Morrissey blacklisted over Manchester bombing song, can’t get record deal
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In 1992, Steven Patrick Morrissey, lead singer of the cutting-edge ’80s British band The Smiths, wrote a song called “We’ll Let You Know.” More than 30 years later, this sentiment led to the singer being blacklisted and his message catching fire.
Last month, two of Morrissey’s concerts were canceled due to credible death threats.
MORRISSEY CANCELED WEEKEND SHOWS AFTER RECEIVING ‘INCREDIBLE THREAT’ AGAINST HIS LIFE DURING HIS WORLD TOUR
“We will report” is a lament. “How sorry we are, how sorry we are?” It opens with the words: And Morrissey is talking directly about the British.
What he long ago lamented was the erasure of British culture, as the lyrics put it, “and the songs we sing aren’t supposed to mean anything”. Even in 1992, it saw its history and tradition not only lost but thrown away.
MURCIA, SPAIN – MAY 1: Morrissey performs on stage at day 1 of SOS4.8 on May 1, 2015 in Murcia, Spain. (Photo: Xavi Torrent/Redferns via Getty Images) (Xavi Torrent/Redferns via Getty Images)
Today, Morrissey fills homes all over the world. I know because I’m leaving. He rocked Radio City Music Hall last month, so why exactly isn’t his latest album getting distributed?
As it is known, the latest controversy surrounding Moz is that he has a song called “Youth’s Bonfire” about the Islamic terrorist attack that took place at a Manchester concert in 2017, and he says that he will not forgive or forget this atrocity.
Following the bombing of an Ariana Grande concert by Islamist extremists, Mancusians held a rally and sang the adorable Oasis song “Don’t Look Back In Anger” as if forgiving the brutality.
Like Lynyrd Skynyrd’s latter-day response to Neil Young’s attack on sweet home Alabama, Morrissey wrote in his song, “And stupid people sing, don’t look back in anger… I assure you I’ll look back in anger until I die.”
That’s not the kind of feeling that garners record contracts these days.
But there is a fundamental mistake that Morrissey’s critics make. When you talk about culture, they think you’re talking about race. When you talk about books, they think you’re talking about biology.
LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 14: Morrissey will perform at The SSE Arena, Wembley on March 14, 2020 in London, England. (Photo: Jo Hale/Redferns) (Jo Hale/Redferns)
Morrissey can be said to be the greatest songwriter of his generation. His songs are full of references to Joyce, Shakespeare and Wilde. He aspires to be an English writer at a banquet with them, not at a funeral.
In an age when every musician or celebrity understands the latest political trend, Morrissey will not. It’s not even clear that he’s particularly conservative, he just wants freedom.
Many of Morrissey’s fans, and they exist all over the known world, including Latinos who would make President Trump jealous, want him to self-release his new album.
Emergency staff speak to people outside the Manchester Arena following an explosion at the venue during an Ariana Grande concert. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
Bypass the system and yes, many people will buy it. But Morrissey isn’t a producer, he’s an artist.
The question is whether any record label will take on a man who sells out arenas all over the world now that his awakening spell has been broken.
Could Morrissey be reintroduced to the ranks of normal, acceptable recording artists getting contracts? Like professional gang rap artists? I’m not holding my breath.
When I was 18 I heard Morrissey say these words to me:
Sing the song of your life
Walk up to the microphone and say your name
everything you love
everything you hate
And it changed me. I’ve been trying to do this ever since. His message was always that all our voices matter.
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I love Mark Twain and Jack Kerouac as much as Moz loves Yeats and Oscar Wilde, and for similar reasons. They write about the things that make us who we are.
Morrissey will not change and will not be a good person, as another lyric suggests. So will the record industry give the people what they want? Or will he remain a slave to vigilance?
The winner of all this is Morrissey. Whether he gets a record deal or not, he lives up to the example of the great British writers he admires.
This is a goal every writer should aim for.
Morrissey ends “We’ll Let You Know” with the song:
We may seem cold, we may even be the most depressed people you know
What remains, unfortunately, is that we know we are the last real Englishman you will ever know.
Let’s hope this isn’t true.
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