Audio: Morrissey on The Smiths, his upcoming memoir and British PM David Cameron

In a rare interview on British radio this week, Morrissey revealed that he’s in the process of editing a 660-page draft of his memoir, dismissed the idea of retirement by saying he’ll “die on stage” and once again shot down any notion of a Smiths reunion (“There really is no point at all”).

Moz, pictured above with host John Wilson, appeared on BBC Radio 4’s “Front Row” program on Wednesday, ostensibly to promote next week’s release of The Very Best of Morrissey, and discussed a number of subjects, including his transition from The Smiths to a solo artist and having unwelcome fans such as Prime Minister David Cameron.

You can stream the 12-minute interview below, but highlights include:

• On the Smiths’ legacy: “I’m very happy with the Smiths’ legacy. I’m very, very happy. It’s a great name still. It doesn’t sound like a silly name from the ’80s. It still speaks for now, the music still speaks for now.”
• On David Cameron’s fandom: “David Cameron is a hunter. He kills stag and so forth, and that’s everything the Smiths were against. But then once you release something and it’s out there in the world, you can’t really trap people into either listening or not listening.”
• On songwriting: “It doesn’t stop. It really doesn’t stop. It’s the way I live and it’s the way I live every single day. I don’t do anything else. I have no other interest other than music. At all.”
• On a Smiths reunion: “No, no it won’t happen… There really is no point at all that I can think of. And that’s that.”
• On his memoir: “I’ve been through the whole life, in many ways, and I just wonder if 660 pages are too much for people to bear. And then I sit down and think, ‘Are six pages too much for people to bear?’ I really don’t know, so I’m trimming.”
• On retirement: “I’m just going to carry on like the old blues singers and die on stage — in Chicago probably.”

Stream Morrissey’s interview interview on BBC’s ‘Front Row’ after the jump…

PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS:

• Morrissey sets 9-date U.K. tour, will headline festival with Lou Reed, Iggy Pop
• Morrissey releasing new ‘Very Best Of,’ will issue 2 ‘Viva Hate’ outtakes as B-sides
• Photo: Billy Bragg and Morrissey — in shorts and a Hawaiian shirt — circa 1985
• Vintage Video: The Smiths’ third-ever concert, 28 years ago today at The Hacienda
• Hear The Smiths’ reggae version of ‘Girlfriend In A Coma,’ other rare outtakes
• Morrissey wears a cat on his head, says ‘the Chinese are a subspecies’