Morrissey - Years of Refusal

I wonder if Steven Patrick Morrissey, the man synonomous with teenage angst, ever thought he be still around at 50, singing the same type of music that made him an idol of teenagers all over the world in the 80's. Morrissey was more than just a music idol, sure kids looked up to him, boys wanted to be like him, girls wanted to be with him ( or the other way round, i can't remember ) but he also had that connection with his audience, that on some level he was singing about the same things they were going through, like he'd come into their lives, taken a look at the confusion and pain a teenager goes through and written a song just for them, where the words were as personal to the listener as they were to Morrissey. Whilst i'm jumping the gun a bit at his half century stand ( he still has 7 more days of being in his 40's ) Morrissey has come a long way from being "a small fat child in a welfare house" and in fact may have come to the end of his career. There are many moments in this album when you feel like Morrissey is making peace with himself and his listeners and doing it in a far more lighthearted way than the darkness that surround the album 'Vauxhall and I' which many thought would be his last. From the first line of the opening track "i'm doing very well, i can block out the present and past now" to the tongue in cheek outro to 'all you need is me' where Morrissey sings "you don't like me but you love me either way you're wrong, you're gonna miss me when i'm gone" and finally his statement on the album's closer 'Im okay by myself' that "After all these years, i find i'm okay by myself, and i don't need you". There is definitely an air of acceptance, without any bitterness or regret and it's a good album to go out on if the signs are correct. The song "it's not your birthday anymore" is as good as any in Morrissey's solo career but i'm not even going to try and attempt any comparisons to previous work here as that should probably be saved for a later time, when i have, i don't know, 10 hours spare.