What would Keith Richards do_ - Jessica Pallington West [49]
NEIGHBORS and OTHER PEOPLE
“I have a knack for finding a whole building of very cool people, you know, but there’ll be one uncool couple, they’re always a couple. And my apartment will always be either just above them or next door to them or just below … ‘We can’t even hear Bugs Bunny on our TV, your music’s so loud.’ I’m plagued by that kind of thing."
“You learn to take people as they come. It doesn’t matter where they come from. So you learn to size up people really quickly. If you don’t you get into trouble."
NIGHT
“I’ve nothing against daylight. I don’t live totally nocturnally. Only when I feel like it. Which is most of the time."
“I love this breakfast thing. It’s a novelty to me."
—speaking at his man-of-the-
year breakfast ceremony
“Who said I get out of bed in the morning? The sheer joy of [music] is what gets me up at night."
—when asked what gets him out
of bed in the morning
“The permanent night shift."
—what Keith calls his body’s
attunement to the night
“It doesn’t swagger so much in the morning."
—when asked how much the
swaggering character is the real Keith Richards
“How many dawns do most people see? They really miss out. After a nice long night, it’s the most beautiful part of the day."
NOSTALGIA
“Nostalgia is a luxury."
“I think you probably get more nostalgic the older you get. But not to the point where I can say, ‘I really wanna drive up and see the old school where I was expelled from.’ ”
“We’re not on a nostalgia trip. We’re not playing for people who remember when they got laid to one song in the sixties. We’re trying to connect then with now and keep going."
OPTIMISM
“My guitar is tuned, and I’m ready to go."
“I’m ready to rock."
“I’ll just keep on rocking and hope for the best."
ORIGINALITY
“I start to feel good about records when I realize I can toss away the rule book."
OUTCASTS and OUTLAWS
“Sometimes I sway between being a prisoner and an outcast. I’m not sure whether they’re keeping me in or pushing me out."
PASSING IT ON
“What Muddy Waters did for us is what we should do for others."
“I find it very heartening for myself that I get a lot of stuff from thirteen-, fourteen-year-old would-be guitar players, because my theory is that the only thing you can put on a musician’s headstone is, ‘He passed it on.’ So personally that makes me feel very warm."
“Brother, you’ve made your deal now. The only thing you can do is pass it on … That’s for the tombstone, baby: ‘He passed it on.’ ”
THE PAST
“You uncover fragments of the past every time you think back. It’s like a broken mirror. And every now and again you get a glimpse of what happened."
PATRIOTISM
“I don’t wave a flag for anything. I’m a musician."
“You’ll never get rid of nationalism and so-called patriotism, but the important thing is to spread the idea that there’s really this one planet—that’s what we’ve really to worry about."
“I got expelled from school, why not get expelled from your own country?"
“We just carry Britain with us, really, our little bubble of it."
“They’re going through their little traumas over there [England]. It serves them right for kickin’ us out."
PIRATES
“Both are ways to make a good dishonest living."
—on rock stars and pirates
“Pirates are very democratic. Everything’s for sale: left leg so much, testicles so much. I mean, they did have a deal going on those boats that was way ahead of the Constitution."
“If I didn’t have a guitar, I’d have a boat."
“The rest of the Stones are kicking their asses back, and I’m a pirate."
—on his role in The Pirates of Caribbean
“Shit, I’ll do anything. How difficult is it for me to play a pirate? Just stick a hat on me and a beard. But it’s not necessary to wear all that stuff to be a pirate. Most pirates these days wear suits."
“You should see who I’ve modeled myself on. Unfortunately, he’s somewhere up there. He’s so great, he’s invisible."
—referencing Depp’s modeling his
Pirates character on Keith, and Keith
then playing Johnny’s father
POISON
“Poison’s not bad. It’s a matter