The bird is back

Interview, Oct, 1998 by Elizabeth Weitzman

EW: Then you never think about it?

SC: One thing I do think about is that rock 'n' roll has always been a very youthful environment - it's about being rebellious, about us against them - and as I get older I edge into the "them" generation. Will the fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds who are out buying records be interested in one by somebody who's old enough to be their room? But I do believe your audience can grow with you. I look at Madonna, and she's older than I am, with young fans who are loyal to her. So there are no set rules, and anyway you never feel your age. You always feel like you're eighteen.

EW: You seem remarkably calm considering the pressures that must be on you.

SC: Well, you have to live your life without trying to control every aspect. I can fall into that pattern, but maybe my attitude has become more escapist and I don't worry about the things I used to because so much of it is out of my hands. I'm going to get gray hair and my butt's gonna sag like everybody else's. The stuff I care about now is deeper than the whole image thing. I don't want to get to the end of my life and look back and realize I focused solely on my career to the detriment of everything else.

EW: So what does scare you?

SC: I don't want to spend the rest of my life alone. That's the only true fear I have, because what else is there but love? Not to sound completely elementary but it's what people have written songs about for hundreds of years, and it's really the only thing that matters. It's what motivates you, edifies you, encourages you. It's what brings you the most joy and the most wisdom. So that is what I long for - the consummate love.

EW: Would you call yourself an optimist?

SC: I've never in my life been hopeless. And I don't consider myself to be a cynic. I still can be amazed and shocked and in awe of things and I think that's a good way to be. When it comes to the core of my being I'm a really hopeful person. I always assume the best is going to happen.

EW: Where do you feel most at peace?

SC: The great nights onstage feel more like home than anywhere else. But then there are other nights where you just can't get a pace going. You can't imagine why people are there to see you and you feel like a big fake and you're just letting people down or you're only going through the motions, which is worse still. I think you can only be truly comfortable in front of others when you feel comfortable with yourself.

EW: Is that where you feel you are now?

SC: I don't know. I'm at a different place in my life now, certainly. I think you have days when you're really at peace and you have days when you're ready to fly off the handle. At least that's the way my life is. It maintains a certain amount of unpredictability. It's good. It keeps things stirred up.