Morrissey Thinks The Word "Indie" Has Been Bleached Of All Meaning
"The word 'indie' is meaningless now. It's so over-used that people think it simply means green hair."
—The always-quotable Morrissey has some things to say about the current state of pop music in an extended interview with Billboard; he calls Madonna "McDonna" and wishes she'd be more like Edith Piaf, declares that he'll never turn into Michael Bublé (whew), and offers up this musing on the state of the i-word. Of course, the meaning of "indie" in Britain is a bit more modern-rock-skewing than the Our Band Could Be Your Life-derived version of the term employed on this side of the Atlantic, but his point on the meaningless of the term stands. Not that it's going to stop it from being mis/used all over the place, and I think the button-down dudes in brotastic bands like the ones currently populating the upper reaches of "indie" would turn their noses up at the prospect of sporting green locks, but you know, it's always good to think about the words we're using when we're using them!
(Also, a note on Morrissey and green hair: 36 years ago, as the Smiths' Mike Joyce told the dearly departed Brit music rag Select in the '90s, Moz would sport green locks to school, although Andy Rourke is pretty sure that the green was unintentional: "I don't think he meant to dye it green," said Rourke. "Didn't he try and dye it blond or something, and the peroxide went wrong?" So maybe it's personal!)
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