This could have gone on The Musical Chairs but this really isn’t about music as far as I’m concerned. Infact, it’s not even new. Morrissey has a track record of making ill-judged, for the lack of a harsher word, attacks on people of different races; from the immigration outburst of the 90s to the tussle with the NME over the same issue in 2007. Here is 2010′s comment, with context given in the quote, as taken from today’s Guardian feature by Simon Armitage:
Did you see the thing on the news about their treatment of animals and animal welfare? Absolutely horrific. You can’t help but feel that the Chinese are a subspecies.
Whilst one doesn’t deny that the country has a dubious track record of animal welfare, he should have stopped talking at ‘Absolutely horrific.’ The throwaway statement isn’t needed at all. Back on my very old of The Musical Chairs, which isn’t very good at all, I hinted that Morrissey may not intentionally be racist but that he is misunderstood, especially when he doesn’t primarily live in the UK. I would say exactly the same thing with this new controversy. I don’t really buy the “he’s doing it for publicity” thing, since he has no new album to promote nor a tour to flog. It’s just Morrissey being Morrissey: a flamboyant, outspoken enigma of a human being.
These are the first few lines of the same article:
It’s a bit like being on a date. It’s not a blind date exactly; poet meets songwriter seems to be the general idea. But I’ve no idea if he knows who I am, and for all that I’ve stalked the man and his music over the years, I can’t say with any confidence that I know who Morrissey is either. Can anyone?
The answer, at least from my knowledge of the man, is no.
