098-109 CROSSING WORDS / A CONVERSATION BETWEEN JARVIS COCKER & RAINA LAMPKINS-FIELDER

[...RAINA LAMPKINS-FIELDER / THERE’S THIS STORY THAT YOU TOLD ME AWHILE BACK— EITHER ON YOUR BIRTHDAY OR THE DAY BEFORE YOUR BIRTHDAY— THAT I THINK ABOUT OFTEN. IT REALLY AFFECTED ME. YOU WERE IN YOUR EARLY 20’S & IT WAS YOUR BIRTHDAY & YOU WERE IN SHEFFIELD WITH YOUR MUM & YOU WENT TO GET SOME CHICKEN OR SOMETHING…

JARVIS COCKER / OH, YEAH! WELL I USED TO GET VERY DEPRESSED ON MY BIRTHDAY.

RL-F / WHICH IS SOMETHING I NEVER DO. YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE MY BIRTHDAY!

JC / I USED TO GET VERY MORBID. I WAS LIVING AT ME MUM’S HOUSE AT THE TIME. A KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN OUTLET HAD OPENED DOWN THE ROAD. THAT WAS STILL QUITE EXOTIC IN THOSE DAYS. THERE WEREN’T THAT MANY OF THEM AROUND. & THEY DID BARBECUED BEANS WHICH SEEMED AMAZING. SO I WALKED DOWN THERE & GOT SOME BARBECUED BEANS & SOME CHIPS— I HAD THE SENSE EVEN AT THAT AGE NOT TO GO FOR THE CHICKEN. ACROSS THE ROAD FROM THE KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN WAS A GRAVEYARD, THE CITY ROAD CEMETERY, THE BIGGEST CEMETERY IN THE TOWN. IT BECAME MY QUEST TO WANDER AROUND THIS GRAVEYARD. & I HAD A SMALL BOTTLE OF WHISKEY AS WELL. SO I WAS CHUGGING BACK THE WHISKEY, EATING THE CHIPS & BEANS— TERRIBLE ISN’T IT— & FOR SOME REASON IT BECAME IMPORTANT FOR ME TO TRY TO FIND THE GRAVE OF SOMEONE WHO HAD DIED ON THE SAME DAY THAT I WAS BORN— THE 19TH OF SEPTEMBER 1963— SO I PARADED THE WALKWAYS. MAYBE THE WHISKEY HAD KICKED IN TOO MUCH BUT ALL I COULD FIND WAS SOMEONE WHO HAD DIED ON THE 19TH OF SEPTEMBER 1962, I COULDN’T FIND 1963. I DON’T KNOW WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR THERE. I SUPPOSE ON YOUR BIRTHDAY YOU CONSIDER MORTALITY BECAUSE YOU’RE AWARE OF THE BEGINNING SO YOU CAN’T HELP BUT THINK ABOUT THE END. IT WASN’T LIKE JIM MORRISON & THE DEAD INDIANS ON DAWN’S HIGHWAY BLEEDING, WHERE THEIR SOULS LEAPT INTO HIS YOUNG BODY & HE CHANNELLED THEM. I DIDN’T THINK THAT, THAT I WAS GOING TO CHANNEL A STEEL WORKER WHO DIED ON MY BIRTHDAY. BUT I WAS INTERESTED TO FIND THAT PERSON. WHY DO YOU THINK YOU WERE PARTICULARLY STRUCK BY THAT?

RL-F / I WAS STRUCK BY THAT STORY BECAUSE IT’S VERY SAD & VERY SWEET AT THE SAME TIME. & MATURE IN A WAY, A MATURE UNDERSTANDING OF DEATH & RENEWAL. IT ACTUALLY SEEMED LESS ABOUT MORTALITY & MORE ABOUT IMMORTALITY & STRANGELY CELEBRATORY.

JC / I DIDN’T FIND IT A DEPRESSING THING TO DO.

RL-F / I THOUGHT IT WAS A VERY LOVELY THING TO DO! YOU WERE ACKNOWLEDGING THAT AS SOMEONE LEFT THIS EARTH YOU CAME INTO THIS WORLD ON THAT DAY. IT’S A NICE RESHUFFLE. I THINK THAT’S WHY I RESPONDED TO IT. WE’VE SHARED A LOT OF STORIES TOGETHER BUT THAT ONE WOULD BE NICE TO DO ON A BIRTHDAY...]


/ EXCERPT FROM A CONVERSATION BETWEEN RAINA LAMPKINS-FIELDER & JARVIS COCKER. ENTIRE ARTICLE ONLY IN THE PRINTED EDITION OF SOME/THINGS MAGAZINE CHAPTER003 / FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE
















JARVIS COCKER PHOTOGRAPHED BY MONIKA BIELSKYTE AT HIS HOMES IN PARIS & LONDON