Not only this song--but all over the SongMeanings.net entries for the Smiths and Morrissey--we find fans seizing upon a single lyric, or a brief snippet from an interview--proclaimed as disconfirming evidence, i.e. "Morrissey is not gay."
One is reminded of the familiar line by Emerson re: consistency.
Immediately upon coming to public attention, listeners and critics correctly identified the Smiths as something new: the expression of a gay sensibility in music, in a manner far more outspoken--and (usually) less concealed behind layers of euphemism or hidden meanings--than had ever been heard before. Not the first to tread this ground, but possessing a candor previously unseen.
Following this initial wave of publicity and controversy, Morrissey gave interviews in which he repeatedly described himself as "celibate," seemingly addressing the issue of sexual orientation though in fact dodging it. Sometimes he added an explicit rejection of the "gay" label.
I'll skim across the press furor over this particular song since it's been well documented, such as in Rogan's biography. A book Morrissey despises: presumably, he didn't appreciate being portrayed as petty, vindictive...and also how it revealed himself as having carefully cultivated--or fabricated--every aspect of his life for maximum media impact. Not that the latter should surprise anyone; Morrissey alluded to this himself, in the lyrics of "Accept Yourself": "I sat in my room and I drew up a plan."
Yet he didn't sue, despite the UK's libel laws which strongly favor the plaintiff. Decide for yourself whether anything can be concluded from the fact.
Returning to the lyrics of "Handsome Devil", we're presented with a scenario which, on the whole, seems to describe male-to-male desire and (hoped-for) assignations. How then to interpret such ambiguous or seemingly contradictory elements as the reference to "mammary glands"?
Misdirection.
From Morrissey's interviews we may conclude he feared being pigeonholed as a "gay musician." But prior to the emergence of Stephin Merritt's Magnetic Fields, it's difficult to think of anyone whose songwriting and public persona more visibly embraced a queer identity.
Yes, you can cite this or that lyric--or line from an interview--which seems to contradict my assertion. To lean upon such slight "evidence" is to miss the forest for the trees.
To be fair, I should say Morrissey has every right to self-identify in any way he chooses. I was livid when a certain clique of gay activists outed Bob Mould, with the justification that Bob had an "obligation" to be a role model for young gay men. Surely they too went through a time in their life when they weren't yet ready to tell the world. They understood the importance of privacy: yet denied it to someone else, to score political points.
Having mentioned that, I fear I'll be interpreted as having indicated that Morrissey is gay but in the closet. More likely he (like Mould, before he was forced "out") doesn't regard himself as part of the gay community, and has no desire to join it. Perhaps because he feels he doesn't fit in anywhere: not with society and its constricting norms, nor with (a subgroup of) outcasts. I've been told "You don't look gay," and sometimes want to snap back, "What does a gay person look like?"
Nevertheless if you look at Morrissey's work as a whole, its themes--even the way he speaks and dresses and otherwise presents himself to the world--it's difficult not to conclude he's queer as a three-dollar bill.
"All men have secrets and here is mine..."
"I am human and I need to be loved just like everybody else does."
"He killed a policeman when he was thirteen, and somehow that really impressed me." (Is it any wonder the Smiths signed to indie label Rough Trade?)
"Keats and Yeats are on your side, but Wilde is on mine."
"William, it was really nothing; it was your eyes. How can you stay with a fat girl who'll say, 'Would you like to marry me?'"
"This man said it's gruesome that someone so handsome should care."
"...the rocks below say, 'Throw your skinny body down, son."
AND
"Deep in the cell of my heart I will feel so glad to go...There is another world; there is a better world...there must be." (Leading cause of death among LGBTQ teens and young adults: suicide.)
"I'm not the man you think I am...Nature played this trick on me...She's too rough and I'm too delicate."
"If the day came when I felt a natural emotion..."
"When you're tied to your mother's apron, no one talks about castration."
"You can pin and mount me like a butterfly."
"How can they see the love in our eyes, and still they don't believe us?"
"He's not strange. He just wants to live his life this way."
Not only this song--but all over the SongMeanings.net entries for the Smiths and Morrissey--we find fans seizing upon a single lyric, or a brief snippet from an interview--proclaimed as disconfirming evidence, i.e. "Morrissey is not gay."
One is reminded of the familiar line by Emerson re: consistency.
Immediately upon coming to public attention, listeners and critics correctly identified the Smiths as something new: the expression of a gay sensibility in music, in a manner far more outspoken--and (usually) less concealed behind layers of euphemism or hidden meanings--than had ever been heard before. Not the first to tread this ground, but possessing a candor previously unseen.
Following this initial wave of publicity and controversy, Morrissey gave interviews in which he repeatedly described himself as "celibate," seemingly addressing the issue of sexual orientation though in fact dodging it. Sometimes he added an explicit rejection of the "gay" label.
I'll skim across the press furor over this particular song since it's been well documented, such as in Rogan's biography. A book Morrissey despises: presumably, he didn't appreciate being portrayed as petty, vindictive...and also how it revealed himself as having carefully cultivated--or fabricated--every aspect of his life for maximum media impact. Not that the latter should surprise anyone; Morrissey alluded to this himself, in the lyrics of "Accept Yourself": "I sat in my room and I drew up a plan."
Yet he didn't sue, despite the UK's libel laws which strongly favor the plaintiff. Decide for yourself whether anything can be concluded from the fact.
Returning to the lyrics of "Handsome Devil", we're presented with a scenario which, on the whole, seems to describe male-to-male desire and (hoped-for) assignations. How then to interpret such ambiguous or seemingly contradictory elements as the reference to "mammary glands"?
Misdirection.
From Morrissey's interviews we may conclude he feared being pigeonholed as a "gay musician." But prior to the emergence of Stephin Merritt's Magnetic Fields, it's difficult to think of anyone whose songwriting and public persona more visibly embraced a queer identity.
Yes, you can cite this or that lyric--or line from an interview--which seems to contradict my assertion. To lean upon such slight "evidence" is to miss the forest for the trees.
To be fair, I should say Morrissey has every right to self-identify in any way he chooses. I was livid when a certain clique of gay activists outed Bob Mould, with the justification that Bob had an "obligation" to be a role model for young gay men. Surely they too went through a time in their life when they weren't yet ready to tell the world. They understood the importance of privacy: yet denied it to someone else, to score political points.
Having mentioned that, I fear I'll be interpreted as having indicated that Morrissey is gay but in the closet. More likely he (like Mould, before he was forced "out") doesn't regard himself as part of the gay community, and has no desire to join it. Perhaps because he feels he doesn't fit in anywhere: not with society and its constricting norms, nor with (a subgroup of) outcasts. I've been told "You don't look gay," and sometimes want to snap back, "What does a gay person look like?"
Nevertheless if you look at Morrissey's work as a whole, its themes--even the way he speaks and dresses and otherwise presents himself to the world--it's difficult not to conclude he's queer as a three-dollar bill.
"All men have secrets and here is mine..."
"I am human and I need to be loved just like everybody else does."
"He killed a policeman when he was thirteen, and somehow that really impressed me." (Is it any wonder the Smiths signed to indie label Rough Trade?)
"Keats and Yeats are on your side, but Wilde is on mine."
"William, it was really nothing; it was your eyes. How can you stay with a fat girl who'll say, 'Would you like to marry me?'"
"This man said it's gruesome that someone so handsome should care."
"...the rocks below say, 'Throw your skinny body down, son." AND "Deep in the cell of my heart I will feel so glad to go...There is another world; there is a better world...there must be." (Leading cause of death among LGBTQ teens and young adults: suicide.)
"I'm not the man you think I am...Nature played this trick on me...She's too rough and I'm too delicate."
"If the day came when I felt a natural emotion..."
"When you're tied to your mother's apron, no one talks about castration."
"You can pin and mount me like a butterfly."
"How can they see the love in our eyes, and still they don't believe us?"
"He's not strange. He just wants to live his life this way."