“I always thought the pure essence of rock’n’roll was a completely non-musical form of music. Rock and roll is surely not a ‘music’ form. I hate it when people say, ‘Oh, but the production’s so bad on it and I can’t hear the lyrics properly’. If they want all that then they should listen to classical music or Leonard Cohen – who’s nothing but ‘poetic’. I’m not about that. Writers like that are too serious and precious about their ‘craft’ as they call it. There’s no fire or danger there, because they’ve thought all of it out.”

Renegade. The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith, Penguin Books, 2008, p. 115.

Bill is Dead