Johnny Marr has revealed whether he’s worried that the legacy of The Smiths could be tainted in the wake of Morrissey‘s increasing support for right-wing causes.
In April this year, the former Smiths frontman gave a wide-ranging interview in which he hit out at the “loony left” and London mayor Sadiq Khan.
“As far as racism goes, the modern Loony Left seem to forget that Hitler was Left wing,” said Morrissey at the time.
“But of course, we are all called racist now, and the word is actually meaningless. It’s just a way of changing the subject.
When someone calls you racist, what they are saying is ‘hmm, you actually have a point, and I don’t know how to answer it, so perhaps if I distract you by calling you a bigot we’ll both forget how enlightened your comment was’.”
But while Morrissey’s comments attracted widespread condemnation at the time, Marr is resting easy over any fears that Moz could tarnish their celebrated legacy.
Recommended
“I don’t really worry about very much, these days. I don’t really think you can change people’s relationship with songs and the songs are what they are”, Marr told Consequence of Sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r0DDF03PBc
“The band was what it was, and the band stood for what it stood for. We’re always very different people and I think most people know that. Those things are out of my control, so I tend not to worry about it.”
Earlier this year, Marr also described Boris Johnson as a “fucking moron”.
Trump is easily the best example to hold up, but the UK version is just as toxic and – literally – closer to home”, he explained to Uncut.
“But I suppose a destructive, negative reactive regime is the same here as it is in America. I just don’t think Boris Johnson is quite as dangerous somehow. He’s just a fucking moron.”