Paisley Skate's Flower Wimps Collection

The Paisley Skates “The Flower Wimps” Collection took inspiration from three Morrissey songs, “Big Mouth Strikes Again,”Big Mouth Strikes Again “You’re The One For Me, Fatty,” and “Vicar In A Tutu.” As you might imagine, the guys at Paisley are fans of The Smiths and Morrissey’s work as is Dave Carnie, the artist of the Big Mouth Strikes Again deck and writer of the zine that accompanies each Big Mouth board. The other two graphics were done by Sean Cliver. Each graphic, in perfect Paisley Skates tradition, is silkscreened one color at a time.

We were so struck by this board collection, that we decided to dig deeper into the lyrics and the graphics to give the proper respect each deserves.

Bigmouth Strikes Again lyrics start:

Sweetness, sweetness I was only joking, when I said

I'd like to smash every tooth in your head

Oh... sweetness, sweetness, I was only joking when I said

By rights you should be bludgeoned in your bed

The song goes on to make references to how “Joan of Arc felt/As the flames rose to her Roman nose/And her Walkman started to melt (oh)” backed by classic 80’s guitar melody. The lyrics are up for interpretation, but I’d be remiss if I were to try and explain the collage when the artist Dave Carnie has done so and in the zine included with the board.

You’re The One For Me Fatty lyrics go:

You're the one for me, fatty

You're the one I really, really love

And I will stay

Promise you'll say

If I'm in your way

You're the one for me, fatty

You're the one I really, really love

And I will stay

Promise you'll say

If I'm ever in your way

A-hey

Cliver’s interpretation of these lyrics is genius. Morrissey surely wasn’t talking about a joint, but the idea that he might be certainly gives the song new perspective. Leave it to Cliver to turn a melancholy love song into a poppy weed jam with a few strokes of a brush.

Vicar in a TuTu lyrics start:

I was minding my business

Lifting some lead off

The roof of the Holy Name church

It was worthwhile living a laughable life

To set my eyes on the blistering sight

Of a Vicar in a tutu

He's not strange

He just wants to live his life this way

As with most lyrics as straightforward as these, the meaning reveals itself upon reflection. The Vicar is just one man representing millions who lead a double life thanks to one we’ve deemed “normal.” Part of what makes Cliver’s work so lasting and invasive is his ability to make taboo subjects accessible or at the very least less fucked up. In the case of this graphic and with many of his graphics, Cliver throws a subject that’s typically talked about behind closed doors in your face with a feeling of celebration and joy.

Check out our entire Paisley Collection, and drop some comments below if I missed the point or if the graphics/song combination meant something else to you.