I gather they don't let Mr. MacGowan wander off by himself during a tour. He'll get himself in to something. He'll go to a bar and get into the whiskey, and then he'll be too wasted to make it on stage.

Does that say something about a particular type of artistic personality? Admittedly 'addictive.' The kind of person drawn toward things, unable to stop, along for the ride. Difficulty with decisions and the complexity of choices. Living in the present.

So what can one do, an artist like MacGowan, to protect himself? Be very very careful. There is the draw of always making art out of the raw material of life as it is. There is the childishness Cervantes gave to his hero, a quality of disposition toward being talked into things by pretty much anyone.

What tensions such a person must often feel, a quality of being torn, even while knowing what he wants. And some people you have to help them out with matters, as not very adult as it sounds.

And so they take good care of Shane MacGowan when he's out on tour, for many reasons.