Eden Bobonick Mrs. Perry English 10 Honors 20 January 2023 The Greater “The” Since the ‘80s, fans of alternative rock bands The Smiths and The Cure have fought tooth and nail over which of the two are superior to the other. Lead singers of both bands, Steven Morrissey and Robert Smith, have even denounced each other in various interviews. However, there is an obvious answer to which of the two bands and their singers are superior to one another. Backed up by multitudes of evidence, The Cure and lead singer Robert Smith clearly surpass the talent and morality of that of Morrissey and The Smiths. While The Smiths’ music promotes a dreary and dismal mood, music by The Cure incites, in most cases, a positive attitude full of joy and love. This …show more content…
Music becomes popular because it is well made. Music becomes popular because of its enjoyability. This accounts for The Cure’s significantly higher popularity compared to The Smiths. As seen on The Cure’s page of Spotify, the world’s most popular music streaming platform, The Cure’s top three songs total at 443,264,061, 526,672,756, and 328,198,764 streams (“The Cure”). These numbers are notably higher than those of The Smiths—Spotify reports that, as of January 30, 2023, The Smiths’ top three songs have a total of 371,969,666, 324,626,968, and 187,448,384 streams (“The Smiths”). The significant difference in the number of streams these songs have exemplifies the disparity in quality and enjoyability of the two bands’ music. According to Spotify, The Cure also tops The Smiths in number of monthly listeners; The Cure has 14,112,152, while The Smiths have only 10,543,243 (Spotify). These statistics serve as yet another example of The Smiths’ inferiority to The …show more content…
On multiple occasions, Morrissey has spoken out against racism and bigotry. As seen in the article “Everything I’ve Ever Said Morrissey” from Times Magazine, Morrissey proposes “I abhor racism and oppression or cruelty of any kind.” Speaking out against prevalent issues such as these, Morrissey overtly presents himself to fans worldwide as a rational, morally straight individual. It seems as if, as stated by New Statesman writer Dorian Lynskey, someone who “[would] adamantly (and litigiously) deny [his racism]” would reflect those ideals through his actions. However, along with having written vastly worse music than The Cure’s Robert Smith, Morrissey has proved himself many times as a morally flawed individual. Lynskey reports that “Morrissey’s opinions on race and immigration have been troubling fans since at least the early Nineties.” When discussing certain aspects of Chinese culture, Morrissey announces to an interviewer “you can’t help but feel that the Chinese are a subspecies” (“Everything I’ve ever said Morrissey”). While some fans of Morrissey and The Smiths might blindly ignore the artist’s antagonistic comments, this statement from Morrissey, along with many others, is undeniably racist. Morrissey has also presented himself as a white supremacist. In an attempt to defend himself against allegations of such, Morrissey contends that he is not racist because “everyone ultimately