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Se sono l'originalità e la continua e illimitata sperimentazione a far passare un artista alla storia, allora ben poco verrà ricordato tra qualche generazione delle fatiche di Aimee Mann. Cantautrice solitaria, schiva, ancorata ad uno stile che ribocca di citazioni e rimandi ad altre epoche, questa bionda quarantenne della Virginia probabilmente non sarà mai in grado di creare un capolavoro immortale, ma certo finora è stata capace di inanellare, uno dopo l'altro, piccoli gioielli di elegante cantautorato pop. The Forgotten Arm non fa eccezione, sebbene sia inferiore a qualsiasi cosa la nostra abbia sfornato ad oggi.
Non intendo tenere a freno la mia logorrea nell'affrontare la descrizione del lavoro in questione. V'è innanzitutto da dire che si tratta di un concept album, formato che la nostra da tempo sembrava corteggiare (vedere il bellissimo e tematicamente quasi uniforme Lost In Space), e che racconta la storia d'amore tra il pugile John e Caroline, ragazza del sud vittima della noia e della routine. I due si incontrano, nei primi anni Settanta, alla fiera di Richmond ("Dear John") e iniziano un viaggio lungo l'America per fuggire al grigiore della provincia. Trattandosi però di un disco di Aimee Mann, è lecito pensare che qualcosa non vada per il verso giusto, che il magico meccanismo dell'innamoramento si inceppi e i due eroi siano costretti a dividersi nuovamente: e infatti così avviene soltanto alla terza canzone, quando John lascia Caroline ("Goodbye Caroline") per disintossicarsi da alcol e droghe. D'altronde le prospettive non erano delle migliori: come dice la cantastorie nel ballatone strappalacrime "King Of The Jailhouse" i due si sono affidati l'uno all'altra perché pensano che "dividersi il carico possa alleggerire il suo peso". Sono altresì due sbandati, due loser, avvinghiati l'un l'altra come naufraghi ai resti di una barca per non affondare, spinti l'uno nelle braccia dell'altra da infinito amore, ma da un altrettanto infinito timore di non farcela da soli. Da questo punto in poi la narrazione si fa più frammentaria e incerta, Aimee sembra perdere di vista il plot, dimentica l'intreccio e si lascia andare alla descrizione attenta dei due caratteri, che cesella con un coinvolgimento e un'attenzione senza precedenti. È questo il pregio principale del disco, merito del realismo tenero e avvincente che Aimee profonde nelle sue liriche. E basterebbero davvero soltanto le liriche a motivare l'acquisto: poche pennellate e si comprende il disagio di John, rassegnato all'orrore della sua dipendenza
"I'll pour the drink like a true believer
Whose God never blinks..."
("I Can't Get My Head Around It")
Ed è reale e palpabile il dolore con cui Caroline, resasi conto di non poter più reagire all'accanirsi degli eventi e di non avere più modo di aiutare il compagno ("Was I the bullet or the gun?" da "I Can't Help You Anymore"), ricostruisce le tappe della loro storia (nell'altra ballata pianistica, forse la migliore del disco, "That's How I Knew This Story Would Break My Heart"). Altrettanto solide sono le due composizione finali, in cui prende corpo il trionfo finale dell'amore. Non è un lieto fine senza incertezze però: "Why does it hurt me to feel so much tenderness?" si chiede Caroline nella canzone finale. E non poteva finire diversamente, se si tiene conto della firma che il disco porta.
Musicalmente le vicende dei due protagonisti sono raccontate attraverso uno stile che cita fedelmente i clichè di certo rock degli anni in cui è ambientata la storia: boogie quasi onnipresente del pianoforte, organi hammond, basso ruvido e pulsante, dovizia di assoli di chitarra. La produzione pulita di Joe Henry tende però ad appiattire eccessivamente le trovate del disco: la scrittura (in senso prettamente musicale) della Mann ha bisogno di scenografie movimentate e barocche per incantare, qui si rivela elegantissima ma sostanzialmente monocorde e un po' involuta. Brani come "Video", "She Really Wants You" e "I Can't Get My Head Around It" sono eccessivamente simili tra loro, e il fatto che nella track list siano uno dopo l'altro non aiuta certo ad evitare che il centro dell'album sia inghiottito da un buco nero. Capolavoro del disco è forse la ninna nanna folk "Little Bombs", ed è significativo che sia anche il brano meno "aimeemann-iano" dell'opera. Se da un lato era quasi ovvio che il lirismo agrodolce del precedente Lost In Space si sarebbe evoluto in un concept album, dall'altro si è costretti a fare i conti con un lavoro indubbiamente raffinato e meritevole di rispetto, ma monocromatico e ripetitivo, che affascina e coinvolge, ma non resta nella memoria, né forse resisterà al passare del tempo.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Dear John (03:07)
Cotton candy was king
On the midway that spring
When I saw you in the ring on the lawn
Dear John
Throwing kisses so Richmond's unfortunates can go on
Oh, the lectures I gave
So the girls would behave
While the band played all your favorite songs
Dear John
Throwing kisses so Richmond's unfortunates can go on
But numbers come up and you're left to the fates
Though I always thought you were one of the greats
Once somebody stationed in Kuala Lumpur
Said he thought you went out, but he couldn't be sure
And the midway I knew
Where the sky was so blue
With the memory of you is gone
Dear John
Throwing kisses so Richmond's unfortunates can go on
Throwing kisses so Richmond's unfortunates can go on
Throwing kisses so Richmond's unfortunates can go on
Throwing kisses so Richmond's unfortunates can go on
Throwing kisses so Richmond's unfortunates can go on
02 King of the Jailhouse (05:19)
The king of the jailhouse
And the queen of the road
Think sharing the burden will lighten the load
So they pack up their troubles
In an old Cadillac
That's her in the mirror, asleep in the back
Baby, there's something wrong with me
Baby, there's something wrong with me
Baby, there's something wrong with me
That I can't see
That I can't see
And they don't give the answers
At the end of the test
So you can't simply stand there and hope for the best
So wake me up at the border
When we reach Mexico
I'll tell you a secret I don't even know
Baby, there's something wrong with me
Baby, there's something wrong with me
Baby, there's something wrong with me
That I can't see
That I can't see
Honey, I don't wanna turn around
And go back there – do you?
I think you know something I don't know
That I need to
Baby, there's something wrong with me
Baby, there's something wrong with me
Baby, there's something wrong with me
That I can't see
That I can't see
That I can't see
03 Goodbye Caroline (03:53)
[Aimee Mann]
Put on your shoes, girl
I'm goin' to the coast
Where every loser
Gives up what hurts the most
And all those haunted
Unlucky guys get told
Who's really wanted
And who just can't stay sold
Goodbye, Caroline
You're my favorite faith healer
Goodbye, everything
Say I gave to the house dealer
Who could only really let you down
Put on your coat, babe
My luck is winding down
I'll get your suitcase
And pull the car around
Goodbye, Caroline
You're my favorite faith healer
Goodbye, everything
Say I gave to the house dealer
Who could only really let you down
Where it's lit day for night
And the clocks wear their faces bowed
Where the hands and cuffs gleam white
As they hang on a nicotine cloud
Goodbye, Caroline
Goodbye, everything
Goodbye, Caroline
You're my favorite faith healer
Goodbye, everything
Say I gave to the house dealer
Who could only really let you down
Who could only really let you down
Who could only
Let you down
Let you down
Let you down
Let you down
06 She Really Wants You (03:26)
Sitting in your father's basement
Waiting for the phone to ring
Still in your pajamas, baby
She made up some excuse to see you
You said you didn't feel a thing
Tired of all the dramas, maybe
But still
The moment you hear
The moment you know
I'm sure you'd come running, baby
Sure
The moment you hear
That she really wants you
Packing up your old apartment
Sealing up another box
Wondering what made you choose her
And moving house when you're a stoner
Everything you come across
Makes you feel like such a loser
But still
The moment you hear
The moment you know
I'm sure you'd come running, baby
Sure
The moment you hear
That she really wants you
'Cause the stray that you found
That looked so cute at the pound
Now has you putting her down as rabid
If it was badder than bad
Well, then – you oughta be glad
You can break it like another habit
But still
The moment you hear
The moment you know
I'm sure you'd come running, baby
Sure
The moment you hear
That she really wants you
Oh, sure
The moment you hear
The moment you know
I'm sure you'd come running, baby
Sure
The moment you hear
That she really wants you
10 I Can't Help You Anymore (04:52)
That summer was just crazy hot
We walked the fairground parking lot
And with our secret handshakes
Sealed the deal completely
But I'm too close to know just what
Will keep Pandora's boxes shut
And so I'll fail you badly
When you really need me
'Cause I don't know
What I should know –
That I can't help you anymore
No, I can't help you anymore
No, I can't help you anymore
I'll get a pen and make a list
And give you my analysis
But I can't write this story
With a happy ending
Was I the bullet or the gun
Or just a target drawn upon
A wall that you decided
Wasn't worth defending?
And I should know
But I don't know
That I can't help you anymore
No, I can't help you anymore
No, I can't help you anymore
Anymore
No, I can't help you
'Cause baby, look what I have done
The ruins just go on and on
I've got to let it go now, or it will drag me under
So I can't help you anymore
No, I can't help you anymore
No, I can't help you anymore
Anymore
No, I can't help you anymore
12 Beautiful (03:48)
You pulled up and parked your El Dorado
We said "hi" and kissed with some bravado
I got out my camera and was laughing
Happy it was you I'm photographing
And we drove to the ferry
Like the cat and canary
I said, "Baby, it's scary
When it's so beautiful
Why does it hurt me
To feel so much tenderness?
Beautiful
You little wonder, you"
Maybe then I held your hand and kissed you
I know once I just hauled off and hit you
'Cause I can't even stand it
'Cause I don't want to end it
To be perfectly candid –
Baby, you're beautiful
Sometimes it hurts me
To feel so much tenderness
Beautiful
Wish you could see it, too
And all I have to do today
Is make you happy
The only thing you have to say
Is, "It's all lovely, baby"
Late that night, we checked into the Bellevue
Held you close, but, baby – couldn't tell you
And we stayed in our Calvins
And we swore we'd be best friends
And I looked through the zoom lens
And thought you were beautiful
Sometimes it hurts me
To feel so much tenderness
Beautiful
Baby, I'm dazzled
By the view
Beautiful
You don't need to tell me
I'm completely powerless
Beautiful
I wish you could see it, too
I wish you could see it, too
I wish you could see it, too
Baby, how I see you
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