Morrissey posts his opinions online frequently in written form at his Morrissey Central website, but today he is expressing himself in an interview with author Fiona Dodwell at her Medium page. Perhaps realizing that the Oasis reunion has put him in position to surpass Noel Gallagher for the most entertaining pullquotes from a Manchester rock legend, he really emptied the clip in this chat.

One subject discussed was the Smiths reunion tour that Morrissey agreed to participate in, which was shot down by his bandmate-turned-nemesis Johnny Marr due to his personal and political differences with Moz. Morrissey’s comment goes from sentimental warmth to I don’t like you anyway in record time:

I agreed because it felt like the last time such a thing would be possible. We’ve all begun to grow old. I thought the tour that was offered would be a good way of saying thank you for those who have listened for what suddenly feels like a lifetime. It wasn’t because I had any emotional attachment to Marr. I have absolutely none.

He elaborated with some criticism of Marr and his “bitchslap comments”:

He seems to me to be just as insecure and fearful as he was during the 1980s. But he gains more press adoration by pretending to be the Smiths gatekeeper and custodian in isolation, and as long as he is sitting in a corner complaining about me he has a pedestal which would disappear in the event of a reunion. He claims to find me completely indigestible, but whenever he walks onto a stage he sings my lyrics, my vocal melodies and my song titles. Is this hypocrisy or self-deception? He has forced people to choose between Morrissey and Marr, and I’ve had just about enough of his bitchslap comments. I’ve quietly put up with them for over 30 years.

Morrissey also returns to his favorite subject, cancel culture. He argues that multiple record labels have praised his shelved albums (2021’s Bonfire Of Teenagers and another one he’s been working on since then, which he re-recorded in France last year) but are afraid to release them and catch flak from journalists (specifically at The Guardian, whose “harassment campaign” against him is “worldwide knowledge”). He argues that he has been blacklisted by certain publications and that “free speech has been criminalized throughout England and Ireland.” There’s also this doozy:

To be cancelled is the modern version of lynching, isn’t it? And behind the scenes, your livelihood, your ability to survive, your relationships with whomever you work with, are all quietly attacked so that you can no longer function. There hasn’t ever been a proper study of the extent of cancel culture and how deeply and viciously it goes. It is not a dramatic exaggeration to say that people who are cancelled are privately pushed to the point of suicide. And for what? In the hope that the entire country loves the same music, the same books, the same comedy, the same politics, the same films? This can never happen! Bonfire Of Teenagers is the modern version of The Queen Is Dead, but the fact that no label will release it is an indication of how childlike and frightened the music industry has become.

The full interview is here.