It's Going To Be A Bright New Day: Would You Rather, with Bonnie Prince Billy - Max Porter (RT#35)

35 Pages·2020·7.824 MB·English

by  Max Porter

It’s Going To Be A Bright
New Day: Would You Rather,
With Bonnie Prince Billy
Max Porter
Contents
Title Page
Introduction
It’s Going To Be A Bright New Day: Would You Rather, With Bonnie Prince Billy
Copyright
Introduction: One of my favourite books is Would You Rather, by John Burningham.
Sometimes when I am reading this book with my youngest son, he will say, “Argh, do I
have to choose?” And I say, “Yes, that is the point. You have to choose.” And he will look
genuinely pained and say, “Oh fine, I’ll eat the spiders.” And this brings me great joy.
I decided not to pursue a journalistic line of questioning with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy.
Artists of all kinds have to answer questions about their work and life a lot and it gets
tiring. I hoped this would be less tiring.
One of the problems with the format is that it does not facilitate dialogue beyond the
call and reply. I cannot apologise, or rephrase the question once it has been asked. It’s
more like fencing than dancing. This sometimes felt quite exhilarating, other times quite
frustrating. But I think the balance between exhilaration and frustration here was about
true to life. And I learned a lot about a person, this musical genius, whose work has given
me such joy over the years.
I think human beings should play more, as a way to understand and hear one another.
So this short pamphlet is a gentle game between us, which we hope you enjoy. Max
Porter.