That’s Not My Age

It’s Patti Smith on holiday. Actually, she might not be on vacation it could be Maine, but I do like the idea of Ann Demeulemeester resort wear. And the singer taking her ‘don’t mess with me’ attitude to the seaside. Having written a lullaby for the film Noah, Smith has been in the news this week. There’s an excellent interview with her in the Independent and her wise words about sexualization in the music industry can be applied to most things in life:

‘I’m 67 years old; you’re not going to tell me what to do. The only
person who can boss me around now is my daughter. When I was young, I
was offered my first recording contract in 1971 and was offered quite a
bit of money if I would change my character and be a 70s version of
Cher. Someone had a vision of how I could be moulded, and of course I
couldn’t do it. I took a quarter of the money in 1975 to do Horses
because I had complete artistic freedom. So when people say, ‘I had no
choice, I had to do it,’ well I’m sorry but unless you’re raising the
money to look after your sick mother or something, you can say no. If
you don’t need the money to help a loved one in trouble or to survive,
then you have a choice. I’ve been offered many many things in my life
that were much more glamorous than the decisions I made, but those
things weren’t right for me. As long as it’s right for you, then that’s
fine. But people who say that had to do it, they had to take off their
clothes, they had to sing songs they didn’t like…. You didn’t have to
do anything. We are masters of our own fate and we make our own
decisions.’

Stay true to yourself, people. And have a good weekend.