Thanks to you, Malarkey for firmly demonstrating that in at least a personal capacity, and consistently over his life and in his actions, Morrissey is not racist or against immigration, but rather of the opposite persuasion. Given his failure to resist some identification with press opinions at odds with that stance though, it seems we’re still left with some questions hanging?
First, the article here is a succinct general primer on
UK racism 101.
Next, I’ve looked back over Dave Fanning’s interview for any clues on what’s going on with him at all at all. We have the direct question, which reveals nothing new:
DF:
Oasis has a backdrop of a British flag on their stage…the Spice Girls did the same thing. You did it before all that and you were called racist. Do you ever think they’re out to get you?
M:
Well, they simply were. I don’t think anybody thought I was remotely racist. I mean, the NME put me on the cover and said “He is racist”. But I think if the NME really believed I was racist, they wouldn’t stick me on the cover, because groups who really ARE racist, they don’t receive any attention in the media, so I think it would be really irresponsible of the NME or anybody who believed I was racist, to stick me all over the place, saying “he’s racist”- because then I could capitalise upon it and get all of these people together and do all of these…fascinating things. But I’ve never felt remotely racist, and I don’t think people ever believed I was. But the editor of the NME at the time wanted to get rid of me and they find something…I never responded to them and it went on and on and on and on…and they blew it up, and they had to make it more, because otherwise, they would look very, very silly. And I think eventually they did look silly- I think the NME in the ‘90’s declined- they lost lots of readers. People no longer had any faith in the weekly press- and look at the weekly music press now- it’s gone! And the NME are struggling for their lives! Mind you, they have a new editor now, and they have new writers, but in the ‘90’s, it was…the NME just killed itself…
And then, two indirect questions, yielding replies that potentially have more of a bearing:
M:
if you play the fame game then you just have to dive in and you have to be orchestrated somehow and if you don’t- if you’re uncontrollable- then people say you’re a problem. And if people can’t get one over on you, they say you’re a problem and you’re awkward. But it just means that they don’t really get away with anything where you’re concerned, so then they say you’re really difficult…
M:
Anything written about me, I don’t collect it. But, certainly earlier on, it’s fascinating to be dissected, because this is really all you’ve ever wanted and there, it happens…and it’s fascinating because I began to buy the music press in 1969 and I would never miss. And if I’d go on holiday, I’d order everything, so that when I returned 6 weeks later, there were 75 magazines waiting for me. And I was more than a typical pop kid, I was just dangerously obsessed with all that. And given the alternatives in life, it’s not been so bad…
Morrissey expresses awareness that he does things his way, whether to others’ inconvenience or not, and then, he admits to being dangerously obsessed with his portrayal in the media. So could this be the nub of it? As even borne out just days ago by his response to the
Daily Mail article, linking him too closely for comfort with the very theme that nearly ruined him and sent fans, peers and record labels packing in recent years? And still, instead of doing what to most of us in the circumstances seems the obviously sensible thing to do i.e. distance himself, he gives the impression of being delighted with the mention on his official internet station!
If he’s featuring less in the press these days, then some attention could presumably be welcome, except that all attention is not equal. Or does the bold Morrissey think it is?! ‘What to be done with [him]’?! Which reminds me, wouldn’t a looped clip from this video of the
Brixton show opening, from between 37 and 47 seconds, fit well in with the pre-show video mix?! Hopefully someone will make, or has already made, that gif.
So has Morrissey donned risqué ideological poses contradicting his general views before, just to get people talking about him? Though it’s hardly a deliberate tactic, and he says he doesn’t play the fame game, showing he knows what it is, and though he’s often been exceptionally brave, someone should tell him that approving of others spouting the very positions he’s repudiated undermines his denials and casts doubt on his sincerity. Or he should have a word with his PR team if they’ve been given permission to decide what goes out on his behalf. Would that be a fair concern?
Let’s hope he sails through the American leg of the tour without hassle. Has he ever mentioned
Greta Thunberg? She is refusing to attend COP27 going on in Egypt at the moment, with attendees renting garments and gnashing teeth over rising temperatures and sea-levels and everything. If Morrissey does feel like doling out political reflections, what better subject could there be than that? People are still confused and in need of some motivation and words of wisdom on the subject. And he’s particularly well qualified. He wouldn’t have to defer to any other authority. He recognised the state of this ‘unhappy planet’ way before most other people, and not only that, but he changed his own behaviour to minimise his individual impact, and also made a point of trying to win people over to more ethical lifestyles. And pretty much everyone cares about saving the environment now. At the Hopfarm Festival in 2011, I remember him making a great little speech praising local farm markets in Kent as if it was the most natural thing in the world. For ages he could see how all these aspects fitted together, including
forces of containment, leeches…removing removing removing (from the loss-and-damage perspective) etc, while most of the rest of us are still flailing around off the rails in the dark trying to understand. I mean, hello!