Morrissey has said that the release of his 14th Album 'Bonfire of Teenagers' has been 'gagged' owing to the subject of its title track: the 2017 terrorist attack on an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester that killed 22 people.
Morrissey wrote the song after witnessing how the cause of the atrocity was played down by the media: The song includes the lines the silly people sing Don’t Look Back in Anger / And the morons swing and say Don’t Look Back in Anger / I can assure you I will look back in anger ’til the day I die,” a reference to the street singalongs of the Oasis track in the wake of the bombing. The song concludes with Morrissey singing “go easy on the killer”.
The lines are all delivered in Morrissey's unique style, and when he delivers those lines the passion and anguish can be heard in every single word. Listening to him sing those words will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Those who have heard it have called it a 'masterpiece' whilst Morrissey himself says that it's the best work he's ever done.
In a rare interview Morrissey told the Telegraph: “The Manchester Arena bombing was our 9/11. But, in this sad country of ours, to understand the full meaning of the attack is to be guilty, and this is why the "don’t look back in anger" command always struck me as derisive and not at all words of social harmony.”
Bonfire of Teenagers was recorded during 2021 with the album featuring such collaborators as Iggy Pop, Chad Smith and Flea and even Miley Cyrus who reportedly sung backing vocals on the track 'I Am Veronica'. In 2022 Morrissey began performing the songs live to sold-out venues. He was signed to Capitol at the time, who had initially planned to release the album in February 2023.
But in late 2022 Capitol Records (part of the world’s biggest label Universal Music) backed out of the deal. Then, that Christmas, Morrissey announced that he’d “voluntarily” parted company with both Capitol and his management team. Morrissey also said that Cyrus – a huge Smiths fan – had asked for her backing vocals to be removed from her track I Am Veronica.
Several weeks later, Morrissey said that Capitol wouldn’t be releasing Bonfire at all, and that the music company was “holding on to” the album all the same. His website announced: “Morrissey has said that although he does not believe that Capitol Records in Los Angeles signed Bonfire of Teenagers in order to sabotage it, he is quickly coming around to that belief.”
Eagle-eyed fans noted that 'pop royalty' Ariana Grande is signed to Universal-owned Republic Records, and wondered whether Universal was sitting on the album so as not to risk upsetting her due to the title track. Morrissey went further, claiming that a senior executive within Universal – his own record label – tried to quash the album.
“David Joseph [the chairman and CEO of Universal Music UK] urged Capitol Records in Los Angeles not to release Bonfire of Teenagers,” Morrissey revealed.
With the album effectively being suppressed by the record label for daring to say what millions think, Morrissey then pointed out how they were prioritising label-mate Sam Smith’s “satanism” over his own work, after Smith's Satanistic performance at the Brit Awards performance.
In April, after what Morrissey called “a long, hard, bloody war”, he bought Bonfire of Teenagers back off Capitol. In June he told fans: “For those of you 85 and over who are still waiting for Bonfire of Teenagers to be released, good news is finally within our grasp”
He told the Telegraph he had bought the album back from Capitol. Morrissey, who appears to be the only real protest singer left in the whole world, is standing his ground saying he would not consider self-releasing it, even though “every major label in London has refused [it] whilst also admitting that it is a masterpiece but those label bosses said they were worried that the Guardian would make their lives hell if they supported any such social awareness.”
Morrissey said he wouldn't consider removing the song and renaming the album either, he said: “Controversial means intelligent, doesn’t it? We are still in the grip of Idiot Culture, it’s everywhere you look. Naturally I’m one of the first to be gagged since my entire life has relied on free speech."
He added "No, I wouldn’t remove the title song because I wouldn’t abandon the murdered kids of Manchester. Their spirits cry out every single day for remembrance and recognition.”
He continued: “Once you edit yourself or self-censor then the idiots have won. There is no arts media any more in England, therefore there’s no one to whom I can sit and talk about this. The fact is, genuine artists in England are now being held hostage by people who object to any manner of alternative opinion. The biggest monsters are the #BeKind crew who will smash your face in if you disagree with them.”
Adding: “The madly insane efforts to silence the album are somehow indications of its power. Otherwise, who would bother to get so overheated about an inconspicuous recluse?”
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