Thinking about life and death.

“It’s no secret that I would be on the next bus to his house.” — Morrissey, 1990, upon being asked ‘If Johnny phoned and asked to work with you again, what would you say? ‘ “We really were swept away by passion for what we were about to embark upon. I remember talking about the New York Dolls’ album cover photograph on the very first day we got together - should we sprawl all over each other in photos like they did? Without sounding too pretentious, the two of us were able to project onto each other and into the ether, everything in us that had been suppressed for years. There was a lot of shouting “yeah!” at each other, great, passionate agreement: “Yeah, that’s what I want to do too…” —Johnny Marr, 2004, reflecting upon the day he met Morrissey.

“He is painfully shy,” emphasises Johnny Marr. “You’ve got to understand that. We all look out for Morrissey. It’s a very brotherly feeling. When we first rehearsed, I’d have done anything for him. And as a person Morrissey is really capable of a truly loving relationship. Every day he’s so open, so romantic and sensitive to other people’s emotions.” – Johnny Marr, 1985

“He was different with me than he was with everybody else. I couldn’t have given my music to anybody - anybody else, and he appreciated it more, because he just fell in love with it, and that went on all the way through the band. In many ways he was my biggest fan really.” — Johnny Marr on Morrissey

“Obviously with Johnny, I feel very defensive about our relationship. Some things have to be shielded, but the dedication I feel to him is quite solid and impregnable.” – Morrissey.

“There’s a lot of our relationship in those songs. That’s not to say the words are about our relationship, but the feeling in the recordings and some of the songs are a product of our relationship because we are so wrapped up in each other.” — Johnny Marr on working with Morrissey

“The relationship between me and Morrissey is the best in the group, of the four of us. I still see him now. I called him last night. Last time I saw him was a couple of days before he went in to do his recent album. We let a bored media get the better of us, but there’s always been a certain telepathy between us even when we didn’t see each other. We played a game with the press and they played with us, but it’s not true life. No, we’re friends.” — Johnny Marr, 1993

Smash Hits: "What would you do if you could be invisible for a day?“ Johnny Marr: "I think I’d just follow Morrissey around and see what he gets up to when he disappears…”

“We actually got together a few times. We went for a walk in the country, we went out to dinner one night and later we just went for a long drive. It was really good to see each other away from any scenes. Like everyone, in private we’re quite different characters. I know the real Morrissey and he knows the real me. ”- —  Johnny Marr

“He appeared at a time when I was deeper than the depths, if you like. And he provided me with this massive energy boost. I could feel Johnny’s energy just seething inside of me.” - Morrissey. What do you miss most about working with Morrissey? “His sense of humour. We had a fairly unique sense of absurdity and northern-ness that was pretty exclusive, and I miss that. He would often laugh at something that wasn’t funny and would still be laughing about it three hours later. It was sometimes disconcerting, but lovely.” -Johnny Marr

‘There was a sense that we’d really found each other. We really admired each other and wanted to spend every minute of the day with each other.’– Johnny Marr, about meeting Morrissey.

“Only he and I know that something like a fight or a difference in lifestyles or court cases or who said what in the press about who, or what fans might say, is pretty small change compared to the connection we have. It’s very deep. In short, there’s a very big part of him that I understand. And he knows it.’– Johnny Marr.

“We were totally excited about where we were going to go, and we were falling over ourselves with ideas. Looking back on it now, it’s an almost even stranger set of circumstances, that the two talents fitted together like a hand in glove. There, I’ve said it. I don’t think I’m the only one who could imagine that song being about Morrissey and myself. It certainly did describe our relationship, and was born out of that new relationship.“ – Johnny Marr.

‘It got to the stage where I was so impressed and infatuated, that even if he couldn’t play, it really didn’t matter…’ - Morrissey

“So much has been made of that first meeting with Morrissey, but I suppose that looking back at it, it must have been the attraction of opposites. Like, he is a very tidy person and very organised and that was a bit of a shock to me, plus I had never seen so many books in the one room. I had certainly never met anyone like him and it still intrigues me why he was interested in JM. I’m still a little puzzled. Still a little confused. Because a lot about us is really very different. Like I am quite into rock ‘n’ roll and he has obviously nothing at all to do with it. I did say before that I think he needs a good humping and I really believe that. I tell him that about three times a week so you can see that there is a lot more humour in the relationship than everyone thinks. He is certainly the funniest person I know.” —Johnny Marr, 1985.

“The thing that brought us really close together is the essence of why Morrissey lives his life and why I live my life.Without the art of pop music and pop culture, life doesn’t make any sense. It was a pretty serious, deep need. It wasn’t just the need to escape our social situation, because underneath it all, one of the things that makes us the same is that we’re both incredibly sensitive. There was this burden with serious mental problems that were taken care of by records.” —Johnny Marr “I am shaken when I hear Johnny play guitar, because he is quite obviously gifted and almost unnaturally multi-talented. Since he shows an exact perspective on all things, I can’t help but wonder: What is he doing here with me?” - Morrissey (autobiography)