Billie Joe Armstrong on new Morrissey Album

[Hermione]

35 minutes ago, Too domb to die said:

They don't have many particular differing views. Morrissey is centre-left politically ( classic liberal ), but more far left when it comes to animal rights. Billie is the embodiment of the far left Berkley stereotype publicly. I don't feel there is anything to argue here.

And unless they've recorded a politically themed song together (which I doubt) it's not relevant anyway. They're musicians who met at an event and were like lets do a song, they're not politicians having a summit. 

[jengd]

And all of that really has little to do with the music.  If you don't like Morrisey's views and don't want to listen to his views, fine.  

However, if you decry everyone who ever has anything to do with him, and deny him his right to free speech, then you are censoring him and them.  

[Beerjeezus]

so much for the tolerant left

Spoiler

 

[amberwhite]

23 hours ago, Christian's Inferno! said:

"Representatives for Armstrong said he was in the studio and therefore unreachable."

Am I the only one who's excited about the " In the studio "  part?

[pacejunkie punk]

28 minutes ago, amberwhite said:

Am I the only one who's excited about the " In the studio "  part?

Nope. Not just you. I’d rather talk about that 🙌

[Alan86]

The "in the studio" part to me is just a way for Billie to refuse answering a stupid question, or having justify himself to a newspaper. They still used his name as clickbate for the article anyway even though he contributed no opinion. He may or may not be in the studio, but I would not read too much into it. 

[Moriarty]

nobody seems to have mentioned that this is a covers album, and this is the song that billie joe is covering with morrissey and lydia night

 

[Billie Joes Eyelids]

4 hours ago, Alan86 said:

The "in the studio" part to me is just a way for Billie to refuse answering a stupid question, or having justify himself to a newspaper. They still used his name as clickbate for the article anyway even though he contributed no opinion. He may or may not be in the studio, but I would not read too much into it. 

I disagree. There would be no reason to mention the studio if it wasn’t true. They could just say he’s not available. 

3 hours ago, Moriarty said:

nobody seems to have mentioned that this is a covers album, and this is the song that billie joe is covering with morrissey and lydia night

 

I’m really having a hard time figuring out how this is going to play out. The female lead is singing to “Bill”. Will Morissey, Lydia, or Billie be singing that? All of those scenarios make me uncomfortable.

[amberwhite]

5 hours ago, Alan86 said:

The "in the studio" part to me is just a way for Billie to refuse answering a stupid question, or having justify himself to a newspaper. They still used his name as clickbate for the article anyway even though he contributed no opinion. He may or may not be in the studio, but I would not read too much into it. 

Dream killer 😣

[Hermione]

10 hours ago, Alan86 said:

The "in the studio" part to me is just a way for Billie to refuse answering a stupid question, or having justify himself to a newspaper. They still used his name as clickbate for the article anyway even though he contributed no opinion. He may or may not be in the studio, but I would not read too much into it. 

And it could literally be that he doesn't even know what the question is or what they want to ask him about and he's just in "not doing interviews" mode at the moment because it's downtime/studio time so no is the automatic answer.

9 hours ago, Moriarty said:

nobody seems to have mentioned that this is a covers album, and this is the song that billie joe is covering with morrissey and lydia night

 

I wonder if it'll turn out that he's even prominent on the song. Imagine if it's just playing guitar or doing faint backing vocals lol

[tdlyon]

Not to start shit but I wonder how many people on here would defend Billie if this was a Kanye collab instead

 

(I'm a massive Kanye fan btw, this argument just sounds like a lot of stuff I've read about him)

[Hermione]

I would lead the defense if it was Kanye  

Btw I'm not a Morrissey fan, know virtually nothing about him other than he's pretentious/a dick and had only vaguely heard of a couple of accusations of him saying offensive things up to now. Just going by what I've found from googling this. I'm not even defending him, I think he should be criticised for things he's said, just don't think he should be criticised inaccurately or that everyone he associates with should be judged. 

[The Bellie]

It's Morrissey who has invited Billie to join in, so perhaps Billie accepted for the musical interest (especially since there are more than just the two of them, so it makes it even more interesting). I'm intrigued as well about what Billie may know or think of Morrissey's views, but to me he's isn't less credible in his own views just because of that collaboration. He doesn't need to have the same views as someone else to work with them, and I think that's a good thing. That being said, I would like to read an interview of him about it, maybe we'll have something like that in a few days?

[Hermione]

I don't think he generally does interviews when he just randomly guests on someone's album track. Sometimes there's been higher profile collaborations (eg The Saints Are Coming) but usually it's a low profile thing that doesn't get promoted or talked about. Almost every time it's just that you can hear his voice a bit on some other artist's song or you're informed he played something on it and it's not that interesting lol. So I won't expect more than that.

[pacejunkie punk]

I really don’t expect this album to get any attention at all and if he’s just playing guitar on it or something, no one but hardcore fans who follow his news will ever even know he did it.  At most a reporter might bring it up when they get interviewed for the release of the next GD album or it will be old news by then. 

[Jet Taman]

Back in 1995 there was a band called The Smoking Popes and I swore that it was a (wishful) combination of  my two favorite artists, Morrissey and Green Day, that had secretly teamed up and released an album. 

 

[pacejunkie punk]

57 minutes ago, Jet Taman said:

Back in 1995 there was a band called The Smoking Popes and I swore that it was a (wishful) combination of  my two favorite artists, Morrissey and Green Day, that had secretly teamed up and released an album. 

They really do sound like that. They’re great I discovered them through Spotify. I love the song Can’t Find It. 

[Billie Hoe]

From the Guardian:

I stayed out of the discussion on here because I don't really want to debate this as this topic, in general, is a bit too upsetting. I never thought I'd say this but I'm really, really disappointed in him right now and the realization that he apparently just doesn't care is really sobering. I've looked up to Billie almost my whole life, seen him as a political idol to shape my own political opinions after and so far it has worked out great - I used to idealize him to the point where I was blind to the fact that he is human and would defend his every breath even if it killed me. So in the last couple of years I kind of came to my senses and learned to criticize him where, in my opinion, criticism is due. And like, let's not pretend that Billie never asked for young fans to look up to him politically, they as a band and he, in particular, made their bed by making American Idiot, constantly speaking up about politics even when unasked and making a whole spectacle out of their political opinions (like at the AMAs). It's not unreasonable at all for people to have certain expectations. 

I still love him and Green Day and won't stop listening to them or going to shows but... I'm a bit pissed and disappointed and disillusioned. Honestly, how can a man who constantly speaks up about hating racists and wanting to punch nazis in the face keep on collaborating with racists like Morrissey or nazi sympathizers/apologists like Kat von D? (You know that discussion has been closed very quickly on here.) This isn't his first strike. And I honestly can't blame this on sheer stupidity and ignorance anymore - he has a management and "representatives" and people responsible for public relation, he is connected with so many people in the music industry and I cannot believe nobody has informed him of this and what a message he would send with this collaboration. 

The message I'm receiving is that he is an "activist" when it suits him. The easiest form of activism is saying "orange man bad" and yelling out "fuck racists" on stage but not actually feeling compelled to let his actions meet his words. Since he, as a white man, is not affected by racism he has the privilege to be outraged at other people but still be able to separate the person who says fucked up racist shit from the artist who makes good music and continue to support him. It's entirely performative in my opinion. This whole "everyone has different opinions uwu we should be able to still work and talk with other people who we have disagreements with" is such a white thing to say and it disappoints me that open racism is apparently not a dealbreaker. Racism isn't differences of opinions. I really miss the American Idiot times - THAT'S when they actually took a risk. But now, his words seem empty and perfomative and he looks like a hypocrite.

If anyone else who isn't as vocal about anti racism did this, I would have been disappointed, but not upset. Tbh I just hope Billie will at least be quiet about political issues especially regarding racism from now on, but that definitely won't happen. I'm honestly also a bit tired of people constantly defending Billie for everything he does, even if it means defending the shitty actions of shitty people he works with by extension, like what they did "isn't even that bad" or not bad enough to stop doing business with them.

[Beerjeezus]

The "in the studio" part is only there as a bait to take the focus from his shitty collab choice lmao good attempt from the PR person.

[maryjanewhatsername]

2 hours ago, Billie Hoe said:

From the Guardian:

 

I stayed out of the discussion on here because I don't really want to debate this as this topic, in general, is a bit too upsetting. I never thought I'd say this but I'm really, really disappointed in him right now and the realization that he apparently just doesn't care is really sobering. I've looked up to Billie almost my whole life, seen him as a political idol to shape my own political opinions after and so far it has worked out great - I used to idealize him to the point where I was blind to the fact that he is human and would defend his every breath even if it killed me. So in the last couple of years I kind of came to my senses and learned to criticize him where, in my opinion, criticism is due. And like, let's not pretend that Billie never asked for young fans to look up to him politically, they as a band and he, in particular, made their bed by making American Idiot, constantly speaking up about politics even when unasked and making a whole spectacle out of their political opinions (like at the AMAs). It's not unreasonable at all for people to have certain expectations. 

I still love him and Green Day and won't stop listening to them or going to shows but... I'm a bit pissed and disappointed and disillusioned. Honestly, how can a man who constantly speaks up about hating racists and wanting to punch nazis in the face keep on collaborating with racists like Morrissey or nazi sympathizers/apologists like Kat von D? (You know that discussion has been closed very quickly on here.) This isn't his first strike. And I honestly can't blame this on sheer stupidity and ignorance anymore - he has a management and "representatives" and people responsible for public relation, he is connected with so many people in the music industry and I cannot believe nobody has informed him of this and what a message he would send with this collaboration. 

The message I'm receiving is that he is an "activist" when it suits him. The easiest form of activism is saying "orange man bad" and yelling out "fuck racists" on stage but not actually feeling compelled to let his actions meet his words. Since he, as a white man, is not affected by racism he has the privilege to be outraged at other people but still be able to separate the person who says fucked up racist shit from the artist who makes good music and continue to support him. It's entirely performative in my opinion. This whole "everyone has different opinions uwu we should be able to still work and talk with other people who we have disagreements with" is such a white thing to say and it disappoints me that open racism is apparently not a dealbreaker. Racism isn't differences of opinions. I really miss the American Idiot times - THAT'S when they actually took a risk. But now, his words seem empty and perfomative and he looks like a hypocrite.

If anyone else who isn't as vocal about anti racism did this, I would have been disappointed, but not upset. Tbh I just hope Billie will at least be quiet about political issues especially regarding racism from now on, but that definitely won't happen. I'm honestly also a bit tired of people constantly defending Billie for everything he does, even if it means defending the shitty actions of shitty people he works with by extension, like what they did "isn't even that bad" or not bad enough to stop doing business with them.

This was a lot to digest... But is definitely a hard pill that needs to be swallowed. FOA, had no idea that shit about Kat Von D but I knew she was shady and an anti-vaxer. (do you have an article for me to become more educated on this? I'd love to be in the know) but honestly we really should judge our heroes more harshly. Billie is very hypocritical when it comes to political views, and I'd agree that he's politically charged when its convenient for him. 

[Billie Hoe]

30 minutes ago, maryjanewhatsername said:

This was a lot to digest... But is definitely a hard pill that needs to be swallowed. FOA, had no idea that shit about Kat Von D but I knew she was shady and an anti-vaxer. (do you have an article for me to become more educated on this? I'd love to be in the know) but honestly we really should judge our heroes more harshly. Billie is very hypocritical when it comes to political views, and I'd agree that he's politically charged when its convenient for him. 

I will send you a pm!

[Beerjeezus]

The problem is, it's our own fault when we put trust in anyone, especially someone who uses their political views for promotion.

I often didn't agree when I read The Society of the Spectacle but in this case I'm afraid this paragraph fits both us and Billie Joe.

"Complacent acceptance of the status quo may also coexist with purely spectacular rebelliousness — dissatisfaction itself becomes a commodity as soon as the economy of abundance develops the capacity to process that particular raw material.

Stars — spectacular representations of living human beings — project this general banality into images of permitted roles. As specialists of apparent life, stars serve as superficial objects that people can identify with in order to compensate for the fragmented productive specializations that they actually live. The function of these celebrities is to act out various lifestyles or sociopolitical viewpoints in a full, totally free manner."

Billie sells us wokeness and it's only our own fault that we buy it.

[Billie Joes Eyelids]

I work closely with people who are Trump supporters. I also have 1 close friend and several family members who are. I am  able to look pasttheir nonsense political views because they have proven themselves to me in other ways. And there is no one more anti-Trump than me. I’m kind of obsessed with him being fully revealed for what he truly is, a criminal. But if I only associated myself with people who shared my political views, I would not be giving people in my life a fair shake. If we have that sort of thinking we’re no better than the other side.

[DeJennsitized]

If someone’s political views are literally harmful and oppressive then I won’t be made to feel bad for cutting them out/refusing to associate or engage with them. Billie might not think the same but 🤷🏻‍♀️ 

[Billie Joes Eyelids]

17 minutes ago, DeJennsitized said:

If someone’s political views are literally harmful and oppressive then I won’t be made to feel bad for cutting them out/refusing to associate or engage with them. Billie might not think the same but 🤷🏻‍♀️ 

True, I respect any artist’s choice to not work with other artists who’s views are oppressive. However, actors very often work with other actors who they consider to be bigoted assholes or whatever, and I’m not going to judge an actor for who they work with. My one friend has views that I would consider to be somewhat oppressive, but I’m still going to dinner with her next weekend because she is truly a good and loyal friend who also has a wonderful side. You guys are oversimplifying human beings. That’s the whole problem with “woke” culture. People can have very questionable political views and not be satan reincarnated.  A man can act like an asshole after a breakup but be repentant  and still be a decent person.  Billie wants to work with someone because he respects his art and can overlook political views in the process, more power to him. As long as he himself lives a life that reflects positive views, I’m fine. And yes, I would feel the same about Kanye. But I don’t think Billie respects him as an artist a whole lot.