'The National Front Disco'
Morrissey's maligned masterpiece
The fourth track on Morrissey's Your Arsenal studio album (released July 1992), 'The National Front Disco' is a somewhat controversial song (for some) due to its direct reference to a fringe far-right UK political party1. The song was co-written with Alain Whyte shortly before or during the initial recording sessions for Your Arsenal in February 1992 at Utopia Studios in London. The song was produced by Mick Ronson, and performed by Boz Boorer (guitar), Alain Whyte (guitar), Gary Day (bass) and Spencer Cobrin (drums).
'The National Front Disco' is a stomping, guitar-driven song that powers up, down, and then back up again to multiple, wonderful crescendos. Cobrin's robust, crashing drumming coupled with Day's nimble bass drives the song at a frenetic pace. Along with Morrissey's emotive, spot-on vocals, it is an exhilarating track that renders the listener susceptible to singing along.
Listen to 'The National Front Disco' here:
Musically, the song bears a notable resemblance to Étienne Daho's2 1988 single, 'Bleu Comme Toi', though Whyte has never acknowledged this.
Listen to 'Bleu comme toi' here and decide for yourself:
Morrissey’s release of the song in July 1992 followed only a couple of weeks later by his participation in the troubled Madstock concert (which saw Morrissey performing in front of a backdrop of two skinhead girls while holding the Union Jack flag) was a perfect storm of sorts insofar as the music press, media, and some fans were concerned...surely, Morrissey is flirting with extreme, far right politics, they opined.
In fact, 'The National Front Disco' is about a young Briton -David- developing far-right political views, much to the displeasure of those around him. Rather than celebrate or excuse the subject's affiliation with the National Front organization, Morrissey simply shines a light upon the impact of cultural changes within the United Kingdom. Indeed, he expressly sings "And I still say/ 'Where is our boy?/ Ah, we've lost our boy'". Rather than affirm or otherwise celebrate young David's dalliance with a far-right organization, Morrissey describes the subject as having been "lost". This is hardly the stuff of “flirtation” with far-right politics.
Morrissey himself addressed the controversy regarding 'The National Front Disco' in a September 1992 interview with Q Magazine:
Q: "Once again, as with 'Bengali In Platforms' and 'Asian Rut', you have flirted with racism on the new song 'The National Front Disco'."
Morrissey: "Well I like to feel, in some small way, that I'm not actually restricted in anything I wish to write about. Of course, within the exciting world of pop music, the reality is that we are restricted. Whether you chose to write about wheelchair-bound people, 'November Spawned A Monster', or the subject of racism, 'The National Front Disco', the context of the song is often overlooked. People look at the title and shudder and say, Whatever is in that song shouldn't exist because the subject, to millions of people, is so awful."
Morrissey's thoughts on the reaction to 'The National Front Disco' is an understatement to put it mildly; the subject of racism and hatred is awful, but ignoring it or, worse, villainizing those who choose to dare address it hardly solves the problem.
The existence of organizations such as the National Front along with those who sympathize with its objectives are symptoms of an underlying cultural conflict - one must address the problem at its core in order to resolve it. To pillory those who acknowledge that something is underfoot adds no value to the issue other than to hone ones woke credentials vis-à-vis virtue signaling.
In a 2006 interview with Steve Jones of Jonesy's Jukebox, co-writer Alain Whyte also weighed in on the issue, putting a fine point on what Morrissey had earlier said to Q Magazine in 1992:
Steve Jones: "But, why did it get such a…it seemed like, in the media, even they got it wrong. The press got it wrong that, it kind of made it like he was pro-National Front, or whatever."
Alain Whyte: "Well, the Media basically set him up. The Media made up a load of lies. They decided that, you know, they’d had enough of Morrissey and they basically have recently admitted that they were in the wrong and that they were deliberately targeting him. So, you know, they were just out to get him, basically. Made up a load of lies."
The National Front (NF) is a far-right political party in the United Kingdom. A minor party, it has never had its representatives elected to the British or European Parliaments, although it gained a small number of local councillors through defections and it has had a few of its representatives elected to community councils. Founded in 1967, it reached the height of its electoral support during the mid-1970s, when it was briefly England's fourth-largest party in terms of vote share.
Étienne Daho (born January 14, 1956) is a French singer-songwriter. He has released a number of synth-driven and rock-surf influenced pop hit singles since 1981.
Once again Morrissey is misunderstood. 😒