mexico, i m like a sore thumb there. you know, my spanish is horrible, the way i dress, the way i talk, but there s just something about it. like morrissey really articulates that experience. in terms of an immigrant. he is irish. you know, he feels displaced. albert: this is the thing about being a mexican in the states. you re never white enough for this country, and you re never brown enough for mexico. oscar: there is a big issue about that, pocho, and all that. but i know that we are californians, inherently, and i am los angeles. i ve been dreaming of a time when to be english is not to be bainful to be standing by the flag not feeling shameful
healthy food can taste good. anthony: clean, healthier, lighter, locally sourced versions of mexican street classics are not exactly what d i d expected, and i sure as shit ain t making no rude cracks about vegan tacos, not to this man. though to be fair, danny trejo is like the nicest guy in the world. anthony: here s something i discovered that completely shocked and surprised me. so i have to ask you, are you a morrissey fan by any chance? danny: morrissey. anthony: like from this band the smiths, apparently it s like this british rock band of the late 80s that is apparently hugely popular in the chicano community. so you have not been touched by this danny: i m going to tell you something right now between me and you. i listen to no music that came after 1968. i m like a oldies guy, you know what i mean. anthony: i mean, your parents
anthony: there is a long and glorious tradition of chicano rock, garage and punk boiling away under and over the surface for years, and egregiously over overlooked. but what is it with the morrissey thing? what is it about morrissey? the irish singer via england that sang melancholic pathos-filled ballads that were a backdrop for a million post-breakups during the 80s that so speaks to the chicano soul? i asked musicians and concert promoters oscar arguello and albert gambea. oscar thrives in the rockabilly world while albert is all things punk. what s up with the morrissey thing? apparently in the chicano community morrissey is, like, huge. albert: it s a matter of the heart, man. anthony: why out of all the
albert: it s a matter of the heart, man. anthony: why out of all the bands in the world did morrissey and the smiths resonate in this community? oscar: there was a convergence of music and people that did not connect to what was being said. he connected with his lyrics and i think everything was going so pop and so mainstream and he was the alternative to that, and i think there is a lyrical element to his words that resonated with the latino community. anthony: and people said that his lyrics, his songs, resonated with traditional mariachi in that sense that oscar: right. anthony: the songs are so much about finding something beautiful or even funny about getting relentlessly [ bleep ] over and having shit go wrong, i mean. elisa: i think morrissey really speaks. you know, it s so odd, he s this white guy about displacement and this longing for a mythic home.
you know, because when i go to mexico, i m like a sore thumb there. you know, my spanish is horrible, the way i dress, the way i talk, but there s just something about it like morrissey really articulates that experience. in terms of an immigrant. he is irish. you know, he feels displaced. man wearing morrissey shirt: irish blood, english heart, this i m made of. there is no one on earth i m afraid of. albert: this is the thing about being a mexican in the states. you re never white enough for this country, and you re never brown enough for mexico. oscar: there is a big issue about that, pocho, and all that. but i know that we are californians, inherently, and i am los angeles.