My mum died when I was 14. That is a kind of strange age to lose a mother. John lost his mum when he was 17.

Sadness isn't sadness. It's happiness in a black jacket. Tears are not tears. They're balls of laughter dipped in salt. Death is not death. It's life that's jumped off a tall cliff.

Live a little be a gypsy, get around. Get your feet up off the ground, live a little, get around.

Alas, it looks like those unsubstantiated rumours about me are about to come true after all this time.

No matter how accomplished or how many awards you get, you're always still thinking there's somebody out there who's better than you.

We were a savage little lot, Liverpool kids, not pacifist or vegetarian or anything. But I feel I've gone beyond that, and that it was immature to be so prejudiced and believe in all the stereotypes.

That's not really important what religion people are attached to, because by the same argument I have a lot of Christian friends and Moslem friends. It's just happened that I do have a lot of relatives and friends who are Jewish.