Alone with Chrissie Hynde Arena

This programme contains strong language.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

All the way from Hereford...

CHEERING

..Martin Chambers. I've been with him for over 30 years.

What about that?

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

You only get 20 for murder!

# What am I going to do today?

# Go to the newsstand Check out the war zone

# And read the lists and see what's good on

# Oh, there's one I've been wanting to see... #

Anyone here up for a movie? I am!

# Nobody tells me I can't

# Nobody tells me I shan't

# No-one to say, "You're doing it wrong"

# I'm at my best I'm where I belong, alone

# Hey! Yeah, I like it

# Now I'm down on the street

# Making out with the poets and the Greeks and the deadbeats

# I'm taking my time sitting on park benches

# And all the glamour It starts down here

# This is where the trends begin Life's a canvas, and I'm on it

# Nobody tells me I can't

# Nobody tells me I shan't

# No-one to say, "You're doing it wrong"

# I'm at my best I'm where I belong, alone

# Yeah, I like it

# I like being alone. #

'All songs are written on basically the same events,

'which is usually just human relationships.'

You broke my heart, I broke your heart.

I'm alone, I'm so miserable being alone.

I met you, now I feel good.

I just want to be with you, let's waste some time together.

I want to spend the rest of my life with you.

Oh, no, you've left me. I can't believe I'm alone again.

If only, oh, I saw someone today.

He was a stranger but my heart was full of joy.

And, you know, it just goes on, and on, and on, you know.

You know, it's just.. You know.

After a while, it's like...

But it's always relevant.

And then, when I thought about it, I've never heard another song

that celebrates that it's fun to be on your own.

I still can't think of one.

Maybe cos it's crap to be on your own.

'What my friend Marie says is

'she's never alone because she's always got herself.

'That's a great attitude.'

ACCORDION PLAYS

He's with you?

Go. Go.

Ask me the question you want to know, and you've never asked.

I have an answer for everything. Important. Not bullshit.

Um, hm.

I'm thinking.

You must have some questions.

I guess I don't.

HE SNORTS

You know how many times did you come to this Earth?

-What do you think?

-What do I think?

-Yeah.

-What do you think?

-About 8,400,000.

-No.

Don't bullshitting me. Speak serious.

I'm asking you a serious question.

-I can only guess.

-OK.

-So you don't know, I tell you.

-All right.

1,000 times. Around 1,000.

-1,000 times?

-Yes.

-No way.

-Each of us, yes.

-No way.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Much more than that.

-No.

-You think I'm bullshitting you?

-I don't think you're bullshitting me.

-But I think you're wrong.

-No, I'm not wrong.

-I think you think you're right.

-No, no. I don't think, I know.

-OK, well, then you're definitely wrong.

-No.

That's the difference between me and you.

You think. I know.

I'm living astro and physical, in the same time.

Shit, that's sweet. Huh? It's good, huh?

JC Maxim.

JC, like Jesus Christ Superstar.

Yeah, man. That's good. I knew it's going to be good. I knew it.

-I like it.

-Of course you like it.

-Uh-huh.

I like the fact I look eight.

He knows he's a phoney.

Anyone would know that who was doing that.

He's just a con artist.

I like a con.

I don't like to be conned, but I appreciate it if I am.

You know, I have to think, touche, if someone has a good con.

And I've been conned before, of course, many times.

-INTERVIEWER:

-I can't imagine you conning others, though, really.

Well, I conned you guys!

SHE LAUGHS

# Nobody tells me I can't

# Nobody tells me I shan't

# No-one to say, "You're doing it wrong"

# I'm at my best I'm where I belong, alone. #

IN FRENCH:

OK, OK. Oui.

Non, franchement, c'est pas...

Franchement...

Oui. Super.

'Once in a while, you meet someone

'who's really in charge of their looks.'

The New York Dolls.

David Johansen, immaculate. Johnny Thunders, immaculate.

Charlie Sexton who used to play with Bob Dylan. Immaculate.

Dylan, a very stylish guy.

He really pays attention to what...

He's really careful about his image, you know.

And people that are careful about looking like they don't care.

They even have to have another level of caring

to make it look like they don't care.

That... You know, that it's casual and that it just comes naturally.

But, you know, it's such an important part of music.

IN FRENCH:

'Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Maria Callas.

'It was all about obsessively trying to be glamorous

'and presenting something to the world.

'Of course it's important.

'Amy Winehouse. Any of the greats.'

None of them looked like bums, from Hendrix to...

You can't look like a bum. You can't.

Actors do - that's why they need stylists.

But in a band, you can't do that.

You have to be who you are on the street and when you're on stage.

You can't change.

Being in rock 'n' roll, it's not about changing,

it's about being yourself all the time.

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

OK. Super.

OK. No, no, I don't want anything. I don't want anything.

MUSIC: Brass In Pocket by The Pretenders

'# Got brass

'# In pocket

'# Got bottle

'# I'm gonna use it

'# Intention I feel inventive'

# Gonna make you, make you Make you notice

# Got motion Restrained emotion

# Been driving Detroit leaning

# No reason Just seems so pleasing

# Gonna make you, make you Make you notice

# Gonna use my arms

# Gonna use my legs

# Gonna use my style

# Gonna use my sidestep

# Gonna use my fingers

# Gonna use my, my My imagination

# Oh, cos I gonna make you see

# There's nobody else here No-one like me

# I'm special

# Special

# So special

# Special

# I gotta have some of your attention

# Give it to me

# Got rhythm

# I can't miss a beat

# Got new skank

# So reet... #

-INTERVIEWER:

-Where did you get the T-shirt?

When I got here, I forgot to bring any shirts,

so I just went and got a stack of Paris shirts.

I look like a tourist, so sue me!

You know, what are you going to do about it?

MUSIC: Precious by The Pretenders

# I like the way you cross the street

# Cos you're precious

# Moving through the Cleveland heat How precious

# Taking rides and all the kicks was so precious

# But you know I was shittin' bricks cos I'm precious

# Made me wanna

# Made me wanna

# You made me make it Oh. #

'I'm here, kids.

'I'll stand by you.

'# I'll stand by you

'# I'll stand by you

'# Won't hurt you

'# Stand by you, yeah'

# Darkest hour

# You...know I'll stand by you

# I'll stand by you

-AUDIENCE:

-# I'll stand by you

# Won't let nobody hurt you

# I'll stand by you

# If you're mad, get mad

# Don't hold it all inside

# Come on and talk to me now

# Hey, what you got to hide?

# I get angry too

# Well, I'm a lot like you

# When you're standing at the crossroads

# And don't know which path to choose

# Let me come along

# Cos even if you're wrong

# I'll stand by you

# I'll stand by you

# You...

# Stand by you, stand by you

# Whoo, I'll stand by you

# I'll stand I'll stand by you. #

Here I am, I'm back, in Sandyland.

# Won't let nobody hurt you. #

-Ah!

-Ah, look at that.

Tail wagging furiously.

-Hello.

-Baby.

-Aw!

Finally, so you're on the show now, live, instead of...

-Love the jacket.

-Thank you.

Always... Ooh, look at you in that fabulous shoe!

-Yeah, let's get superficial. Let's start on the clothes.

-I know, but...

-Yeah, I...

-I mean, we're going to get heavy and intense, so...

-Of course we are.

-..can we just say for a minute, you look good?

You do, too.

'This is Sandyland, with Sandy Bernhard.'

-We're here live and you can feel the tension.

-Yeah, you can feel...

-The excitement.

-..the magic.

-Yeah.

-The fizzy...

-The sparks, the sparks are flying.

You're back to a more classic Chrissie cut.

How did that haircut first come about?

Did you do it to yourself or did somebody do it?

Yeah, I did to myself. No-one did it back then.

What was your hair like before it turned into the classic Chrissie?

Uh, pretty much the same.

I think if you shaved your head and let it grow out, you'd have this.

-Was your hair ever long growing up?

-Yeah.

Your hair only gets so long before it falls out - did you know that?

-Yeah.

-That's how it works.

Thank God, because it's nature protecting you from being a witch.

-But some people's hair goes right down to their knees.

-I know.

Mine would only get to about shoulder length.

-Back in the hippie days...

-My hair was longer then.

But I was so much older then!

-Are you still in Maida Vale?

-Yeah.

-Is it a small place you got for yourself?

-It's small.

I got a place where I can paint. You know me - I live alone.

I'm a lone, hungry, irritable wolf.

But I thought you lived with the kids?

No, I moved out of the house.

You... Chrissie, you are a true Buddhist nomad.

I'm a recluse is what I am.

England's at its best when it's a bit wet.

Doesn't look right in the bright sunlight

although, on a day when the sky is high and it's a balmy, sunny day,

it's the best.

But you need a lot of this to make that look.

-INTERVIEWER:

-Do you think... Are you definitely urban? Are you urban?

Um. Yeah, I think I am.

But, because I'm a little bit of a loner,

I would have liked to have maybe had a family out in the country -

that would be great.

But that would have needed a male counterpart to do all that.

I couldn't do that on my own without a team.

And I've generally been more...

..you know, on my own doing stuff.

So I wouldn't move out to the country now.

I'd just be sitting there in a field, like,

"What the fuck am I doing here?"

You know, but if I had a team,

I could have some dogs and stuff but...

So, I don't really think about it.

But when I get out in the country, it's... I think about it,

and it's what I would have assumed I'd be doing when I was a child,

because I wanted to be in the country around animals

and it just never happened.

I love cities.

In fact, I've been in places out in the country

and they're near a motorway,

and you hear that awful sound, that nee-ow, that sound of a car going,

and you're like, well, you know, it's quieter here.

I don't hear anything at night. That's what I like, is quiet.

Quiet, trees, birds.

MUSIC: Stepping Razor by Peter Tosh

# If you wanna live

# Treat me good

# If you wanna live, live

# I beg you, treat me good

# I'm like a walking razor

# Don't you watch my size

# I'm dangerous Said I'm dangerous

# I'm like a walking razor Don't you watch my size

# I'm dangerous Dangerous. #

At the end of last year, that's when I began.

So I did this pot, which is a favourite pot of mine.

It sort of kick-started this thing I've been doing.

I like to choose colours that I'm not necessarily that fond of.

You see a lot of yellow here.

I think yellow is a colour people get into when they become old.

So I've tried to embrace that.

What I want to do with my music and my paintings

is just cheer people up. I'm not trying to disturb anyone.

I think modern art can be disturbing. I'm already disturbed.

So I don't need to add that, incorporate any more of that.

Then I went away for about... For some time, ten days.

That's when I came back and thought,

"Oh, I wonder if I can still paint."

You always think that, if you write a song or do anything -

that's what I find, anyway. And other people have said that.

You think you've done it and you'll never be able to do it again.

So you panic into the next one to see if you can still do it.

So I did that one.

I think that's one of my more successful, if I do say so.

Then I thought, some abstracts.

So I thought, "Well, that's something I've never done."

Oh, can you move around there?

So I did that one.

That one.

This one's called West London.

Not one of mine!

SHE GIGGLES

And then, one night, I thought, "I've got to stop painting.

"This is becoming, like. too compulsive."

Oh, I couldn't have done this when I was living with people.

Cos your whole morning when you get started,

you're, you know, taking someone tea or, you know.

I think being alone is a huge luxury.

And it's an epidemic of sorrow for millions of people too.

And that's kind of what my meditations take me around to,

is try to address this thing of loneliness,

and, you know, what that really means in a person's life.

Why are we lonely?

You can be distracted from it, but when you're really alone,

you have to start to face that.

I don't know if that's necess... You don't want to over-face it.

Like I say, it's a luxury to have the time to do these meditations.

But now I'm in the more later stages of my life,

and I think that's an important thing to do.

MUSIC: Private Life by The Pretenders

# Your private life drama, baby Leave me out

# Your private life drama, baby Leave me out

# Your private life drama, baby Leave me out

# Your private life drama, baby Leave me out

# J'ai les glandes with your theatrics

# Your acting's a drag

# It's OK on TV cos you can turn it off

# But don't try me

# Yes, your marriage is a tragedy

# But it's not my concern

# I'm very superficial I hate anything official

# Your private life drama, baby Leave me out

# Your private life drama, baby Leave me out

# Your private life drama, baby Leave me out

# Your private life drama, baby Leave me out

# Your sentimental gestures only bore me to death

# You've made a desperate appeal Now save your breath

# Attachment to obligation through guilt and regret

# Shit, that's so wet

# And your sex-life complications are not my fascinations

# Private life drama, baby Leave me out... #

-INTERVIEWER:

-Now, I have been surprised over this summer

that you believe in rock and are a rock... You are a rock...

Did you want to say "rock chick", but you didn't want to say "chick"?

Cos I might have a go at you? REPORTER LAUGHS

What do you think of that phrase, "rock chick"?

Rock chick? I don't care.

Not everyone was a rock chick. Not everyone else...

You know, not everyone gets to be a rock chick.

SONG: Whatcha Gonna Do 'Bout It

-What's a guy? A rocker.

-Yeah.

-What's wrong with that?

-Nothing?

-Yeah, no, I'm just asking.

I don't know if... This language, question of language these days.

# Want you to know that I love you, baby

# Want you to know that I care

# I'm so happy when you're with me and I'm sad when you're not there

# Boys

# What you gonna do about it?

-# Whoa-oh-oh

-What you gonna do about it?

-# Yeah

-What you gonna do about it?

# What you gonna do about it?

# Want you to give me your sweet, sweet kisses

# Want you to hold me tight

# I want you to come whenever I call you

# Want you to walk me home tonight

# What you gonna do about it?

# What you gonna do about it?

# Well

-# What you gonna do about it?

-Whatcha gonna give me?

# What you gonna do about it? #

Yeah, I was...

..sent by the NME to meet... To do...

There was some sort of feminist forum or something.

This was ages ago, like 1973. 1974, maybe.

And so I was the...

Maybe I was the only chick on the force, I can't remember.

They sent me.

And so this American woman asked me if I was a feminist,

and I said, "I don't know."

And she goes... That already put her nose out of joint cos I wasn't...

I didn't know if I was or not.

So she started questioning me

to, you know,

encourage me to admit that I was a feminist, I guess,

I don't know. I actually didn't know what it meant exactly, so I was...

I wasn't trying to be cantankerous or anything.

Um...

And she said, "Well, let's say that you want to get a credit card,"

and I said, "I don't want a credit card."

She said, "All right, well, let me...

"What about if you wanted to buy a car?"

I said, "I don't want to buy a car."

She said...

"All right, well, let's say that you want to get a house,

"buy a house," and I said, "I don't want to get a house."

And by now, I was only answering truthfully,

but she was getting really kind of pissed off at me.

She was older than me too, and she was a feminist.

And she said, "Well, what if some other woman did want those things?"

And I said, "Well, what's that got to do with me?"

And she said, "Well, you are NOT a feminist."

So, after that, I thought, "Well, if she's a leading feminist,

"she must know." And I just assumed...

She said I wasn't a feminist, I guess I wasn't a feminist.

But you still haven't, you know, trotted down the party line,

have you?

I don't trot down any party line.

Well, there's a few tyrannies around that are kind of

winding me up.

-Give me examples.

-The vegan tyranny winds me up.

-Meaning?

-It's all become about nutrition.

-Right.

-I find that quite offensive.

-But you feel like...?

It's not about compassion any more.

-I mean...

-Yes.

-As a matter of fact, to my vegan brethren,

I am in practice vegan but in theory vegetarian.

-Uh-huh.

-They don't like that.

-So you started to...

-The feminists don't like me.

The word "empowerment" also winds me up.

-What is that all about?

-Oh, honey, I don't know.

"You've empowered me. I feel empowered."

And I loathe the art world.

-You don't have to.

-The investment and all that bullshit.

-Oh, investment!

-Yeah, the whole thing.

Well, it's just everything.

-It's like curated, eating, food...

-I hate everything.

..art, everything has become, like...

What is the endgame of this?

Everyone defines themselves by what they like or what they... You know?

-I don't give a fuck.

-Yeah.

-I just wish everyone would fuck off.

SONG: Gotta Wait

# You gotta wait

# Think you belong?

# You gotta wait

# At the pharmacy at Walmart

# You gotta wait

# For an oxycontin come-down

# You gotta wait

# I'm loaded, could you bend down?

# You gotta wait, wait Hold the date, hesitate

# Wait Wait, wait

# Don't be late Read the date

# Wait Wait, wait

# Save a plate Hold the date

# Wait!

# You gotta wait

# And the waiting list is long

# You gotta wait

# Can you see where you belong?

# You gotta wait

# A hundred million faces

# You gotta wait

# You'll be going 200 places. #

BIRDS CHIRP

The wonderful thing about London

is there's parks everywhere, all across London.

Wherever you go, there's a park nearby.

If you live here, you can do this -

find all the moments when it's quiet and...

You can make it really personal, London.

There's this little island we can go on.

Do you want to go on this little island?

Look at this beauty here.

SHE CLICKS TONGUE Come, come.

Come on. Come on.

Come.

They say that swans are... They mate for life.

Which is probably why they're so...

supposedly, so ill-tempered.

That's just me being cynical, though.

It's hard not to be romantic - we're in the park.

I try not to be romantic, but who can not be when you're here?

I just got a strange look from that guy

who thinks I'm talking to myself.

We're right in the middle of the summer now.

This is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year.

This is where...

lovers do come to go for a stroll.

So all the roses here are named.

These little plaques with their name.

Majestic, these lovely pink ones.

And these are called Remember Me.

All the roses have romantic names.

What a nice thing, to have a rose named after you.

# Let's get lost

# Let's get lost

# Let's get lost

# Let's get lost

# I wear it like a charm

# A tattoo on my arm

# Your name in a horseshoe

# Your talismans and such

# I rely on them to touch

# Get close to you

# Oh, I get high just a little

# High just a little

# Keepin' my fingers crossed

# Oh, and I try just a little

# Try just a little

# Now I've found you

# Let's get lost

# Let's get lost

# Let's get lost. #

Generally, you do the show.

That finishes. You go straight onto the coach.

Maybe hang around backstage if you have guests.

I like to get straight onto the coach.

You're going to have to sleep in a bunk, so that's a discipline.

There might be 12 bunks, so they're really stacked up.

They're more like coffins, you know.

And you have to jump up to get into your bunk.

But once you're in there, you're on your own. You have a little curtain.

It's definitely a love/hate relationship.

You hate it for lots of reasons - you're not sleeping,

it's noisy, you're confined, you're sharing the toilet with,

you know, all these guys and there's no real...

..comfort. But, on the other hand,

it's like a little cocoon and when you get in there, you know you're

going to wake up in the next town and that's kind of a great feeling.

MUSIC: Never Be Together by The Pretenders

I love living in hotels. It's my favourite thing, to be honest.

It just represents moving - that you're always moving.

In fact, the number-one thing I'm asked by people...

When they know that you're out on tour, they always say,

"Oh, you probably can't wait to get home so you can sleep in your own bed,"

and I think, "That's exactly what I DON'T want to do.

# Oh, no

# We'll never

# We'll never be together. #

People always have these weird ideas about why you do this.

The whole idea of being on stage -

that it's all about this adulation or this energy from the audience.

Really, it's just about feeling like you're...

You actually know what you're doing for an hour.

You know, the rest of the time, you're kind of bumbling around,

trying to make sense of your life.

You've still got 22 hours to deal with in between the shows,

so you have to kind of get into the waiting.

Cos that's really what this game is about - it's a waiting game.

But I like to think of my waiting time as goof-off time.

And I like to goof off, so I just rethink it.

It's Sunday. It's going to get hot, so I can't be out for long.

But I need to get some scarves so I can modify the lighting in my room.

I never seem to pack what I need. It gets worse and worse.

Like jet lag. The two things in life that get...

They seem to get worse with experience. So, here we go.

The thing is, when you're out

trying to go for a walk in most of these towns now,

you don't really feel like you're in the human zone but, you know,

I soldier on, determined to go for a walk anyway.

That's a nice effort, to make a little...

..fountain, water feature, here. I don't know who's looking at it,

because it faces nothing but concrete and cars.

-I

-looked at it, OK? And I appreciate it.

What I love is, on these places that have been concreted over,

how all the plants seem to force their way up and you can kind of

see what it will look like...

This is kind of what I think of as an Armageddon scene, you know?

They're going to...

..push the concrete out of the way and, er, this is just the beginning.

These are the things that I always notice in cities because I...

I don't know, I like the ghostly presence of what was.

Local talent just ignoring me.

As you can see, most people are wearing shorts

but, you know, being in an English rock band, that's just prohibited.

That can't happen, so...

Although I've... I've been told I have very nice legs.

It will have to be left to the imagination.

And there's the romantic tracks.

Source of many, many songs, getting on the train.

Which is where my baby used to leave on but I guess now,

they just get a flight.

SONG: Back On The Chain Gang

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# I found a picture of you

# Oh-oh-oh-oh

# What hijacked my world that night

# To a place in the past

# We've been cast out of?

# Oh-oh-oh-oh

# Now we're back in the fight

# Ooh, we're back on the train

# Oh, back on the chain gang

# A circumstance beyond our control

# Oh-oh-oh-oh

# The phone, TV and the News Of The World

# Got in the house like a pigeon from hell

# Oh-oh-oh-oh

# Threw sand in our eyes and descended like flies

# Put us back on the train

# Oh, back on the chain gang

# The powers that be

# That force us to live like we do

# Bring me to my knees

# When I see what they've done to you

# But I'll die as I stand here today

# Knowing that deep in my heart

# They'll fall to ruin one day

# For making us part

# I found a picture of you

# Oh-oh-oh-oh

# Those were the happiest days of my life

# Like a break in the battle was your part

# Oh-oh-oh-oh

# In the wretched life of a lonely heart

# Ooh, back on the train

# Oh, back on the chain gang. #

This groove is fucking awesome. Check this out.

# You ought to see my baby

# Lord, that girl's so fine

# She loves me every morning and every night

# And she's always on my mind

# She got sugar-coated love... #

-MUSIC DROWNS SPEECH

-# Yeah, sugar-coated love

# She's a real-gone baby

# I don't mean maybe She's mine... #

They were, like, known for doing...

-They made blues into, like, pop songs.

-Mm-hm.

They would put little quirky hits in.

Little quirky, you know, hooks all over the place, you know?

-# I don't have to worry about. #

-MUSIC STOPS

But I fucking love their sound. They're so quirky.

# Well, I'm a king bee

# Buzzing around your hive... #

Just hooks everywhere, right? Subtle, nothing special.

# Buzzing around your hive

# Well, I can make honey, baby

# Let me come inside... #

Yeah, fucking... I've just been getting obsessed with this label.

This one guy produced all these records.

All these different people, they all have this one certain quality.

-'Your new album was recorded in Nashville. Are you done?

-Yeah, yeah.

'With... Oh, I didn't know that the guy from Black Keys,

'Dan Ow-er-back was also...'

-Dan Auerbach.

-Ar-Ar...?

That's a good Jewish name - you should be able to pronounce that.

-No. AUR...

-Auerbach.

-Auerbach.

-It's not "buck", it's "bach".

-Bach. Auerbach.

-From Akron.

-H-H-He's Jewish?

-Yeah.

-Oh.

-His dad's an antiques dealer.

-Oh, I love them!

Oh, no, he's not, because his mom's not,

-so he can't be Jewish.

-Then he's not Jewish, no.

-All right, sorry.

-Sorry, we've just lost one.

-Yeah.

-See?

-Hopes are dashed in the course of a minute.

-Just like that.

First we have a member of the tribe, and then they're not.

MUSIC: Holy Commotion by The Pretenders

Remember doing this one?

It's the club mix.

-Huh?

-The club mix.

# Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah

# Massive devotion

# Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah

# And a holy commotion

# I just want, I want, I want

# To see your face

# I just want, I want, I want

# To change your place

# Lift your veil... #

'Yeah, so I was, er, talking to Dan Auerbach and I said...'

Just in passing, I said, "Yeah, I do all this stuff on my own, usually.

"Go to the cinema alone..."

I don't know what prompted me to say this.

Maybe it was just, you know, self pitying or something,

and he goes, "Write a song about it."

I don't think anyone really WANTS to be alone.

You know, you just make the most of what you have and, you know,

that's all I'm trying to say.

I look at it more...

It's not a young man's game, it's not for young people,

but as you get older it's more a matter of renunciation,

where you retire from a lot of the pursuits of...

You know, which come from, er,

you know, being in a relationship.

You've done the family, you've got that out of the way,

you've done your duty and your job and then you have some time

to really reflect on, you know, whatever you need to reflect on.

And that's a luxury of...

That most people probably can't afford

unless they really are renounced and are willing to go off with nothing.

Most people won't do that.

It's a very high order.

That would be called a "sanyassi" in Indian culture, Vedic culture,

and you don't meet many people who are capable of that.

I'm not renounced cos I'm in a rock band

and I'm going to go on tour, so that's not really renounced.

You know, renounced is when you're not really featuring

all these worldly pleasures any more.

Hold on a minute. Chrissie Hynde's just told me

-she has done a song with Kate Moss.

-Yeah.

-This is, like, the best news I've ever heard in my entire life.

-Yeah.

She went from vapid consumerism to sort of rock goddess.

-In your eyes.

-In my eyes. I always loved her, but...

I adore Kate... You know I...

-She's amazing. She sings great.

-Does she?

-She sings great.

-Really?

-Yeah.

She should back off the fags a little bit and get serious.

-She could really be a singer.

-Better than Naomi Campbell?

-Er, I...

-Have you heard Naomi sing?

-I think Naomi can sing, too.

-Yeah.

You know she had a hit album in Japan years ago? Baby Woman.

-I sang on it.

-No!

-Yeah.

-This is getting crazier by the minute!

# But if you love him... #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Is this her?

-# Even though he's hard... #

-That's Kate.

# To understand... #

Where did you find it?

Oh, yeah. Is that OK with you?

# If you love him

# Be proud of him

# Cos after all

# He's just a man. #

-Wow!

-Amazing!

-Sexy.

I wanted to do Foolish Little Girl with her -

-you know, the Shirelles?

-Yes.

You broke his heart and made him cry

And he's been blue since then

Now he's found somebody else

And you want him back again.

-Is it true? Does she?

-She didn't want to sing it.

She goes, "I went through a divorce." I think the lyrics were a little sensitive.

-I mean...

-So she said...

-But she was agreeable to do Stand By Your Man.

-Unbelievable. Mm-hm.

I coached her for two days singing into Mason Pearson brushes.

-Had she ever...?

-In her bedroom.

It was hard for me to get her to settle down -

she kept running into her dressing room and taking her clothes off

-and trying on different dresses.

-Yeah.

That's what she likes to do

but she needs someone like you to, like, rein her in.

MUSIC: I Hate Myself by The Pretenders

# I hate myself, I hate myself

# I hate myself for backing the wrong horse

# I hate myself

# I hate my phony masquerade of black and blue

# I hate myself

# I hate my phony, reckless self-destruction course

# And coming last, conceding

# Second best to you

# And if on Judgment Day

# I'm told to make my way

# To take up lasting residence downstairs

# I'll look to see if others

# Who backstabbed their own brothers

# Got a lighter sentence

# Showing mercy and repentance

# I hate myself, I hate myself, I hate myself

# I guess I'm just too smart

# I hate myself, I hate myself, I hate myself

# In body and in mind

# I hate myself, I hate myself

# I hate these perversions of the heart

# I hate myself up front

# I hate myself from behind

# So take my hand

# To the witness stand

# I deserve the worst

# My heart is gonna burst

# So validate me, hate me where it hurts

# I hate myself, I hate myself, I hate myself

# I hate myself, I hate myself

# I hate myself, I hate myself, I hate myself

# I hope that you do too

# I hate myself, I hate myself

# I hate myself, I hate myself

# But most of all I hate myself

# Hating you. #

You're catching me doing what I'm really...

What I do best, and that's just hanging out and doing nothing.

It's kind of what I specialise in.

DISTANT SINGING

This is the whole manor that George Harrison

gave to the devotees.

And this is his personal garden.

And, uh...

It's open to the public,

so anyone that wants to hang out at George Harrison's gaff, here it is.

RHYTHMIC CHANTING

-I milked a cow the other day.

-Where?

-Just to put my money where my...

At the manor that George Harrison bought for the Krishna devotees.

They have one where they call it Goshala,

which is a cowherd which is milked by hand and they play,

you know, Ravi Shankar to them...

-And massage them and stuff?

-Oh, absolutely.

-Cows should be massaged.

-So while I am milking... Yeah, they should be.

You know, I believe they are sacred animals.

COW MOOS

And I understand that if you treat animals badly,

it's better not to use animal products, which is...

I'm obviously in agreement with.

But what if you treated them well?

What if you treated a cow well? I am all for one cow per family.

I am actually having a book on cow protection written.

There's four principles - you never kill one,

they suckle by their mothers, you milk them by hand

and you give the oxen work,

and that can sustain the environment and a human family.

-Wow.

-Uh-huh.

-I love that.

Despite the fact that I look like such an enthusiast here,

I personally don't think I've had a glass of milk

in at least 30 years, maybe more.

These boots, by the way, come from Vegetarian Shoes in Brighton,

one of the original non-leather sources of footwear in this country.

Just for anyone there who thinks I'm being a big hypocrite,

wearing leather boots.

I am a big hypocrite, probably, but not in that regard.

Cows have got a very bad rap because of the methane they produce.

When produced by bulk...

But in actual fact,

they perfectly fertilise the soil and add nutrients to it,

when done in the right way.

The cow dung, it'd be used for building houses, it's used for fuel.

In fact, the urine from the cow is used as an antiseptic.

They're kind of like the answer to all of...

the ecological problems we're having.

There's just nothing about these creatures that's not good.

Do you think she is getting close now?

To being milked?

THUNDER RUMBLES

Giddy-up!

Ah-ah, ah-ah.

Giddy-up!

Giddy-up!

Life in the fast lane(!)

Yeah, there we go.

DISTANT MUSIC

# Well, who's been playing around with you?

# A real cool cat with eyes of blue

# Triflin', baby, are you being true?

# Who's been playing around with you?

# Who's been playing around... #

If you're 16, there is nothing you can do that's better - not drugs,

not sex, not sniffing glue,

not getting good grades, not anything.

Nothing is better than picking up a guitar and making a noise.

It's just THE BEST.

# He held your hand and he sang you a song... #

And I think that when people enjoy doing something, they'll do it,

they'll find a way.

That's where I missed the boat, cos I wasn't really...

I couldn't really jam with guys.

I was, like, too shy.

Thank you very much!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a very special guest.

Would you please give it up?

Ms Chrissie Hynde is going to do a song.

CHEERING

All the way from down the road.

'After the first, like, ten years of doing this and you get over

'the stage fright, then you actually start enjoying doing the shows

'and you just look forward to them.

'I used to dread shows for years, but, you know,

'you can't let that kind of thing get in your way.'

# Hush, little darlin'

# Go to sleep

# Look out the window

# Count the sheep

# That dot the hillsides

# And the fields of wheat

# Across America

# As we cross America

# What's important

# Here today

# The broken line

# On the highway

# All the love in the world for you, girl

# Thumbelina In a great big scary world

# All the love in the world for you, girl

# Take my hand and we'll make it through this world. #

All right, James, go, go, go!

'I hear people say,

' "Oh, it must be such a rush to be out there,"

'but that's not really what it's really about,

'it's more about looking around and seeing the band coming to life

'and everyone is playing well,

'and that's the part of it that turns me on,

'is just being in that little group.

'That's the one time in my life when I'm a real team player.'

# Hush, little darlin'

# My poor little thing

# You've been shuffled about

# Like a pawned wedding ring

# It must seem strange

# Love was here, then gone

# And the Oklahoma sunrise becomes the Amarillo dawn

# What's important in this life?

# Ask the man

# Who's lost his wife. #

One, two, three, four!

TEMPO SPEEDS UP

Whoo!

TEMPO BECOMES FRENETIC

Thank you!

Mother's Little Helper, thank you.

That's Chrissie Hynde, everyone!

You can have it.

So, that's Mother's Little Helper,

-the little...

-Who came up with the name? Did you?

I did. They were saying, "What can we call ourselves?"

It's good, though, isn't it?

I saw the Sid and Nancy film last night at the Curzon.

I saw it at the time. I noticed it was...

No-one really wanted to see it.

I didn't want to see it at the time,

and, you know, we were like, "Nah."

It just seemed like an establishment thing or something, I don't know.

And also knowing everyone, it was like...

And, you know, frankly, all the guys in the band

were depicted as some pretty ugly characters

so, I don't know, you just wouldn't have watched it

and no-one talked to anyone

that was doing the film that I remember, anyway,

erm, for research or anything.

Anyway, and then...

It was at the Curzon last night,

there was absolutely nothing playing in town

and I thought, "Fuck it, I'm going to go see that,"

and I thought it was really good. I don't like biopics, usually,

but, first of all, Gary Oldman was fantastic as Sid.

He really played him well. I just think...

And the girl that plays...

Chloe Webb that played Nancy wasn't quite as evil as Nancy,

I didn't think, so, at the time, I didn't quite...

Erm...

But, all in all, to see the whole as a sort of timepiece of the times,

I thought it was really well done.

I think I needed 35 years away from it to be able to recognise that.

And last night, I passed the Moonlight Club.

I don't know if it's called that any more.

It's a pub on West End Lane

and it's the first place The Pretenders ever played in London.

We'd done some gigs outside of London

and in France, but never here

and it was the night that it was announced that Sid died.

And no-one was going to tell me cos it was my first gig,

I was obviously nervous, and just as I was about to walk on stage,

someone said, "What about Sid, then?"

I went, "I don't know, what about him?"

"Oh, you know, he died."

I went, "Oh! We've got to do this show now."

Good to see so many really old faces up at the front.

CHEERING

It's kind of freaky, to be honest.

All right! Fuck it.

Yeah, I mean...

Yeah, there's no good young bands. Fuck 'em.

There are, actually. They're coming back, I predict that.

A lot of bands. If you love bands like I do,

it's all going to happen in the next, I don't know...

-AUDIENCE MEMBER:

-We'll be dead!

LAUGHTER

Well, that's the good news.

OK.

One, two, three, four!

# A good time was guaranteed for one and all

# The tattoos did target practice in the hall

# While waiting for their number to get called out

# I-I-I-I found out what the wait was about

# I was a good time

# Yeah, I got pretty good

# At changing tyres upstairs, bro

# I shot my mouth off and you showed me what that hole was for

# Now I see you

# All impressed and half-undressed

# You got paint stick all over the scars and lumps and bumps

# Tattooed love boys

# Have got you where you used to lay

# Well, ha-ha, too bad

# But you know what they say

# Stop snivellin'!

# You're going to make some plastic surgeon a rich man!

# Oh, but the prestige and the glory

# Another human interest story

# You are that. #

I can get out and just go in,

hang a left here and just go straight through, can't I?

Yeah, you can get in there.

-So...

-All right, let me do that. That's the best way, isn't it?

-I think so.

-Rather than make you go all the way around.

Yeah, I can go right in there.

-ANNOUNCEMENT:

-'Baggage left unattended

'will be removed and destroyed.'

# I got this strange, strange feeling

# Deep down in my heart

# I can't tell what it is

# But it won't let go

# It happens every time

# I give you more than what I have

# Now all I need is a little time... #

There's a few voices that, as soon as you hear their voice,

you're already sort of transported into another place.

Of course, what they're singing matters,

but it's just the sound of their voice that does it.

And he's one of them.

When I was 17, I walked into a record store and saw that face.

That face only said one thing to me and that is, "Take me home."

And, you know,

I listened to that album a thousand times when I was 17.

# When you're home all alone

# Oh, don't you need

# Somebody to talk your troubles to

# Oh, Lord, I know

# I want to take

# The morning train, Lord

# The break of day

# Oh, I don't want to lose you, you see... #

This was the country when I lived here.

What we called the country,

you went out to the country to buy corn and tomatoes.

This is what it is now, and that was within, you know, my lifetime.

You know, this is how Middle America is, from here

all the way over to California.

See, it just goes on and on.

Just warehouses of stuff.

If you live anywhere here,

the only way you can go anywhere is just to get in your car.

There is no place you can walk to.

And there's no interaction on the street at all. There's no life.

Everyone is in their car.

It's a shift in human society.

The Unabomber.

Ted Kaczynski, who was like a sort of maths genius.

I don't know if you know anything about him.

He ended up sending letter bombs and killing people.

But his manifesto was all about the disconnected,

how isolated it was going to make people, and lonely,

by this car culture.

We're going to come up all round the back, or the front or side

or whatever the hell it is there.

And there is the wonderful Summit Mall

where I spent many, many, many, many, many hours

of my life.

Miserable...

..unhappy...

..disenfranchised, depressed hours.

I worked as a waitress in there.

Awful.

# O'Neil's is such an exciting department store

# A lively fashion where

# Our two-barrel living

# A warehouse-value goodie

# At O'Neil's you're assured of quality. #

-Hi.

-Hiya.

What's the plainest popcorn? Just plain popcorn.

Ah...

It's...

slightly buttered.

Great.

And can I have just a small, like,

what do you have that's closest to water? Water?

Yeah, we have water. It'll be ten cents, is that OK?

Sure.

# Our voucher's ability

# Will buy wonders every store

# You get such satisfaction shopping at O'Neil's. #

So this really is the heartland.

We actually are going to pass my old street.

We could go down it and find my house where I grew up

from the age of 8 to 17 or something,

so significant years.

# Now you say you're lonely

# You cry the whole night through

# Well, you can cry me a river

# Cry me a river

# I cried a river over you... #

See where that American flag is? That was my old house.

It's been there for over 50 years,

so it's all mature now and the trees.

But when I lived there it was a brand-new housing development.

My parents had two records, and they were Julie London records at home.

And then a box set of Glenn Miller records.

I never heard them play them.

I don't think they ever played music in the house.

But they had, I don't know...

So that, when I see that picture,

I'm back, you know...

Back in my parents' house next to the hi-fi,

which, they never played it but...

That picture meant a lot to me.

I think that's why I wanted to be a singer, was seeing her face there.

I'm sure it was.

# While you never shed a tear

# Remember, I remember

# All that you said

# Told me love was too plebeian

# Told me you were through with me... #

1805.

It was painted differently then.

But they've maintained it very nicely.

So my parents would be happy.

# Just to prove you do

# Come on and cry me a river

# Cry me a river

# I cried a river... #

Keep going straight.

Keep going straight.

Caution.

Proceed.

SHE LAUGHS

There's a lot more. There's a lot you'll never see.

You haven't even seen the underbelly yet.

-SATNAV:

-'Turn right, then arrive at destination.'

You've arrived, but that doesn't mean you're there.

I loved this place when I was a teenager.

If you grew up in the new suburbs,

there was something really mystical

about hanging out in a place like this.

I lived in a place where everything old was torn down,

so, you know, something like this had immense charm.

Since I don't see having a fondness for cemeteries

as anything remotely...

..morbid.

Some people say, "Why would you want to hang out in a cemetery?"

For me, they are nature reserves.

Usually, there's no-one in them.

They're very unspoiled because no-one's in them.

And, um...

there's often just nothing else like it in a city.

Spicer.

That's a big name, Akron name.

Spicer, there's a lot of things named after Spicer.

Schumacher, same. That's another big Akron name.

The first guy I loved, that I was in love with, was named Burnett.

Maybe that was his family.

He's dead now.

Urbane Watkins, yeah, I have never heard of someone named Urbane.

Good name.

See, I could do this for hours. Not hours, but...

And it's a great thing if, you know, back in the day,

you could smoke a joint.

And just...

That's a good old name, "Fanny".

When I'm alone and I can walk through a cemetery,

I like to say their names out loud cos I just think,

"When was the last time anyone ever said your name out loud?"

And I don't know that that means anything. It's just something I do.

# Keep beckoning to me

# From behind that closed door

# The maid and the mother and the crone that's grown old

# I hear your voice

# Coming out of that hole

# I listen to you

# And I want some more

# I listen to you

# And I want some more

# And she will always carry on

# Something is lost

# Something is found

# They will keep on speaking her name

# Some things change

# Some stay the same

# And she will always carry on

# Something is lost

# Something is found

# They will keep on speaking her name

# Some things change

# Some stay the same

# Ah. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

So this is, really, what I sort of grew up with,

all these woods and everything.

And they went right up to the back of where the house was.

This is right in the height of the summer.

In the winter time, there's no leaves. And it's fucking cold.

And there is snow and slush and sleet.

When it's the most spectacular is in the month of October, here.

Because everything's like scarlet and gold,

and, I mean, it's breathtaking.

I used to love coming out to places like this.

Getting lost.

My thing was always trees.

When you're a child, and you're in the woods a lot,

this has a lot to do with... in forming the way you think.

When I'm in there, I feel like I'm surrounded by people.

They are living entities.

Only, you know, they're kind of more cool than people.

For the most part.

I always thought, when I was little, that I would end up,

that was my dream scenario, was to end up going down

one of those gullies and having my own little cabin.

A tiny, little thing.

And I would live alone there.

These two weird trees that have gone together.

That's a cool thing.

I'm not wearing the right shoes for this.

# Long ago

# And oh so far away

# I fell in love with you

# Before the second show

# And your guitar

# It sounds so sweet and clear

# But you're not really here

# It's just the radio

# Don't you remember you told me you love me, baby?

# Said you'd be coming back again, baby

# Baby, baby, baby, baby, oh, baby

# I love you

# I really do... #

-Where's Chrissie?

-Where are you?

-I'm like...

-What are you doing?

-I'm looking for you.

-Where are we at? You were in Akron last week?

-Well, they wanted a...

I said, "Instead of a retrospective thing,

"where you get people talking about me..." gross,

"Just follow me around doing what I do anyway."

Really?!

Look at all these little...

There's hummus.

-I'm all for that.

-We could sit on the street and eat some hummus.

Pockets.

-Aztec, Moroccan...

-It's vegetarian.

-So we can eat this.

-Do you want get that?

-Sure.

-Can I have a falafel?

Abdul, do they come out with samples or no?

Oh, I don't want one, I want this, I want it.

-Yeah.

-Abdul, Abdul. You don't listen to me.

I talk to you, you don't listen.

We just want a falafel sandwich, the way you do it.

And I'm getting the classic, but the bowl.

Right there, we're going to go, if they don't go there first.

Ah, shit, those guys just nabbed that table.

All right. Perfection.

-It's OK?

-Great.

I wear sunglasses, people notice me more. Isn't that weird?

Yeah, no-one else around here has them on and, look,

no-one's paying attention to them. See how it works?

-Those key earrings, I love those.

-Oh, Kate loved those too.

Those are totally cute.

They come from a little, tiny padlock that cost, like,

-you know, 4.99 in a hardware store.

-But... So those are just, like...

-What about the...the thing?

-That was just some earrings I had.

-Oh, and you just put them on!

-Yeah.

-I'll get you some if I see some in a hardware store.

-Adorable!

-Have you met anybody in the past couple of years you like?

-Uh-uh.

Yeah, I do like people, but I would never go after anyone.

For instance.

I can't think of anyone.

Just people you meet out in the world?

I don't know.

I haven't thought about it.

I just need a place where I can paint and be left alone.

Fabulous.

They came over for the summer,

and looked at my paintings.

That's all I've been doing.

Not now, I've stopped.

I was doing one a day,

but I ground to a halt when I had other things to do.

You realise that you are going to make this happen now,

and you are making it happen.

More productive than ever.

It's from isolation.

What do you mean?

I don't have... I spend all my time alone.

I have nothing else to do.