Do you realize how little sense, basically no sense it makes that Morrssey was asked to remove the title track from the album and there is no evidence of this and he has never once mentioned it. However, there is evidence he was asked to remove the Miley Cyrus vocals from Veronica, there is plenty of evidence of that.
I agree. Though I'd be open to the idea of pressure/the record company asking/not being wild about the title track were Moz (or anyone else directly involved) able to produce emails, or otherwise able to attest to what was said by which executive when and which particular meeting. If that Steve guy at Capitol etc. has emails, Moz/Mangement/Tobias etc. surely have others or other corroborating details.
I would imagine that most plenty of record companies (like book publishers etc) might routinely ask artists and authors if they would consider altering changing or coming at lyrical theme from a different angle etc. that doesn't mean that Moz has to accept those requests, but I think they're probably pretty routine even in cases which are much less loaded than a terrorist attack etc. that's why record companies hire people with tastes and sensibilities – it goes far beyond rubberstamping a given release or an artist.
Having said all that, it seems to me that Moz sincerely with all of his heart believes that Captiol and company are choosing not to release Bonfire because of the title track and the content – and he cannot conceive or is unwilling to conceive that his behavior around the Miley stuff might be a significant factor, and also that (while he and others are perfectly entitled to think the the track powerfully speaks for the victims etc., other listeners including potential record company executives might listen to it and think it is mostly, an angry bitter and dismissive characterization of the spontaneous outpouring of sympathy using a rather banal pop song that was never meant to be a political statement.
The potential distaste is not the same as "censorship" and it's a distaste that is not directed at Morrissey's criticism of immigration and cultural identity. Morrissey has songs about that. Hell, "Bengali in Platforms" and "We'll Let You know" were both part of anniversary album re-releases. He was still able to get records deals after the "Chinese subspecies" comment, all of the things he has repeatedly said about the disappearance of The English/European identity disappearing.
For as many headlines as the Der Spiegel/For Britian/Farage stuff generated I am Not A Dog on A Chain was still subsequently release- w and a colored vinyl retail exclusive to some (relatively) positive critical reception. And of Course, he was just able to do the Vinyl re-release of Beethoven, so I have a very hard time finding any point in his career, wherein he was silenced, gagged, or blacklisted. because of his politics, political songs, or because of interview and promotional comments.
www.telegraph.co.uk
