Morrissey has yet to release Bonfire of Teenagers, his 14th studio album (an unreleased second album, Without Music the World Dies, later released, also exists). Bonfire of Teenagers was announced in 2021; two singles from the album were released, Rebels Without Applause and I Am Veronica, and it was revealed that Miley Cyrus and Iggy Pop would appear on the album as guests. Miley Cyrus later backed out, according to Morrissey, due to disagreements with someone on the Brit’s team.
Morrissey has said that he felt Capitol Records was “trying to sabotage” the release of ‘Bonfire of Teenagers’, although he did not go into details. Now, in an interview with The Telegraph, Morrissey has explained why no label wants to release the album.
Morrissey says the title track of ‘Bonfire of Teenagers’ is about the 2017 terrorist attack in Manchester, in which 22 people died after an Ariana Grande concert. Labels find the song too controversial and Morrissey believes he is being “censored” and that “real artists in England are being hijacked by people who oppose any alternative opinion.”
The Telegraph interview with Morrissey reveals the lyrical content of ‘Bonfire of Teenagers’, in which Morrissey sings about a fan being “vaporised”, intones the ironic line “don’t go overboard with the killer”, and quotes Oasis’ 1995 classic ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’: “The fools sing ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ / I can assure you I’ll be looking back in anger ’til the day I die.”
For the Smiths’ frontman, ‘Bonfire of Teenagers’ is a tribute to victims who should not be forgotten: “I’m not going to remove the title song because I don’t intend to abandon the children murdered in Manchester. Their spirits ask every day to be remembered and recognised.” Morrissey claims that the attack on the Manchester Arena was “the UK’s 9/11” but believes that the country does not consider it as such. Apparently based on his Islamophobic beliefs, Morrissey says: “In this sad country of ours, to understand the true meaning of the attack is to be guilty.”
