Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Any fans?
Strangeways, Here We Come



This one is one of my favorites. Not in a squeeeeee! way. It's just so familiar and comforting. It was my first Smiths album. I tried it out blindly. I used to do that when I belonged to the BMG music club. If you're not familiar with with Morrissey's vocal stylings his singing is often somewhat dissonant, seeming to have little relation to the music, but somehow he makes it work. I went on to buy all of the rest of their albums and continued to follow Morrissey's solo career. He once played Charlottesville and I really wanted to go, but I knew no other Morrissey fan and I wouldn't go alone.

Most albums that I have recall a certain period in my life. I got this one in the summer between my freshman and sophomore year in college. The same summer I met my first husband. You would think that association would spoil my enjoyment, but it doesn't. He never liked Morrissey and I continued to listen to the Smiths whether he liked it or not. It was one of the few ways I defied him. People who knew me then will tell you that I changed completely for him. I was spineless, compliant and not at all myself. I think I knew deep down that if I provided any real conflict he would leave me. Yes, I was that desperate for someone.

Listening to this album would be my "happy place." At one point my copy of it disappeared. So, on a shopping trip, with him, I bought another one. This was before I realized that my missing things, money, etc. were actually taken by him. Did I mention that he was a sociopath? Sigh.

Nineteen years later I still love this album. When I put it on, the words come right back to me. I still feel like I'm the only Morrissey fan I know, but I'm OK with that. Now that I can communicate with a wider world maybe I'll find a fellow fan.
Written at 7:46 PM by Highlandgal.
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