Phil Anselmo says there is “no greater truth-teller” than Morrissey.
The Superjoint and former Pantera vocalist praised the iconic singer for his honest songwriting during his time with The Smiths and in his solo career – and discusses how it’s influenced his own work.
He tells Metal Insider: “My aunt once told me, ‘Baby, if you didn’t have music to get your frustrations out, you’d be in jail right now.’ That’s her being dramatic, but in a way, I can’t disagree with her.
“The demons of your childhood sometimes surface way later in life – it’s bizarre but it does happen. It amazes me sometimes when I go back and listen to any number of bands I might have been in, and hearing how much my disconnect with my father has affected me and my songwriting to a major degree.
“People come up to me saying, ‘What you wrote strikes a chord with me, and here’s why.’ I really get it a lot on this one subject. It helps them through the day because they know they’re not alone in these feelings.”
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He continues: “Writing something that other people can get and understand – I’m glad I can be of assistance, because really, I was literally screaming my heart out about this particular situation in my life.
“The same thing goes with many other subjects, but I also had the whole drug addiction thing – people coming up to me going, “Man, I struggled for years and your lyrics helped me.”
“I like honesty as a songwriter. I guess that’s why I’m a Morrissey fan and a Smiths fan. There is no greater truth-teller than Morrissey.”
Anselmo also recently cited Robert Smith from The Cure as his musical inspiration.
Superjoint released their third album Caught Up In The Gears Of Application earlier this month.
