Morrissey – I Am Not a Dog on a Chain

Have you heard the news? Everyone is racist! 2020 is so batshit-crazy-insane that now even Morrissey is a racist. Yes, that Morrissey – ya know, that dreary, crotchety, get-off-my-lawn, Meat is Murder, hardcore-vegan crooner. He called some social justice morons “social justice morons” and you can’t do that if you’re a “free thinking” artist (because there’s only one correct way that you should think/express yourself and that’s not it!)

He criticized the media/The Guardian newspaper and you can’t do that, because “THAT’S THE SAME THING DONALD TRUMP DOES!” He criticized London Mayor Sadiq Khan and you can’t do that because he’s Muslim. And last year he wore a “For Britain” pin while performing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. You can’t do that because “For Britain” is anti-immigration, and if you’re an artist you can’t be against immigration, that’s against the rules of being an artist! (Haven’t you read the ever-changing friggin’ rule book?!) (Obviously not, Morrissey.)

So, Morrissey, now at 60 years old, who obviously gives no shits, has doubled down on his critics with his latest release, his thirteenth studio album, aptly titled I Am Not a Dog on a Chain. Some of the lyrics just from the title track include, “I am not a dog on a chain, I use my own brain,” and “I do not read newspapers, they are troublemakers/ Listen out for what’s not shown to you and there you find the truth/ For in a civilized and careful way they’ll sculpture all your views,” both bratty snipes at groupthink and the media.

On the second single, “Knockabout World,” Morrissey critiques the haters some more: “They kicked to kill you/ Do not forget/ They tried to turn you/ Into a public target/ Welcome to this knockabout world.” On “Jim Jim Falls,” folks that already hate the guy will have a field day with the lyrics “If you’re gonna kill yourself/ Then to save face/ Get on with it,” so much so that I’m sure Morrissey won’t just be racist anymore, he’ll be a pro-suicide and racist.

Elsewhere, on “The Truth About Ruth,” Moz takes on transphobia, so at least he’s not a transphobic racist. The record is lyrically close to Vauxhall and I (1994) and production-wise it’s close to You Are the Quarry (2004), so hardcore fans are sure to love it from front to back.

The Los Angeles Times wrote a smear piece last year titled “Morrissey is Anti-Immigrant and Backs a White Nationalist Political Party. Why Don’t Fans Care?” Because maybe they don’t believe in cancel culture? Basically, the fans he already had are still there, the people that already hated him just have more ridiculous reasons to hate him. (FYI, Morrissey said he wore the “For Britain” pin because they support animal rights; the critics didn’t buy it.) I guess the more you ignore him, the closer he gets.

Morrissey
I Am Not a Dog on a Chain
[BMG]