Keithism: The Twenty-Six Ten Commandments of Keith Richards. (Or: How Keith Richards Can Save Your Life) Excerpted from Jessica Pallington West's What Would Keith Richards Do? Daily Affirmations from a Rock 'n' Roll Survivor.
1. Know yourself.
"To me, the main thing about living on this planet is to know who the hell you are and to be real about it. That's the reason I'm still alive... I've lived my life my own way, and I'm here because I've taken the trouble to find out who I am."
2. We are all the same under the skin.
"The skull -- it has nothing to do with bravado and surface bullshit... Beauty is skin-deep. This is what we are all like under the flesh, brother. Take off the hair, pull off the skin, you're looking at I and I."
3. There are no secrets.
"I've got nothing to hide. Nothing's a state secret with me."
4. Accept the Rolling Stones as your metaphorical overload.
"There's the sun, there's the moon, there's the air we breathe, and there's the Rolling Stones."
5. The construct of the band is a model for interaction.
"Chemistry was one of those subjects in school that I was never good at... but I think it's the unknown bit -- the mysterious spark -- that does it. It's the same with the Stones. I mean, line 'em up against a wall, and they're the most unlikely good rock 'n' roll band that you could find! ... There's something to be said for a certain chemistry between people that makes for a certain kind of music."
6. Accept (or at least tolerate) your inner and outer Mick.
"Mick's rock. I'm roll."
7. Nurture your inner Charlie.
"If only Mozart had had a really good drummer..."
8. Accept your addictions, view them with humor, and leave off the guilt.
"I don't like to regret heroin because I learned a lot from it. It is something I went through and dealt with. I'd regret it if I hadn't dealt with it."
9. Make use of the music around you, your antenna, and your inner guitar.
"I don't think I write the songs; I'm an antenna. Actually, you receive the songs... You just sit around a piano or pick up a guitar, and for me, after about ten or fifteen minutes, something that I haven't heard before starts to come out, and then I just sort of put it into shape and then I transmit it, you know."
10. Put the ancient art of weaving to work.
"We had two guitars weaving around each other. We'd play these things so much that we knew both guitar parts. So when we got to the crucial point where we got it really flash, we'd suddenly switch. The lead picks up the rhythm, and the rhythm picks up the lead. It's what Ronnie and I call the ancient art of weaving. We don't even have to look at each other, almost. You can feel it."
11. Own the classics.
"Everybody starts by imitating their heroes."
12. Get out of your head and feel it.
"This is one of Ronnie's: 'Sometimes I have the feeling that thousands of people are watching me. Am I just paranoid?'If you thought about it too much it would paralyze you."
13. Even if you have to do it in secret, be kind.
14. Appreciate a nomadic life -- Even if it's within the confines of a small town.
"I like to see the ways the world's going 'round."
15. Embrace and live with both the past (the greater history) and the future (possibility).
16. The creative inhale -- Breathe in what you love.
"I snorted my father. He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little blow. My dad wouldn't have cared. It went down pretty well, and I'm still alive."
17. Be tough, be brave, and don't give in to the dictates of authority.
"Ever since I left school, nobody has ever heard a 'Yes sir' from me. Apart from a few exceptions: in court and in jail."
18. Value family and friends, despite the nuttiness they can provide.
"The only way you can be like me is to have a good family."
19. Speak up. Honesty is medicinal.
20. Talismans have power.
21. Accept Max Miller into your life. (Or: It's all a fucking joke. Laugh.)
"It's great to be here. It's great to be anywhere." - Max Miller
22. Experience is "the price of an education."
"Whatever happened -- even if it was a drag -- I learned lesson from it. And I got something from it... I never worried about who took who from where. I figure it's the price of an education."
23. Live and let live.
24. Shit happens.
25. When you despair, remember: There's always the future.
26. Pass it on.
