Morrissey is never far away from controversy and since the early years of his career, the former Smiths singer has been an incredibly divisive figure while speaking his mind in public. He also compared a Smiths song to Duran Duran.
Morrissey opens up on the matter
Morrissey has never hesitated to express his true feelings and opinions on a variety of subjects, whether in the lyrics of his early solo songs like “Bengali in Platforms,” during questionable discussions about race in interviews, or through his public support for far-right political figures such as Nigel Farage, Anne Marie Waters, and Tommy Robinson.
Another recurring topic of his commentary is other singers. The range of artists, includes Robert Smith, David Bowie, Kylie Minogue, and Michael Bublé. Notably, in 1987, he stated that “nobody’s interested” in Elton John and suggested that the Rocketman singer should “just go away.”
His shot was directed at Madonna when he said in 1997 that she “reinforces everything absurd and offensive. Desperate womanhood. Madonna is closer to organized prostitution than anything else”. Even pre-fame, his tone was the same, as he wrote of Kate Bush that “the nicest thing I could say about her is that she’s unbearable. That voice! Such trash!”.
Usually, he takes stance regarding the topic of his own music. When discussing his (still) unreleased album Bonfire of Teenagers in 2022, Morrissey stated that it “isn’t possible, really” to pick out a favourite track on the album because “it’s all great, it’s all wonderful”. When promoting his recent albums, Morrissey often takes the stance that whatever album he is promoting at the time is his new greatest work.
But it’s not only his recent work that he’s fond of. In a 2008 interview, Morrissey admitted that he likes most of his songs and that there are only a handful that he doesn’t get on with. While he didn’t give any names at the time, saying, “Why dwell on the snags?” elsewhere, he has been a little more forthcoming with which songs he was not as happy with.
Speaking to the blog Follow the Mozziah, Morrissey singled out his lyrics from The Smiths’ 1984 song ‘What Difference Does It Make?’ as some that he is less than proud of, saying that “‘What Difference Does It Make’ is musically interesting but lyrically it is very…Simon Le Bon [lead vocalist and lyricist of Duran Duran]. I find the lyrics facile and mildly embarrassing. Otherwise, it’s a majestic pop melody by Johnny”.
Even in this rare moment of modesty and humility, Morrissey still found the time to fire off a pot-shot at a fellow artist, though strangely, he then added, “had the lyrics indeed been penned by Simon Le Bon, I would probably cover it! As it is I’d feel too ashamed”.
