Oh dear oh dear, here we have reformed bad boy MARK MORRISON proclaiming his innocence after getting far too rich and acting like an idiot over the past decade or so. As if “Return of the Mac” wasn’t a bad enough crime to society (Let’s all sing along, “I know a song that will get on your nerves, get on your nerves, get on your nerves”).
His new single “Innocent Man” pretty much does what it says on the tin. Mark Morrison sings about how he is “innocent”, “misunderstood”, he’s just from “da hood” [Croydon?], and is “a man that’s good”. Fair enough, I don’t actually care.
It’s always a bit cringy when you have mega wealthy celebrities harping on about how they’ve been dissed in the press, blah blah fucking blah. Ok mate, try living at the bottom of the financial food chain in London for a couple of weeks, and when your main worry is where your next meal is going to come from and how you’re going to fork out for that astronomical gas bill - then, and only then, do you have the right to start moaning.
So that is my main gripe, the lyrics are self indulgent and whiney. So why 7 out of 10 then? Well, despite my reservations on most of the lyrical content, the song has a real groove to it. It’s smooth, it’s catchy and the backing singers and session musicians really do the song justice.
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Mark Morrison collaborated with DMX on this single, and the prose in the middle 8 is angry and dynamic, raising some interesting points about the rights to vote in certain sections of American society. In fact this part of the song actually rescues the track and twists the context around so it isn’t entirely focused on Mr Morrison, and for that DMX deserves a medal. And in terms of pop quality, it’s bang on.
Arguably, “Innocent Man” doesn’t sound that far removed from “Return of the Mac”, [I never understood what he was returning from, given that it was his first hit single], but it is infinitely less irritating, and ultimately quite likeable.
Anyway, if nothing else, Mark Morrison has given us a lot of entertaining celebrity gossip over the years, not something I personally would be that ashamed of, but there you go.
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