Morrissey has a long history of accusations of “racism”, from the questionable lyrics of his 1980s song Bengali in Platforms, to complaints about Britain opening “the floodgates” to immigrants, to his comments about the Chinese being a “subspecies” (which, in my opinion at least, wasn’t as bad as it sounds when considering the context in which he made that statement) and, frankly, a whole lot more. Historically, it’s been easy Morrissey fans like myself to explain away these outbursts and to distance the art from the artist, but things took a far darker turn recently when he started actively promoting the far-right political party, For Britain. It was one thing when he was saying nice things about Nigel Farage and supporting Brexit (I don’t agree with these positions, but I’d never decry someone for holding them), but another thing entirely for him to actively promote a legitimate far-right party, proudly displaying their symbol on stage and being thanked by their leader in a public video. It’s depressing to see him alienate his fans and tarnish his reputation like this.
Yet I also feel a tinge of satisfaction that Morrissey is continuing to be so utterly Morrissey after all these years. In the early-2000s, when every new indie band in the UK and US wore their Morrissey/Smiths inspiration as a badge of honour, it was clear that Morrissey was being groomed to become the next rock & roll “elder statesman”, like Paul McCartney. He could be winning countless accolades and advertising butter on British television right now. But instead, he’s still pissing people off and representing the political views of working-class Manchester, just like he was when he sang against Thatcher in the '80s and Tony Blair (the man who betrayed the English working class and turned them away from Labour to the right) in the early-2000s.
Anybody else following this unfolding mess with interest and despair like I am?
I don’t listen to Morrissey anymore. It’s partly because I grew out of him, partly because I haven’t enjoyed one of his new albums since 2006, and also partly because his political views have tainted him. Don’t get me wrong, I never made a conscious decision to stop liking his music because of those views and I would never do that. But we have to remember, like I mentioned above, that there’s a difference between appreciating Nigel Farage/voting to leave the EU and promoting an actual far-right political party.
I hate it when people call Trump and Farage “fascists”, because it diminishes the meaning of the word, but For Britain are basically just that with a friendlier face. Most people would agree that appreciating music by artists who openly support legitimate fascism is, at least, distasteful, right?
If we’re limiting this to appreciating music then there are a large number of musicians who by today’s standards would be paedophiles. Is a pedo worse than a fascist? I think so.
However, I’m not going to stop listening to Led Zep, Bowie, Presley…
Bowie had his far right moments, too. As did Clapton.
Bowie’s “far right moments” were produced by his research into, and eventual obsession with, mythology and esotericism, which is a phase I also went through, so I can somewhat sympathise. He also apologised for it. And I don’t think he actively promoted a far-right political party in his shows (that I’m aware of).
Which leads me to the point about musicians who might be considered pedophiles by today’s standards. Yes, engaging pedophilia is objectively worse than supporting the legitimate far right. But none of those musicians promoted pedophilia the way Morrissey actively promotes a far-right political party. The comparison would be if Elvis or Michael Jackson promoted the Pedophile Information Exchange (PIE) during their concerts and interviews. Morrissey does promote the legitimate far-right in his shows and interviews.
It was a comment he made while discussing a documentary about a particularly horrific form of animal abuse (I think it was eating fish while they’re still alive) that takes place in China. He was clearly referring to the people who engage in that practice and the politicians who allow it to continue. I’m not justifying what he said - I’m just saying that within context it isn’t as bad as what many of the newspaper headlines at that time made it sound like.
OK, so promoting a far right party is the line in the sand.
I think you’re over-thinking this. Many musicians, artists, writers were and are tossers. It happens, but it has no impact on the art (unless the art itself supports those views and even then I don’t think I’d ignore it if it were good enough).
I am skeptical when anyone (especially the media) names someone else far right, which seems to apply to people who are anything from liberal to white supremacists. After a quick skimming of her WP article, the best evidence that Waters is racist is that she used to be in Labour (though being a lesbian feminist is often an indicator as well).
Morrissey was/is famous partly for being a bit … eccentric. I’m not familiar with this particular development (I was never much into The Smith’s brand of emo navel-gazing), but I’d put this in the same category as Patrick Moore’s climate-change denialism or Linus Pauling’s obsession with vitamin C: clever, talented guys whose brains have let them down in old age.
I find the modern rise of veganism/vegetarianism quite worrying. It absolutely does have overtones of authoritarianism to it, in the sense that we’re all being told that if we eat meat we’re destroying the planet ergo we’re horrible people. The science (and the ethics) is a bit subtler than that, but the politicians have swallowed the Ladybird Books version and incorporated it into their policies.
In the US, when the left was against immigration, they were champions for the middle class while those greedy pro-immigration rightys were stooges of big business. Now that the left is for immigration they are empathetic humanitarians, and the right is against immigration so they are racists.
In the '80s, Morrissey’s music was reflective of the anti-Thatcher sentiments of the northern English working class. Johnny Marr has said that The Smiths “were a left-wing band”. During the 1990s, when Blair moved Labour away from its working class roots, much of the working class abandoned Labour and became politically disillusioned until UKIP started gaining momentum. This feeling was reflected in some of the lyrics from Morrissey’s “comeback era” in the early-2000s, just like the current immigration and Brexit-centred mood of the former traditional Labour supporters is reflected in Morrissey’s current output.
I didn’t mean to suggest that typical working class views are far right. I come from a proud socialist working-class background myself. But you can see in his lyrics how Morrissey’s political views have evolved in the same direction as the general mood of where he comes from, and I think that’s fascinating, even admirable - even if I disagree with him and the Brexit-supporting majority of the English working class.
This isn’t just a US thing. The same scenario played out in the UK. This is why many old-school Labour MPs and supporters, like Jeremy Corbyn and the great Tony Benn, are or were anti-EU.
Spillers Records has banned Morrissey’s albums because of his political views .
It seems that there are a few parts of For Britain’s policies he agreed with…he worried about
Killing animals inhumanely for Halal meat
Loss of British Identity
Saying the MSM is too PC to report factually
Manchester bombings …everyone failing to point out that it was an ISIS attack
those may be right wing views , but he is caught up in a stale, insipid echo chamber of conformity or ostracization .
Anything right of centre seems to be deemed “extreme” and “racist”
Unless he is inciting violence or something really crazy …he is obviously not allowed his opinion without being punished .
That is a shame …whomsoever you may support .
