Willamette Week
1994
Interview
Have you had a chance to listen to the Rhino reissues yet?
I listened to bits of it while it was being assembled. I'm glad it's there. A novelist likes to have all their books in print. And I feel the same about my records.
Though your general themes -- namely, sex and death -- have stayed the same, your approach seems different.
The rage in my songs has diminished over the years. The level of paranoia has probably remained the same, but the actual level of anger has dropped. And sex and death...you can't have one without the other. We have sex because we have death. If we didn't die we wouldn't need to replace ourselves. They're both testaments to the power of time.
What's most strange about America compared with Great Britain?
America is essentially Europe's child. They [the Europeans] killed everyone who was here and set themselves up. But there's no past here -- especially on the West Coast. That's the thing I sense most.
Your work with The Soft Boys was a touchstone for bands such as R.E.M. -- who've achieved considerable commercial success, while you seem fated to remain a cult figure.
That's what I plan to be. I never wanted to be on Top Of The Pops (or something). I think there's nothing wrong with selling a few more records,
but I was never interested in busting into the top 10 or replacing Dark
Side Of The Moon as the classic coffee-table album. I'm more concerned with what I do than the status it achieves.
So you don't feel unfulfilled if you don't sell as many records as Michael Stipe?
Christ, no! I wouldn't want that kind of pressure. You know, what's a reward for your work? Is it just reward to [be] creating? Is it to starve like Van Gogh? Or is it to make $50 million like Bob Dylan, but still feel miserable? I'm generally happy with what I've done. Some of the songs are better than others. There are peaks I haven't achieved -- emotional peaks. I've never produced anything as powerful as the Plastic Ono Band album -- or as saturated in mood as Astral Weeks or the second Syd Barrett record. You can never enjoy your own songs as much as you can enjoy other people's.
One more question: who do you think you were in your previous life?
I'm sure whoever I was, I'm glad I never met them.
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