I'll Never Write My Memoirs by Grace Jones & Paul Morley

Author:Grace Jones & Paul Morley [Jones, Grace & Morley, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Personal Memoirs, Composers & Musicians, Entertainment & Performing Arts
ISBN: 9781476765075
Google: N5PPoAEACAAJ
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: 2014-01-01T11:00:00+00:00

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A lot of my attitude about money comes from the fact that I know I can come to Jamaica and enjoy the place itself without having any money. If making money becomes too stressful—the need for luxury or maintaining a lifestyle or just to pay the rent —I can go, “See you. I’m going to Jamaica. Leave me alone. I’m going to plant a tree and watch it grow. Build a house and pass the time. Sell the shells and ice-cold jelly from a shack. Look out to sea. Look out over the mountains. Disappear into the woods.” I can find happiness in Jamaica even though my childhood was so scary and brutal. There was still enough of the power of the island that kept me happy and positive.

When I go back, I often spend some time with Chris Blackwell. He’s been a constant in a life filled with so many changes, in my music, my management, my personal life, and he remains a fixed point. Since I first met him, he has always been involved in my music and my life whether I was signed to Island Records or not. Chris is my first best male friend. We totally bonded. He understood me and always wanted the best for me. He pushed me in every way, tested me musically and creatively, making me stretch and demanding the best. He always wanted me to learn and develop. He taught me also how to do things for myself in this crazy business. He never wanted to keep me ignorant. A lot of people in the music business like to keep you ignorant, but he likes me to learn for myself.

There’s no agenda with Chris; he’s simply interested in the best for me. He tells me how he feels, I tell him how I feel. He thinks he’s right, I think I’m right—in a way, we’re both right. Ultimately, we’re after the same thing. We sometimes go about it in different ways. We both go against the grain, but sometimes we battle each other.

When I was at his house many miles inland, surrounded by many shades of wild green, sensing the constant pulse of the island, hearing the wind in the coconut trees, talking about this book, he said to me, “Make sure there is Jamaica in there. Don’t forget the Jamaican you.”

He always says that my image, throughout all the changes and countries and manipulation, is totally Jamaican. “From outer space, but very Jamaican, strong and grounded, like your mom and dad. I think people thought you were American because of the accent, but you are totally Jamaican. What makes you so determined and powerful comes from Jamaica. The island is somehow blessed. There is something about it that is unique.”

My home is here, but I have traveled a lot, and I love traveling, but there is something about Jamaica, the energy, the soil itself, and mostly the people. They have a sense of identity, a strong sense of humor.

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