Pete Doherty

"I fall in love with Britain every day, with bridges, buses, blue skies... but it’s a brutal world, man."

"I knew I was destined for London, so I came to live with my nan in her council flat. It was the summer after my A-levels. Got a job in Willesden cemetery. I was getting a man’s wage, filling in graves. Stood around while they did the last rites. Cut the grass. A lot of the time I’d just sit on the gravestones and read and write. Scribbling away."

"I mean you look in the paper and you see the bodies of mutilated people, and that's controversy. Controversy isn't saying something like 'Oh I've fucked Noel Gallagher' or something. Which I have."

"No, because it's not like they're the only songs we have. They're like children; you shouldn't really have a favourite. Unless one of your kids develops into a pervert."

"Mental-stability, I would say. I’d like to achieve a fluidity, where everything stays consistent – always doing shows, always with the chance to release records, meeting new people."

"I’m vain because I’m imperfect."

"I got bitten last night actually. Just some bloke bit me. I wasn't doing anything and he just bit me. I was in a public telephone box in the centre of London and some fella came up and started biting me. Nah, I didn't bite him back. I hit him with a telephone, right on the hooter and it exploded like a ripe tomato"

"My idea of paradise is that period just before the sun rises and I’m at home painting or writing songs and everything is flowing. I pray that the sun won’t rise so I can paint and write for ever. That’s my ideal time."

"I may be a fool, but I'm not a f**ker."

"I knew she wasn't English Because she spoke it far too well The grammar was goodly, the verbs as they should be And the slang was bang on the bell So as the language barrier clanged and banged I couldn't hear--hear or see England, London, and Bow Crumbled into the sea."

"But if I should fall Would you vow today to pay tomorrow the fucked off big debt I owe to sorrow"

"The Thames and the Mersey, the Tyne and the Wear and the Clyde They spew slums like gravy on the banks of the poisonous tide They washed up a pale thin girl Alone in her ivory tower Scratching her skin with the thorns that grow On the stems of the wild flowers What became of the love we knew? We beat the swine black and blue You and I Me and you What became of the love we knew? What became of the working class? Nike, Reebok, Adidas Scratchcards, pitbulls, ecstasy Hooray for the 21st Century"

"If you've lost your faith in love and music The end won't be long But if it's gone for you I too may lose it And that would be wrong..."

"The red-faced president took afternoon tea With her majesty The Queen And they watched old films flicker Across the old palace movie screen Crying, "What a shame!" As she slipped in the rain Poor dancing girl Well, she won't dance again..."

"There are fewer more distressing sights than that of an Englishman in a baseball cap Yeah, we'll die in the class we were born That's a class of our own, my love"

"Don't let the tide of your sorrow Drown your nights and flood your days"

"Her old man, he don't like blacks or queers Yet he's proud we beat the Nazis How queer..."

"Music when the lights go out Love goes cold in shades of doubt The strange face in my mind is all too clear Music when the lights come on The girl I thought I knew has gone And with her my heart has disappeared"

"When she wakes up in the morning She writes down all her dreams Reads like the Book of Revelations Or the Beano or the unabridged Ulysses Oh, I really wanna know So tell me, Where does all the money go? Where does all the money go? Straight, straight up her nose"

"I was a troubled teen Who put an advert in a magazine To the annoyance of my imaginary lover She doubted my integrity And this is what she said to me: She said, "Oh, you, you're green You don't know what love means Well, let me tell you"

"If you get tired of just hanging around Pick up a guitar, spin a web of sound And then you could be strung out all day With lovers and clowns Now I find myself still hanging around"

"New York City's very pretty in the night-time But oh, don't you miss Soho?"

"She said, "I'll show you a picture, A picture of tomorrow, There's nothing changing, it's all sorrow." "Oh, no, please don't show me I'm a swine, you don't wanna know me!""

"If you're looking for a cheap sort Glint with perspiration There's a five mile queue Outside the disused powerstation"

"I defy you all To know twice as much as nothing at all It's still nothing at all."

"I can't believe you've listed everything I stole since we met But I stole no kisses Just some books And the odd cigarette"

"In the morning theres a buzz of flies Between the pillows and the skies that beg into your eyes Through the looking glass in between your thighs It's really no small surprise How it goes straight down the rabbit hole There it goes"

"And if lust and depair Are two bullets in the same gun Well we've been playing Russian Roulette for far too long"

"Well, I'll tell you a story but you won't listen It's about a nightmare steeped in tradition It's the story of a coked-up pansy Who spends his nights in flights of fancy Met two fellas over gin and mixers They talked for a while, he soon got the picture One was a souped up Soho mincer And the other was a pikey with a knowledge of scripture"

"She was getting pally with a scally in the alley Giving head for gear She called a spade a spade Got slit from ear to ear I showed no decorum Spilled my heart out on the forum Like a snapshot of the most tragic day Carl is kept sedated,for the frontman elevated While McGee does all he can to ruin my band and keep me out the way In this industry of fools, musclemen and ghouls If you're not a puppet or a muppet then you might as well call it a day The truth gets so distorted The wall scrapings get snorted I'm welcome back if I give up crack But you gave me my first pipe anyway"

"You should get some sun on your face We've been sitting like a lord in the bath for days It's getting like I don't even know you"

"It's one and the same, one and the same What's the use between death and glory? Hard to choose between death and glory Happy endings they never bored me Happy endings, they still don't bore me They have a way, a way to make you pay And to make you toe the line Now I'm severing the ties because I'm so clever but clever ain't wise"

"Make no mistake She sheds her skin like a snake On the dirty road to fame."

"Now I can deal with all the blood on my shoes, The holes in my sole, My spirit is tainted and, Oh, all my tears are painted"

"What did I dream? Oh, what did I dream? No one can keep me from my... No one could keep me from my... No fucker gonna keep me from my... Oh, what did I dream?"

"Doff your cap and raise your glasses, Make a toast to the boring classes I'm burning your secrets to keep me warm."

"And he's crossing the road, He's picking up his Daily...Star"

"Once upon a time... When the cold wind that blows, when the cold wind that blows in my heart, it was a summer breeze and she would meet me in Chinatown, for opium and tea and she always brought me flowers but I spared you those old ballads All those songs I couldn’t play But every giro day she’d dress me like a lady boy And take me high out of the way Don’t let the horse chase the new deal away, no If we make love in the morning I see your eyes look like two marbles in your head"

"Oh promises, promises I know you've heard them all before Love is, love is, love is, love is, love is... Oh well, it's just around the corner"

"Why should I wait until tomorrow? I've already been I've already seen All the sorrow that's in store"

"There's a slow train rumbling east of a place called Eden Feeling wind-blown and proud as the trees upon the plain And a stranger's voice talked to me of liberty and freedom Yeah, it seems like he done gone wrong again And he wears that hat like shame Well he tasted the fruit of another And when his Margie, when she discovered Said she's gonna love him ten times more Ain't nobody's business if she do"

"There's a man who came to stay The boy he replaced, disappeared without a trace. Stole all my songs and my style away No-one would say what they wanted to say So he was king for a day. If you sail into the sun Beware the eyes of green And if the whole world tells you 'you are the one' I defy you not to believe them, my son..."

"He's a sweet kid, I've met him a few times. He'll go down in history as a Morrissey and Marr or Lennon and McCartney type character. Him and Carl were great for each other. Apart they'll probably be shocking. There's a lot of hypocrisy in the British press about drugs. The people who write the stories are usually off their heads on cocaine anyway."

"What are you thinking when you see Pete Doherty self-destruct? - He's such an intelligent man. I completely understand, I just understand."

"I think two years ago, if you thought Pete Doherty, he was kind of untouchable. Now when you think of Pete Doherty you think of that guy who's always in the background of that picture with Kate Moss. And if he wants to go out like that, then each to their own, and I'm sure he's having a great time but, y'know, are you gonna be remembered as Kate Moss's boyfriend or a f**king artist? In six months, if he's not put a record out, it's gonna smack of the emperor's new clothes, all of it. My opinion of him hasn't changed. His heart's in the right place but the people he's around are not that good for him,"

"I think I felt a bit trapped before I met Pete. Have you seen The Lavender Hill Mob? Alec Guinness plays this wonderful, colourful person who locks it all up and goes through the motions. I always felt a bit like that. But then I met the Pigman and he said, 'You can actually knock that on the head and get out.' So we threw ourselves into eternity. And it worked."

"Pete is incredibly frustrating, yet you can't help but like him. The trouble is, he knows it."

"I immediately fell for him; not only as a musician and poet - he has a rare grace, as well."

"Peter is a gifted poet, writer and thinker. Please be considerate with him; I feel he's very vulnerable. He has a sensitive soul and he has many good points. He has helped so many people, in spite of, perhaps, your first impression of him he is actually trying to address his problems."

"I just wanted to give him a big hug. He'd come out from rehab and he was extremely charismatic. He's a lovely genuine guy. I hope he can fight his demons and come back to music."