Uncut UK – October 2019

54 • UNCUT • OCTOBER 2019

people”– topainthousesis thesplatteringofblood.

VanMorrisonwasinLosAngeles,andweusually

gettogetherwhenhe’sintown;he’sa dearoldfriend.

I wentbacktomystudioandplayedthesongforhim.

ThenextthingI knew,hehada microphoneinfront

ofhim,I showedhimthewords.Hejustnoddedand

said,“Allright.Let’sgo!”Sowesanga duet.It was

a fun,instant,crazycollaboration.You get them

sometimes, but not often enough.

HasVanchangedmuchsinceyoufirstmethim

inthe’60s?I don’tknow...I doknowthathepullsno

puncheswhentalkingaboutsomethingorsomebody.

He’sverydeliberateandhonestinhisopinions.Butto

meit’swonderful,hisnature.I’vejustknownit solongand I embrace

it.It’sjustedgy.I find Van hilarious – he cracks me up!

On“LetLoveReign”,yousingabout“thisbeautiful

brokenworld” – thoughtheoverridingmessageseems

tobeoneofpeaceandoptimism.Isthata throwbackto

thespiritofthe’60s?It wasinspiredbyJohn

Lennon’scallforpeace.Peoplesaythatdream

completelydiedandfellapartinside.But,no,I

don’tbelieveit did.It’sthebasisforthebestofthings.That

generation,whocameofageduringthelate’60sandearly’70s,

stoodupandhelpedstopa war.Lovewon.Peacewon.Wehope

thatthatwillcontinue.I wasdrivinginLAonedayand“AllYouNeed

Is Love”cameontheradio.I knowit’sa naïvething,butI thought,

‘Youknowwhat?That’sgoing to live forever.’ This other shit is going

tobehereandgone.

“DeadEndKid”seemstoaddressa fundamentalpartof
yourlifewiththeline:“I rememberwhereI startedfrom.”
Isthatthecase?‘Dead-endkid’wasanexpressionthatwas
aroundwhenI wasgrowingupforsomeonewhogetsintrouble
allthetime.PartofmyfamilycamefromtheIndianSixNations
Reserve.It wasreallytoughtogetanywhereif thatwasyour
GIJSBERT background.On the other side, there were mostly Jewish

HANEKROOT/REDFERNS;

DAVID

ATTIE/GETTY

IMAGES

“WhenTheBandseparatedin1976,it wassupposed

tobea timeforhealing,”hecontinues.“Foreach

ofustolookinthemirrorandsay,‘I’vegottohave

respectforthisextraordinaryexperienceandthis

wonderfulmusicthatwe’vebeenabletomake

together.’Wecreatedsomethingthatchangedthe

courseofpopularmusic.Someofwhathappened

afterwardswasjustpartofa naturalevolution.

Individualshavedifferentdreams,andyouseparate

offtofollowthem.NowwhenI canlookbackandwrite

aboutit,it’ssomucheasiertoacknowledge the

necessitiesofwhathappened.”

AlthoughhisbittersweetglorydayswithTheBand

aretakingupmuchofhistimein2019,Robertson

seemsnottomind.“Itwassomethingthatwassostrong.I’m

completelysatisfiedwithit,”hesaysofhisoldgroup.“Andwith

thedocumentaryOnceWereBrothers, youknowfromthetitlethat

it’snotjusttodowithTheBand.It’sa lottodowithDylan.It’s

joyousandmoving.It is fromtheheart.SoI’mfeelingvery

goodaboutthat.I’mfeelingverygoodaboutSinematic.

I’mfeelingverygoodaboutTheIrishman, andthe50th

anniversaryofTheBandalbum. So, no, I don’t think

about unfinished business.”

U NC U T:Sinematiccoversa lotofdeepground.Did

workingonTestimonyandOnce Were Brothers put

youinref lectivemood?

ROBBIEROBERTSON:I thinktherewasa senseoffreedomafter

Testimony. It mademefeelmorecomfortableaboutrelivingsome

stuff.AlsoworkingonTheIrishmanandthenOnceWereBrothers

cametogetherina nicegumbo. For this record, I felt a freedomtolet

everything come together.

Doyoutrytokeepalltheseprojectsseparate,ordoesone

naturallyinformanother?I’mdrawntoit.A primeexampleof

thesethingsbleedingintooneanotheris “IHearYouPaintHouses”

• whichis thenameofthebookTheIrishmanis basedon,I HeardYou
  Paint Houses. It’s a strange expression. It means, “I hear youkill

“Iwasdrawn

totheguitar

because

ofcowboy

movies”

“Somethingsostrong”:

Band-mates(l-r)Garth

Hudson,Robbie,Levon

Helm,RichardManueland

RickDanko,1971.Below:

Robertson live in NYC, 1969