Recently The Big Issue spoke to protest singer/songwriter Billy Bragg about politics and music, and the subject of Morrissey came up. The ex-frontman of The Smiths erupts at regular intervals, spouting mad theories and promoting questionable ideology.
Does he really believe these things? Is he only trying to trend on Twitter? We asked Billy Bragg, who rose to fame around the same time The Smiths found success, about what exactly he thinks Morrissey is playing at.
Not one shy to express his own feelings, Bragg said: “I think he’s decided that he wants to betray everything he ever said in The Smiths and he’s broken the hearts of a lot of people.
“The Smiths expressed a lot of peoples own sense of disconnect with society and helped them to find their own identity – and he’s totally trashed that. I’m heartbroken for them because I’m a big Smiths fan too. And I’m heartbroken for Johnny Marr because he’s genuine, a lovely guy, and he doesn’t deserve to have his legacy dragged through the dirt.”
In his most recent comments, Morrissey reaffirmed his support for a far-right political party and said more questionable things about race that are not worth repeating here but easy enough to find online if you really want.
Bragg added: “I have no sympathy for him, no respect for him, but I have a lot of sympathy and respect for his audience.”
