LOOK BOTH WAYS & BE CAREFUL THIS NEW YEAR's EVE & NEW YEAR: "Dial A Cliché" by Morrissey

Earlier this week I posted THE PERFECT COMMUTE PLAYLIST which included every one of the Romance languages that I am currently studying (French, Italian, Portuguese & Spanish) along with songs  by Madonna and Morrissey.


I have previously posted about Madonna several times, but I had to ponder what relevant message I had to offer about Morrissey.  He has always been a favorite of mine, whether as a solo act or as the lead singer for the outfit The Smiths.  I have been focusing on Morrissey for much of the past week.  Finally, this New Year's Eve I have come up with a message.


Morrissey sings a song called "Dial A ClichE" on his album VIVA HATE which I never really made sense of.  A clichE is a saying that has had great significance in the past, but has lost the force of its meaning do to repeated overuse.  Songs often use clichEs, often as part of the hook, which gets repeated over and over over the course of the song.  This repetition has the effect of making the clichE even more clichE.


The title of this post starts with "Look Both Ways" (before you cross the street), a clichE in itself.  I thought about this phrase as I was driving to meet a friend of mine this morning.  I was trying to drive carefully and was looking both ways.  Really I was looking all around.  I wonder why this sage piece of advice only warns us to look "both" ways.


In my experience people often fail to heed this warning and accidents happen. Yesterday when I was driving around Los Angeles I kept hearing tires screech.  I figured that people are preoccupied with the end of the year coming and are impatient to get where they are going.  They are not looking both ways or all ways for that matter.


Morrissey sings about a follower who blindly follows the call of a leader who might be just as blind, blurting out clichE after clichE.  Does the follower fall away by the wayside or does he just die he asks.  Danger lies ahead in the fog.


Haste makes waste.  How many times have you had an accident or angered someone or even hurt yourself when you were rushing around trying to save time.  A stitch in time saves nine.


Be careful as you celebrate the coming of the second decade of this millennium and hopefully you will be better off for it.

HAPPY SAFE HEALTHY PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!!  PEACE MT