British rock icon Morrissey already has expressed his principled opposition to "cancel culture" and the autocratic, command-and-control leviathan of the European Union. But now, the former Smiths vocalist and writer is punching even harder with his new album, “Bonfire of Teenagers,” and his intellectual incineration of the tyrannical lockdown mindset.
In an interview released on his MorrisseyCentral.com website, the 62-year-old Mancunian notes that his album contains stinging rebukes of the lockdowners’ collectivist mythology that “we’re all in this together” as the politically elite flout the mandates they push on average citizens, and as they continue to suck up tax cash from the locked-down plebians.
In an exchange with his nephew, “Sam” (who is a VERY insightful interviewer), we read this:
SAM: Covid Society is also the precise description of slavery, yet we are supposed to be in a time when anything connected to slavery must be blown up or thrown in a canal in Bristol.
M: Precisely. And more people are now forced into poverty which is another form of slavery, as is tax and Council Tax and all the other ways in which we are pinned down and tracked. Our present freedom is restricted to visiting supermarkets and buying sofas. The government act like Chinese emperors… ‘We will allow you to live as we do if you behave yourself.”
When asked about television news, Morrissey answers, in part, with a very pro-liberty message:
I would never tune into television news because it isn’t news, it’s control by fear. I am sick to death of issues of race and identity politics … both of which are a moral disaster. Leave people alone! We can look after ourselves! We always have! We don’t need your approval!
Well said.
Morrissey’s new album, “Bonfire of Teenagers,” is full of moral and ethical messages, and the title track reminds Britishers and, in particular, his Manchester neighbors, that something has gone awry with the highly political idea that people cannot criticize government-forced “cultural acceptance.” The song is about the May 2017 bombing by a Muslim immigrant terrorist of an Ariana Grande concert that killed 27 people.
SAM: ‘Bonfire of Teenagers’ the track is magnificent, but you must be expecting some manufactured paranoia … the usual ‘you can’t sing about THAT’ pearl fumblers.
M: … because?
SAM: It’s about the Manchester Arena Bombing.
M: It’s about the kids who were murdered, yes. We are not encouraged to look beneath the surface because it’s dark and hidden. But the song is anti-terror, and anyone who finds that offensive can only be devoid of personal morality. As your brother once said to me, the Manchester Arena Bombing was Britain’s 9/11. We should appreciate anyone who asks questions.
Morrisey has created another album that allows people to think, that inspires reflection and conversation – all of which now seem to be verboten in the halls of elite Western media, academia, and many segments of society.
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But, despite his records being pulled from shops, and tube station workers removing from the wall adverts for his music (because of ONE complaint), Morrissey doesn’t worry about “being canceled.”
S: Some have tried to cancel you because of your views.
M: You can’t cancel someone who has always been cancelled. When did you last see me on television, or hear me on the radio? I unintentionally invented the condition of being cancelled! [laughs] The music industry hasn’t ever celebrated me or offered me free food. I’ve always been treated like a scientific experiment gone wrong. I’m used to it. I’ve been immune to enemy fire for many years. I wear a bullet-proof vest in the bath. It seems to me that as soon as one person boo’s they all start to boo, and then when someone cheers they all start to cheer… but that’s just a loose theory. [laughs]
And, he adds:
I’m a stern believer in free speech, but in my case I actually mean free speech for everyone - not just for those who agree with me. So, people must say what they feel, and when it gets ugly or insulting it reflects badly on them - not on me. It’s usually best to leave your critics alone with their own words clanking through their brains. If you rush into a defensive reply you dignify their position. Actually, I don’t even care…
No wonder one of his past songs was called, “I Am Not A Dog On A Chain.”
We control ourselves, and have a right to do so.
Morrissey will not be controlled by politicians who want to lock people out of their businesses, or by those who want to silence him.
And his album reflects this.
Well done. Morrissey is making music for the ears, for the soul, and for the mind.
That’s a potent combination.
(Cover Photo: Charlie Llewellin)