Riff Rant: Morrissey, the Floor is Yours
Morrissey has forever been one of the most quotable musicians to grace our presence. Whether it’s a rant against the royals; those who enjoy food that had parents; people who desperately long for a reunion of The Smiths; or whichever political issue of the day inspires him, the moody, brooding, but beloved singer/songwriter often has a snarky comment to offer.
This week, a Morrissey interview conducted by Billboard has been making the rounds, so we here at Riffyou.com thought that you may enjoy the highlights. Brace yourselves.
On a Smiths reunion, or that of other prominent groups:
“I don’t know a single person who wants a Smiths reunion! But, no, there aren’t any bands I like to see again because your memory of them is how they were in their prime or at their best or at their most desperate, and you look to them to be someone that they no longer are.”
On battling illness throughout 2013:
“Well, I’m expected to see Easter. It was a bad year. I was in hospitals so frequently that the doctors were sick to death of me, and there’s nothing more ageing than lying in a hospital bed, trying to recover from hospital food. If your illness doesn’t kill you then the hospital food sees you off. That’s what it’s there for. Anyway, it was my time to go to pieces. Much overdue.”
On having controversial viewpoints, and whether he regrets anything he’s ever said to the press:
“I’m not controversial at all, and whatever I’ve said I meant. Amongst all of the people around me, my views are not special. They are only controversial if your brain is stuck in 1957.”
On getting the Staples Center in Los Angeles to only serve vegetarian cuisine to patrons during his performance:
“It’s a standard requirement now when booking venues. It’s not as unusual as you might think, and the halls are very understanding. I think it’s generally accepted these days that meat is murder for the animals, murder for the planet, and eventually murders the consumer. Soon eating a cheeseburger will be as outlawed as smoking in church, and that will be a great day for civilisation.”
On likening eating meat to pedophilia:
“I don’t need to defend my own point of view. When you eat an animal you subject it to spiritual and physical rape, you eats its breasts … its rump … you cut off its genitals … whichever way you care to look at it, eating animals is violence at its most extreme.”
Ladies and gentlemen, Morrissey!
