#i've also just. become nicer. when i was younger i was kind of brutal and blunt and 'every man for himself'

[enashinonome]

i post like an ISFJ and it kind of freaks me out. but the thing is when posting online you can edit before your post, and therefore soften or clarify or organize your thought properly before it is out in the world. which isn't the case in real life, unfortunately. i just say whatever. if i could do so in real life i would tag all of my quips and terrible ramblings with ♡ and ୨୧ and other such symbols just to be cute... i always feel like i'm lying to people when i post about the things i love and talk cutely on my blog but i'm not. i really do love my friends and frequently do self reflection and try to celebrate the little joys in my life but that's kind of reserved for my main blog and my journal... so this sweet side of me and the coarse 'other' are caught in two different realms and i know they can coexist because they do so within me but it's sooooo hard to like. integrate them for others to truly experience my whole self. the contrast is so jarring and i feel like most people wouldn't believe me when i say i'm an ENTP but i really am and have been for a long time...

[waugh-bao]

Ron I’d particular comment reminded me of a concert I was watching where Charlie threw his empty juice bottle off stage. I thought that was unusual for him. A few moments later he is talking to someone and pointing, I’m sure asking them to pick up the bottle. I imagine he was like ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me’ and had to make sure the bottle was placed in the trash. Unrelated but have you seen his Q magazine 2008 interview? A good one.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was a grip strength issue. His hands were often in painfully bad shape after a show.

So my guess would be that he misjudged how good a hold he had on the bottle and let go when he only meant to swing his arms forward a little.

I hadn't until you mentioned it, but thank you for pointing me that way, because it's really, really good. Which is a relative rarity with Charlie interviews.

First off, perfect title and subheading.

But I thought the bits about "keeping Mick and Keef in line", and just Mick and Keith in general, were incredibly striking. And quite touching, to be honest.

As always, Keith has a good quote for the occasion.

"Charlie is incredibly honest, brutally honest. Lying bores him. He just sees right through you to start with. And he's not even that interested in knowing, he just does. That's Charlie Watts. He just knows you immediately. If he likes you, he'll tell you things, give you things, and you'll leave feeling like you've been talking to Jesus Christ."

But he's right. The two biggest things you notice in the profile are that he sugarcoats nothing (if there's anyone he's brutal on, it's himself), and that he clearly not only loves Mick and Keith deeply, but knows them totally.

Not least because he'd been dealing with them at their worst for longer than most marriages.

Journalist: You're often perceived as the mediator.

Charlie: No, it's more that I'm just stuck in the middle. I get along with Mick and Keith, so if ever they don't get on for that minute...

He never tries to hide Mick's flaws, but it's obvious that his faults and foibles aren't what really matters to Charlie.

Journalist: What were your impressions of Mick when you first met him? He's from a more middle-class background.

Charlie: I don't know, really. I never felt that. Looking at him now, in that movie [Shine A Light], with all the old footage, you think, "Fucking hell", but he's still the same to me, in many ways. Really, though, I think Mick has become a nicer bloke as we've got older. He's an even nicer fella now than when he was younger. Wisdom has brought some mellowing, maybe, while Keith's exactly the same. I've always got on with Mick, but I find him much easier to talk to now than when we were younger.

The section about Keith...gosh, where to start.

It is very amusing to see him echoing everyone else in saying that Keith's not nearly so scary as he wants to come off as.

Journalist: Some people say Keith has the darker temper of the two [Glimmer Twins]. Is that right?

Charlie: I think that he shows his temper quicker, that's all. Keith will say he'll hit you, but most likely won't, while Mick wouldn't even say it.

But he's also quick to do what I think he may do better than anyone else in the band, which is give genuine insight on Keith and cut through the image. He knows there's something deeper than a make pretend pirate or a battered old junkie there, and he wants other people to see it too.

Journalist: I saw Keith at the Berlin Film Festival in February, where he was being his stereotypical self, all one-liners and slurred speech. Is he really like that?

Charlie: Yes, although Keith plays up to his reputation a bit. He exaggerates a few things. But basically how you saw him is how he is; he's very funny, normal, kind. Mick and Keith are great at the one-liners. Keith's very lucid and very bright. Keith reads tons, a lot of history. He is erudite and intelligent. But you're right, in those circumstances he does play up the side people want to see. But, of course, he is like that as well. He's incredibly self-sufficient. He's pretty good at cooking, too!

And the last part, well, speaks for itself.

Journalist: You bonded with Keith very early on.

Charlie: I think I recognized a lot of Keith. When the Stones get together, it's like school days again. It's run like being in the army, and it feels like being at school. Honestly, I almost know what Keith thinks. It's like we've been in the same class for so long, and we've been through so much together.