sheinsisted.“Firstofall,Jessewon’tbeoutofschool
foranother 10 years,andI don’tthinkI’llbegoingon
full-blowntourswhenI’m 60 yearsold.I wanttobe
goingtoMorocco.I wanttohavemylittlekifgarden
andmynotebooksandmybooks,anddaydream and
write.I don’twanttobetouringtheworld.”
Truetoherword,Smithhasonlyplayeda handful
ofshows,alwaysduringschoolholidays.Nowit is
September,1998,andSmithis backinSanFrancisco
foranotherkindofengagement.Sheis oneofthe
featuredguestsatthecity’sannualbookfair.Heldin
a largewarehouseontheedgeofthedowntownarea,
it is a modest-seemingaffair,longtablessetupwith
blacktableclothspiledwithnewbooks.Theceilings
aresohighthatwordsgetlostintherafters,bouncing
offtheexposedpipesandcementfloors.Shehasjust
releasedPattiSmithComplete:Lyrics,Reflections,And
NotesForTheFuture, containingallthelyricsfromherfirstseven
albums.Nowsheis seatedona largewoodendaisabout 15 feetoff
thefloor.Fanscoilaroundtheplatformandonebyonehavetowalk
upa setofstairstogettheirbookssigned.Smithwillnotallow
photography. Despite the weirdly formal setting, the role of an author
seemstosuitSmith.She appears less guarded, less acerbic, just
happytobehere.
“Rightnow,I’mstudyingtheDeclarationOfIndependence,”she
begins.“I’malsoreadingchildren’sbooks,morescholarlybooks,
booksfromalldifferentarenas.I’ma bigstudier.Manytimesa simple
songthatI’vewrittenis theresultofa lotofstudy.I lovetostudy.
“DoI thinkofmyselfasa writerfirst,ratherthana performer?I try
tothinkofmyselfasa communicator.ButprivatelyI wouldliketo
thinkofmyselfasa writer.WhenI’mwritingmyownwork,when
I’mwritinginmynotebook,writingpoetry,orkeepingmyjournal,
I writeformyself.I’lltakenotesonthingsordevelopideas.Themain
personI’mtryingtocommunicatewithis myself.Thisbookis a
perfectexampleofa bookdoneforthepeople.I wantedpeopleto
havea sense,afterlookingatthebook,thatthey’dvisiteda world.I
wantedit tobeasgenerousaspossible,beinga non-autobiography.”
Sheis certainlydressedforthepartofa writer.Wearinga men’spea
jacket,blackjeansanda blacksweater,herhairlongerandworn
loose,shelookslikea Beatpoet.Sheappearslessdrawnandless
seriousthanshewastwoyearsbefore;whilestillgrievingforher
husband,shedoesn’twearhersadnesslikea heavycloak.
“Myfanshadbeenclamouringformetopublishmylyricsfor
years,”shecontinues.“ButuntilrecentlyI didn’tthinkI hada
substantialenoughbodyofwork.Besides,I wasgettingtiredof
everyoneelsedeconstructingmysongsandpublishingwhatthey
thought I meant.Andtheywerealwaysinaccurate!”shesniffs.
“[Inthebook] I wantedtoexplainwhatthesongs
wereabout.Like‘RedondoBeach’wasabouta fight
hadwithmysister.ThosearethekindsofthingsI
antedtoclearup.Becausepeoplespeculateother
hings.They’llthinka certainsongis a lovesong,or
drugsong,ora lesbiansong.It reallydoesn’tmatter
hattheydothink.Peoplecaninterpretthingsthe
aytheylike,butI amtheonlypersonwho knows
hatmotivatedmetowritea song.”
Takinga breakfromthesigning,Smithwalksover
anotherpartoftheroom.Shetalksabout“creating
ithresponsibility”;a needtoensurethatwhat she
oeshasmeaningfortherightaudience.
“Ihavea responsiblestreakinmefrombeingthe
destoffourchildren,”shesays.“Ican’talwayssay
hatI alwaysexercisedit.NordidI wanttoexerciseit.
asn’tinterestedinmyresponsibilitieswhenI wrote
helyricsto‘Gloria’.I wasexercisingmyrighttobe
free.Thefreedomofchoice.AndI thinkI wasprobablya lotless
concernedwiththingslikeresponsibilityatthatperiod.Someone
wantedtoreprint[her 1978 book]Babel– there’squitea bitof
pornography;it’sverysexuallyexplicit.I didn’tthinkit wasthe
proper time. It wasn’t that I was censoring myself, I just felt that
PATTI SMITH
“ITWASLIKEENTERING
ANOTHERDIMENSION”
BandmateOliver Ray on 1996’sGoneAgain
“I
WASworkingforHanumanBooks,
whichpublisheda bookofPatti’scalled
Woolgatheringin 1992.Wewerebased
in theChelseaHotel,andwhenshecalled
fromDetroitsometimes,shelikedhearing
howthesunlightwaslookingfromthere.Shespoke
veryslowly.It waslikeenteringanotherdimension
whenI spoketoher,anentirelydifferenttimeand
spacewhereI wouldhavetoslowdowntoo.
“Shewasin mourningforFredSmithwhenI first
mether,in 1995.A fewweekslatersheaskedif
shecouldplaya songofminesheliked,‘Fireflies’,on
GoneAgain, andif I’dliketobepartofthat.Although
I wasfamiliarwithhermusic,thebandsI wasinto
thenwereMyBloodyValentine,Lush,Rideandnoise.
I introducedhertoMyBloodyValentine,andit blew
her mind. I sensed that she felt like certain things
thatshehaddoneherselfin the‘70shadflowered
andgrownup,andshefeltjoythattherewasmusic
likethatoutthere.I was23,andwonderedif I was
worthytobeworkingwithher.Shesaid,‘Oh,Oliver,
we’rejusta bunchofheightenedamateurs.’
“WastheIraqWara catalystforPatti’sworkin the
2000s?Definitely.Whenshedidthingslikechanting
theDeclarationofIndependenceatgigs,there
wasa furytothoseperformances.It feltlikebeing
PaulRevere.Shewastryingtoignitethespiritsof
thepeople.Asshealwayssaid,‘Useyourvoice!’On
a songlike‘Gandhi’onTrampinÕ, she’shighlighting
whatpeoplehavedonebeforetofightforpeace.
“Shedidn’trulein theband.I neverheardhertell
anyonewhattodo.Patticurates.Shechooses
peoplethatshetruststodothingsthatarecooland
interesting. She taught me how to live.”NICK HASTED
Performingin
Amsterdam,
1998
OCTOBER 2019 • UNCUT• 73
MICHEL LINSSEN/REDFERNS
