you have to own what ’ s good about it . So I think of it more in terms of being renounced , leaving a lot of things behind to address the more important things in life . And at a certain age , you don ’ t need a lot . I ’ m 65 , I ’ ve done all the family stuff , done everything I needed to when I was younger . So now I can concentrate on my philosophy and what I think is important . So this ain ’ t no sermon on the mount . |
people and slaughtering the Indians . And then they brought in factory farms – they meaning ‘ us ’ – so when was it so great ? Remember when we thought the hippies were so cool , so forward-thinking ? They were all meat eaters , supporting factory farms and turning a blind eye to it . There was a bit of cosmic consciousness , but basically they were all trying to get high . It was about getting loaded . |
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IE : When you listen back to The Pretenders ’ self-titled debut disc from 1980 , though , it sounds like it could have been recorded yesterday . CH : Well , you know , that ’ s not a very long time . Listen to Beethoven ’ s Moonlight Sonata – if only someone could write that today . So looking back doesn ’ t mean anything to me . Time is a hard thing to define , really – 40 years seems like a lot in some ways , but nothing in terms of some other things . So again , there ’ s that sense of timelessness . But it ( the punk era ) was an interesting time . But it ’ s always an interesting time . People say to me that a lot of things have gotten really shit- |
IE : Come January , though , things might seriously get shitty . At least here in America , where you still maintain an Akron residence . CH : You ’ re wasting your time thinking about stuff like that . There ’ s only one person who could have beaten Donald Trump to the White House , only one living person – who wasn ’ t qualified because they ’ re Canadian . Only one person who could have gotten him out of there – Pamela Anderson . Straight-A student , smart girl , she had everything it took . But she ’ s Canadian , and she ’ s not a politician , But if she was , she could have gotten his ass out of there . |
IE : Some artists are so depressed , they ’ re wondering why they should even tour . CH : They ’ re fools . Fools to say that ! I don ’ t have time for that kind of attitude . Why do you tour ? Because that ’ s what you do – you ’ re a musician , and you go where the music takes you . So I don ’ t understand that – I ’ m not on that page at all . That would be like saying , “ Why should we breathe ?” if the air ’ s polluted . Why does everyone think that they can control all this stuff ? I don ’ t know |
why people get so affected by these exte things , because you can ’ t change th things . All you can do is change yoursel that ’ s all you really have to think about .
The Pretenders newest album , Alone , is out now .
Tom Lanham
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