Morrissey, the game-changing British pop star, has just released a record so timely it could be called reportorial. World Peace Is None of Your Business takes sarcastic assessment of current global conditions, peaking with a right-now litany that name-checks Brazil, Bahrain, Egypt, and Ukraine. Sung in Morrissey’s identifiable plaintive, romantic style (formerly heard in his 1980s group The Smiths), it’s an anti-anthem — not meant to promote sides in a conflict or inspire allegiance, but intended to rouse skepticism about politics and authority.
This indeed changes the game played by most pop-music artists who profess political consciousness. The customary pattern is to sing cause- or issue-related screeds, typically from a left-liberal perspective (Neil Young’s “Ohio,” Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi,” John Lennon’s “Happy Christmas,” U2’s “In the Name of Love,” et al.) that rallies hoary sentiments about “justice,” “equality,” or “pacifism.” But Morrissey abandons that moralistic folkie mode.
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