Morrissey

About

Morrissey is a song by Robbie Williams from his album Britpop. One of the record’s most playful and unexpected tracks, it leans heavily into cultural reference and self aware humour, setting it apart from the album’s more confrontational material.

The song was written by Williams with Gary Barlow, marking a high profile reunion between the former Take That bandmates. In interviews and on stage, both have spoken openly in recent years about the strain and hostility that once defined their relationship. Against that background, the collaboration on Morrissey is framed not as reconciliation through confession, but as a shared exercise in satire and provocation.

Lyrically, Morrissey adopts an exaggerated narrative voice, drawing on obsession, admiration and identity. Williams has described Morrissey as his favourite singer, and the song reflects that fixation while deliberately exaggerating it into a knowingly homo erotic character study. Rather than functioning as a tribute, it plays with fantasy and projection, using humour to blur the line between influence and infatuation. Musically, its upbeat melodic approach offsets the sharper themes elsewhere on Britpop.

Everybody said you should get back with Gary, write a song about Morrissey, and you know what, eventually I was like, I’m gonna do that.Robbie Williams

Within the context of Britpop, Morrissey stands as one of the album’s most surprising moments. Its combination of humour, cultural commentary and a deliberately provocative perspective underlines Williams’ continued interest in using pop as character play, while also highlighting the unlikely creative space he and Barlow now occupy after a historically fraught partnership.