WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.450 align:middle line:90% 00:00:04.450 --> 00:00:09.520 align:middle line:84% Here's a poem I wrote a few years ago about somebody 00:00:09.520 --> 00:00:11.150 align:middle line:90% whose name I forgot. 00:00:11.150 --> 00:00:14.620 align:middle line:84% Turns out her name was Nancy Spungen. Anybody 00:00:14.620 --> 00:00:15.790 align:middle line:90% know who I'm speaking about? 00:00:15.790 --> 00:00:19.090 align:middle line:90% 00:00:19.090 --> 00:00:23.020 align:middle line:84% Nancy Spungen was the girlfriend of Sid Vicious. 00:00:23.020 --> 00:00:25.870 align:middle line:84% Sid Vicious, in case you don't know who I mean, 00:00:25.870 --> 00:00:28.990 align:middle line:90% was one of the Sex Pistols. 00:00:28.990 --> 00:00:33.160 align:middle line:84% Now, you may be too young to remember the Sex Pistols, 00:00:33.160 --> 00:00:36.610 align:middle line:84% but I notice 11-year-olds wearing T-shirts 00:00:36.610 --> 00:00:39.190 align:middle line:84% saying Sex Pistols on, so it must mean something to them. 00:00:39.190 --> 00:00:41.170 align:middle line:84% This was the first of the punk groups. 00:00:41.170 --> 00:00:45.430 align:middle line:84% And they had a very short, very sensational career. 00:00:45.430 --> 00:00:47.560 align:middle line:84% The lead singer was called Johnny Rotten. 00:00:47.560 --> 00:00:52.570 align:middle line:84% But equally famous was this other character, Sid Vicious. 00:00:52.570 --> 00:00:56.000 align:middle line:84% And they had one American tour which wasn't very long. 00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:00.190 align:middle line:84% They ended up in San Francisco at a performance 00:01:00.190 --> 00:01:00.940 align:middle line:90% I didn't go to. 00:01:00.940 --> 00:01:02.626 align:middle line:90% I wish I had really. 00:01:02.626 --> 00:01:04.209 align:middle line:84% I don't think the music was very good. 00:01:04.209 --> 00:01:05.620 align:middle line:90% But there was a lot to see. 00:01:05.620 --> 00:01:08.740 align:middle line:84% And the audience was all spitting at Sid Vicious, 00:01:08.740 --> 00:01:10.542 align:middle line:84% and he was spitting back at them. 00:01:10.542 --> 00:01:11.720 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:01:11.720 --> 00:01:13.570 align:middle line:90% After that, the band broke up. 00:01:13.570 --> 00:01:15.970 align:middle line:84% And most of them went back to England. 00:01:15.970 --> 00:01:23.200 align:middle line:84% But Sid Vicious stayed on in New York, checked into the Chelsea 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:27.850 align:middle line:84% Hotel, the famous hotel for performers, where I once 00:01:27.850 --> 00:01:32.950 align:middle line:84% heard every bellboy is a drug dealer, probably libelous, 00:01:32.950 --> 00:01:34.180 align:middle line:90% but that's what I heard. 00:01:34.180 --> 00:01:39.910 align:middle line:84% Anyway, he had a very severe heroin habit. 00:01:39.910 --> 00:01:46.030 align:middle line:84% And one day, he came to in his hotel room 00:01:46.030 --> 00:01:49.870 align:middle line:84% and found out that his girlfriend 00:01:49.870 --> 00:01:53.530 align:middle line:84% had been stabbed through the stomach, probably by himself. 00:01:53.530 --> 00:01:56.080 align:middle line:84% But I don't think it was ever really cleared up. 00:01:56.080 --> 00:01:57.560 align:middle line:84% His mother came over from England. 00:01:57.560 --> 00:01:59.020 align:middle line:90% He was still very young. 00:01:59.020 --> 00:02:02.410 align:middle line:84% And since he was on probation as a result of this. 00:02:02.410 --> 00:02:04.780 align:middle line:90% This was before the trial. 00:02:04.780 --> 00:02:06.520 align:middle line:84% And she didn't want him to go out 00:02:06.520 --> 00:02:09.070 align:middle line:84% on the street trying to get his drug. 00:02:09.070 --> 00:02:10.690 align:middle line:90% So she got something for him. 00:02:10.690 --> 00:02:13.090 align:middle line:84% And fortunately, it was full-strength instead of being 00:02:13.090 --> 00:02:14.770 align:middle line:90% stepped-on as it usually is. 00:02:14.770 --> 00:02:17.830 align:middle line:84% So he took it just once and died. 00:02:17.830 --> 00:02:19.150 align:middle line:90% So much for mother's love. 00:02:19.150 --> 00:02:21.235 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:02:21.235 --> 00:02:23.110 align:middle line:84% I was thinking about this on the bus one day. 00:02:23.110 --> 00:02:26.080 align:middle line:84% I think a lot of things on the bus. 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:33.148 align:middle line:84% If you've-- well, I get a lot of ideas on the bus. 00:02:33.148 --> 00:02:34.900 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:02:34.900 --> 00:02:36.293 align:middle line:90% 00:02:36.293 --> 00:02:37.960 align:middle line:84% I realized I couldn't remember her name. 00:02:37.960 --> 00:02:40.350 align:middle line:84% I remembered all about this, but poor woman. 00:02:40.350 --> 00:02:43.820 align:middle line:90% She was nameless to me. 00:02:43.820 --> 00:02:47.083 align:middle line:90% And here's the poem. 00:02:47.083 --> 00:02:48.125 align:middle line:90% It's called "The Victim." 00:02:48.125 --> 00:02:50.910 align:middle line:90% 00:02:50.910 --> 00:02:53.880 align:middle line:84% "Oh, dead punk lady with the knack of looking fierce 00:02:53.880 --> 00:02:59.100 align:middle line:84% in pins and black, the suburbs wouldn't want you back. 00:02:59.100 --> 00:03:02.790 align:middle line:84% You wished upon a shooting star, and trusted in your wish 00:03:02.790 --> 00:03:07.800 align:middle line:84% as far as he was famous and bizarre. 00:03:07.800 --> 00:03:11.580 align:middle line:84% The band broke up, its gesture made. 00:03:11.580 --> 00:03:15.510 align:middle line:84% And though the music stopped, you stayed. 00:03:15.510 --> 00:03:19.830 align:middle line:84% Now, it was with sharp things he played, needles and you, 00:03:19.830 --> 00:03:22.020 align:middle line:84% not with the band, until something 00:03:22.020 --> 00:03:28.380 align:middle line:84% greater than you planned opened erect within his hand. 00:03:28.380 --> 00:03:29.940 align:middle line:90% He smiled. 00:03:29.940 --> 00:03:33.780 align:middle line:84% He pushed it through your shirt, deep in your belly 00:03:33.780 --> 00:03:35.580 align:middle line:90% where it hurt. 00:03:35.580 --> 00:03:40.200 align:middle line:84% You turned and ate the carpet's dirt. 00:03:40.200 --> 00:03:44.340 align:middle line:84% And then, not understanding why, he watched out 00:03:44.340 --> 00:03:50.140 align:middle line:84% with a heavy eye the several hours you took to die. 00:03:50.140 --> 00:03:53.980 align:middle line:84% The news was full of his fresh fame. 00:03:53.980 --> 00:03:58.590 align:middle line:90% He ODed ending up the same. 00:03:58.590 --> 00:04:04.730 align:middle line:84% Poor girl, poor girl, what was your name? 00:04:04.730 --> 00:04:07.000 align:middle line:90%