A biography for John Cooper Clarkehasn’t been written yet.
“I love being on my bike, but I don't consider that a sport: it's too pleasant.”
“Most cities are the same.”
“Lyrics became important for a while in the late Seventies. Patti Smith was a poet and a rock star, as much one as the other, the distinctions were a bit blurred and then you get swept up in it. Punk poet, it's a good enough term.”
“Find a poet whose style you like, emulate that style, then deal with things that you know about - don't waste your time looking for your own style.' I wish I could remember who told me that, because I'd like to congraulate him. I've emulated all the old guys - Tennyson, Alexander Pope.”
“I judge by appearances. People tell me I shouldn't.”
“The main thing a poem ought to be is musical. It should be rhythmic. You should hear it as a musical piece in your head as you're writing it.”
“Not everyone is prepared for fame, not even at the level I got it. One minute you're just a face in the crowd, next minute everyone wants a piece of you.”
“If I'd have known how much fun fatherhood would be, I would have started way earlier than 45.”
“From social pariah to King of the World? It's taken 45 years, so I've been able to adjust to it!”
“Happiness is the target one only has to aim at in order to miss.”
“Idleness - a job that you have to go to, but not necessarily do anything - is the poet's friend.”
“I love singing. I'm a great singer.”
“I would describe my style of dress as careful.”
“The one thing I got right was that I already looked like a punk when punk arrived.”
“I've never met a happy atheist.”
“It's miserable wearing black all the time, unless you're Johnny Cash.”
“I'm not fond of crowds. I'm no jittery neurotic, but I don't really want to be surrounded by a lot of people if I have a choice.”
“By the '80s, anything to do with punk was perceived as rancid. Me being known as the 'punk poet' meant my work and I plummeted.”
“It was a tedious saying among hippies: if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. I was very much part of the problem.”
“Maybe there are luckier people than me, but I don't know who that would be. I feel pretty lucky. I've had a nice life - I don't know how I could be luckier.”