Thanks !

Glad you guys liked it, I loved it when I saw it!
"I don't have a nostalgic bone in my body" she says, and then there's the Circus poster, and the Redlands clippings and Mick and her hanging on the bathroom wall I love her.

And here's an interview Marianne gave to a Greek journalist, to go with the piece.

http://www.lifo.gr/articles/music_articles/119055

I didn't know she'd had such deep trouble with the operation in Greece! It turned out to be a quite peculiar interview too, VERY awkward for the journalist. Here's a very rough translation, sorry for the mistakes, but I don't have time to correct them :

Marianne Faithfull is almost 70, she never cries, and she never wants to step foot in Greece again.

Marianne Faithfull's apartment is a ten minute taxi ride from the Louvre museum, in a good, though not the finest district of the French capital. It's in an orange block of flats, set apart from the other houses and you need a code to enter. There's also a tiny elevator. We were greeted by the head of her record company in Germany (and the rest of the world) and her Asian house maid. I felt awe, walking into the apartment. What does it feel like to meet a legend of your youth? What does it feel like talking with the co-writer of "Sister Morphine" that youthful voice of "As Tears Go By" that would later crack in the raging "Workin' class hero" or the auto-biographical "The ballad of Lucy Jordan"? Entering her small office, I saw her with her back turned to me, talking on the phone. Her laptop was turned on, she was on Facebook. The young manager nodded, meaning we shouldn't disturb her until the call was over. I started looking around: a classy apartment, very beautiful, not quite what you'd expect from a rock star's home. A big table had things scattered on it and there was an open, half-full suitcase. On the table there was an oxygen device and a book by Bob Dylan.

Marianne hangs up, gets up from her seat with difficulty and greets us with a handshake and a smile. "Please take your coat off" she says and asks me to put it down. Paris is cold, but sunny. "Look, I've given a Shakespear name to this one" she tells to her manager about one of her plants. She tells us where we should sit for our discussion. I sit facing her, my tape recorder between us. I look at her, straight in the eyes. I can't believe this! She looks just like... Kaiti Grey ([i]a Greek singer). Why not? Marianne sang "Sister Morphine", Grey sang "Light up your cigarette". Only that our own diva is over 90 years old, and Marianne will turn 70 in two months. I notice her face, underneath a heavy layer of eyeliner. It's not time, but all the past abuse that seems to have tired her, making her seem older. And her health issues, of course. Breast cancer diagnosed at an earlt stage and dealt with once and for all, hepatitis C in 2007 (all the abuse we were talking about) and a serious orthopedic injury, for which she unfortunately had an operation in Greece. I'm afraid she's not in a good mood and I'm thinking I did wrong to come all the way here and meet her.

I also can't help but think if she'll be in the mood for a meaningful interview, when she's got loads of them booked one after the other. I'm a little scared by her reprimand towards her manager: "You should tell Francois (Francois Ravard, her road manager and partner) to cool it down with the interviews". And that's how I started my conversation with the artist included in VH1's list of 100 most influential women arists of rock 'n' roll. We made a bad start, she didn't like me using the expression "fucked up". It's strange that this rock 'n' roll woman, whom I'd swear has tattooed on her hand a tiny plant of marijuana, is disturbed by the use of the term "fucked up". Sometimes this is only to be expected of artists, even when they've been through fire and hell, they won't forget their roots, they won't forsake their aristocratic origins. And Marianne Faithfull is a great arist, a genuine aristocrat of spirit, even if the latter part was not very evident in this interview. You can draw your own conclusions.

My conclusion was this: following the health scare she had in our country, she needed an opportunity to voice her rage. And she did it with the Greek journalist that happened to have this interview with her. Enjoy!

- I see a suitcase. Are you getting ready for a gig?
Yes, and it's still open, as you can see.

- Will you be travelling abroad?
Yes, so please don't tire me out, I'm singing tomorrow. It's not good for my voice.

- So let's not waste any time. I first saw you in Rhodes some years ago. I was informed that your payment was very low. Did you consider asking more money from a financially fucked up country, as on the next day you would be playing in Austria with regular payment?
Listen, that's not me like me at all. It all sounds made up. I also have a manager that deals with financial issues. If you want me to say something about your country, I'll say this: I'm never coming to Greece again because I had a terrible experience there.

- Do you mean your accident in Rhodes in 2014, when you fractured your hip?
Yes. Greece was going through a rough time and it still is, and I should have been left out of all of this. The doctors did a bad job. The surgeon had not washed his hands and my hip got infected. They didn't tell us then and I only found out eight months later. I was on tour, the hospital wouldn't release me and I didn't know why. I was in agony. Then we found out that the doctors refused to let me go thinking "We are going to operate on Marianne Faithfull"! And they did everything wrong! Let me repeat it: the doctor had not washed his hands before the operation and I got infected! On every other account, I love Greece and I always enjoyed visiting...

- I know, I think you used to visit Halkidiki.
I often visited Roger Waters at this home, but not anymore. I'm not coming back.

- You live in Paris. Why not London, your birthplace?
I don't like London anymore.

- But your latest record was called "Give my love to London"...
It was satirical. Many people love London, my son loves it. I used to love it too, but not any more. I live in Ireland and Paris.

- Mrs. Faithfull, do you believe that history runs in circles? I'm speaking about the rise of ethnicism internationally and war as an integral part of history.
I am not a political person.

- Have you been one in the past?
I have a theory. A friend of mine has told me, and I believe that's true, that Nazis will be returning every 70 years. I believe they're here now.

- Isn't this exactly what you're referring to in one of your latest songs? "Mother Wolf" with lyrics by Patrick Leonard: "You, people, kill only for pleasure/ You have no need and yet/ You cannot seem to stop..."
This is what the wolf is saying, the song's heroine, addressing people. I'm not sure if a singer always believes the content of his or her songs. I've been misunderstood in the past with many of the songs I've sang.

- You're preparing for a concert at the Bataclan. Do you believe a fear of islamists is only natural for Parisians?
An integral part of history, as you said before, is not just war but also fear, something with goes beyond religion. Attacks against human lives have spread fear here as well. After these attacks, I wrote a song. This concert is not about fear, but about the history of Bataclan which as you know has a great history in the international music scene.

- You once sang "The scream of the ambulance is sounding in my ears". How much strength did it take to stop hearing that siren?
It's been so many years, I've forgotten about it! (laughs) This is the past, we're moving on, life goes on! It's like it's telling you "You're living the wrong drama, come on!" "Sister Morphine" was a song, it's not reality. It was about a person who was in an accident, that's what we were thinking when we wrote it with the Stones, it didn't have to do with drug addiction.

- So I had to meet you in person to find out that Sister Morphine was about a pain reliever and not drug dependence.
That's right. A man is dying in a hospital after being in an accident, and he's begging for a little more morphine to stop the pain.

- What about the "wrong drama" you mentioned earlier? Let's put the songs aside.
Well that was my life. I've said it a million times: I became addicted to heroin very early on, I was homeless in the streets of London, I lived through a serious suicide attempt and here I am now and you're interviewing me. Wasn't it a wrong drama, since it almost cost me my life?

- Indeed, you've said all that many times. What did you think of Bob Dylan receiving the Nobel?
I am thrilled  that a person of my generation was honored with the greatest Literature award, the Nobel.

- I see you have one of his books.
I've just finished reading it!

- Did you call to congratulate him?
No, I didn't. Of course Dylan is my friend, but I didn't think of calling him. Both him and I, we talk with many people. Many people know us and we don't know them.

- Understood. There's a song you always perform live, "Workin' class hero" by John Lennon - coming from you, a member of the Stones family!
Right, the Stones family! I've been singing it since 1979 when I also recorded it. It's very important for the way things are socially, worldwide.

- Why not pick "Imagine", a hymn to peace?
Because "Workin' class hero" has no peace in it, only strength and power. People from all over the world can identify more with this meaning, rather than peace. You know what the labor class in your country is going through.

- Tell me about it. According to your experience, what do you think is the difference between the European and American approaches to music, cinema and arts in general?
Everything (laughs). I'm European and I've spent a long time adoring America, but now I'm over that. If my way of thinking is different than yours, imagine how diferent a European's and an American's are.

- But art is a universal language and you've sang about all people regardless ethnicity. I wonder, which lyrics express your personality and your approach to life?
Oh God! (laughs) I don't really know. (pause) Or rather, I do know. "Love more or less", here's a lyric that I've sang and it expresses me 100%!

- You've also sang "Bored by dreams". In December you're going to be 70 years old and I wonder if this lyric still rings true for you, especially now.
That takes me way back. "Bored by dreams" was a nice song! The way I've been writing, my work, they probably prove it wrong. I think I'm gonna make some tea if it's alright with you, for my throat. (She turns to her manager) Darling, please bring some coffee or tea to the gentleman. I'm gonna make my own tea. (I asked for coffee. 4 minutes later, the manager brought me a blue cup. The coffee seemed to be Greek. Faithfull came back for the interview, strangely with no cup of tea). Please be careful with this cup. It belonged to my ancestors and it's been through two world wars! Ok, let's go on.

- May I smoke?
My doctors only allow me to smoke in concerts, since I can't quit, but I don't smoke in here.

- You've had a successfull film career, from "Girl on a motorcycle" in 1968 to "Irina Palm" in 2007. Is acting different than singing?
"Irina Palm" was an exceptional film. Yes, cinema is very different to music. I feel very proud of the films you've mentioned. I know I'm a good actress. I've always known it, ever since I started out.

- You've collaborated with several younger artists: Nick Cave, Anne Calvi, Metallica, Jarvis Cocker etc. Do you feel you keep up with the latest in music?
I'm constantly seeking. I like working with young people and I don't know if this is my basic goal, to work, or that I'm rediscovering myself through young people. Most of them are also friends and I just like working with them.

- Do you believe that being a mother is when a woman is fulfilled?
No, I don't believe that. I only believe in working.

- You sound almost cynical.
I'm happy to have become a mother and I'm happy for my son, Nicholas. I've been very lucky with this, I know. My son has nothing to do with the music industry or arts.

- I would like to read to you an abstract from a poetic text by Georges Le Nonce, a modern Greek poet, and I'd like to hear your comments on that...
You know you're running out of time, right?

- Yes, if you'll please let me do my job.
Please read it, I'm listening.

- "I believe that pretty soon I'll have made it. Not only because I am an optimist by nature. But because I have some experience of adapting to new conditions, after all these changes, after all these metamorphoses, even if so many years have passed since the last one, the one that forced me to start writing poems..." You can use the word "songs" instead of "poems".
And now you're trying to find a connection between the poem and me.

- Isn't there one? When I first read it, you came to mind.
And I'm telling you that this poem has nothing to do with my life. First of all, you know I'm still writing songs. My metamorphoses were not that many, it was only one after the trouble I went through and I had to do it in order to survive, I didn't know if I'd ever be successful in music again. When "Broken English" came out in 1979 I said I'll either make a new start or disappear completely. Music had changed, I wasn't the happy flower power girl, the swinging London girl, the Stones girlfriend. I was a young woman, 33 years old, already in troubled health. I started out again in the peak of punk and new wave. The poem you read may have been written for someone else.

- Possibly, but as you know, apart from bad doctors, Greece has occasionally also given birth to great poets, since antiquity.
Now you've said the right word: Greece has had immensely important poets since antiquity, like Sapho and Homer. Immense!

- Or Konstantinos Kavafis in the 20th century.
I'm not familiar with him.

- That'a a shame! I wonder what makes Marianne Faithfull laugh and what makes her angry.
I try not to get angry, it's not good for me. People make me laugh, people entertain me (smiles). I certainly enjoy my friends, and I laugh with people.

- What was the last time you cried Mrs. Faithfull?
I never cry.

- Never?
Never!

- As tears go by, then.
That was just a song.

- And this was just one of the thousands of interviews you've given, nothing more. I'm sorry if I tired you.
Thank you. Honestly. We didn't spend much time on drugs or the 60s and that's something that you made it happen.

- I thank you.
Give my love to Greece!

I don't know if she really meant that. When she said it, she'd already gotten up. I bowed, kissed her hand and left her appartment along with her manager. On the way back, three street musicians at the station were playing a nostalgic ballad. It felt like she was going to turn up somwhere, the way she looked in 1967, and join them in "Scarborough Fair" or "As tears go by".