Pop music is nostalgic in its bones – it is part of Morrissey's gift always to have known this – and fans who adhere to its magic are in love with something that was passing as soon as it was made. True fans live in exile: that is their nature, their glory and their tragedy. People who love Elvis actually love a time when it was possible to be defined by your love of Elvis; people who continue to admire The Undertones want to believe they recognise an essence that defies the present. That is the meaning of nostalgia, and pop music carries it better than books. John Peel, the Radio One DJ, said recently that he can't hear The Undertones' song 'Teenage Kicks' without bursting into tears. Every fan knows instantly what he means, for every fan must live an awkward life, forever strung between former loves and current preoccupations, dreading the moment when he goes to Curry's and buys a karaoke machine.
Cartwheels over Broken Glass”, Reviews of two books on Morrissey, London Review of Books, March 3, 2004
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