Morrissey interview by Michael Deacon in The Daily Telegraph

Michael Deacon writes:

I recently interviewed Morrissey for the Daily Telegraph. My piece has been published this morning online. It'll appear in print tomorrow, Saturday June 18.

Morrissey interview: heaven knows he's (a bit) less miserable now
At 52, Morrissey is among the top draws in two major music festivals – but he doesn’t have a record deal. Michael Deacon meets the ever-outspoken singer.

[SUB]How soon is miaow? Morrissey with a kitten, photographed at Battersea Dogs' and Cats' Home in May 2011. Photo: Andy Fallon[/SUB]​

I also used parts of the transcript to create these three Q&As:

Morrissey on... his musical heroes
Morrissey talks about the music scene of 1970s New York, and how it influenced him and his work.

Morrissey on... Lady Gaga and modern pop
Morrissey gives his views on Lady Gaga, Adele and pop music today.

Morrissey on... privacy, the Queen and The Smiths
Morrissey talks about privacy for the famous, the Royal family, and his former band.

[SUB]Morrissey, photographed at Battersea Dogs' and Cats' Home in May 2011. Photo: Andy Fallon[/SUB]​

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See also forum thread posted by goinghome:

Telegraph's Interview & Q&A with Morrissey

 

[Anonymous]

Hardcore Moz fan for sixteen years and this is the best interview I've ever seen

Well done be rightly proud of yourself

 

[Anonymous]

This was an excellent interview! Lucky fella, so glad this turned out well for him, considering he was a bit nervous to meet The Moz! M always provides an entertaining read!

 

[Anonymous]

Strange, he comes over as an absolute fake to me, probably can't get over himself,how many years he has got away with it.

Which parts do you think are fake?

 

[The Question]

Morrissey on... Lady Gaga

"I’ve met her and she’s terribly nice."

Fantastic interview, but...

I miss the venom from the "boy from Manchester".

 

[Anonymous]

The meat dress is unacceptable. I almost threw up when I first saw it and I doubt that Morrissey, Gaga or anybody from PETA is a vegetarian, silly as it may sound. PETA seems to be more a celebrity promotion vehicle than anything else. The clips shown of animal cruelty at the concerts are fair enough, but as a vegetarian who became one without PETA or Morrissey but out of my own thinking, I do not appreciate being exposed to this at concerts that I go to to enjoy and not to watch things that I cannot bear because others are sick enough to eat meat in masses because they are too lazy to think of anything else.

As to the rhetorical question how the shirts are produced, PETA suggests that you buy your clothes from shops that are known to import from China and similar low wage countries where work conditions are known to be reasonably poor. To be for the ethical treatment of animals does not have to exclude the ethical treatment of people, but you just have to look at the PETA campaigns to know that the good treatment of people is not exactly their thing.

 

[MozzerAnt]

A great interview save the comments about Ireland. Who does he suppose the Queen should hand the 'six counties' back to? Enda Kenny? The people Morrissey claims don't matter are the 80% of people in Northern Ireland who are happy to remain British (including the majority of Catholics). Those of us south of the border no longer have political, let alone economic, independence from the EU !! Yeah we're not banjacksed enough give us the 'six counties' to screw up aswell !! It's a pity 'cause Morrissey is quite brillant when talking about almost all other topics.

 

[Anonymous]

Hm. Interesting article, well written and some interesting bits and pieces, but unfortunately Deacon does what so many people do nowadays - he writes an article and calls it an interview. I'd prefer to read the INTERVIEW and only have little bits inserted about atmosphere, and behavior bookended by his impressions and thoughts. Instead, we don't ever really get to read what was actually said between these two.

 

[Anonymous]

Whay does Morrissey keep getting photographed with pussies? Is he turning into Brigitte Bardot?

Anyway photographic gripes aside one of the better Morrissey interviews of recent times. Thought Michael Deacon did a good job in making the same old questions sound slightly more pertinent

 

[No. 27]

I don't see why people are so delighted by this interview. It just the same old answers to the same old questions that we've read dozens of times already. Morrissey is boring now. He has nothing new to say, in song or in print. More disappointingly still, he refuses to engage with anybody who isn't completely obsequious.

He is slowly being laid to rest, in every conceivable way. This is, more or less, the end of the story. The ashes are all about him ... if he could but notice them.

No. 27