Released August 21, 2006, 'Christian Dior' is on the B-side of Morrissey's 34th single, 'In The Future When All Is Well'. 'Christian Dior' was recorded at Forum Music Village in Rome in 2005 during the course of the recording sessions for the Ringleader Of The Tormentors album. Although this single wasn't physically released in the USA, the four songs from the European cd#1 and cd#2 were offered for download there. The song peaked at 17 on the UK Singles Chart.
'Christian Dior' is the 8th track on Morrissey's Swords compilation album (released October 2009).
Why Morrissey chose to write a song about a long-dead French fashion designer is not readily clear; however, it should be noted that at the time of the song's recording (2005) Christian Dior1 would have celebrated his 100th birthday had he lived. Given this context, it's likely that Morrissey may have come across something regarding Dior's life that spurred him artistically. Regardless of its genesis, the song is clearly a vehicle for Morrissey to reflect upon his own life as much as it is an elegiac remembrance of the life of Dior. Musically, the song is rather elegant, and one can discern a similarity between it and 'Come Back To Camden' from 2004's You Are The Quarry.
'Christian Dior' contains some memorable lines, such as " You wasted your life [...] making the poor rich smile" and "You could have run wild/On the backstreets of Lyon or Marseille/Reckless and legless and stoned/Impregnating women or kissing mad street boys from Napoli...". As already mentioned, the lyrics, which both lament Dior's life choices and raise the specter of "what could have been", are as much about Morrissey as they are of Dior. As Dior found fame and fortune working with fabric and dyes, aroma and clothes, Morrissey likewise found fame and fortune pursuing a career in music. Morrissey appears to question whether the cost of such a successful pursuit was worth it. Indeed, the public persona of a celebrity - the "image", the money, professional demands, and pursuit of ever greater success often subsumes the individual.
Substitute 'Morrissey' in place of 'Christian Dior' and ‘Compose’ in place of ‘design’ in the following lines, and this finding comes into startlingly clear focus:
"Christian Dior / Lionized maverick / Design (if you can) / The way to just be a man / To just be a man"
Lyrics to 'Christian Dior'
Christian Dior
Lionized maverick
Design (if you can)
The way to just be a man
To just be a man
You wasted your life
On aroma and clothes
Fabric and dyes
Christian Dior
You wasted your life
On grandeur and style
And making the poor rich smile
You could've run wild
On the backstreets of Lyon or Marseille
Reckless and legless and stoned
Impregnating women or kissing mad street boys from Napoli
Who couldn't even write their own name
Christian Dior
You wasted your life
Sensually stroking
The weaves of a sleeve
You could have run wild
On the backstreets of Lyon or Marseille
Reckless and legless and stoned
Impregnating women or kissing mad street boys from Napoli
Who couldn't even spell their own name
Christian Dior
Christian Dior
When you look at me
Failure is all that you see
I disciplined my days
Just like Christian Dior
I could've run loudly and proudly
All forcible entry and morally bankrupt
And never non-violent
And drawn to what scares me
And scared of what bores me
Years alone will never be returned
Christian Dior
Lionized maverick
Design (if you can)
The way to just be a man
To just be a man
Christian Dior
Christian Dior
Christian Dior
Christian Dior
Christian Ernest Dior was born January 1905 and was a French fashion designer who founded one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE. His fashion houses are known all around the world, having gained prominence "on five continents in only a decade." Dior's skills led to his employment and design for various fashion icons in attempts to preserve the fashion industry during World War II. Post-war, he founded and established the Dior fashion house, with his collection of the "New Look". In 1947, the collection debuted featuring rounded shoulders, a cinched waist, and a very full skirt. The New Look celebrated ultra-femininity and opulence in women's fashion. Throughout his lifetime, he won numerous awards for Best Costume Design. Dior died of a sudden heart attack while on vacation in Montecatini, Italy, on October 24, 1957 in the late afternoon while playing a game of cards. However, one of Dior's acquaintances, the Paris socialite Baron de Redé, wrote in his memoirs that contemporary rumor was that the heart attack had been caused by a strenuous sexual encounter. As of 2014 the exact circumstances of Dior's death remain undisclosed. He was survived by Jacques Benita, a North African singer three decades his junior, the last of a number of discreet male lovers. Upon his death in 1957, contemporary icons paid tribute to his life and work
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