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Written & Photographed by Kenn Sava

Text a friend sent me after Moz @ MSG

Morrissey @ Madison Square Garden June 27, 2015. Click to enlarge.

Those who love Morrissey’s music are almost certain to have a favorite anthem the man has written since the early 1980s.  The term is thrown around quite a bit in non-nationalistic contexts, so what, exactly, is an anthem you ask? The Dictionary defines an anthem ¹ as “a usually rousing popular song that typifies or is identified with a particular subculture, movement, or point of view.” Hmmm….not sure that covers my idea of it, but the “identify with” part definitely does. Going from there here are some of Morrissey’s that a lot of people, including myself, seem to identify with-

“How Soon Is Now?”
“There Is A Light That Never Goes Out”

“Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me”

“Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before”

“I Have Forgiven Jesus”

“That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore”

“Shoplifters Of The World Unite”

“Suedehead”

“This Charming Man”

“Every Day Is Just Like Sunday”

“Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want”

“Ask”

“Reel Around The Fountain”…

Add yours here.

The list is long.

I bet VERY few would include the 2005 song “Ganglord.” Yet, Moz chose it as the 4th song during his return to NYC June 27 Madison Square Garden concert. Its lyrics include-

“Ganglord, the police are
Kicking their way into my house
And haunting me, taunting me
Wanting me to break their laws…
Ganglord, the police are
Grinding me into the ground
The headless pack are back
Small boy jokes and loaded guns
And I’m turning to you
To save me
And I’m turning to you
To save me, save me, save me, save me…
They say, ‘To protect and to serve’
But what they really mean to say is
Get back to the ghetto, the ghetto
Get yourself back to the ghetto, the ghetto”*
Can you imagine a more timely song? I sat wondering how many people had heard it before and how many thought it was a new song inspired by tragic recent events.

The amazing, and sad, truth is that “Ganglord” was the B-side to the single “The Youngest Was The Most Loved” from 2005! Written about the LAPD, it finally appeared on an album in 2009, the collection of B-Sides, “Swords,” which is only known to die-hard fans. That it very well could have been written in 2015 is just another example of the durability of Morrissey’s writing. From the beginning of The Smiths in 1982 to 2015… 33 years, it’s hard to think of a single song that’s a throwaway. (Maybe “Journalists Who Lie”? “Get Off The Stage”?)

At MSG, he performed it with an intensity and power, that’s only hinted at on the record (which you can hear on the years’ old official music video for it here-),

aided by his continually improving, now stellar current band, giving every bit the aural vitriol the lyrics scream while the backing video screen at the rear of the stage showed a never ending montage of every horrific constabulary related violent event, with no holds barred- literally.

Pretty powerful, intense stuff for a rock concert at MSG. I note a few have posted bootleg videos of his performance of it on youtube. Unfortunately, they lack the power and in your face presence of the sound, so offer only a pale document of what I experienced live. But, you can get an idea of the experience as you can see parts of the backing video here-

Upping the intensity even more, the dramatic highlight of his show was, undoubtedly, “Meat Is Murder,” the ever-hard-to-listen-to Smith’s title track that thanks to the graphic video presentation, was also hard-to watch. Towards its end, Moz knelt with his back to the crowd, facing the video screen behind the band. I could still see him, being one of the few with seats on the side of the stage, and shot this-

Say what you like about him- his ongoing passion and dedication for this issue is hard not to admire, whichever side of the coin you’re on. “Meat Is Murder” was released 30 years ago, in 1985.

For me, though, the choice of performing “Ganglord” made it hard not to think of it as his non-too-subtle “message” that there is still plenty of work to be done on this ongoing problem. Everywhere.

Since I saw him last in 2013, there have been numerous illnesses forcing gig and tour cancellations, (a good friend booked a hotel for a Moz gig in Atlantic City which then got cancelled. They went anyway cause they had paid for the hotel! Their anthem that weekend could have been “Seasick, Yet Still Docked“), along with rumors of multiple treatments for cancer, which he confirmed, again, on Larry King this week. I thought I’d never seen him perform again.

But, there he was, “back in the center of the world,” as he said, in excellent voice and full effect, and still “True To You,” as his website is called, making the most of the moment, life and health to continue his mission and reinforce his message(s). Morrissey @ MSG left his soul behind, in deeds, performance and word, as few performers can, or have the guts to do, when he left the stage, after the fitting encore “Now My Heart Is Full.”

I also took it as a not too subtle reminder that like the songs on that list above, and others, “Ganglord” proves Morrissey remains one of the best writers of “anthems” of our times. The Dictionary failed to mention something that Francis Scott Key would find surprising if he had lived another hundred years-  anthems have a life of their own.

Let’s hope this one doesn’t prove as timely ever again.

*-Soundtrack for this post is“Ganglord” by Morrissey and Alain Whyte, published by Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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