Wilko Johnson: Fantastic Life

"When I went in for the diagnosis and the doctor told me 'You've got cancer' it was quite plain it was an inoperable thing, there was nothing they could do.
"We walked out of there and I felt an elation of spirit. You're walking along and suddenly you're vividly alive. You're looking at the trees and the sky and everything and it's just 'whoah'.
"I am actually a miserable person. I've spent most of my life moping in depressions and things, but this has all lifted...

"I am a feather for each wind that blows and the wind's blowing me this way now. But yet I still retain this marvellous feeling of freedom.

"The things that used to bring me down, or worry me, or annoy me, they don't matter anymore - and that's when you sit thinking 'Wow, why didn't I work this out before? Why didn't I work out before that it's just the moment you're in that matters?'

"Worrying about the future or regretting the past is just a foolish waste of time. Of course we can't all be threatened with imminent death, but it probably takes that to knock a bit of sense into our heads.
"Right now, it's just fantastic - it makes you feel alive. Just walking down the street you really feel alive.
"Every little thing you see, every cold breeze against your face, every brick in the road, you think, 'I'm alive, I'm alive' - I hope I can hang onto that.
"I've had a fantastic life. When I think about the things that have happened to me and the things I've done, I think anybody who asks for more would just be being greedy. I don't wanna be greedy."

Wilko Johnson talking to Radio 4's Front Row.

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• Wilko Johnson.org