or attained, something that somehow
stretches beyond all of this.
“In the process,” he tells me, “I
became something vague-to-articulate
but very, very solid to people in gen-
eral—way, way, way from anything to
do with music. Cops like me. Customs
o∞cers like me. All sorts of everyday
people, they like something about
me that has something to do with
stick-to-ativity.” By which I think
he means something to do with endur-
ance that also relates to a peculiar kind
of obstinate dignity. “I’m not sure how
that all works,” he muses. “I haven’t
gone into it too much, but I realize
it’s important.”
For over a decade now, conversations
with Iggy Pop have generally included
a moment in which he explains how he
has no more in him, and how he thinks
he should probably shut up and go
away. But retiring has turned out to be
one thing at which Iggy Pop has proved
spectacularly poor.
“Just lately I kind of gave up on that,”
he concedes. “I just sort of realized I’m
so used to being somebody. I might be
nobody if I retired, you know. I was
going to be more a nobody in comfort—
probably not a good dynamic for me.”
What would happen?
“Alcoholism. Sloth. Depression,
probably. All those things. I don’t have
any problems like that right now.”IMMEDIATELY BEFORE we sit down
to speak, Iggy Pop went swimming in
the late-afternoon sun at a quiet
spot he likes, where he’ll head out to
a buoy on which a loon usually sits.above
Shirt, $4,900,
by Gucci.
Pants, $340,
by Homme Plissé
Issey Miyake.
Necklace,
$19,600, and
bracelet, $7,900,
by Eli Halili.
right
Robe, $7,245, by
Dolce & Gabbana.
Necklace, $225,
by David Yurman.
39
T h e
FixMusic