Jakarta Java Kini - Jakarta's City Magazine

Morrissey, that barbed enigma wrapped in a melancholic riddle, is ready to hit Jakarta

THE AMERICAN PIANO-PLAYING songstress Tori Amos, on one of her “Summer of Sin” bootleg CDs, tells the story behind the dedication of her rendition of Oasis’ “Don’t Look Back in Anger” to Morrissey. She had just walked off the set of a TV show only to find the English singer replying, “What the f*** do you know?” to her compliment of, “Hey, I really like your music.” Her raging rejoinder of, “Who are you trying to sell your records to in America, you small-d**ked f**khead,” certainly pulled no punches. But after three decades in the music business, Morrissey remains a polarising and often controversial figure.

Our melancholy antihero still resolutely refuses to address the subject of his sexuality and Morrissey’s sly and often coy public appearances have created a rather rarified celebrity aura around the man that seems to repel and attract in equal measure. Indeed, the miserable and yet effeminately Wildean look that he inspired still stalks the world’s high streets, many years on from the Thatcher’s Britain that The Smiths dissented from.

The media have amplified the noise around Mozza by becoming particularly adept at cherry picking the most contentious quotes from the man’s endless stream of blunt, unpredictable opinions. One infamous recent example of this came when he told The Guardian his views on a news story that discussed the fate of animals in Chinese circuses and zoos. “Did you see the thing on the news about their treatment of animals and animal welfare? Absolutely horrific. You can’t help but feel that the Chinese are a subspecies,” said the lifelong vegetarian and animal rights advocate, who also abandoned the stage at the Coachella festival in California in 2009 due to the smell of cooking meat.

So what is it about this legendary Mancunian poet and performer extraordinaire that enables him to still boast legions of devoted fans? Perhaps the first step to unravelling the unique Morrissey enigma is his past as a solitary teenager who became a British icon without compromising any of his personal beliefs. A poet possessed of a lyricism that combines heartbreaking romantic angst and social alienation with a coruscating, barbed wit that remains undimmed.