wordsmiths but many of us shy away from the art and the best harness the power of words, poetry. but not my guest today. john cooper clarke once called the punk poet, all his life is used words, rhythm and rhyme to bind human and truth in the chaos of everyday life. thanks to the internet one of his crimes has become a worldwide viral sensation. where does his word magic come from. poems. john cooper clarke, welcome to hardtalk. great to have you here. ijust read your memoir in one of the first sentences as this one, all my life all i ever wanted to be was a professional poet. i ve heard of kids who wanted to be train drivers, professional footballers but redefine a kid who always knew he wanted to be a poet. how come? a poet. how come? when i say alwa s, a poet. how come? when i say always. i a poet. how come? when i say always. i guess a poet. how come? when i say always, i guess from a poet. how come? when i say always, i guess from the - a poet. how come? when i
quyi where who was like a modern guy, and urban poet in mid 19th century paris and yet he was kind of. baudelaire. there was a kind of melancholy the things that had been lost and i think you have to have that in your back pocket as a poet. unusually usually on this poet we usually on this programme we end with a question and i will ask if we can end with you reading from i think a poem that sums up the way that you are today, you ve called the luckiest guy alive. that s right, but for how long? the titular poem to my latest anthology. nothing matters and what if it did there s more than one way to make a quid. you ll be fighting through silk if you stick with me, kid. i m the luckiest guy alive. life is one big happy sky, and for the
poet, right, so that means i want money for it. if i want money for it, if i want to sell tickets, it has to be poetry that people are going to like or enjoy in some sort of way. i can t know exactly how but you know, there s gotta be something about you that you find anywhere else. so, to take all that kind of thing into account, it sjust like a account, it s just like a millstone account, it sjust like a millstone around your neck. but what i always say is don t look for me. i don t write poetry for me. i don t write poetry for any kind of therapy. or to make anybody a bit of pollutant or to teach anybody. as long as i don t think exercise. i drag this out form into a place where it may not have, many places where it hasn t existed before. and that s the strength of what i do, you know what i mean? i actually, of what i do, you know what i mean? iactually, you know, popularity is very important about it to me so, but what you have to understand is because i don t use it as a kind of
perhaps, i guess, i m not by nature a radical kind of guy, i guess. ii nature a radical kind of guy, i cuess. , ., nature a radical kind of guy, i iuess, i, nature a radical kind of guy, i cuess. i. ., nature a radical kind of guy, i iuess, i, ., ~ , nature a radical kind of guy, i cuess. i. ., ~ , ., guess. if you look at kids and everything guess. if you look at kids and everything they guess. if you look at kids and everything they are guess. if you look at kids and everything they are exposed | guess. if you look at kids and i everything they are exposed to online and internet that goes alongside the school education. totally ignorant of that world and that social medium. for myself? i know i m on it and i have had over a billion hertz. i m not complaining about it, it sjust too i m not complaining about it, it s just too late for me now with that world. [30 it sjust too late for me now with that world. it sjust too late for me now with that world. do you think it would be