Paul Weller on sobriety: “You cross a line at a certain age and you’re just another old drunk”
nme.comPaul Weller has spoken about his 14 years of sobriety, saying he never wanted to “cross a line at a certain age” and become “just another old drunk”.The Modfather released his 17th solo album, ’66’ on May 24 – the day before his 66th birthday.
He recently talked about how getting older had made him more “experimental” and “open-minded”.And now he has spoken to The Big Issue about overcoming what he believes was his “alcoholism”, following an ultimatum from his wife Hannah Andrews in 2010.“Everything changed when I stopped drinking.
It’s like night and day, it really is,” he said.“First two years were hard. I didn’t have any relapses and I didn’t go to AA, though I would have done if I felt I needed to.”Speaking about the eventual tipping point that jolted him into the lifestyle change, he added: “It was something in my body that said, ‘You’ve got to stop now.’ It was a bigger force than me just consciously saying, ‘I’ve got to stop’, which I’d said many times.”Expanding on how sobriety has changed his outlook, he said: “It brings so much more clarity to your thinking and your actions, how you view the world.
I’m glad I’ve got to this point in my life.“When you’re younger, you’re just a funny pisshead. Then you cross a line at a certain age and you’re just another old drunk.
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