A Problem Called Morrissey And What To Do About It

[Captainfog]

This long and thoughtful post from Billy Bragg about Morrissey's latest in a long line of racist transgressions begs the question what should the music community do with him? He is indie rock royalty, but IMO his crown should be thrown in the bin. Thoughts?

 

[Count_Vader]

"If Morrissey tells me not to eat meat then I'm going to eat meat. That's how much I fucking hate Morrissey."- Robert Smith

 

[Aron]

Been done with Morissey for many years now. Just trying to hang on to my fondness for The Smiths at this point. The whole booking tours and canceling tours/shows just became comical. Always coming up with excuses and blaming anyone else but himself. All of this racist/nationalist shit is just strong reinforcement for me.

 

[Captainfog]

Also, I don't think this paints Brandon Flowers in a very good light. I thought he sounded like he sucked in the Meet Me In The Bathroom book and was someone who was more concerned about being commercially appealing than he was about the art he was making and this is exactly the sort of 'don't want to rock the boat' comment I'd expect from him.

 

[Dirtbag Auntie]

I like that Billy also hinted at Nick Cave’s recent take as being wrong. I love Nick and the emails but uh yeah. I have lots of thoughts and feelings about Morrissey and this racist shit but none coherent enough to type out.

 

[Dirtbag Auntie]

Also, I don't think this paints Brandon Flowers in a very good light. I thought he sounded like he sucked in the Meet Me In The Bathroom book and was someone who was more concerned about being commercially appealing than he was about the art he was making and this is exactly the sort of 'don't want to rock the boat' comment I'd expect from him.

BFlo totally sucks.
Interpol sucks for going on tour with him soon.
The guest vocalists on his new album suck.

This racist garbage is not brand new information.

 

[Joe Mac]

What actually surprised me more than Flowers’ comment was this one from Nick Cave, a bit more nuance but still I was kind of surprised...

Nick Cave Questions Morrissey’s Politics, Defends His Music and Free Speech in Open Letter

“Perhaps it is better to simply let Morrissey have his views, challenge them when and wherever possible, but allow his music to live on”

pitchfork.com

 

[Captainfog]

BFlo totally sucks.
Interpol sucks for going on tour with him soon.
The guest vocalists on his new album suck.

This racist garbage is not brand new information.

I really don't know very much about Brandon Flowers. What's he done?

 

[gaporter]

At this point, I feel like most people have gotten to where they won't listen to solo Morrissey but are still trying to justify their love of the Smiths.

 

[Aron]

I really don't know very much about Brandon Flowers. What's he done?

I'm the last person to ask. I'm still trying to wrap my head around his "Are we human, or are we dancer" lyric from a decade back.

 

[Aron]

At this point, I feel like most people have gotten to where they won't listen to solo Morrissey but are still trying to justify their love of the Smiths.

It's tough for some of us. I mean, 16 year old me didn't know what a twat Morrissey really was back then. And I absorbed those Smiths albums. I don't reach for them the way I once did, but, those songs were very meaningful at one time.

 

[TrainFan73]

Interpol's stance on their shows with Morrissey seems pretty reasonable to me.

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Eh... no. What good does it do to say you abhor those things and then profit from an audience that embraces them?

 

[Renée]

He's the music version of Piers Morgan.

 

[Count_Vader]

I try my best to separate the artist from the art, that being said I can't listen to his solo work. He's proven time and time again to be a complete motherfucker. That being said I just listen to The Smiths with the sad foreknowledge that the frontman is going to be a total douche in a few years and continue to be so for the ensuing decades...

 

[gaporter]

It's tough for some of us. I mean, 16 year old me didn't know what a twat Morrissey really was back then. And I absorbed those Smiths albums. I don't reach for them the way I once did, but, those songs were very meaningful at one time.

I can't say as though I'm as big of a Smiths fan as others are but I definitely have an adoration for a number of their songs so whenever I see Morrissey's "everyone ultimately prefers their own race" bullshit pop up in my Twitter feed, it's just twisting the knife. It's a very unfortunate part of getting older, realizing the artists behind some of your favorite records are absolute pieces of shit.

 

[Count_Vader]

I "everyone ultimately prefers their own race" bullshit pop up in my Twitter feed, it's just twisting the knife.

That's a very broad and bold assumption. It's also a fucked up, racist assumption.

 

[Count_Vader]

What actually surprised me more than Flowers’ comment was this one from Nick Cave, a bit more nuance but still I was kind of surprised...

Nick Cave Questions Morrissey’s Politics, Defends His Music and Free Speech in Open Letter

“Perhaps it is better to simply let Morrissey have his views, challenge them when and wherever possible, but allow his music to live on”

pitchfork.com

Nick Cave was interviewed by Billy Corgan in the early 90's and out douched Corgan. That's an achievement in pretentious asshole-ry.

 

[uvwxVinyl]

I'm the last person to ask. I'm still trying to wrap my head around his "Are we human, or are we dancer" lyric from a decade back.

Lmao is that really it? I've always sung " are we human or are we denser " not that it makes that much sense either but I thought it was an attempt to be deep.

 

[wokeupnew]

“I saw you on tv
doing a bad imitation of a second rate songwriter from the eighties named Morrissey
I never liked Morrissey
and I don't like you.”

 

[Joe Mac]

Lmao is that really it? I've always sung " are we human or are we denser " not that it makes that much sense either but I thought it was an attempt to be deep.

Yeah it’s actually dancer. It’s a contender for the worst lyric of all time...