Quotes

"Kiss me or would you rather live in a land where the soap won't lather" (lyric)

The first lyrical poetry that moved me was the final verse of Mr Tambourine Man. That is such a great line of poetry.

It is often the songs that have less meaning that people tend to attach their meaning to.

One of the great things about the 1980s was that there was a return to lyrics. Bands like the Smiths were writing more literate pop. Sometimes too much emphasis is put on hook and melody. Some bands' songs are totally vacuous.

Everything that was cool about British rock in the '60s, everything from The Beatles, The Stones (The Rolling Stones), The Who, The Small Faces, Led Zeppelin, all those guys learned to play music by playing skiffle. It was open to everyone, it was utterly democratic, it was three chords and the truth.

This year I think I'll be voting Liberal Democrat because they've got the best manifesto. I like what they're saying about proportional representation, I like what they're saying about Europe... if I was a floating voter I'd be floating towards them. I think Labour have taken the white working class vote for granted. I think the idea of a three party race is more interesting than a two party race. (In 2010)

The Internet allows me to write a topical song on a Friday, debut it on a Saturday, record it on a Sunday and make available for a free download on a Monday.

[on Levon Helm] The greatest singing drummer that ever lived.

Now I realize I was naive to think The Clash could change the world by singing about it. But it wasn't so much their lyrics as what they stood for and the actions they took. That became really important to me. Phil Collins might write a song about the homeless, but if he doesn't have the action to go with it he's just exploiting that for a subject. I got that from The Clash, and I try to remain true to that tradition as best I can.

This is not a time for celebration. The death of Margaret Thatcher is nothing more than a salient reminder of how Britain got into the mess that we are in today. Of why ordinary working people are no longer able to earn enough from one job to support a family; of why there is a shortage of decent affordable housing... of why cynicism and greed became the hallmarks of our society. Raising a glass to the death of an infirm old lady changes none of this. The only real antidote to cynicism is activism. Don't celebrate - organise!

It's really a comment on the amount of information we get now; I mean, the ubiquity of the Internet of the 24-hour news cycle - it's constant information all the time, trying to make sense of it. What does it mean if they do find the Higgs Boson? I don't know, you know? They tell us it's incredibly important. Is it incredibly important? So it's really a response on that, talking about the hectoring of the hexperts you know, there's someone every night on telly telling you emphatically what their truth is, how do you weigh that up?

I think Tony Blair shocked a lot of people when he said if your heart is with Jeremy Corbyn you need a heart transplant. I'm not interested in a Labour Party that doesn't have a heart. We need politics of the heart. That to me is compassionate politics.

David Bowie was the greatest of the London boys that came out of the 60s. In 1971 he turned into something strange and curious - Ziggy Stardust. It's great to commemorate this spot with a blue plaque, so that everyone who loves these records can gaze up in wonder at Trident Studios.

[on Morrissey] I think he's decided that he wants to betray everything he ever said in The Smiths, and he's broken the hearts of a lot of people... The Smiths expressed a lot of people's own sense of disconnect with society and helped them to find their own identity, and he's totally trashed that. I'm heartbroken for them because I'm a big Smiths fan, too. And I'm heartbroken for Johnny Marr because he's genuine, a lovely guy, and he doesn't deserve to have his legacy dragged through the dirt... I have no sympathy for Morrissey, no respect for him, but I have a lot of sympathy and respect for his audience.

Those artists who claim that when it comes to Morrissey we must separate the singer from the song should ask themselves if they are unwittingly helping him to spread white supremacist theories.