Morrissey Central "Rebels Without Applause" (November 25, 2022)

FRIDAY, 25 NOVEMBER, 2022 :
First 'single' release in exactly three years.

Morrissey's Rebels Without Applause is available today worldwide (including Britain) on Spotify, courtesy of Capitol Records. The track is produced by Andrew Watt.
This is Morrissey's first 'single' release since 'It's Over', taken from the 'California Son' album in November 2019. 'It's Over' peaked at number 1 in the UK vinyl chart.

Morrissey's next live appearance is on Monday, 28 November at The Anthem in Washington DC.

Rebels Without Applause - MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY - MORRISSEY CENTRAL - Rebels Without Applause

MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY on MORRISSEY CENTRAL

www.morrisseycentral.com

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Just to help Central:
It's Over was released as an instant grat & pre-order bonus - February 25/26, 2019 (followed by Morning Starship - both getting airplay).
It's Over was then nightmarishly released as a physical 7" - (initially December 20, 2019) January 24, 2020.
The first actual "single" from California Son was Wedding Bell Blues 7" - May 10, 2019.
Regards,
FWD.

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Media item:

• NME: "Morrissey shares ‘Rebels Without Applause’, his first new single in three years" - November 26, 2022

Related items:

• Rebels Without Applause released as a single track - initially on some region's YT, now to buy & stream (November 24, 2022)
• Fiona Dodwell: "Rebels Without Applause: New Morrissey Single Released" (November 25, 2022)

 

[Truth 25]

I Bury The Living is an incredible work of political art...but it's one I never want to listen to.

I generally have no interest in Morrissey's political songs or his take on world affairs, though sometimes they can make for a good song. Not because I disagree or anything. I just don't like political music. My favorite Morrissey is funny, sad, relatable stuff about relationships or being lonely or existential suburban malaise or lost friendships or satirical things about how shitty humanity can be. My general response to political stuff is like "well...not sure I know enough about this issue to have an opinion...not sure the singer does either..."

I know we all have tastes so I don't mean this in a challenging or confrontational way, but I find it so interesting that Quarry is being called "consistent" and YOR not consistent. I feel the polar opposite. YOR is just an awesome rock album with tons of catchy, fun songs. The only one that flops for me is You Were Good In Your Time. I feel the same about Ringleader, just love everything on there, though I'm not always in the mood for Dear God Please etc. But I really like it.

Years Of Refusal is a better album overall than Quarry I agree. Quarry had three fantastic songs with First Of The Gang To Die, I Have Forgiven Jesus and Irish Blood, English Heart but the production on the album made it feel like one slow, plodding song after another in places.

 

[Anonymous]

Don’t give up on Bonfire Morrissey.

Thanks for the bravado tour performances. The new redux of How Soon is Now? is brilliant.

Art is your life.

 

[Payphoniste]

Hi -- I'm a noob here, though I've been a fan since 1987 -- but I really just found myself with a need to talk about this song. This is M. facing death, for real, not in the romantic way he talked about it in "Asleep" and all those other songs from his twenties, but now having seen his friends and heroes die, facing cancer himself, and still somehow able to make a catchy pop song out of it.

The gang's all gone
From dark to light
Like lost children go
Because we must do

That's just powerful t0 me -- and knowing Morrissey, I have a feeling it's an allusion to something, but I can't trace it. A little bit of googling brought me to Randall Jarrell's "The Lost Children," which isn't an exact match, but maybe suggestive? Jarrell is certainly the right time period for M. Does anybody know if this is all Moz's, or one of his little take-on-loans?

And I have to ask about the "blue flu." I know what that phrase usually means (police sick-out or unauthorized strike), but that doesn't make sense in this context. What's that about?

Apologies if these questions have been discussed elsewhere -- I sought, but didn't find.

 

[Amy]

Hi -- I'm a noob here, though I've been a fan since 1987 -- but I really just found myself with a need to talk about this song. This is M. facing death, for real, not in the romantic way he talked about it in "Asleep" and all those other songs from his twenties, but now having seen his friends and heroes die, facing cancer himself, and still somehow able to make a catchy pop song out of it.

The gang's all gone
From dark to light
Like lost children go
Because we must do

That's just powerful t0 me -- and knowing Morrissey, I have a feeling it's an allusion to something, but I can't trace it. A little bit of googling brought me to Randall Jarrell's "The Lost Children," which isn't an exact match, but maybe suggestive? Jarrell is certainly the right time period for M. Does anybody know if this is all Moz's, or one of his little take-on-loans?

And I have to ask about the "blue flu." I know what that phrase usually means (police sick-out or unauthorized strike), but that doesn't make sense in this context. What's that about?

Apologies if these questions have been discussed elsewhere -- I sought, but didn't find.

Where does the comment about cancer come from? He has Barrett's oesophagus.

 

[Payphoniste]

Where does the comment about cancer come from? He has Barrett's oesophagus.

Well alright, then -- facing a condition that is likely at some point to lead to cancer, the treatment of which M. refers to as "cancer scrapings." Accuracy is important indeed.

 

[Mozzer1980]

I would like to note that Rebels was played on Polish public radio yesterday (Polish Radio Three)
( I guess debut on Polish public broadcaster , but it was played also several times on private radio stations )

 

[Surface]

Well alright, then -- facing a condition that is likely at some point to lead to cancer, the treatment of which M. refers to as "cancer scrapings." Accuracy is important indeed.

Is it likely?

Approximately one in 860 Barrett's esophagus patients will develop esophageal cancer, meaning the risk is statistically low. Barrett's esophagus is twice as common in men than in women, and usually targets Caucasian men over the age of 50 who have had heartburn for many years.

 

[BookishBoy]

Hi -- I'm a noob here, though I've been a fan since 1987 -- but I really just found myself with a need to talk about this song. This is M. facing death, for real, not in the romantic way he talked about it in "Asleep" and all those other songs from his twenties, but now having seen his friends and heroes die, facing cancer himself, and still somehow able to make a catchy pop song out of it.

The gang's all gone
From dark to light
Like lost children go
Because we must do

That's just powerful t0 me -- and knowing Morrissey, I have a feeling it's an allusion to something, but I can't trace it. A little bit of googling brought me to Randall Jarrell's "The Lost Children," which isn't an exact match, but maybe suggestive? Jarrell is certainly the right time period for M. Does anybody know if this is all Moz's, or one of his little take-on-loans?

And I have to ask about the "blue flu." I know what that phrase usually means (police sick-out or unauthorized strike), but that doesn't make sense in this context. What's that about?

Apologies if these questions have been discussed elsewhere -- I sought, but didn't find.

I like your interpretation of this song - I hadn't really thought of it as a "death song" but it clearly is. And it's done in such a Morrissey way, too.

As others have suggested, I wouldn't link it directly to his Barrett's oesophagus diagnosis but he's obviously very aware of time's creep, and of all the great pop stars to have emerged from the 1980s he's the one who's going to grapple most interestingly with death. (Unless Madonna publishes a glossy photo book of her having sex with the Grim Reaper or something.)

The other Morrissey thing about this song is that he seems to placing himself in a very particular tradition, through the lyrics and through the backdrop visuals when the song's been played live. So, as always, he's centering himself in the song, even though it's about the passing of others - and it's very much more of a 1970s lineage in which he seems to see himself.

 

[SuedeMoz]

And I have to ask about the "blue flu." I know what that phrase usually means (police sick-out or unauthorized strike), but that doesn't make sense in this context. What's that about?

At the risk of being too on the nose... in context I can only take the "And the blue flu / Must come for you" lyric to be a euphemism for death. I can't find "blue flu" used this way anywhere else... something unique to Morrissey.

 

[Payphoniste]

Is it likely?

Approximately one in 860 Barrett's esophagus patients will develop esophageal cancer, meaning the risk is statistically low. Barrett's esophagus is twice as common in men than in women, and usually targets Caucasian men over the age of 50 who have had heartburn for many years.

Morrissey himself has made public statements to the effect that he has seriously considered the possibility of dying from cancer, which, more than the actuarial probability, is what really matters in this circumstance. https://www.morrissey-solo.com/thre...-mundo-spain-cancer-treatment-mention.132984/

Poly Styrene died of cancer; it's hard to imagine that M. was not also thinking of his own situation when he was writing about her.

 

[Amy]

Morrissey himself has made public statements to the effect that he has seriously considered the possibility of dying from cancer, which, more than the actuarial probability, is what really matters in this circumstance. https://www.morrissey-solo.com/thre...-mundo-spain-cancer-treatment-mention.132984/

Poly Styrene died of cancer; it's hard to imagine that M. was not also thinking of his own situation when he was writing about her.

I wasn't criticizing you, so I'm sorry if it came across that way. Just pointing out that Morrissey makes all kinds of dramatic statements and sometimes talks himself into a corner - which is why the newspapers were reporting that he 'had throat cancer' but when asked directly, he just mentioned Barrett's. They're not the same thing at all and he should have said that clearly, instead of feeding speculation with comments like "If I die, I die".

 

[Ryan]

Don’t give up on Bonfire Morrissey.

Thanks for the bravado tour performances. The new redux of How Soon is Now? is brilliant.

Art is your life.

What is the redux of HSIN? like? I must have missed that.

 

[Famous when dead]

What is the redux of HSIN? like? I must have missed that.

Post in thread 'Newark, NJ - New Jersey Performing Arts Center (Dec. 1, 2022) post-show' https://www.morrissey-solo.com/thre...r-dec-1-2022-post-show.150389/post-1987491182
Regards,
FWD.

 

[BigNoseWhoNose]

Why is this liked? Because it’s a Cemetry Gates remake. Great Johnny Marr cover band that half chilli pepper

 

[JoeSellMozza]

Maybe postet before, but Nick is very enthusiastic about rebels. Much deserved applause for this fantastic bonfire teaser:



Release the f***ing album before I die! PLEASE

 

[jmb066]

Hmmm!!! With all of the auto tune and demo sound of the song I am shocked he loved it so much. Maybe it really is an awesome song that needs to be heard. We need to hear the rest of this album, naysayers please go away.

 

[Crisstti]

I wasn't criticizing you, so I'm sorry if it came across that way. Just pointing out that Morrissey makes all kinds of dramatic statements and sometimes talks himself into a corner - which is why the newspapers were reporting that he 'had throat cancer' but when asked directly, he just mentioned Barrett's. They're not the same thing at all and he should have said that clearly, instead of feeding speculation with comments like "If I die, I die".

Didn't he actually say he had cancer? I seem to remember him quoting his doctor as telling him "do you understand that you have cancer?" or something similar. Am I imagining this?

 

[Robert93]

Who plays on this song? I'm still a bit confused over the Bonfire saga, as far as I can tell its Jesse and most of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers playing on the album isn't it? Not Moz's usual band, and no Boz.

 

[Famous when dead]

Who plays on this song? I'm still a bit confused over the Bonfire saga, as far as I can tell its Jesse and most of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers playing on the album isn't it? Not Moz's usual band, and no Boz.

Boz has a 'writer' credit (or 'music' on some sites) on this track, but not assumed to be playing anything.
FWD.

 

[Amy]

Didn't he actually say he had cancer? I seem to remember him quoting his doctor as telling him "do you understand that you have cancer?" or something similar. Am I imagining this?

Not exactly, no. Barrett's oesophagus increases the risk of cancer and can cause pre-cancerous changes in cells - but not everyone who has it will go on to develop cancer. What he said was translated as "I've had four cancer-scrapings" (which could refer to the ablation of cancerous squamous cells or just to preventative measures, it wasn't clear). When Larry King asked him about cancer directly, he said very awkwardly, "Barrett’s, it’s in the oesophagus. They scrape it occasionally and I have medication, but I’m OK." So he has rather danced around the topic but the media ran with it. Moz also has GERD which can lead to Barrett's.