Manchester University Press
13 'Take me back to dear old Blighty'
Abstract
The most substantial and enduring controversy associated with The Smiths is perhaps the one that centres upon issues of national identity. This chapter examines the particular forms of national identity that are imagined in the work of The Smiths. The sentiments articulated in the work of The Smiths were often held to express a quintessential Englishness at a time of fundamental cultural change. Although The Smiths created their whole milieu as an antithesis to the lavishness of the early 1980s. The label 'Luddite Labour rock' alludes more to the direction of The Smiths' Englishness than to overtly political eighties artists like Billy Bragg. Englishness in pop has taken several directions since The Smiths. An important element of The Smiths' Englishness was its link to a childhood spent in Manchester in the 1960s and the 1970s.
Abstract
The most substantial and enduring controversy associated with The Smiths is perhaps the one that centres upon issues of national identity. This chapter examines the particular forms of national identity that are imagined in the work of The Smiths. The sentiments articulated in the work of The Smiths were often held to express a quintessential Englishness at a time of fundamental cultural change. Although The Smiths created their whole milieu as an antithesis to the lavishness of the early 1980s. The label 'Luddite Labour rock' alludes more to the direction of The Smiths' Englishness than to overtly political eighties artists like Billy Bragg. Englishness in pop has taken several directions since The Smiths. An important element of The Smiths' Englishness was its link to a childhood spent in Manchester in the 1960s and the 1970s.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- Notes on contributors vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- 1 'Why pamper life's complexities?' 1
- 2 'Has the world changed or have I changed?' 22
- 3 'Irish blood, English heart' 43
- 4 'Heaven knows we'll soon be dust' 65
- 5 'Sing me to sleep' 81
- 6 'A boy in the bush' 104
- 7 'This way and that way' 121
- 8 'I don't owe you anything' 135
- 9 'A double bed and a stalwart lover for sure' 156
- 10 Last night we dreamt that somebody loved us 179
- 11 'When we're in your scholarly room' 195
- 12 'So much to answer for' 205
- 13 'Take me back to dear old Blighty' 225
- 14 Guantánamo, here we come 241
- Index 256
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- Notes on contributors vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- 1 'Why pamper life's complexities?' 1
- 2 'Has the world changed or have I changed?' 22
- 3 'Irish blood, English heart' 43
- 4 'Heaven knows we'll soon be dust' 65
- 5 'Sing me to sleep' 81
- 6 'A boy in the bush' 104
- 7 'This way and that way' 121
- 8 'I don't owe you anything' 135
- 9 'A double bed and a stalwart lover for sure' 156
- 10 Last night we dreamt that somebody loved us 179
- 11 'When we're in your scholarly room' 195
- 12 'So much to answer for' 205
- 13 'Take me back to dear old Blighty' 225
- 14 Guantánamo, here we come 241
- Index 256
