Which were? Hubert Selby. William Burroughs. Allen Ginsberg. Delmore Schwartz. To be able to achieve what they did, in such little space, using such simple words. I thought if you could do what those writers did and put it to drums and guitar, you’d have the greatest thing on earth. You’d have the whole pie. It’s a simple thought. There’s nothing complicated about me. I’m as straight as you can get.

Your popularity sort of waxed and waned in the ’70s. Then, in the ’80s, you did some film acting, you were on the Amnesty International tour with U2 and Sting, you did an ad for Honda that used “Walk on the Wild Side.” Were you making a concerted effort to enter the mainstream, like David Bowie?

Those were projects that came up at the time. Warhol used to do all kinds of ads to fund projects. I thought I could do the same thing, but people got really upset, so I didn’t do it anymore. Now people have their music in ads all the time and no one seems to care. It’s very strange. This has nothing to do with music, so I don’t know why you’re asking, but fine.

Reed, dog’s genitals, 2006

What other younger bands do
you like?

I’m not gonna list bands for you. I mean, I could look at my iPod. Battles. Holy Fuck. Melt-Banana.

Tell me about having folks like
Moby and My Morning Jacket
play at your tribute concert at
South by Southwest.
That was amazing. Dr. Dog played,
too. And they were all songs I
wrote. It was astonishing to see. I
couldn’t believe all those songs.

Tai chi training inspired your
most recent album of new
material [2007’s Hudson River
Wind Meditations]. Has studying
martial arts affected your
approach to music?
Everything affects the way I make
music. I don’t understand what you
want to know. I could say “yes.”
Would that be better?

It’s funny, you can tell which
bands are into White Light/White
Heat and which ones are into
The Velvet Underground. What’s
interesting to you about the
influence you’ve had?
My work goes from “Pale Blue Eyes”
to “White Light/White Heat” and all
stops in between. Generally speak-
ing, you wouldn’t figure that one
person is going to write both those
songs. But I haven’t a clue about
my influence. I mean, I really don’t.
Someone will say, “Have you heard
that so-and-so sounds like you?”
Why? Because they sing out of key?

From what I understand, tai chi
has a spiritual component as
well as a physical one. Has that
spiritual component found its
way into your music?
It’s a really profound study. I
couldn’t possibly sum it up for you.
The problem is that I don’t think
you know what you’re asking about.
When you say tai chi, you’re just
saying a generic thing like yoga.
If you want to ask a question, you
should know what you’re asking
about, don’t you think?

5GRCTC KQP

How did collaborating with the Killers on the 2007 track “Tranquilize” come about? They asked me. It was a good song. I liked the singer. I did it.

It’s hard to find a story about
you that doesn’t mention your
reputation as a difficult
interview. Does that perception
bother you?
You could judge for yourself, can’t
you? You want me to comment
about other critics as though they
matter. You save this question for
last? I don’t know why you brought
it up, seeing as we got along fine.

SONIA MOSKO WITZ/GLOBE PHO TOS