Ho speso 4 euro per avere questo album tra le mie laide, avide mani di filibustiere. L'ho comprato per un motivo preciso. Volevo ascoltare della MUSICA. Vi sembrerà strano, ma Bowie lo conoscevo per pochi lavori, mi è sempre piaciuto molto il suo stile, la sua voglia di osare e divertire, colpire, eccitare e deprimere allo stesso tempo. Avevo solo 4 anni quando al cinema mi stupì per eleganza e profondità recitando in Labyrinth, la cui colonna sonora, naturalmente sua, la ascolto ancora oggi con immenso piacere, ed è ancora fresca come una rosa. Persino 24 anni dopo, a risentire i pezzi della colonna sonora del film, mi si rievocavano le sensazioni di vibrante eccitazione che prova un bimbo colpito da tutto…
Mi basta sentire la pubblicità della swatch, musicata con la celeberrima Change, per sferzarmi di allegria e sentire i brividi sulla schiena, cristo che pezzo… Bowie è quell'autore che senti i suoi pezzi una volta, UNA, e qualcosa ti rimane già dentro, non so cosa, ma è il desiderio di approfondire queste sensazioni che mi ha spinto all'acquisto di London Boy.
Mi sono proprio rotto le balle del rock che gira adesso, Oasis, Morisette, Cranberries, che palle… Vediamo come scriveva il ceffo negli anni 60. Chissà che idee aveva… anzi, guarda che roba, 18 pezzi, un bootleg, un sacco di materiale, ma è roba di mille anni fa, qui ci sono di sicuro un mucchio di idee. Uhm, la versione originale di Space Oddity, uhm... Laughing Gnome, ehi! Rubber Band, bene, deve essere mio, a questo prezzo ridicolo poi…
A casa l'ho consumato, esaminato, succhiato e spolpato. Una meraviglia di semplicità, genialità e furbizia. Essenziale e divertente. Originale, gustoso, pazzoide. Non starò a fare lo spaccato dei pezzi, a dire che l'incisione è quello che è. Starò a dirvi che l'ho ascoltato con una cassa sola per godere e mettere in evidenza le schitarrate, che mi sono sorpreso a sentire i campionamenti di Did You Ever Have a Dream, le atmosfere malinconiche di There is a Happy Land, che ho riso come uno scemo con Laughing Gnome, che mi ha stupito il pezzo a cappella Please Mr. Gravedigger, che i suoni non hanno NULLA di vecchio, che è un album davvero divertente e scanzonato, che HA fatto scuola, e che se si vuole ascoltare un po' di MUSICA brit-rock, bè, Bowie è la strada giusta.
Ma davvero si beccavano questa roba negli anni 60? Che robe, e qui oggi gira la Spears, la Hilton, Backstreet boys… ARGH!!
Insomma, un mucchio di idee, una marea, e si sente che il suo stile avrebbe creato proseliti per, ehm… almeno 30 anni. Oggi ancora lo copiano. Cazzarola se vuoi scrivere musica, ascoltati Bowie. Sbaglio o quando sento Beck e Demon Albarn c'è un po'di Bowie?
Grande. E l'ho pagato 4 euro. 4 miseri euro.
Elenco tracce testi e video
04 Rubber Band (02:05)
Rubber Band
There's a rubber band that plays tunes out of tune
In the library garden Sunday afternoon
While a little chappie waves a golden wand
Rubber Band
In 1910 I was so handsome and so strong
My moustache was stiffly waxed and one foot long
And I loved a girl while you played teatime tunes
Dear Rubber Band, you're playing my tune out of tune, oh
Rubber Band
Won't you play a haunting theme again to me
While I eat my scones and drink my cup of tea
The sun is warm but it's a lonely afternoon
Oh, play that theme
Rubber Band
How I wish that I could join your Rubber Band
We could play in lively parks throughout the land
And one Sunday afternoon, I'd find my love
Rubber Band,
In the '14-'18 war I went to sea
Thought my Sunday love was waiting home for me
And now she's married to the leader of the band, oh
(spoken)
Oh sob... I hope you break your baton
10 The Laughing Gnome (03:03)
I was walking
Down the high street
When I heard footsteps behind me
And there was a little old man (hello!)
Scarlet and Gray, chuckling away
Well he trotted
Back to my house
And he sat beside the telly (ahh)
With his tiny hands on his tummy
Chuckling away, laughing all day
i'll have to report you to the gnome office
(gnome office? ahahahah!)
Hah hah hah
Hee hee hee
I'm a laughing gnome and you can't catch me
Hah hah hah
Hee hee hee
I'm a laughing gnome and you can't catch me
Said the laughing gnome
Well I gave him roasted toadstools
And a glass of dandelion wine (*burp* pardon)
Then I put him on a train to Eastbourne
Carried his bags, and gave him a fag (have you got a light boy?)
hey where do you come from?
(gnome-ans land, hehe!)
oh really?
In the morning
When i woke up
He was sitting on the edge of my bed
With his brother who's name was Fred
He brought him along
To sing me a song
alright let's hear it
now, what's that clicking noise?
(that's Fred, he's a metro-gnome, haha)
Hah hah hah
Hee hee hee
I'm a laughing gnome and you can't catch me
Hah hah hah
Hee hee hee
I'm a laughing gnome and you can't catch me
(oh now, i'm a gnome anyway haha)
haven't you got a home to go to?
(no, we are gnome-ads hehe)
didn't they teach you to get your hair cut at school you look like a rolling gnome
(nah, not at the London school of eco-gnome-ics)
Now they're staying
Up me chimney
And we're living on cavier and honey (hurray!)
Cos they're earning me lots of money
Writing comedy prose
For radio shows
it's the errrr
it's the gnome-service of course!
Hah hah hah
Hee hee hee
I'm a laughing gnome and you can't catch me
Hah hah hah
Hee hee hee (oh really)
I'm a laughing gnome and you can't catch me
(one more time!)
Hah hah hah
Hee hee hee
I'm a laughing gnome and you can't catch me
11 She's Got Medals (02:26)
She'd walk through the door and she'd set up the drinks on the house
She played a good game of darts, and the men slapped her back
And never took her out
She wore a trenchcoat khaki
Her hobnail boots were full of holes
She's got medals
Her mother called her Mary, but she changed her name to Tommy, she's a one, oh
She went and joined the army, passed the medical
Don't ask me how it's done
They sent her to the front line
Fighting for her country's name
She's got medals
She got very tired of picking up girls
Cleaning her gun and shaving her curls
Then the enemy dropped a bomb
Survivors there were none
People say that when the moon is full and all the stars have gone to bed
You can see her ghost but that's a lie because the naughty woman isn't dead
She deserted on the previous morning
Replaced her uniform with dresses silk and green
Called herself Eileen
Came to London town
Now she's settled down
She's got medals
16 Join the Gang (02:20)
Let me introduce you to the gang
Johnny plays the sitar, he's an existentialist
Once he had a name, now he plays our game
You won't feel so good now that you've joined the gang
Molly is the model in the ads
Crazy clothes and acid full of soul and crazy hip
Someone switched her on, then her beam went wrong
Cause she can't switch off now that she's joined the gang
Arthur is a singer with a band
Arthur drinks two bottles just before he goes on stage
Look at Arthur rave, all the kids are paid
They want to see the croaking man who joined the gang
You won't be alone, we've all got beery grins
It's a big illusion but at least you're in
At least you're in
This club's called The Webb, it's this month's pick
Next month we shall find a place where prices aren't so stiff
15 bob a coke, 'fraid that's past a joke
This is how to spend now that you've joined the gang
This is what to do now that you're here
Sit round doing nothing all together very fast
Psychedelic stars, throwing down cigars
They're picking up the joints now that they've joined the gang
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