During my years at college, I suffered through lectures that seemed to never end about topics I could care less about. If only my university could have offered a lecture series and academic study about The Smiths. Well, this is actually happening at an academic conference in Manchester next week. According to BBC News, the symposium is titled Why Pamper Life’s Complexities, which will aim to “assess the band’s social, cultural, political and musical impact.”
Topics of the discussion will range from the influence of Morrissey’s lyrics on sexuality, race and class to fan cultures and musical aesthetics. Senior cultural studies lecturer at Anglia Polytechnic University in Cambridge said: “They provoke strong emotions, and are undoubtedly seen as unique, along with people like The Beatles and The Sex Pistols. It was obvious when they got up on stage that not just anybody could get up and ‘do it’, as there was definitely something exceptional and unique about the band that defied analysis and was notoriously difficult to pin down.”
The two-day analysis on The Smiths begins next week in the band’s hometown of Manchester. If only the scholars could find a way to reunite Morrissey and Johnny Marr. We can always dream.
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