As many have said, this song is a great summation of the music biz. It is also a great summation of Morrissey and the Smiths recording careers, minus the death. I know some may say, 'well, reissues and repacking is in the hands of the record companies'. Well, even if Morrissy and Marr 'couldn't have said no' they could at least of spoken out against it right? In fact, the latest Morrissey release is a compilation of his recent b-sides, with no new material whatsover, which Morrissey is actively promoting. So does he want his fans to buy his singles or not? Or does he want them to re-purchase them all with a nifty new photograph of himself on front?
Paint a Vulgar Picture is a Wilde quote and also seems to refer to Wilde's novel the Portrait of Dorian Gray. The protagonist of that novel sells his soul to keep his youth and beauty and pledges to lead a life of sin and debauchery in return. A beautiful portrait that an artist has done of him will age instead and reflect the true state of Dorian's soul- which is as ugly as the sins he commits. The Dorian story is a very apt reference for the recording industry. When an artist is young, they seem to be more pure- in it for the art than the money (though not as true these days). The fans want to believe in this image. Its the commonly held stereotype that the more successful a person becomes in the recording industry, the more corrupt they inevitably become- due to wealth and the general environement of the music industry. The record companies themselves add a lot of stress and pressure to the artists, which can lead them to all sorts of bad choices. However, the record companies attempt to maintain an artist's pristine image so they will remain popular with the fans- so they hide the needles, stash bottles and cover up the embarrassing stories. The beautiful public image is maintained, while the artists private selves are secretly decaying. As an artist inevitably falls out of favor, retires, or dies, the recordings themselves eventually get corrupted through endless reissuing and repackaging- becoming little more than widgets for the companies to squeeze more $$ out of. And of course, the biographies and tell alls come out about the corrupted and morally bankrupt stars- leading the fans to either become horribly disillusioned or, as in the song, leaving the fan to sadly cling on to the artists previously manufactured image or their ideal of what the artist was when they began their career.
As many have said, this song is a great summation of the music biz. It is also a great summation of Morrissey and the Smiths recording careers, minus the death. I know some may say, 'well, reissues and repacking is in the hands of the record companies'. Well, even if Morrissy and Marr 'couldn't have said no' they could at least of spoken out against it right? In fact, the latest Morrissey release is a compilation of his recent b-sides, with no new material whatsover, which Morrissey is actively promoting. So does he want his fans to buy his singles or not? Or does he want them to re-purchase them all with a nifty new photograph of himself on front?
Paint a Vulgar Picture is a Wilde quote and also seems to refer to Wilde's novel the Portrait of Dorian Gray. The protagonist of that novel sells his soul to keep his youth and beauty and pledges to lead a life of sin and debauchery in return. A beautiful portrait that an artist has done of him will age instead and reflect the true state of Dorian's soul- which is as ugly as the sins he commits. The Dorian story is a very apt reference for the recording industry. When an artist is young, they seem to be more pure- in it for the art than the money (though not as true these days). The fans want to believe in this image. Its the commonly held stereotype that the more successful a person becomes in the recording industry, the more corrupt they inevitably become- due to wealth and the general environement of the music industry. The record companies themselves add a lot of stress and pressure to the artists, which can lead them to all sorts of bad choices. However, the record companies attempt to maintain an artist's pristine image so they will remain popular with the fans- so they hide the needles, stash bottles and cover up the embarrassing stories. The beautiful public image is maintained, while the artists private selves are secretly decaying. As an artist inevitably falls out of favor, retires, or dies, the recordings themselves eventually get corrupted through endless reissuing and repackaging- becoming little more than widgets for the companies to squeeze more $$ out of. And of course, the biographies and tell alls come out about the corrupted and morally bankrupt stars- leading the fans to either become horribly disillusioned or, as in the song, leaving the fan to sadly cling on to the artists previously manufactured image or their ideal of what the artist was when they began their career.