“Diversity is a lie,” according to Morrissey

Morrissey took to his website this weekend to express a complaint few would expect him to voice: “Diversity is a lie,” he wrote in his latest grievance. Upon closer inspection, though, his complaint is not exactly as it seems. The “diversity” he’s referring to is that often-dreaded “diversity of ideas,” a type that the Smiths frontman claims the BBC is neglecting by refusing to give his new track, “Notre-Dame,” any airplay. 

In a statement on his website, Moz complained that “Notre-Dame” had been blacklisted by the BBC, despite its #6 position on the UK charts. “The public wants to hear the song,” he said, “but the BBC will not play it even though their stations are a public service duty-bound to reflect public taste. Obviously not! If the song is suspected of independent thought – God forbid! it is not played, therefore, under these circumstances, any station that pledges allegiance to diversity is lying. When people say ‘Diversity is our strength’ they fail to mention how their notion of ‘diversity’ entails very strict Third Reich regulations and punishments. I wonder why people can’t simply be honest about these things?”

“Notre-Dame,” a track from Morrissey’s recent album Make-Up Is A Lie, repeats the refrain “Notre-Dame, we know who tried to kill you,” and vaguely references a presumed conspiracy to burn down the iconic Parisian cathedral. The French police found no evidence of terrorism in the fire, instead attributing it to either a discarded cigarette or an electrical short circuit—probably because they didn’t have Morrissey on the case to uncover the true, dark secrets of the incident. A lyric in Moz’s initial performances of the song baselessly accused the fire of being an act of “terrorism,” but Moz has since dialed it back. He may want to turn those investigative skills on himself: while the song is ranked sixth on the Official Singles Sales Chart, it is not the Official Singles Chart itself. The charts are a lie, too! You can read his full statement here if you’d like.

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