Robert Smith

I honestly don't class myself as a songwriter. I've got 'musician' written on my passport. That's even funnier.

There's no hope of me becoming completely relaxed on stage. If I did, I'd sit down and doze off.

When we started I wasn't the singer. I was the drunk rhythm guitarist who wrote all these weird songs.

It's really easy to slide into a depression fueled by the pointlessness of existence.

I've never regretted not having children. My mindset in that regard has been constant. I objected to being born, and I refuse to impose life on someone else.

Hendrix was the first person I had come across who seemed completely free, and when you're nine or 10, your life is entirely dominated by adults. So he represented this thing that I wanted to be. Hendrix was the first person who made me think it might be good to be a singer and a guitarist - before that I wanted to be a footballer.

I'm not a morose person; it's just that my best songs reflect on the sadder aspects of life.

Living, it's awful for me.

I think the rock'n'roll myth of living on the edge is a pile of crap.

Every animal would rather die themselves than lose their offspring. But it's just genes, isn't it? All of our existence is spent worrying about the next generation, but we don't actually seem to get anywhere.

People think it's funny that I enjoy dreaming so much. I just use it as a form of entertainment. It's very private. I don't see my dreams as separate. I mean, half the time I'm wandering around dreaming anyway.

I've discovered special makeup by a company called M.A.C. You could wear it on the surface of the sun and it wouldn't move.