Tarda notte, buio, metropoli brulicante di gente sconosciuta che cammina, luci delle insegne luminose e delle auto riflesse sulle pozzanghere, mozziconi di sigarette spente, nuvole di tabacco, boccali di birra, prostitute, brusio indistinto in sottofondo, ragazzi che ridono, cantastorie dalla voce profonda chino sul pianoforte, jazz, blues... il cuore del sabato notte... solitudine vista con distacco, guardata dall'alto, mai un filo di rabbia...
1974: Secondo album di Tom Waits, l'album più jazz della sua multiforme discografia, un viaggio all'interno della notte delle metropoli americane. Tempo di riflessioni, nessuna azione. Alla ricerca di qualcosa che nessuno troverà mai, perchè non esiste. Tom se ne è accorto e non segue gli altri nella ricerca, ma si ferma immobile a guardare attonito e rassegnato la scena, ecco cos'è "(Looking for)The Heart Of Saturday Night", la splendida title-track dall'affascinante slow jazz. La desolazione, la malinconia pur senza nessun rimorso, la rassegnatezza di questa traccia sono da assaporare come l'aspro, secco, amaro, urticante ma caldo retrogusto che lascia in bocca un bicchiere di wiskey liscio. È la traccia che preferisco fra le undici dell'album.
Inutile citare le canzoni migliori, sono tutte bellissime, da ascoltare dalla prima all'ultima, senza interruzione, lasciandosi cullare dalle note lente e riflessive di questo album. Ci vuole l'ambiente giusto, lo stato d'animo giusto, il momento giusto, per mettere su questo album e tornare a fare battere 'il cuore del sabato notte'.
Elenco tracce testi e video
02 San Diego Serenade (03:30)
I never saw the morning 'til I stayed up all night
I never saw the sunshine 'til you turned out the light
I never saw my hometown until I stayed away too long
I never heard the melody, until I needed a song.
I never saw the white line, 'til I was leaving you behind
I never knew I needed you 'til I was caught up in a bind
I never spoke 'I love you' 'til I cursed you in vain,
I never felt my heartstrings until I nearly went insane.
I never saw the east coast 'til I move to the west
I never saw the moonlight until it shone off your breast
I never saw your heart 'til someone tried to steal, tried to steal it away
I never saw your tears until they rolled down your face.
03 Semi Suite (03:29)
Well you hate those diesels rollin'
And those Friday nights out bowlin'
When he's off for a twelve hour lay over night
You wish you had a dollar
For every time he hollered
That he's leavin'
And he's never comin' back
But the curtain-laced billow
And his hands on your pillow
And his trousers are hangin' on the chair
You're lyin' through your pain, babe
But you're gonna tell him he's your man
And you ain't got the courage to leave
He tells you that you're on his mind
You're the only one he's ever gonna find
It's kind-a special, understands his complicated soul...
But the only place a man can breathe
And collect his thoughts is
Midnight and flyin' away on the road.
But you've packed and unpacked
So many times you've lost track
And the steam heat is drippin' off the walls
But when you hear his engines
You're lookin' through the window in the kitchen and you know
You're always gonna be there when he calls
'Cause he's a truck drivin' man
Stoppin' when he can
He's a truck drivin' man
Stoppin' when he can
04 Shiver Me Timbers (04:26)
I'm leavin' my fam'ly
Leavin' all my friends
My body's at home
But my heart's in the wind
Where the clouds are like headlines
On a new front page sky
My tears are salt water
And the moon's full and high
And I know Martin Eden's
Gonna be proud of me
And many before me
Who've been called by the sea
To be up in the crow's nest
Singin' my say
Shiver me Timbers
Cause I'm a-sailin' away
And the fog's liftin'
And the sand's shiftin'
I'm driftin' on out
Ol' Captain Ahab
He ain't got nothin' on me, now.
So swallow me, don't follow me
I'm trav'lin' alone
Blue water's my daughter
'n I'm gonna skip like a stone
So please call my missus
Gotta tell her not to cry
Cause my goodbye is written
By the moon in the sky
Hey and nobody knows me
I can't fathom my stayin'
Shiver me timbers
Cause I'm a-sailin' away
And the fog's liftin'
And the sand's shiftin'
I'm driftin' on out
Ol' Captain Ahab
He ain't got nothin' on me
So come and swallow me, follow me
I'm trav'lin' alone
Blue water's my daughter
'n I'm gonna skip like a stone
And I'm leavin' my family
Leavin' all my friends
My body's at home
But my heart's in the wind
Where the clouds are like headlines
Upon a new front page sky
And shiver me timbers
Cause I'm a-sailin' away
05 Diamonds on My Windshield (03:12)
Diamonds on my windshield
Tears from heaven
Pulling into town on the Interstate
Pulling a steel train in the rain
The wind bites my cheek through the wing
Fast flying, freway driving
Always makes me sing
There's a Duster tryin' to change my tune
Pulling up fast on the right
Rolling restlessly, twenty-four hour moon
Wisconsin hiker with a cue-ball head
Wishing he was home in a Wiscosin bed
Fifteen feet of snow in the East
Colder then a welldigger's ass
Oceanside it ends the ride, San Clemente coming up
Sunday desperadoes slip by, gas station closed
Cruise with a dry back
Orange drive-in the neon billin'
Theatre's fillin' to the brim
Slave girls and a hot spurn bucket full of sin
Metropolitan area with interchange and connections
Fly-by-nights from Riverside
Black and white plates, out of state
Running a little bit late
Sailors jockey for the fast lane
101 Don't miss it
Rolling hills and concrete fields
The broken line's on your mind
Eights go east and the fives go north
The merging nexus back and forth
You see your sign, cross the line
Signalling with a blink
The radio's gone off the air
Gives you time to think
You ease it out and you creep across
Intersection light goes out
You hear the rumble
As you fumble for a cigarette
Blazing through this midnight jungle
Remember someone that you met
One more block; the engine talks
And whispers 'home at last'
It whispers, whispers, whispers
'Home at last', home at last
09 Depot, Depot (03:46)
Depot, depot, what am I doing here?
Depot, depot, what am I doing here?
I ain't coming, I ain't going
My confusion is showing
Outside the midnight wind is blowing Sixth Avenue
I'm gonna paint myself blue
At the depot
I watch the taxis pull up and idle
I can't claim title to a single memory
Offered me a key
'Cause opportunity don't knock
He has no tongue and she cannot talk
You're gonna shuffle when you walk
At the depot
This peeping-Tom needs a peephole
An uptempo song
Move me along
When I find this depot baby
I'm on a roll just like a pool ball baby
I'm gonna be there at the roll call maybe
At the depot
Outside the midnight wind is blowing Sixth Avenue
Ah, tell me what a poor boy to do?
At the depot
I'm on a roll just like a pool ball baby
I'm gonna be there at the roll call maybe
At the depot, depot
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