What would Keith Richards do_ - Jessica Pallington West [46]
“I’m the next Mickey Mouse—look out."
MATURITY
“I’m a late bloomer."
“It is all part of growing up. We promise that once we get mature, we’ll go far."
“My dad said to me on his deathbed, ‘We never stop growing …’ That was the last thing he said, and then I closed his eyes. He always said that younger people think older people know everything, but older people know they don’t know shit from shit anyway."
“Nobody stops growing, otherwise there’s no point in doing the trip in the first place."
MICK
“It’s like a marriage with no divorce."
“The only things Mick and I disagree about is the band, the music, and what we do."
“I can get rid of my old lady. I can get rid of my kids. But I can’t get rid of you."
—on the unending bond with his evil twin
“Mick would be nowhere without me. To me, Mick has only ever half-discovered his real potential."
“[Mick] can’t go to sleep without writing out what he’s going to do when he wakes up. I just hope to wake up, and it’s not a disaster."
“He’s my best friend. And my worst enemy."
“Creative tension? We rely on it!"
“You cut with Mick, your face is gonna look like mine. You may be Babyface now, but you’re gonna be Fuckface like me after you get out of the studio with that guy!"
—advice to singer and producer Babyface
“Vanity will not carry a band. But a band can carry vanity."
“Mick is pretty good at business. He’s not as good as people think. He’s probably not as good as he thinks. And he’s probably not as bad as I think."
“I’m always sorry for Mick’s women, because they end up crying on my shoulder. And I’m like, ‘How do you think I feel? I’m stuck with him.’ ”
“There’s no possibility of divorce. We have to take care of the baby."
—on the inevitability of staying
with Mick forever
“I understand the desperation of somebody like that, the insecurity that says, ‘Until I am sure of myself I can’t let anybody get too close, or I’ll get really confused.’ ”
“What’s so hard about being Mick Jagger? This exaggerated sense of who you are and what you should do and worrying about it so much. Why don’t you just get on with it and stop trying to figure all the angles?"
“Mick is a weird mixture of people. He’s still trying to live with ’em all."
“It’s probably made him buckle down a bit more because he’s being disapproved of … We have other names for him apart from Sir."
—on Mick’s knighthood
“I once saw Mick outside Dartford Library selling ice creams from a refrigerated trolley. Summer job. I hope he remembers the moves."
—in case he ever needs them again
“Mick has to get up with a plan … Me, I wake up, praise the Lord, then make sure all the phones are turned off."
“With the Stones he’s great. It’s best to keep him on a short leash."
“If we were a mum-and-pop operation, then he’d be Mum."
“Mick’s rock. I’m roll."
“What the hell would Mick do?"
—when asked why he doesn’t sing more songs
“Mick is very good at being Mick."
“You’re no Mick Jagger."
—to Mick Jagger
MONEY
“After one thousand pounds comes ten thousand pounds—and then after that it means nothing. It’s just a lot of money. You don’t think about it."
“I’d rather make it than talk about it."
“I’ve got enough to buy off questions I don’t wanna answer."
—in response to the question of
how much money he has
“But what does a millionaire do if he happens to spend over a million dollars a year? That makes him a pauper, you know. I could earn that title very quickly."
“A lot of our astute moves have been basically keeping up with tax laws, where to go, where not to put it."
“If this is a social call … that’s fine. If you’re here to discuss how much money you’re going to dredge from the European tour next year, then you can fuck off."
—to a Stones finance man
“The more money you make, the less you can afford."
MORTALITY
“Brushes with death are always, I’ve found, quite enervating in a way."
“Hitler thought that [he was indestructible] and eventually had to kill himself."
“That’s the dichotomy between this planet and ourselves. We own it, we think. So