Throughout her lengthy and legendary recording career, Marianne Faithfull has been fortunate in her choice of creative collaborators. Whether it was Rolling Stones producer Andrew Loog Oldham or Mick Jagger and Keith Richards themselves in the early years or Chris Blackwell, Mark Isham, Hal Willner or Angelo Badalamenti in later years, Faithfull has worked with people that have allowed her to be herself. Kissin Time ( Hut/Virgin ) , her dazzling new album, is no exception. Teamed up with Beck, ex-Smashing Pumpkin Billy Corgan, Dave Stewart ( of Eurythmics ) , Jarvis Cocker and the members of Pulp, and Damon Albarn and the members of Blur, to name a few, Faithfull has created one of the best albums of her career and also of the year.
Gregg Shapiro: You are one of the artists featured in a new Gap ad campaign. Did you get to select the article of clothing?
Marianne Faithfull: No, it was done quite sensitively ( laughs ) . They sort of looked at me and saw what I looked like and what I was wearing and what would suit me.
GS: In the song "Sliding Through Life On Charm," you refer to yourself by name.
MF: I didn't write that, it's a Jarvis Cocker song. I wrote the title. That was my contribution. I gave the title to Jarvis and I didn't give him any other information. And that's what he came back with. I think if I had written it myself, it would be disgusting ( laughs ) .
GS: What is the autobiographical nature of some of the other material on Kissing Time?
MF: Obviously a bit of myself always bleeds through. There's no question of that, but it's not all autobiographical, no. Some of it...it's quite obvious on "Like Being Born." But only the first half of the verses are about my parents. Actually, "Like Being Born," is my first love song. I don't think anybody quite noticed that, but then why would they ( laughs ) ?
GS: We appreciate you pointing that out. There are several songs on the disc, including "Sex With Strangers" and "The Pleasure Song," that are geared to the dance floor and club scene...are you prepared to be transformed into a dance music diva at this point in time?
MF: I've always liked the thought of my songs being played in clubs. Long before all this dance stuff happened, in 1979, there was another dance moment.
GS: "Broken English."
MF: Yes, and Chris Blackwell ( of Island Records ) did a special dance remix of "Broken English" for the clubs. So, it's not new. I think music and dance go together and I like the idea of people being able to dance to my songs.
GS: "Sex With Strangers" is one of two songs that you co-wrote with Beck.
MF: He was somebody that I really wanted to work with. I wanted to learn, as well. I wanted to learn more about how people are making records today and what they do. In fact, it's not that different from how they were ever making records ( laughs ) . I did learn some things. I didn't know anything about Pro Tools, although we didn't use it that much. We used some Pro Tools on "Sex With Strangers," but we didn't on "Like Being Born" or "Nobody's Fault." That's all real playing with real musicians in real time.
GS: I'm glad you mentioned "Nobody's Fault." Out of Beck's considerable catalog, how was that song selected?
MF: The minute I heard it I knew I had to sing that song. That doesn't happen to me very often. It has happened to me. When I heard "The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan," when I heard "Working Class Hero," when I heard "Why'd Ya Do It," I knew I had to sing those songs. And when I heard "Nobody's Fault," I knew I had to somehow sing that song.
GS: The Billy Corgan collaboration "I'm On Fire," is so gorgeous ...
MF: I love it. I really love it, yeah. He's wonderful to work with. They all are. That's what I love about all of my collaborators. All my collaborators all my life, but also particularly on this record. How not disappointing they are at all. They care terribly about music.
GS: Then it's a great match up with you.
MF: It's what it's all about.
GS: "Song For Nico," which you co-wrote with Dave Stewart, is about legendary Velvet Underground singer Nico. It is a true act of generosity to write a biographical song about someone, that you cared enough to write that song.
MF: Well, I did. I didn't know her, so it was probably easier for me to write it, an homage, than if you knew her. Although, I think that John Cale has written one.
GS: What inspired you?
MF: She was a very compelling character. I did feel it was time somebody wrote a song for Nico. I think I felt haunted. I felt like there was a restless spirit who wanted a song written for her.
GS: Here in the States there was a K Mart commercial that contained a sample of a Nico song ( from the Chelsea Girls album ) .
MF: Oh, my God.
GS: It was kind of a strange way to introduce people to her music, in that context, but …
MF: I wish they would. I don't care how they do it ( laughs ) . I didn't know her personally. I didn't know anything, really, until I read this very sympathetic biography. I've read the unsympathetic ones and I wouldn't have touched that with a 10-foot pole. But then I did read one from her point of view. Mainly, it was because of her work. I'm not really assessing her character ( laughs ) , although I think it was quite hard being Nico.
GS: I think she'd be flattered by your song. I also love your cover of "I'm Into Something Good."
MF: I love it too.
GS: Why was "I'm Into Something Good" chosen?
MF: Billy ( Corgan ) was trying to find out something more about me. Unfortunately, when people ask me what my favorite music is, I tell the truth, but it's very opaque. I say, "Well, I listen to Aretha Franklin, James Brown, The Who ( laughs ) , The Rolling Stones, John Coltrane, Miles Davis." That's my answer always, and it wasn't really giving Billy any kind of key into something in me. Eventually, I remembered that when I was getting on the plane in Dublin to come to work with Billy in Los Angeles, I had heard, on the Muzak in the airport, the Herman's Hermits song. All I thought was wouldn't it be nice if Billy and I could write something in that vein together. I didn't ever think about covering it. I thought, "Let's try and hit that feeling." So, I told him that story and he just grabbed it and said, "Right. Let's do it." I love it, and, of course, he did change it a bit. It's not at all like the old version. It's a twisted version of "I'm Into Something Good." But it's still very beautiful.
GS: Laden with irony.
MF: I don't know. I don't really do irony ( laughs ) . I understand it. But the way I work, I tend to do things for real. I do them sincerely. Maybe Billy does it with irony ( laughs ) , but I didn't. I can't do irony, I'm not at all like that. It's just something I don't have.
GS: In addition to your extensive music catalog, you also have a career as an actor on stage, in film and on TV. Are there more acting roles ahead?
MF: No, not at the moment. I've got to really focus. I can't be everywhere and do everything. I had to choose a long time ago. I have too much respect for acting to sort of play with it. I made the decision that what I really do is, I'm a musician. I can't really act in my spare time. You have to really give yourself completely to something I think.
GS: There has to be a level of commitment.
MF: Yes. I'm particularly proud of Intimacy, of course. But that was really not difficult, because Patrice ( Chereau ) wrote that part in Intimacy for me. If something like that turns up then I will make every effort to do it. There are a few people, not many, that I would like to work with, but I'm not going to tell you who ( laughs ) . I'm not looking for a job ( laughs ) . If ever they wanted me to do something, I would.
GS: One of the most inspired pieces of casting was when you were cast as God on Absolutely Fabulous.
MF: ( laughs ) That was very funny, I thought, yes.
GS: That role exposed you to a whole new generation of people, and, specifically, to a whole new generation of gay men.
MF: Yeah. It was particularly fun for all of my friends in the gay community, and I have many. I remember it very well. Jennifer ( Saunders ) came to see a show that I was doing and to talk about this. I said to her very clearly, "Now, look Jennifer, I'd love to do this, but I don't want to just come on as Marianne Faithfull. I have to have a part." She just raised her eyebrows and looked me straight in the eye and said, "OK darling, would God do?" What could I say?
GS: You can't turn that down.
MF: Now that is ironic. I kind of got that.
GS: Your 1994 autobiography Faithfull, in which, among other things, you wrote about your lesbian affairs and the pervasive sexual freedom of the 1960s and '70s, was reissued a few years ago by Cooper Square Press. At a time when publisher's backlists are being sent off to purgatory, how does it feel to know that there is continued interest in your story?
MF: I'm very pleased about that. I think it took people quite a long time to come to terms with my book. It's almost as if it's only now that they're beginning to realize what a good book it is. At the time, it was almost too much for people to take. Because it's very unusual. It's not in black and white, there is no hero, there is no villain. It in endless sort of nuance and shades of gray. That's like the opposite of celebrity culture.
GS: You are embarking on a concert tour of the U.S. as the one year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks are being observed. Do you plan to address the subject?
MF: Not directly. You must remember that for the last 15 years I've lived in Ireland, which has its own sort of political history and its own tragedies. What I've learned, when you are a foreigner in another place, and something really big and terrible has happened to these people, is to not, as a foreigner, jump in and say something. I think it's very, very inappropriate. Actually, on the tenth of September, I am doing the David Letterman show.
I've had to think quite carefully about what song to sing. I think I will sing "Wherever I Go." What I did feel, when it happened and when we started this tour, was that I couldn't sing "Broken English" anymore. It didn't seem right. If I was going to sing a song like that, I would have to write a new one with a completely different take on it. I haven't done that yet and I may never. There are certain people that are probably really right for that job, but I don't think I'm one of them. What I feel is that the taking of life is the most terrible thing. That there is no possibility of joy once your life is gone. I don't think they need Marianne Faithfull spouting about Sept. 11. I think you all know what you're doing and you know how to grieve in your own way.
