So, Morrissey has sparked outrage for the 2364th time in his career this week by branding the Chinese a 'subspecies' due to the treatment of animals in the country. This is the latest in a string of 'non-PC' comments regarding race made by the iconic front man over the years. In 2007, he told the NME, "England is a memory now, the gates are flooded and anybody can have access to England and join in." This follows on from various controversial comments made by the man recently voted the 3rd most iconic living Brit. This dates back to 1992 when he declared that he didn’t think “black and white people will ever really get on.”
Vegetarianism has always been at the forefront of the reclusive singer’s work and public persona, famously entitling the Smiths second album ‘Meat is Murder’ with the title track including the lyrics, ‘That calf you carve with a smile/Is Murder/The turkey you festively slice/Is Murder’ (which is the most self-righteous, sanctimonious load of shit I’ve ever heard). Despite Morrissey’s militant vegetarianism and his notoriously inflammatory tongue when discussing issues such as race, the two issues have never crossed over until now.
I think I better give a quick background of my views regarding Morrissey and his music before I begin commenting on this. The Smiths are one of my favourite bands and the man is a lyrical genius, I’ve got posters of him on my wall and t-shirts with his face on; the full shebang. ‘The Queen Is Dead’ is one of the greatest British albums of all time and songs like ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’ and ‘Cemetery Gates’ will be heard coming out of my walls until the day I die.
I also think Smiths-era Morrissey is one of a kind; impossible to replicate or imitate without looking foolish. His dark yet romantic and witty lyrics spoke to a generation of young, disenchanted outsiders and his interviews and performances were subversive and captivating. A true individual and icon, someone who polarised opinion on a mass scale (branded as ‘depressing’ by the lovers of comedy cock-rock like Bon Jovi and Motley Crue, which can only be a good thing in my eyes), for me he was the embodiment of an ‘indie icon’.
However, where Morrissey was once exciting and revolutionary, flirting with danger, he is now monotonous and irritating. His constant need to get people’s backs up with downright tasteless and dated views regarding race is beginning to wear pretty thin. I accept his right to an opinion and I do believe issues such as immigration into the UK need to be addressed at some point but calling a nation of people a ‘subspecies’ is sickening in my eyes.
I do not think Morrissey is a racist and to place him under the veil of such an extreme term is simply lazy and narrow-minded. However, one does wonder how far somebody can push people before they begin perceiving ‘non-PC’ as outright racism. After all, if Nick Griffin referred to a race of people as ‘subspecies ‘there would be no doubt in my mind what term would be branded about. I’m not for a minute comparing Morrissey to the vile, fascist scumbag that is Mr. Griffin but he needs to start choosing his words slightly more carefully before people really begin jumping to conclusions.
The issue of militant vegetarianism is just irritating and doesn’t sit comfortably with me at all. I am totally opposed to any form of unnecessary cruelty to animals and I have to utmost respect for vegetarians as long as they avoid preaching and taking some sort of moral high ground. Morrissey has probably gained more column inches through these two past times than his music in recent years. He walked offstage at Coachella after he suspected there was meat being cooked on the premises. You’re at a festival of over 100,000 people, you fucking tool. He has also advocated the actions of the Animal Rights Militia, effectively a terrorist organisation that posts letter bombs and who dug up the grave of the mother-in-law of an owner of a farm involved with animal testing. For me, these people are scum of the earth, as socially backward and sick as any fascist organisation. I am against testing of animals for cosmetic products but if it wasn’t for animal testing, the medication my Dad has to take every day would not exist and therefore would still be having daily epileptic fits, just puts things in perspective a little bit..
Finally, if Morrissey wants to begin having a go at the Chinese, maybe he should begin with the awful human rights record. A good example would be subordinate status of women in Chinese society that has led to shocking rates of infanticide amongst newborn females. But Morrissey see’s the plight of the little poor little cats, mice and rats as far more important, of course.
Morrissey will always have a place in my heart as one of most enigmatic and iconic front men the British music scene has ever produced. However, if he carries on down this later life path of bigotry I shall be removing my posters from my bedroom wall.
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