“Angel, Angel, Down We Go Together”
Morrissey — Angel, Angel Down We Go Together w/ lyrics (youtube.com)
“It was written with Johnny Marr in mind and it is the only song that I have written with him in mind, post Smiths. I saw him in the music industry being used and being pushed around and being manipulated and I felt I was in a situation and I thought, ‘Look at me, look at you — it’s the same, it’s a mess and this is as far as we will go’ which wasn’t quite true in the end but at that moment it felt pretty despairing for both, I felt despairing for both of us but I was wrong.” — Morrissey, 1992
I’m not sure why, when trying to decide what to write about today, that this particular song, by my beloved Smiths back in the day, came to my mind.
Perhaps it is because that, for such a long time, and after being such a long time (decades long) Smiths fan, that I completely stopped listening to anything remotely related to Morrissey because of his often deplorable public comments; it just was absolutely heartbreaking to me, and to many other Smiths fans (this coming from someone with ALL the music and posters/memorabilia). It felt like a certain death to me (and it was).
But, as is so often the case, with this New Year now officially upon us, I’ve been going back and reflecting on things that always gave me pleasure, and the Smiths and their songs…
