They're very different things, a poem and a song, you wouldn't think they would be, but they are. — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share Image
To approach a poem as if it is a puzzle to be understood is to miss the point. — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share Image
Idleness - a job that you have to go to, but not necessarily do anything - is the poet's friend. — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share Image
When you write poetry you are always addressing the world somehow. — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share Image
I had a million jobs before I managed to make a living out of poetry. — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share Image
Everybody that read one of my poems went off and wrote poetry. They said that about the Velvets, didn't they? They didn't… — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share Image
When you're doing poetry like mine that rhymes, it's very easy to sound like a song that didn't work out! — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share Image
The main thing a poem ought to be is musical. It should be rhythmic. You should hear it as a musical piece… — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share Image
I was pushing for a career in poetry and of course the received wisdom was that you would never make a living… — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share Image
I went to what can only be described as a slum school in Salford - rough and full of trainee punks -… — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share Image
Poets are supposed to be underappreciated, don't you know? There is always a strange reaction to those who become successful in their… — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share Image
Find a poet whose style you like, emulate that style, then deal with things that you know about - don't waste your… — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share Image
At the beginning, there was no chance I'd get published so I thought I'd give it a go live. I had to… — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share Image
Lyrics became important for a while in the late Seventies. Patti Smith was a poet and a rock star, as much one… — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share Image
When the punk rock thing happened, I thought, 'Right, I have one chance here to be seen as part of some wider social phenomenon.' — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share
To make the hips the focal point of a pair of trousers is, to me, a fashion mistake. — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share
The greatest threat to any artist is surrounding themselves with people who love everything they do. — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share
The first time I heard rock'n'roll on a big sound system would have been at a fairground at the seaside. That's a hell of… — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share
As they used to say on Stingray, ‘Anything can happen in the next half hour’. I’ve always tried to live with that thought in… — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share
It was a tedious saying among hippies: if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. I was very much part… — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share
From social pariah to King of the World? It's taken 45 years, so I've been able to adjust to it! — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share
Well, I've obviously been a great source of inspiration to the academic population of Salford! They're citing me as a major contribution to their… — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share
They're very different things, a poem and a song, you wouldn't think they would be, but they are. — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share
I enjoy gigging in industrial towns. It seems to be where I go down the best. Somewhere where they have a history of manufacturing,… — John Cooper Clarke Copy Share
