\n<\/p>\n
Illustration by Ashley Flor\u00e9al<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n \u201cShe comes around here \/ At just about midnight\u201d \u2212 <\/i>Gloria, written by Van Morrison <\/i><\/p>\n At the end of our video call, Patti Smith asks what\u2019s on the wall behind me. \u201cI\u2019m really curious about that photograph,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a basketball card from 1972 of Pete Maravich, the shaggy, flamboyant point guard for the Atlanta Hawks. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s small, but with a wide mat,\u201d she observes. Smith, a Polaroid enthusiast as well as poet, rock \u2018n\u2019 roll singer and songwriter, is less concerned with the basketball player than she is with the card\u2019s presentation.<\/p>\n With her, it\u2019s all about the framing. <\/p>\n Smith, 78, has a new memoir out. The storytelling in Bread of Angels <\/i>is dreamy and impressionistic, with the author self-portrayed as a writer who happened into poetic art-punk stardom.<\/p>\n To songwriters, the City of Angels is a little bit heaven and a little bit hell<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThere was no plan, no design, just an organic upheaval that took me from the written to spoken word,\u201d she writes of her musical beginnings. <\/p>\n Smith burst into public consciousness with the release of her debut album Horses <\/i>in 1975. The record produced by the Velvet Underground\u2019s John Cale famously began with a stark reimagination of Van Morrison\u2019s Gloria<\/i>, first recorded by Morrison\u2019s band Them in 1964.<\/p>\n That she was a woman singing about another woman was a message. \u201cI chose to open with our version of Gloria<\/i>, claiming the right to create, without apology, from a stance beyond gender or social definition, but not beyond the responsibility to create something of worth,\u201d Smith writes in Bread of Angels<\/i>. <\/p>\n The album cover is iconic: An androgynous, unsmiling Smith with a jacket casually slung over her shoulder, shot in black and white by her friend Robert Mapplethorpe. The vibe is half-Baudelaire, half-Sinatra.<\/p>\n Hyper-attentive to her image, Smith even wrote the ad copy: \u201cthree chords merged with the power of the word\u201d soon became quoted as much as her lyrics.<\/p>\n Smith went on to record 11 studio albums, none since 2012\u2019s Banga<\/i>. She\u2019s released as many or more memoirs, as well as books of poetry and photography. The punk-rock matriarch spoke to The Globe <\/b>from New York.<\/p>\n You write that in sequencing <\/b>Horses<\/b><\/i>, you wanted to present the illusion of a cinematic experience. With this book, it feels like you\u2019ve done the same. Was it intentional?<\/b><\/p>\n Thank you. I\u2019m a very visual person. I remember things as if they are little films. And I have a very good memory.<\/p>\n The stories about your childhood are particularly vivid, almost like fairy tales.<\/b> <\/p>\n Well, I had two siblings who allowed me to be the storyteller. When we were being punished or it was raining or we all had measles together, I told stories. Often, they were our own: \u201cTell us again how you beat up Jackie Riley, the neighbourhood bully.\u201d My brother died young, but my sister and I still relive these stories. They\u2019re very alive in my mind, more than any other period in my life. <\/p>\n You were often bedridden with illnesses. <\/b><\/p>\n It was just after the Second World War. There were a lot of sickly children. I got tuberculosis because I was watched by a Polish woman with six children. We all got sick. The whole neighbourhood had mumps and measles. I caught a lot of contagious diseases because I was born with bronchial pneumonia. To this day, I have chronic bronchitis.<\/p>\n You read <\/b>Peter and Wendy<\/b><\/i> while you had the mumps. Being isolated, do you think you lived in your head more than most children?<\/b><\/p>\n Being in bed wasn\u2019t so bad for me. I was often quarantined but when you\u2019re a kid, you don\u2019t take illnesses personally. I could read for hours and make up little stories. They were sort of mystical times.<\/p>\n From 2012: Patti Smith: The responsible artist<\/a><\/p>\n How so?<\/b><\/p>\n Fever dreams, slight hallucinations. It was a little strange. I do believe it all nourished the creative side of me. I had long talks with the writer William S. Burroughs about that in my 20s. He had scarlet fever as a child. He believed it helped him as a writer.<\/p>\n When asked if anything good came from his childhood polio, Neil Young said, \u201cwalking.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n Well, I bet if you talked to Neil he would have other things to say about how his illness manifested in his work and his compassion for others.<\/p>\n Do you know him?<\/b><\/p>\n Yes, but I didn\u2019t know he suffered from polio. There are aspects of Neil that are so hyper \u2212 his compassion, his understanding of things, his range. I\u2019m sure having to suffer as a kid had something to do with that. <\/p>\n You moved around a lot with your family while growing up. You seemed to have a strong sense of curiosity, even fearlessness. <\/b> <\/p>\n I have a certain amount of fearlessness in terms of work, and when I had to take care of my siblings. But I\u2019m not a big adventurer. I don\u2019t swim. I never went mountain climbing. I haven\u2019t been to a lot of exotic countries. I don\u2019t even know how to drive.<\/p>\n You rode the Cyclone roller coaster in Coney Island, N.Y. I feel like that\u2019s the rare experience we have in common.<\/b><\/p>\n Believe me, you have to be a little fearless to do that. That was quite a ride. I had come off an accident. I had a neck brace for six months. <\/p>\n From falling off the stage, opening for Bob Seger in 1977.<\/b><\/p>\n Yes, and the reason I went on the roller coaster was that I was being hesitant. I was always a very abandoned performer. My pianist, Richard Sohl, who I really loved, noticed I was a bit self-conscious onstage after my accident. He thought it was time for me to break through that. Getting on the roller coaster was his idea. After that, everything seemed easy.<\/p>\n Patti Smith performs at The Met in Philadelphia in April, 2019.<\/span>Owen Sweeney\/The Associated Press<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Do you have an onstage persona?<\/b><\/p>\n I don\u2019t, except that I\u2019m not very social when I\u2019m offstage. But when I\u2019m onstage, of course, when I\u2019m speaking to 10,000 people or 10 people, I\u2019m communicating with them. I don\u2019t do any preparations, though. I wear the same clothes offstage and on. I just go up, do my job and leave.<\/p>\n Were you a different performer when you were younger?<\/b><\/p>\n I\u2019m not as aggressive now, physically. I\u2019m older \u2212 50 years older. I think I\u2019m as strong a performer as ever, though. <\/p>\n Indie-rocker Meg Remy, of U.S. Girls, recently said true rock \u2018n\u2019 rollers are sweethearts offstage, grappling with the complexities of life. But onstage, they crystalize that into something that is an armour. Does that resonate with you?<\/b><\/p>\n I can\u2019t say I\u2019m so sweet offstage [laughs]. But the way I am with you right now is the way I am onstage. I never had any desire to be a singer or a performer or make records. I always wanted to be a writer or a painter. <\/p>\n Do you ever experience stage fright?<\/b><\/p>\n No. And when I get off the stage, I don\u2019t feel like I\u2019m a god or something. I don\u2019t feel like a god onstage, either. It\u2019s my job. Whatever crazy things happen onstage, it\u2019s my job is to stay in communication with the people.<\/p>\n I think fans see you as a rock goddess.<\/b><\/p>\n Probably not now [laughs]. I was more goddess-like when I was younger \u2212 a scrawny goddess. I didn\u2019t aspire to those things, though. With my first record, Horses<\/i>, I wanted to merge poetry and rock \u2019n\u2019 roll and give voice to people like me who are sort of mavericks and outsiders. <\/p>\n You write that after making <\/b>Horses,<\/b><\/i> you thought your job was done. <\/b><\/p>\n I did the second album, Radio Ethiopia<\/i>, because I had a loyal group of people and I liked working with them. My brother was the head of my crew. I had a loyal band. And I liked travelling, but I never had enough money to travel. Being able to tour gave us all an opportunity to see the world. <\/p>\n But that lifestyle isn\u2019t conducive to writing, which you say was, and is, a problem.<\/b><\/p>\n It really is counterproductive. Making records and touring is external, collaborative. Writing takes solitude. You have to be able to work on your own. You have to sit and think for hours or edit something that might take days. And I didn\u2019t have that kind of time or that kind of solitude. So, it was a conflict, and it\u2019s always been a conflict. <\/p>\n So, why do it? You recently completed a 50th anniversary <\/b>Horses <\/b><\/i>tour.<\/b><\/p>\n Yes, and I feel that part of my life has come to an end.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t you have European dates booked for the spring and summer?<\/b><\/p>\n But not with a big band. I won\u2019t be doing that any longer. I have a smaller band, a quartet. We do a lot of work in Europe, but it\u2019s a smaller show and the tours are shorter. <\/p>\n Does Patti Smith, the writer, enjoy being Patti Smith, the performer? <\/b><\/p>\n Being a performer is a good thing, but it doesn\u2019t make you better than anyone else. What I am is a good survivor. That\u2019s what I do best.<\/p>\n This interview has been edited and condensed.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Open this photo in gallery: Illustration by Ashley Flor\u00e9al \u201cShe comes around here \/ At just about midnight\u201d \u2212 Gloria, written by Van Morrison At the end of our video call, Patti Smith asks what\u2019s on the wall behind me. \u201cI\u2019m really curious about that photograph,\u201d she says. It\u2019s a basketball card from 1972 of … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/\u2018What-I-am-is-a-good-survivor-A-conversation-with.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16273"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16275,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16273\/revisions\/16275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
![Open this photo in gallery:<\/span><\/a>\n\n\nIllustration by Ashley Flor\u00e9al<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cShe comes around here \/ At just about midnight\u201d \u2212 <\/i>Gloria, written by Van Morrison <\/i><\/p>\nAt the end of our video call, Patti Smith asks what\u2019s on the wall behind me. \u201cI\u2019m really curious about that photograph,\u201d she says.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s a basketball card from 1972 of Pete Maravich, the shaggy, flamboyant point guard for the Atlanta Hawks. <\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s small, but with a wide mat,\u201d she observes. Smith, a Polaroid enthusiast as well as poet, rock \u2018n\u2019 roll singer and songwriter, is less concerned with the basketball player than she is with the card\u2019s presentation.<\/p>\nWith her, it\u2019s all about the framing. <\/p>\nSmith, 78, has a new memoir out. The storytelling in Bread of Angels <\/i>is dreamy and impressionistic, with the author self-portrayed as a writer who happened into poetic art-punk stardom.<\/p>\nTo songwriters, the City of Angels is a little bit heaven and a little bit hell<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cThere was no plan, no design, just an organic upheaval that took me from the written to spoken word,\u201d she writes of her musical beginnings. <\/p>\nSmith burst into public consciousness with the release of her debut album Horses <\/i>in 1975. The record produced by the Velvet Underground\u2019s John Cale famously began with a stark reimagination of Van Morrison\u2019s Gloria<\/i>, first recorded by Morrison\u2019s band Them in 1964.<\/p>\nThat she was a woman singing about another woman was a message. \u201cI chose to open with our version of Gloria<\/i>, claiming the right to create, without apology, from a stance beyond gender or social definition, but not beyond the responsibility to create something of worth,\u201d Smith writes in Bread of Angels<\/i>. <\/p>\nThe album cover is iconic: An androgynous, unsmiling Smith with a jacket casually slung over her shoulder, shot in black and white by her friend Robert Mapplethorpe. The vibe is half-Baudelaire, half-Sinatra.<\/p>\nHyper-attentive to her image, Smith even wrote the ad copy: \u201cthree chords merged with the power of the word\u201d soon became quoted as much as her lyrics.<\/p>\nSmith went on to record 11 studio albums, none since 2012\u2019s Banga<\/i>. She\u2019s released as many or more memoirs, as well as books of poetry and photography. The punk-rock matriarch spoke to The Globe <\/b>from New York.<\/p>\nYou write that in sequencing <\/b>Horses<\/b><\/i>, you wanted to present the illusion of a cinematic experience. With this book, it feels like you\u2019ve done the same. Was it intentional?<\/b><\/p>\nThank you. I\u2019m a very visual person. I remember things as if they are little films. And I have a very good memory.<\/p>\nThe stories about your childhood are particularly vivid, almost like fairy tales.<\/b> <\/p>\nWell, I had two siblings who allowed me to be the storyteller. When we were being punished or it was raining or we all had measles together, I told stories. Often, they were our own: \u201cTell us again how you beat up Jackie Riley, the neighbourhood bully.\u201d My brother died young, but my sister and I still relive these stories. They\u2019re very alive in my mind, more than any other period in my life. <\/p>\nYou were often bedridden with illnesses. <\/b><\/p>\nIt was just after the Second World War. There were a lot of sickly children. I got tuberculosis because I was watched by a Polish woman with six children. We all got sick. The whole neighbourhood had mumps and measles. I caught a lot of contagious diseases because I was born with bronchial pneumonia. To this day, I have chronic bronchitis.<\/p>\nYou read <\/b>Peter and Wendy<\/b><\/i> while you had the mumps. Being isolated, do you think you lived in your head more than most children?<\/b><\/p>\nBeing in bed wasn\u2019t so bad for me. I was often quarantined but when you\u2019re a kid, you don\u2019t take illnesses personally. I could read for hours and make up little stories. They were sort of mystical times.<\/p>\nFrom 2012: Patti Smith: The responsible artist<\/a><\/p>\nHow so?<\/b><\/p>\nFever dreams, slight hallucinations. It was a little strange. I do believe it all nourished the creative side of me. I had long talks with the writer William S. Burroughs about that in my 20s. He had scarlet fever as a child. He believed it helped him as a writer.<\/p>\nWhen asked if anything good came from his childhood polio, Neil Young said, \u201cwalking.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\nWell, I bet if you talked to Neil he would have other things to say about how his illness manifested in his work and his compassion for others.<\/p>\nDo you know him?<\/b><\/p>\nYes, but I didn\u2019t know he suffered from polio. There are aspects of Neil that are so hyper \u2212 his compassion, his understanding of things, his range. I\u2019m sure having to suffer as a kid had something to do with that. <\/p>\nYou moved around a lot with your family while growing up. You seemed to have a strong sense of curiosity, even fearlessness. <\/b> <\/p>\nI have a certain amount of fearlessness in terms of work, and when I had to take care of my siblings. But I\u2019m not a big adventurer. I don\u2019t swim. I never went mountain climbing. I haven\u2019t been to a lot of exotic countries. I don\u2019t even know how to drive.<\/p>\nYou rode the Cyclone roller coaster in Coney Island, N.Y. I feel like that\u2019s the rare experience we have in common.<\/b><\/p>\nBelieve me, you have to be a little fearless to do that. That was quite a ride. I had come off an accident. I had a neck brace for six months. <\/p>\nFrom falling off the stage, opening for Bob Seger in 1977.<\/b><\/p>\nYes, and the reason I went on the roller coaster was that I was being hesitant. I was always a very abandoned performer. My pianist, Richard Sohl, who I really loved, noticed I was a bit self-conscious onstage after my accident. He thought it was time for me to break through that. Getting on the roller coaster was his idea. After that, everything seemed easy.<\/p>\nOpen this photo in gallery:<\/span><\/a>\n\n\nPatti Smith performs at The Met in Philadelphia in April, 2019.<\/span>Owen Sweeney\/The Associated Press<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nDo you have an onstage persona?<\/b><\/p>\nI don\u2019t, except that I\u2019m not very social when I\u2019m offstage. But when I\u2019m onstage, of course, when I\u2019m speaking to 10,000 people or 10 people, I\u2019m communicating with them. I don\u2019t do any preparations, though. I wear the same clothes offstage and on. I just go up, do my job and leave.<\/p>\nWere you a different performer when you were younger?<\/b><\/p>\nI\u2019m not as aggressive now, physically. I\u2019m older \u2212 50 years older. I think I\u2019m as strong a performer as ever, though. <\/p>\nIndie-rocker Meg Remy, of U.S. Girls, recently said true rock \u2018n\u2019 rollers are sweethearts offstage, grappling with the complexities of life. But onstage, they crystalize that into something that is an armour. Does that resonate with you?<\/b><\/p>\nI can\u2019t say I\u2019m so sweet offstage [laughs]. But the way I am with you right now is the way I am onstage. I never had any desire to be a singer or a performer or make records. I always wanted to be a writer or a painter. <\/p>\nDo you ever experience stage fright?<\/b><\/p>\nNo. And when I get off the stage, I don\u2019t feel like I\u2019m a god or something. I don\u2019t feel like a god onstage, either. It\u2019s my job. Whatever crazy things happen onstage, it\u2019s my job is to stay in communication with the people.<\/p>\nI think fans see you as a rock goddess.<\/b><\/p>\nProbably not now [laughs]. I was more goddess-like when I was younger \u2212 a scrawny goddess. I didn\u2019t aspire to those things, though. With my first record, Horses<\/i>, I wanted to merge poetry and rock \u2019n\u2019 roll and give voice to people like me who are sort of mavericks and outsiders. <\/p>\nYou write that after making <\/b>Horses,<\/b><\/i> you thought your job was done. <\/b><\/p>\nI did the second album, Radio Ethiopia<\/i>, because I had a loyal group of people and I liked working with them. My brother was the head of my crew. I had a loyal band. And I liked travelling, but I never had enough money to travel. Being able to tour gave us all an opportunity to see the world. <\/p>\nBut that lifestyle isn\u2019t conducive to writing, which you say was, and is, a problem.<\/b><\/p>\nIt really is counterproductive. Making records and touring is external, collaborative. Writing takes solitude. You have to be able to work on your own. You have to sit and think for hours or edit something that might take days. And I didn\u2019t have that kind of time or that kind of solitude. So, it was a conflict, and it\u2019s always been a conflict. <\/p>\nSo, why do it? You recently completed a 50th anniversary <\/b>Horses <\/b><\/i>tour.<\/b><\/p>\nYes, and I feel that part of my life has come to an end.<\/p>\nDon\u2019t you have European dates booked for the spring and summer?<\/b><\/p>\nBut not with a big band. I won\u2019t be doing that any longer. I have a smaller band, a quartet. We do a lot of work in Europe, but it\u2019s a smaller show and the tours are shorter. <\/p>\nDoes Patti Smith, the writer, enjoy being Patti Smith, the performer? <\/b><\/p>\nBeing a performer is a good thing, but it doesn\u2019t make you better than anyone else. What I am is a good survivor. That\u2019s what I do best.<\/p>\nThis interview has been edited and condensed.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nSource link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Illustration by Ashley Flor\u00e9al \u201cShe comes around here \/ At just about midnight\u201d \u2212 Gloria, written by Van Morrison At the end of our video call, Patti Smith asks what\u2019s on the wall behind me. \u201cI\u2019m really curious about that photograph,\u201d she says. It\u2019s a basketball card from 1972 of … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/\u2018What-I-am-is-a-good-survivor-A-conversation-with.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16273"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16275,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16273\/revisions\/16275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/resizer\/v2\/COJXUDQX7ZAIDPL4FC3FWT4LQU.jpg?auth=3a7d7088d5cadf2fe147669fa9c585584466aa7b03d353e2127d485fd4e2540d&width=600&height=400&quality=80&smart=true\"){kind=link}
![Open this photo in gallery:<\/span><\/a>\n\n\nPatti Smith performs at The Met in Philadelphia in April, 2019.<\/span>Owen Sweeney\/The Associated Press<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nDo you have an onstage persona?<\/b><\/p>\nI don\u2019t, except that I\u2019m not very social when I\u2019m offstage. But when I\u2019m onstage, of course, when I\u2019m speaking to 10,000 people or 10 people, I\u2019m communicating with them. I don\u2019t do any preparations, though. I wear the same clothes offstage and on. I just go up, do my job and leave.<\/p>\nWere you a different performer when you were younger?<\/b><\/p>\nI\u2019m not as aggressive now, physically. I\u2019m older \u2212 50 years older. I think I\u2019m as strong a performer as ever, though. <\/p>\nIndie-rocker Meg Remy, of U.S. Girls, recently said true rock \u2018n\u2019 rollers are sweethearts offstage, grappling with the complexities of life. But onstage, they crystalize that into something that is an armour. Does that resonate with you?<\/b><\/p>\nI can\u2019t say I\u2019m so sweet offstage [laughs]. But the way I am with you right now is the way I am onstage. I never had any desire to be a singer or a performer or make records. I always wanted to be a writer or a painter. <\/p>\nDo you ever experience stage fright?<\/b><\/p>\nNo. And when I get off the stage, I don\u2019t feel like I\u2019m a god or something. I don\u2019t feel like a god onstage, either. It\u2019s my job. Whatever crazy things happen onstage, it\u2019s my job is to stay in communication with the people.<\/p>\nI think fans see you as a rock goddess.<\/b><\/p>\nProbably not now [laughs]. I was more goddess-like when I was younger \u2212 a scrawny goddess. I didn\u2019t aspire to those things, though. With my first record, Horses<\/i>, I wanted to merge poetry and rock \u2019n\u2019 roll and give voice to people like me who are sort of mavericks and outsiders. <\/p>\nYou write that after making <\/b>Horses,<\/b><\/i> you thought your job was done. <\/b><\/p>\nI did the second album, Radio Ethiopia<\/i>, because I had a loyal group of people and I liked working with them. My brother was the head of my crew. I had a loyal band. And I liked travelling, but I never had enough money to travel. Being able to tour gave us all an opportunity to see the world. <\/p>\nBut that lifestyle isn\u2019t conducive to writing, which you say was, and is, a problem.<\/b><\/p>\nIt really is counterproductive. Making records and touring is external, collaborative. Writing takes solitude. You have to be able to work on your own. You have to sit and think for hours or edit something that might take days. And I didn\u2019t have that kind of time or that kind of solitude. So, it was a conflict, and it\u2019s always been a conflict. <\/p>\nSo, why do it? You recently completed a 50th anniversary <\/b>Horses <\/b><\/i>tour.<\/b><\/p>\nYes, and I feel that part of my life has come to an end.<\/p>\nDon\u2019t you have European dates booked for the spring and summer?<\/b><\/p>\nBut not with a big band. I won\u2019t be doing that any longer. I have a smaller band, a quartet. We do a lot of work in Europe, but it\u2019s a smaller show and the tours are shorter. <\/p>\nDoes Patti Smith, the writer, enjoy being Patti Smith, the performer? <\/b><\/p>\nBeing a performer is a good thing, but it doesn\u2019t make you better than anyone else. What I am is a good survivor. That\u2019s what I do best.<\/p>\nThis interview has been edited and condensed.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nSource link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Illustration by Ashley Flor\u00e9al \u201cShe comes around here \/ At just about midnight\u201d \u2212 Gloria, written by Van Morrison At the end of our video call, Patti Smith asks what\u2019s on the wall behind me. \u201cI\u2019m really curious about that photograph,\u201d she says. It\u2019s a basketball card from 1972 of … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/\u2018What-I-am-is-a-good-survivor-A-conversation-with.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16273"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16275,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16273\/revisions\/16275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/resizer\/v2\/3EBOSHRX7FAYVFDCZSY7C2UPBU.jpg?auth=c151007f6e51e31f2df093d0d42d25463b46a3a0610ed4834fc98dabefefaecf&width=600&height=400&quality=80&smart=true\"){kind=link}