Johnny Marr announced his highly anticipated autobiograpy, Set Me Free, will be published November 3rd. In a posting on his official site, Marr explained the meaning behind the book's title:
"I wanted to convey a feeling of breaking free, that has been a constant throughout my life. A feeling that expresses itself as both escape and discovery. Transcendence. I found it through rock ‘n’ roll and art and a journey living both in the modern world."
Marr didn't elaborate on the finished product, but he has discussed the autobiography in interviews over the past year. Last March he told the BBC he was writing the book without the help of a journalist or ghost writer and it won't focus solely on his time with the Smiths:
"I want it to be my own voice, so I'm writing it...I'm not using a ghostwriter or journalist or anything like that, and I'm just relying on a very, very good memory"
"I got known for what I do by the time I was 19, 20, you know. And there's a lot of life after the Smiths, you know? Obviously I want remember the Smiths and I want to honor the Smiths, and I want to be honest about the Smiths, but there's been a lot of living in between then and now too, so I want to balance it. It's not all going to be super early 80's, you know."
Last July Marr was still working on the book. At that time he told the BBC his goal was to give fans an authentic and truthful representation of his life and experiences:
"If people already kind of like what I do, records and all of that, if by the end of the book they want to hang out with me, then that's the job done, really. I want to celebrate a lucky life...it's not going to be a Disney thing, I want to be straight-headed about things, I want it to be like my life, intense and interesting and a lot of joy in it, and some of the other stuff that has been more mysterious, I want to represent that properly. I want to cover the whole thing."
Marr's autobiography should be a most compelling read. Set Me Free arrives November 3rd. So far pre-order info has not been announced.
Published April 21st, 2016