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Era il 1985 quando il duo Annie Lennox e Dave Stewart si accordò nel cambiare qualche portata sul menù Eurythmics, ricco, pepato e stuzzicante quanto bastava. Sino ad allora l'onnipervasività synth aveva pressoché forgiato il loro marchio di fabbrica e la primissima tripletta di album in studio - In The Garden, Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This), Touch - era il completo raggiungimento di un raffinato pop d'avanguardia che guardava persino agli ambienti underground-alternative; se i "dolci sogni" martellavano le casse glitterate del globo (e ancora oggi risultato piuttosto renitenti ad abbandonare il fortino dell'evergreen), Who's That Girl? e Here Comes The Rain Again cercavano di smorzare un po' il precoce inflazionamento del brand del gruppo con sonorità artistico-oniriche e accenni di ballad ben costruiti e assolutamente non ridondanti.
Conquistato il vertice creativo di Touch, Lennox e socio decisero di prendersi una bella vacanza dallo stile dell'esordio e del post-esordio e di abbracciare il ciclone rock mainstream nel pieno dell'invasione sul territorio pop. Era l'epoca del guardaroba alla Springesteen e la cover di Be Yourself Tonight non poteva che consacrare uno dei trend per eccellenza dei mid-last 80s: Annie, fresca dell'androginia incravattata di Sweet Dreams e del look a' la S&M di Touch (a mio avviso l'unica stonatura di un disco che bussa alle porte della perfezione), si fece raffigurare rockeggiante, accattivante e grintosa nel classico giubbotto di pelle. Di quell'album spicca peraltro uno dei featuring cult del periodo, Sister Are Doin' It For Themselves, con la leggenda del soul Aretha Franklin.
Revenge, rilasciato nel 1986, non poteva che proseguire dignitosamente il cammino del predecessore, padrone di casa del grande duetto, e così fece. Adattandosi perfettamente al pop-rock radiofonico e commerciale delle charts internazionali e mescolandolo con i rimasugli del trittico synth-new wave iniziale, gli Eurythmics proposero un lavoro semplice e catchy, poppish e orecchiabile, probabilmente meno coraggioso di opere ben più "reazionarie" come il già citato Touch e il successore Savage (l'unico concept-album - o quasi - della ditta Lennox-Stewart, imperniato sulla frustrazione della buffa casalinga-diva platinata di Beethoven), tuttavia perfetto per rappresentare suoni e umori di un decennio dalle lunghe e larghe sfaccettature.
Nel disco c'è tutto e più del migliore rock radiofonico ottantino e, a primo ascolto, sembra quasi che la mini combriccola si stia divertendo (e stia scherzando) nell'addentrarsi in un genere musicale già sperimentato in tutte le salse (e doveva ancora esplodere il mito grunge...): si va dal country di Let's Go! allo (pseudo) r'n'roll di Missionary Man, In This Town e When Tomorrow Comes, assieme agli accenni dance di Take Your Pain Away, al soft-strumentale malinconico in I Remember You e alle rimembranze elettronico-new wave per The Last Time. Menzione d'onore, infine, per la ballatona-classico strappalacrime The Miracle Of Love e per il semplicissimo folk-pop di Thorn In My Side.
Ponte fra la sperimentazione e il mainstream, l'avanguardia e il trend, gli Eurythmics sono comunque rimasti fedeli al carattere pop(olare) delle loro proposte e non hanno voluto arrogarsi pretese anti-commerciali e radical-chic. Seppur inferiore alla produzione elettronica dei fasti, la prima parentesi pop-rock (la seconda e ultima di We Too Are One e di Peace concluderà definitivamente l'attività della band) di Annie Lennox e di Dave Stewart non può che ricevere larghi plausi, se non per aver contribuito a illustrare la componente "buona" degli Ottanta, quella della spensieratezza ancora lontana dalle pretese for extra profit dei giorni nostri e dai continui rimescolamenti (e annullamenti) di conquiste ottenute senza troppi stravolgimenti e iperboli.
Eurythmics, Revenge
Missionary Man - Thorn In My Side - When Tomorrow Comes - The Last Time - The Miracle Of Love - Let's Go! - Take Your Pain Away - A Little Of You - In This Town - I Remember You
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Missionary Man (04:29)
Well I was born an original sinner.
I was borne from original sin.
And if I had a dollar bill
For all the things I've done
There'd be a mountain of money
Piled up to my chin...
My mother told me good
My mother told me strong.
She said "be true to yourself
And you can't go wrong."
"But there's just one thing
That you must understand."
"You can fool with your brother -
But don't mess with a missionary man."
Don't mess with a missionary man.
Don't mess with a missionary man.
Well the missionary man
He's got God in his side.
He's got the saints and apostles
Backin' up from behind.
Black eyed looks from those Bible books.
He's a man with a mission
Got a serious mind.
There was a woman in the jungle
And a monkey on a tree.
The missionary man he was followin' me.
He said "stop what you're doing."
"Get down upon your knees."
"I've a message for you that you better believe."
(Chorus repeats...)
02 Thorn in My Side (04:14)
You gave me such a bad time
tried to hurt me, but now I know...
Thorn in my side.
You know that's all you ever were.
A bundle of lies.
You know that's all that it was worth...
I should have known better
But I trusted you at first.
I should have known better
But I got what I deserved...
To run away from you
Was all that I could do.
To run away from you
Was all that I could do.
Thorn in my side.
You know that's all you'll ever be.
So don't think you know better
'Cause that's what you mean to me...
I was feeling complicated.
I was feeling low.
Now everytime I think of you
I shiver to the bone...
[Chorus repeats...]
04 The Last Time (04:14)
Well the first time that I saw you
You were standing in the rain.
You were waiting at the station
For the last connecting train.
Well - who will you go to
When there's no-one to betray?
And I said - who will you go to
When your best friend turns away?
Hey hey...
Last time you're gonna let me down.
Last time you're gonna
Fool around with me...
There's a garden full of roses,
There's a necklace full of pearls.
You have come to take the roses
To give to other girls.
Well - I am just a pretty thing
You wanted for a day.
There is nothing left between us
There is nothing left to say...
Hey hey...
People like you
Can be so mean.
People like you
Just don't come clean.
Last time you're gonna let me down.
Last time you're gonna
Fool around with me...
07 Take Your Pain Away (04:36)
If I could find a way
To soothe your troubled mind
Then I would erase your fears
And help you to unwind.
I would ease the burden
That you carry everyday.
Oh - don't you know I'd find a cure
And take your pain away.
Take your pain away
Take your pain away...
And even though you're far from here
Don't forget I'm always near.
Find comfort in these words I send
In this cold world.
Take your pain away
Take your pain away...
For every aching heart
For every broken soul...
So give up your worries
They'll only do you harm.
There is no need to be concerned
It's just a false alarm.
Take your pain away
Take your pain away...
08 A Little of You (03:56)
There used to be a time
I wore my heart upon my sleeve.
There used to be a time
I'd show my gentle side to anyone
Through these years of wandering
I know I've been deceived.
Through these years of wandering...
And everytime you try to hurt me
You know you'll only hurt yourself.
And everytime you try to hurt me
I know you'll be the one to suffer
When you think you're hurting someone.
A little of you - a little of me -
A little of you -
Is hurting someone -
Don't tell me I'm the only one
'Cause I don't need that space.
Don't ask for love
I'll throw it back in your face.
All of these promises
Were only made to break.
All of these promises...
A little of you - a little of me -
A little of you -
Is hurting someone -
09 In This Town (03:43)
I could be anywhere else but here
But the rain won't let me go.
There's a photograph
Hanging on my wall
Of a place I've never been to...
I'll never make the grade
(Feels like Sunday everyday)
And I can't stop the rain
(Feels like Sunday everyday)
What do the papers say?
(Feels like Sunday everyday)
Get up and go now!
In this town - something's gotta change.
In this town - something's gotta change.
I'm looking at the world -
Looking for a scene -
Waiting for a day -
Filling in time like I'm digging
My own grave...
I'll never make the grade
(Feels like Sunday everyday)
And I can't stop the rain
(Feels like Sunday everyday)
What do the papers say?
(Feels like Sunday everyday)
Get up and go now!
In this town - something's gotta change.
In this town - something's gotta change.
In this town - something's gotta change.
In this town - something's gotta change.
10 I Remember You (05:02)
Well there's a colour picture
In my mind.
Of all the places
That I've left behind.
The broken windows
Where the wind blows through
Empty shells of houses
That have turned to ruin.
Oh - we were so young.
We didn't realise
Just what we'd done.
Oh - we were too young.
And I remember you.
You were the back yard boy.
Hiding in the wreckage
Of broken dreams.
Standing by the railway line.
Standing.
Oh - we were so young.
We didn't realise
Just what we'd done.
Oh - we were too young.
And all the sweetness
Has been taken out of this place.
So many memories
Are knocked down or replaced.
And I can't stand to see
The shifting time
Taking me further -
Leaving you behind.
Oh - we were so young.
We didn't realise
Just what we'd done.
Oh - we were too young.
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