MORRISSEY

The contrast, or even the conflict between a musician’s music, and their personality, views, and politics, is a difficult thing to reconcile. Nowhere is this distinction more stark, more obvious and more complex than with Steven Patrick Morrisey, once of The Smiths and now just Morrisey.

I was surfing YouTube one day, when I came across one of Morrisey’s videos. I was immediately struck by the beauty and lyricism of the music, and the clarity and intelligence of the words. That day, Morrisey truly made my afternoon, and I’ve been a fan of his music ever since.

Morrisey has been a great musician and a remarkable, significant figure on the music scene for over thirty-five years. His work with The Smiths in the 80s was genuinely groundbreaking, and has stood the test of time. In my opinion, The Smiths are up there with the best bands the UK has ever produced, and certainly one of the best musical groups to come out of the 80s. His solo work in the 90s was also fantastic, and in 2006 a poll for the BBC’s Culture Show ranked him as the UK’s second greatest cultural icon.

However, I’ve always found it difficult to completely separate Morrisey the musician from Morrisey the man. Throughout his career, Morrisey has always been outspoken and controversial in his beliefs, never toeing the line or failing to share his views on the issues of the day. While this can be a great characteristic, and many of his ideas and beliefs are to be congratulated, particularly his vegetarianism and his animal rights activism, so often he has descended into unpleasant and regressive statements which make it harder to enjoy his music.

His views on immigration, on what constitutes ‘Britishness’, and most recently on Brexit are particularly shocking, and makes me wonder about whether it is possible to like someone’s music or art completely in isolation of who that person is and how they think. 

I don’t know where I stand. I still love so much of his music, and it still speaks to me in a way that is completely separate from anything that Morrisey says in the public eye. I guess everyone has to make their own decisions about these sorts of things, and in the end great art, and great music, is likely to transcend whatever problematic opinions an individual might later come out with.