Not long after she was given a nod by Taylor Swift as a "tortured poet", Patti Smith is back with another book for her growing base of young fans. "Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine," she famously once sang. This book makes her real religion clear. Berlin (dpa) – US musician and author Patti Smith is releasing her new memoir "Bread of Angels" amid a revival of interest in rock legends among young listeners, with a recent shout-out from Taylor Swift bringing her a wave of new fans. We don't know if Swift received an advance copy of Smith’s new memoir. But it's conceivable that a thank-you copy came in the mail, given that the pop star’s mention in the song "The Tortured Poets Department" brought the rock icon a new cohort of admirers. The 78-year-old is just one of several music legends currently enjoying a comeback among younger listeners, and her famous fans also include pop musicians Olivia Rodrigo and Rosalía. Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen are also finding their way into the Spotify playlists of young fans thanks to new biopics, and, like Smith, are enjoying greater popularity on social media. Old music is the new music, as the magazine GQwrote a few years ago. So it's perhaps no surprise, then, that Smith is now publishing "Bread of Angels" and giving a closer look at what young fans might find compelling about ageing rock stars. Outspoken political statements First, it's striking that Smith — like Springsteen — stands for a radical candour that resonates in the pop culture of 2025. This is evident in clear political statements of a kind that younger stars of her stature would never make. In interviews, Smith is outspoken, sharply criticising the United States under Trump, voicing her support for climate activists and highlighting her refusal to play in Israel. In "Bread of Angels", Patti Smith, born in 1946, portrays herself as someone who contemplates the everyday with devotion. A tortoise she encounters in the woods is taken as seriously as her first meeting with her later friend Bob Dylan. The irony or cynicism that prevails on today’s social networks is foreign to her. Smith recounts a childhood marked by poverty. In her first four years, her family moved 11 times. Her mother worked as a waitress, her father took night shifts in a factory. She describes herself sleepwalking as a child, as an outsider at school who read "Peter Pan" in the woods. The book returns in part to her time in New York, which Smith already described in her acclaimed memoir "Just Kids". She also writes about family life with former MC5 guitarist Fred Smith (1948–1994), with whom she had two children in the 1980s, trading the rock star life for domesticity. Later she lost not only her husband but also close companions relatively early. Yet she managed to retain a sense of everyday wonder. Art has repeatedly brought Patti Smith back to life. Music as religion While many of her contemporaries treat rock as a lifestyle, Smith elevates it to a religion. This emerges again and again in "Bread of Angels". Art is something sacred to Smith. It's fitting for a post-war era of pop in which stars like The Beatles were "bigger than Jesus", but also right now, during a time of renewed war and geopolitical crisis, from which pop, with its own temples of music, offers a spectacular distraction. Smith is known for a preacher-like stage presence. In the book she recounts various artistic epiphanies: the first look at Picasso’s paintings, the discovery of a story by Oscar Wilde, poems by Yeats. Her beloved poet Arthur Rimbaud, about whom Smith writes repeatedly, was, she says, "served" to her by the angels. Smith also writes that she grew up in a religious family; her mother and sister joined Jehovah’s Witnesses. She herself famously once sang, "Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine" and finds her revelations elsewhere. Enduring artistic quality Her love of music, literature, nature and her artistic companions comes through clearly in the book. Often, however, the writing remains abstract, and truly personal details are scarce. "Bread of Angels" is not a second "Just Kids". Even so, the memoir is inspiring — it invites readers to look at their surroundings anew and with an open gaze. It also invites a rediscovery of Smith's artistic work. Readers will find it hard not to revisit her cult album "Horses" from 1975, the successful follow-up "Easter" with the Bruce Springsteen-penned hit "Because the Night" and the acclaimed memoir "Just Kids" about her love for the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and their time together in 1970s New York. One reason why young fans are enthusiastic about Patti Smith and her musical fellow travellers likely lies precisely here: in an artistic body of work that remains impressive to this day—and that also lends itself to quotable lines on Instagram or TikTok. The following information is not intended for publication dpa lif yyzz a3 gth brd
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