As the rift between the Smiths' co-founding guitarist Johnny Marr and former bandleader/controversial figure Morrissey continues to grow amid public bickering and callouts, Marr has had to contend with his former collaborator's image seemingly even more than his own.
Evidenced by a recent interview with The Observer about his recent double album Fever Dreams, Marr spoke about separating Moz's controversies of now from the music they made together back then, noting, "we never fell out over politics, but we probably would now."
When asked if Morrissey's far-right political views — often not limited by science, common sense or decency — have impacted how he feels about the band he co-founded, Marr shared that it hadn't, adding that he's "certainly able to separate the past from the present."
Marr continued:
I don't know whether you can separate the band from the man, but I can separate myself from the man and what I did, so when I do see how disappointed people are, it really does make me sad. But it's completely out of my control. And I can only really do what is in my control.
So I play Smiths songs for reasons that I think are real. And over the years I've tried to take care of the catalogue and the releases as much as I was able to. As I would have done anyway. So, you know, I see it the way everybody else sees it. I don't have any answers. And I don't want to have any answers.
One answer to the age-old Morrissey problem we'll never give up on is getting Rick Astley as a stand-in for the Moz. He's certainly proved himself more than capable — even if Marr doesn't seem to agree.
Evidenced by a recent interview with The Observer about his recent double album Fever Dreams, Marr spoke about separating Moz's controversies of now from the music they made together back then, noting, "we never fell out over politics, but we probably would now."
When asked if Morrissey's far-right political views — often not limited by science, common sense or decency — have impacted how he feels about the band he co-founded, Marr shared that it hadn't, adding that he's "certainly able to separate the past from the present."
Marr continued:
I don't know whether you can separate the band from the man, but I can separate myself from the man and what I did, so when I do see how disappointed people are, it really does make me sad. But it's completely out of my control. And I can only really do what is in my control.
So I play Smiths songs for reasons that I think are real. And over the years I've tried to take care of the catalogue and the releases as much as I was able to. As I would have done anyway. So, you know, I see it the way everybody else sees it. I don't have any answers. And I don't want to have any answers.
One answer to the age-old Morrissey problem we'll never give up on is getting Rick Astley as a stand-in for the Moz. He's certainly proved himself more than capable — even if Marr doesn't seem to agree.
