A biography for Viv Albertinehasn’t been written yet.
“I'm the angriest and most empathetic person you'll ever meet.”
“I like to rattle cages.”
“I'm not a nostalgic person.”
“When I was pregnant, I prayed that my daughter would have brown, green, or grey eyes.”
“I always love a song about London or about places. I think Britain could do with more of them; America is so good at that.”
“We're so tribal in Britain about music. But my music - my guitar playing, the rhythms, et cetera - just express my personality, because I'm self-taught.”
“My mother was so ignorant of what could have befallen me and was probably so exhausted - she was one of the first generation of single parents as well - that it was all a bit overwhelming. So the naivety of parents meant we did have a certain amount of freedom.”
“People think you're vulnerable when you tell the truth, but it's never hurt me.”
“Directing taught me how to run a team and turn up on time - things you don't really learn when you're in a band.”
“Most female artists - to do what you have to do and to be as honest as you have to be, to be as selfish as you have to be, as tunnel-visioned as you have to be to make art, not entertainment - you can't compromise, really.”
“The truth is the only thing that will move society forwards.”
“If you are an autodidact, you probably do write more in the rhythm of speech rather than having learnt prose.”
“In the 1970s, girls didn't do anything. It wasn't their fault. For me and the other working-class girls I hung around with, our route was plotted - you were a secretary and a wife. I wanted to hitchhike around the world, go on motorbikes, be in bands.”
“I have a daughter. I have my imagination. I have friends. I, in no way, am going to louse that up with some idiot man, frankly. They drag you down - I'm talking about my generation of men.”
“I could be completely mad and sound like David Icke, but I just find people with blue eyes colder, less passionate, and more calculated people.”
“One of my faults is a big mouth. I tend to say the wrong thing without meaning to.”
“We're all products of our own environment.”
“I'm not a gifted storyteller, so I write what I know and hope that honesty resonates with other people's experiences.”
“My favourite guitar was - I can't remember if it was '50s or '60s - a pale wood Telecaster, and it made me a better player. It was beautiful, so easy to play.”
“I haven't found music comforting since the '80s, but it doesn't mean it's not good - it just doesn't work for me. It's shocking to me because music was my religion from the age of 11, and it's like I don't believe in my god any more.”