Morrissey Central "‘BONFIRE OF TEENAGERS’ IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS" (June 14, 2023)

'BONFIRE OF TEENAGERS’ IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS'

Artist-friendly Capitol Records (Los Angeles) have no plans to release ‘Bonfire of Teenagers’ two and a half years after the album was recorded.

Morrissey’s new comment on the situation:

“It’s a clear display of how censorian the music industry has become. It is a new part of the music industry that does not work and that nobody likes. Music should be the primary democracy, as all art should be, and any effort to keep people away from it simply invites deeper discussion. There is no point banning ‘Bonfire of Teenagers’ because somebody somewhere might be offended if they heard it. Why waste time on other people’s mental incapacities? And where is Capitol’s support for the kids who were murdered in that Manchester bonfire on 22 May 2017? Although Capitol claims to be a label of ‘diversity’ it is very difficult to see their humanity. If you are only prepared to release music that draws people’s minds away from thinking then you are unfit for any contact with creative people. Songs are literary compositions, and writing music should be an unrestricted open form. It seems to me that Capitol Records cannot observe the possibility that their artists or their potential customers have ever thought. But silencing certain artists achieves nothing, and simply makes the bonfire burn taller and louder. The moral perspective at Capitol Records who is sitting like a hen on an egg on ‘Bonfire of Teenagers’ is Michelle Jubelirer, who played no small part in removing ‘World Peace is None Of Your Business’ from the shelves in 2014 - determined that it could not sell or be heard. The same creeping culture of censorship at Capitol Records has taken place with ‘Bonfire Of Teenagers’, and the civic structure of Capitol now appears fascist. I still have hope in the music industry, but there are evidently several powerful faces within it that have no honest interest in music … and you follow them into the shadows at your peril.”
MORRISSEY.

'BONFIRE OF TEENAGERS' IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS - MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY - MORRISSEY CENTRAL - 'BONFIRE OF TEENAGERS' IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS

MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY on MORRISSEY CENTRAL

www.morrisseycentral.com

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(Middle image = Michelle Jubelirer).
FWD.

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Media items:

• NME: "Morrissey accuses Capitol Records of “fascism” for not releasing ‘Bonfire Of Teenagers’" - June 16, 2023.
• Far Out: "Morrissey accuses Capitol Records of "fascist" behaviour" - June 16, 2023

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Spoiler: full Far out article

Morrissey has accused Capitol Records of acting in a “fascist” fashion after they allegedly shelved his album Bonfire Of Teenagers after he departed the label.

In October last year, Morrissey announced that his new album Bonfire of Teenagers would be released in 2023 via Capitol. However, in late December, he said he had “voluntarily withdrawn from any association with Capitol Records”. He also released a statement which reads: “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.

In a new statement on his website, Morrissey wrote of Capitol’s decision to hold back the album: “It’s a clear display of how censorian the music industry has become. It is a new part of the music industry that does not work and that nobody likes. Music should be the primary democracy … There is no point banning Bonfire of Teenagers because somebody somewhere might be offended if they heard it. Why waste time on other people’s mental incapacities?”

He continued: “And where is Capitol’s support for the kids who were murdered in that Manchester bonfire on 22 May 2017? Although Capitol claims to be a label of ‘diversity’ it is very difficult to see their humanity.”

Morrissey added: “If you are only prepared to release music that draws people’s minds away from thinking then you are unfit for any contact with creative people. Songs are literary compositions, and writing music should be an unrestricted open form. It seems to me that Capitol Records cannot observe the possibility that their artists or their potential customers have ever thought. But silencing certain artists achieves nothing, and simply makes the bonfire burn taller and louder.”

The former singer of The Smiths also slammed American music executive Michelle Jubelirer, who he claimed helped remove his album World Peace Is None Of Your Business from the shelves, which he likened to Capitol’s behaviour.

“The same creeping culture of censorship at Capitol Records has taken place with Bonfire Of Teenagers and the civic structure of Capitol now appears fascist,” he said. “I still have hope in the music industry, but there are evidently several powerful faces within it that have no honest interest in music … and you follow them into the shadows at your peril.”

 

[Redacted]

Spoiler: full Far out article

Morrissey has accused Capitol Records of acting in a “fascist” fashion after they allegedly shelved his album Bonfire Of Teenagers after he departed the label.

In October last year, Morrissey announced that his new album Bonfire of Teenagers would be released in 2023 via Capitol. However, in late December, he said he had “voluntarily withdrawn from any association with Capitol Records”. He also released a statement which reads: “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.

In a new statement on his website, Morrissey wrote of Capitol’s decision to hold back the album: “It’s a clear display of how censorian the music industry has become. It is a new part of the music industry that does not work and that nobody likes. Music should be the primary democracy … There is no point banning Bonfire of Teenagers because somebody somewhere might be offended if they heard it. Why waste time on other people’s mental incapacities?”

He continued: “And where is Capitol’s support for the kids who were murdered in that Manchester bonfire on 22 May 2017? Although Capitol claims to be a label of ‘diversity’ it is very difficult to see their humanity.”

Morrissey added: “If you are only prepared to release music that draws people’s minds away from thinking then you are unfit for any contact with creative people. Songs are literary compositions, and writing music should be an unrestricted open form. It seems to me that Capitol Records cannot observe the possibility that their artists or their potential customers have ever thought. But silencing certain artists achieves nothing, and simply makes the bonfire burn taller and louder.”

The former singer of The Smiths also slammed American music executive Michelle Jubelirer, who he claimed helped remove his album World Peace Is None Of Your Business from the shelves, which he likened to Capitol’s behaviour.

“The same creeping culture of censorship at Capitol Records has taken place with Bonfire Of Teenagers and the civic structure of Capitol now appears fascist,” he said. “I still have hope in the music industry, but there are evidently several powerful faces within it that have no honest interest in music … and you follow them into the shadows at your peril.”

Didn't FWD already post this up top without a spoiler tag?

 

[threllyp]

I'm gonna start a go fund me page or something and see how much we can raise to get him to release it himself. Good idea or not?? We would all pay wouldn't we?

 

[Light Housework]

I'm gonna start a go fund me page or something and see how much we can raise to get him to release it himself. Good idea or not?? We would all pay wouldn't we?

I don't think he has the option to release it himself, because Capitol owns it.

 

[nicky wire's legs]

I'm gonna start a go fund me page or something and see how much we can raise to get him to release it himself. Good idea or not?? We would all pay wouldn't we?

Um no

 

[threllyp]

That's very true, I completely overlooked that. Guess we have to pack it away with action is my middle name etc as ones we probably won't ever hear

 

[threllyp]

Um no

You wouldn't pay if he said he would release it that way?

 

[nicky wire's legs]

You wouldn't pay if he said he would release it that way?

No I would be appalled

 

[BookishBoy]

Because it's his nephew (likely both of them since we know it was Johnny Rayner who said the Manchester Bomb was Britain's 9/11). They'll be trying to spin it so it's ok & they could deflect his attention on to the emotionally deeply upsetting lies being written about him in the media. Now there's less of that they're deflecting on to the samey music the record companies are willing to promote.

Since Bonfire though - it's just too blatant. It's being shared by racist accounts again purely because of that very weirdly worded post on Central.

His career is over if Central doesn't stop doing it - so there's no harm in spelling it out to Morrissey if anyone can get past the gatekeepers.

Scene: a pub in Los Angeles, 2017

SER and Johnny R: "Uncle, we know you're a left-leaning, progressive and forward thinking legendary iconic artist, and we adore you, but would it be OK if we use your website to promote our own radically different and highly problematic political views? We promise it won't cause you any reputational damage at all."

Morrissey, after a few moments' thought: "Oh go on then, you playful scamps. I love you two boys so very much, as you know. From now on, I'll just do the occasional interview with you, or with Fiona, and let you use the website however you like. Just remember: don't 'Kill Uncle!'"

(All fall about laughing.)

 

[Anonymous]

Up until 2017 some journalists claimed he was right-wing but his politics were non-party political but on the left.

In 2017 it's an incredibly sudden shift. A couple of far right activists told me it was the Manchester Bomb that did it - but everything he says is too mixed for someone directly exposed to their propaganda.

From Central, 5 July 2021:

M:
It’s about the kids who were murdered, yes. We are not encouraged to look beneath the surface because it’s dark and hidden. But the song is anti-terror, and anyone who finds that offensive can only be devoid of personal morality. As your brother once said to me, the Manchester Arena Bombing was Britain’s 9/11. We should appreciate anyone who asks questions.

Edit: to add - there's nothing racist in the lyrics of Bonfire. All of the racist discourse surrounding it is coming from far right accounts & articles. And it's possible for someone to become radicalised online & be so steeped in propaganda videos that they think they're FACTS. Something that I doubt would happen to Morrissey as he waded through Mavis Nicholson interviews & clips of Candy Darling.

This defence used to be wheeled out to defend a king’s integrity from a court of wicked manipulators and meddlers.

Anyone with any knowledge or politics can see Bonfire as song with at least an insidious subtext. Go easy on the killer? It’s steeped in the idea that liberal society has a blindspot regarding extremism because of political correctness. If that is not hard right adjacent, you’re not being honest. The reference to 9/11, of course, transports the narrative to an era of war on terror frustrations and fight backs. The late Martin Amis also had a period where this became his intellectual obsession.

Here’s my argument. Morrissey is a moral absolutist and does not adjust his rhetoric to a situation. From the Moors Murder to this new atrocity, he will call this out in his lyrics. In this case, Morrissey is condemning an entire situation for failing to appreciate the seriousness of what has happened. I think that he is wrong to confuse a call to be united against hate with an excuse to be apathetic, apologetic or insufficiently vigilant. What more is to be done? Well that is the ambiguous part, which seems to open the door to the hard right imagination, who certainly have theories and strategies for dealing with this situation, which are contentious and counter-productive. You are saying that the racist discourse is added to the song - I think that song could reasonably be read as racist discourse.

Remember, these are Daily Mail, Telegraph, Spectator viewpoints - not dark doctrines lifted from the corners of the internet.

Morrissey would not be the first person to walk down this path, which begins with the not unreasonable assessment that an evil has been committed. How we react and process this matters, and I think many will disagree with Morrissey’s decision to transpose so many controversies into one pop song. He does have free speech and he still has many views which do not fit the reactionary mould; not sure why you have to continually disbelieve the evidence of your senses to deny what Morrissey is doing here.

 

[gashonthenail]

I'm gonna start a go fund me page or something and see how much we can raise to get him to release it himself. Good idea or not?? We would all pay wouldn't we?

Someone tried that before...

Amanda Palmer writes to Morrissey to tell him to use Kickstarter for next album

The singer raised over $1m through crowdfunding her own music

www.nme.com

 

[gashonthenail]

This comment is the riled response of a loudmouth who is out of his depth and knows it. It's a Trumpian response. You can sense this is a subject matter that I have knowledge of and you're rattled, so instead of going away quietly you've done Trump's trick of doubling down and accusing the other guy of being the one who knows nothing about it. Okay...

Sub judice means that once legal proceedings are active nothing can be reported that could potentially prejudice a trial. Proceedings become active when a person is arrested. This is a reason for it to be an inapproriate subject for QT because you cant have a bunch of people speculating about it on TV when there's someone under arrest.

And I said it happens from time to time, not that it was "all in a day". Why do you people who are irrationally afraid always feel the need to exaggerate to 'win' an argument?

Yes and when someone is really rattled they compare the other side to Trump. Good one.
What are you, like, 4? Do you really need me to spell it out for you? For the first 24-48 hours the mainstream media didn't even mention that the attacker was black. That is a political decision, not a legal one. Sub judice doesn't restrict open reporting in a liberal democracy - it restricts the reporting of information that could potentially prejudice a fair trial or the jury. There is no restriction on reporting the sex or ethnicity of the attacker because any member of the jury can see that for themselves when the defendant comes to court. The exception would be if the defendant is underage, then automatic restrictions apply. There are also restrictions on reporting things like previous convictions, for example, because that information is not freely available and it would be for the judge to decide whether previous convictions are admissible or not.

 

[Malarkey]

This defence used to be wheeled out to defend a king’s integrity from a court of wicked manipulators and meddlers.

Anyone with any knowledge or politics can see Bonfire as song with at least an insidious subtext. Go easy on the killer? It’s steeped in the idea that liberal society has a blindspot regarding extremism because of political correctness. If that is not hard right adjacent, you’re not being honest. The reference to 9/11, of course, transports the narrative to an era of war on terror frustrations and fight backs. The late Martin Amis also had a period where this became his intellectual obsession.

Here’s my argument. Morrissey is a moral absolutist and does not adjust his rhetoric to a situation. From the Moors Murder to this new atrocity, he will call this out in his lyrics. In this case, Morrissey is condemning an entire situation for failing to appreciate the seriousness of what has happened. I think that he is wrong to confuse a call to be united against hate with an excuse to be apathetic, apologetic or insufficiently vigilant. What more is to be done? Well that is the ambiguous part, which seems to open the door to the hard right imagination, who certainly have theories and strategies for dealing with this situation, which are contentious and counter-productive. You are saying that the racist discourse is added to the song - I think that song could reasonably be read as racist discourse.

Remember, these are Daily Mail, Telegraph, Spectator viewpoints - not dark doctrines lifted from the corners of the internet.

Morrissey would not be the first person to walk down this path, which begins with the not unreasonable assessment that an evil has been committed. How we react and process this matters, and I think many will disagree with Morrissey’s decision to transpose so many controversies into one pop song. He does have free speech and he still has many views which do not fit the reactionary mould; not sure why you have to continually disbelieve the evidence of your senses to deny what Morrissey is doing here.

He continually denies it. Which is a bit odd for someone who knows what they're doing & who isn't benefitting in any way from denying it.

 

[gashonthenail]

PJW has made reference to the Nottingham attack in a recent video. He also plays a clip from Bonfire from about 7'44'' in:



It is interesting that the brother of one of the victims has posted that he is angry and thinks that mass immigration and open borders have made Britain a more violent place to live. Shock, horror!
I haven't seen that on the front page anywhere. Just 'united in love'. Diversity makes us stronger.

The UK government has a policy on such public murders that may or may not be terrorist related - 'controlled spontaneity', and I think we saw that very clearly in operation in the wake of Nottingham this week:

'Controlled spontaneity': The secret UK government blueprints shaping post-terror planning

After the 2017 London Bridge attack, local officials were told: 'We're sending you a hundred imams.'

www.middleeasteye.net

 

[Malarkey]

PJW has made reference to the Manchester attack in a recent video. He also plays a clip from Bonfire from about 7'44'' in:



It is interesting that the brother of one of the victims has posted that he is angry and thinks that mass immigration and open borders have made Britain a more violent place to live. Shock, horror!
I haven't seen that on the front page anywhere. Just 'united in love'. Diversity makes us stronger.

The UK government has a policy on such public murders that may or may not be terrorist related - 'controlled spontaneity', and I think we saw that very clearly in operation in the wake of Nottingham this week:

'Controlled spontaneity': The secret UK government blueprints shaping post-terror planning

After the 2017 London Bridge attack, local officials were told: 'We're sending you a hundred imams.'

www.middleeasteye.net

As he would say - imagine my shock.

 

[gashonthenail]

If you would like to understand why the album is not going to be released, take a look at Capitol CEO Michelle Jebelirer's Insta. It's a commercial for Woke Hypocrisy.

You are indeed absolutely right. Pronouns included. Her instagram page tells you everything about why BOT was killed and buried.

 

[Anonymous]

He continually denies it. Which is a bit odd for someone who knows what they're doing & who isn't benefitting in any way from denying it.

I have no idea what you are talking about anymore I’m afraid. This is motivated reasoning. You’re saying his politics are just what he privately thinks. That’s not actually an important factor in politics as an inherently public phenomena. Of course you can be confused about your own political statements and effects!

You’re dedicated to defending Morrissey. I wish you and him the best. Not sure if this track is worth all of the attendant trouble though.

 

[Redacted]

You are indeed absolutely right. Pronouns included. Her instagram page tells you everything about why BOT was killed and buried.

Why don't you take this to a conspiracy thread, it's clear that it's bullshit and this is a legal issue regarding MC.

 

[BookishBoy]

The tragedy of the "Bonfire of Teenagers" song is that it could have been soooo much better. It's a brilliant, brilliant topic for a song. And parts of what Morrissey's done with it are wonderful. The way he sings this:

Oh, you should've seen her leave for the arena
Only to be vapourized
Vapourized

Gives me goosebumps every single time.

But the whole "Don't Look Back in Anger" bit is kind of lame - forgivable, but lame. I get it, he's making the case for anger as a valid response to a despicable, unthinkable crime like this. But it's not a great piece of songwriting.

And then the whole song is ruined by the "go easy on the killer" refrain at the end. It's lazy, and it makes very little sense (unless he's referring to the countless missed opportunities to stop Abedi before his attack). If he wanted to make that argument, he should have done so with more, you know, words. Otherwise it just ends up being so vague that it allows anyone to project their own anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim meaning on to it. (Which maybe, quite possibly, is Morrissey's meaning too: we simply don't know, despite the best efforts of some people on here to claim to know the inner workings of his mind.)

 

[gashonthenail]

Why don't you take this to a conspiracy thread, it's clear that it's bullshit and this is a legal issue regarding MC.

If that were the only issue - it would simply be a matter of removing the backing vocals, or recording some new ones, as the chap from Capitol said himself a few months ago. BOT has been killed and buried. There is more to it than just legal issues with MC's voice.