets at the heart of a cultural problem, that of destroying artists -- in particular, female artists -- for sport. Then, of course, in Morrissey fashion, he goes off the rails at the end trying to tie what he's brought on himself to what happened to Sinéad.
He's a repugnant human being and I bristle at the fact that he conflates what he has brought on himself with his malignant views with what happened to Sinéad...but the sentiment and vitriol ring very true to me.
Sinéad on both her best and worst days could be blunt and mouthy to a degree that could sometimes leave me cringing even as I admired her for it... and yet, at no time have I ever doubted that she spoke from a deep sense of righteousness, rather than wanting to piss people off for the fun of it. I do believe that at her core, she was animated by a moral sense far beyond any rock-star charity posturing.
I’ve never felt any such two ways about Morrissey. He’s a monumental prick, he likes being a prick, and takes his greatest pleasure in being a prick to everyone he can at every opportunity. Morrissey can therefore fuck all the way off. Even when he’s right (as here) he’s wrong.🙄
That said, his point about fair-weather Sinéad fans is well taken. I’d still rather he’d STFU and let someone else make it.
I don't know how I missed this when you posted it, Derek. Apologies. I couldn't agree with you more. Especially this: "At no time have I ever doubted that she spoke from a deep sense of righteousness, rather than wanting to piss people off for the fun of it." And this: "That said, his point about fair-weather Sinéad fans is well taken. I’d still rather he’d STFU and let someone else make it." This thread's weekly life expectancy is about to expire, so I'll try to be better about not letting comments like yours slip through the cracks.
Wow- he hit the mark.* Good for saying what most of the industry is afraid to own up to.
*Even though I disagree with a lot- okay almost everything else- that he says.
Yes, it always makes me uncomfortable when the truthteller is such a generally terrible human being. He gets at the heart of a cultural problem, that of destroying artists -- in particular, female artists -- for sport. Then, of course, in Morrissey fashion, he goes off the rails at the end trying to tie what he's brought on himself to what happened to Sinéad.
I hadn't seen that quote - thank you for sharing it. I can't stand the author, but he nailed it here.
He's a repugnant human being and I bristle at the fact that he conflates what he has brought on himself with his malignant views with what happened to Sinéad...but the sentiment and vitriol ring very true to me.
Sinéad on both her best and worst days could be blunt and mouthy to a degree that could sometimes leave me cringing even as I admired her for it... and yet, at no time have I ever doubted that she spoke from a deep sense of righteousness, rather than wanting to piss people off for the fun of it. I do believe that at her core, she was animated by a moral sense far beyond any rock-star charity posturing.
I’ve never felt any such two ways about Morrissey. He’s a monumental prick, he likes being a prick, and takes his greatest pleasure in being a prick to everyone he can at every opportunity. Morrissey can therefore fuck all the way off. Even when he’s right (as here) he’s wrong.🙄
That said, his point about fair-weather Sinéad fans is well taken. I’d still rather he’d STFU and let someone else make it.
I don't know how I missed this when you posted it, Derek. Apologies. I couldn't agree with you more. Especially this: "At no time have I ever doubted that she spoke from a deep sense of righteousness, rather than wanting to piss people off for the fun of it." And this: "That said, his point about fair-weather Sinéad fans is well taken. I’d still rather he’d STFU and let someone else make it." This thread's weekly life expectancy is about to expire, so I'll try to be better about not letting comments like yours slip through the cracks.