(on 'No Distance Left To Run') It upsets me, that song. It upset me singing it. Doing that vocal upset me greatly. To sing that lyric I really had to accept that that was the end of something in my life. It's amazing when you do have the guts to do that with your work, because it don't half help you.


(speaking in 1994) I recently saw myself on MTV. I'd gone through the last three years thinking I was maybe a bit eccentric but quite suave. And what I saw on that stage was a geek!


(at the infamous 'Gimme Shelter' gig in 1992) We're so f***ing shit you might as well go home now. This could be the worst gig you've ever seen.


(aged 12, his first words to Graham) Your brogues are crap, mate. Look, mine are the proper sort.


(back in the beginning... oh how correct he was!) When our third album comes out our position as the quintessential English band of the Nineties will be assured. That is a simple statement of fact.


(on 'Think Tank' - not quite, Damon!) The next Blur album will make the Radiohead album look like a Travis record.


I used to punch Alex a lot. He used to say really annoying things deliberately. I almost think he liked being punched.


My mum thinks I'm ultra-conservative in the way I dress. Hippy parents just don't understand why you want to wear a shirt and smart shoes. Ha!


Some people like dinosaurs, some people like motorbikes. I like Tibet.


Fans couldn't give a toss about your intellectual manifesto. Most people just want to see you drunk on the pavement.


When we started it didn't matter if we only got through two songs in a set as long as all the energy was used up, it was designed to be played as fast as you could humanly play it ... Now I don't feel the need to move from the spot, I just stand there and sing.


(on losing his virginity) We lay on a very clean bed, did the business, then I walked home and had a nice cup of tea and a fancy bun.


(to the audience at a televised gig) You're all being filmed tonight, so... misbehave, please!