Quando si parla di questo genere, si va ad affrontare un argomento anche più complesso della storia che lo caratterizza. Il punk, o meglio punk rock, ha influenzato generazioni, forme d’arte e aspetti culturali, partendo dalla musica, attraverso la letteratura, fino ad arrivare alla moda. Viene quasi automatico pensare ai Sex Pistols ma anche a Ramones, The Stooges oppure The Clash e la storia ci insegna quanto questi nomi siano stati influenti e iconici nella famosa prima ondata punk. Vivienne Westwood, la “Madrina del Punk”, per esempio, è stata la testimonianza vivente di come i Pistols siano stati fenomeni di moda e di costume.
Dai primi anni Settanta, quando iniziò ad emergere nella costa occidentale degli Stati Uniti (come prosecuzione del garage rock degli anni Sessanta), per poi approdare parallelamente e più concretamente nel Regno Unito, fino ai giorni nostri, il genere ha vissuto una progressiva evoluzione.
Se il punk inglese era grezzo, anarchico, nichilista, violento e provocatorio, quello americano subì una totale inversione di rotta negli anni Ottanta, con la nascita dello Straight Edge. Proprio sul finire di questo decennio, diveniva in generale complesso tradurre il genere in un’unica corrente di pensiero. Le classificazioni si erano ramificate; si andava dall’anarchismo, al comunismo, passando per l’apoliticità o l’estremismo, fino al totale rifiuto di ogni ideologia.
E siamo agli anni Novanta. Un altro decennio iconico per la musica, che ha visto nascere fenomeni mainstream come blink-182, Sum 41 ma anche Offspring, BadReligion e Green Day, appunto. Tutti nati sotto un’unica corrente, il punk-rock, voglioso di ribellarsi alle regole canoniche del punk, allontanando il nichilismo, l’atteggiamento da bad boys ad ogni costo, il disprezzo per la melodia e la poca propensione alla leggerezza. Basta serietà ad ogni costo, grezza cattiveria da ribelli, il punk sarebbe dovuto essere evasione, scazzo e divertimento.
Tra gli altri, i Green Day spiccarono all’interno della scena californiana già nei primi anni del decennio, essendo attivi nell’ambiente punk della Bay Area, partendo dal 924 di Gilman Street a West Berkeley, anche casa dei Rancid, AFI e The Offspring. Lo stesso luogo di aggregazione che oggi, dopo un radicale cambiamento di rotta e qualità della musica proposta, ha allontanato i Green Day dal gradimento vantato alle origini. Ma questa è un’altra storia.
Proprio quest’anno si festeggia il trentennale di “Dookie”, terzo iconico disco in studio della band di Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt e Tré Cool e primo pubblicato su major (Reprise Records), nonché prodotto da Rob Cavallo. Le prime due release,“39/Smooth” e “Kerplunk”, invece, videro la luce sotto etichetta indipendente, la Lookout! Records.
“Dookie” è un album dal titolo grezzo e sempliciotto (in italiano letteralmente “Merda”), in linea con la tendenza dell’epoca in cui è stato ideato ma non per questo privo di contenuti in linea con un’intera generazione. Registrato nel 1993, è stato pensato e scritto principalmente da Billie Joe Armstrong ed è fortemente influenzato dalle sue esperienze personali. Fanno eccezione, nel processo compositivo, due tracce: “EmeniusSleepus”, realizzata a quattro mani con Mike Dirnt e “All By Myself”, ghost track composta da Tré Cool. Si canta la noia, l’ansia, il sesso, l’onanismo e le relazioni (non necessariamente in quest’ordine).
Tra le quindici tracce hanno fatto storia “Longview”, “Welcome to Paradise” (versione ri-registrata e già presente su Kerplunk), “When I Come Around”, “She” e soprattutto “Basket Case”, la canzone più famosa e rappresentativa della band, che ebbe il merito di attirare l’attenzione di Rob Cavallo e portare il primo contratto importante. Armstrong ha più volte raccontato che il testo della canzone parla della sua ansia e di come scrivere e rileggere le parole lo abbia aiutato a controllare i ricorrenti attacchi di panico.
“Longview” parla di noia, masturbazione e cannabis, con riflessioni prettamente adolescenziali nel testo:
«When masturbation's lost its fun/You're fucking lonely»
“She” è rivolta ad una delle fidanzate di Armstrong, con buona pace della moglie Adrienne Nesser, alla quale inizialmente tutti pensavano fosse dedicata. Forse i fatti narrati si collegano alle parole di “When I Come Around”, che racconta di una passeggiata tra amici dopo un’animata discussione del frontman proprio con Mrs Armstrong.
Con “In the End” e “Why do you want him?”, Billie si rivolge alla madre e al patrigno, senza nascondere la ben poca stima per quest’ultimo.
Gli ingredienti per esaltare un pubblico di scatenati adolescenti ci sono tutti. “Dookie” è uscito nel periodo più adatto possibile e ha segnato un’epoca, che che ne possano dire i puristi del genere o i nostalgici rappresentanti della prima potente ondata (ogni riferimento alle parole rivolte da parte di John Lydon alla band di Berkeley, sono puramente casuali).
La copertina un po’ confusionaria (ma interamente “raccontata” dalla band negli anni), lo stile folle e contemporaneo, la potenza ed immediatezza delle tracce, non possono che dare a “Dookie” il buon giudizio che si merita.
Ci sono volute tre settimane e una musicassetta demo riprodotta attraverso l’autoradio di Rob Cavallo, per andare a meta. Per il trentennale il disco è stato riproposto in diverse versioni: un vinile colorato, una raccolta di compact arricchiti con le vecchie demo e un costoso boxset con rarità, inediti e memorabilia. Solita operazione scaltra da major, ovviamente. Ma anche l'opportunità di possedere un piacevole oggetto da collezione, per tutti coloro che questo album non se lo sono ancora tolto dalla testa ma soprattutto dal cuore.
Hanno deciso di chiamarlo “merda” e ha dimostrato di valere oro. E saremo qui a ricordarcene sicuramente tra altri trent’anni, anche con poca memoria e le orecchie a mezzo servizio.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Burnout (02:07)
I declare I don't care no more
I'm burning up and growing bored
In my smoked out boring room
My hair is shagging in my eyes
Dragging my feet to hit the street tonight
To drive along these shit town lights
I'm not growing up, I'm just burning out
And I stepped in line to walk amongst the dead
Apathy has rained on me
And now I'm feeling like a soggy dream
So close to drowning but I don't mind
I've lived inside this mental cave
Throw my emotions in the grave
Hell, who needs them anyway.
I'm not growing up, I'm just burning out
And I stepped in line to walk amongst the dead
02 Having a Blast (02:44)
I’m taking all you down with me
Explosives duct taped to my spine
Nothing’s gonna change my mind
I won’t listen to anyone’s last words
There’s nothing left for you to say
Soon you’ll be dead any way
No one here is getting out alive
This time I’ve really lost my mind and I don’t care
So close your eyes
And kiss yourself goodbye
And think about the times
You spent and what they’ve meant
To me it’s nothing
To me it’s nothing
To me it’s nothing
To me it’s nothing
I’m losing all my happiness
The happiness you pinned on my
Loneliness still comforts me
My anger dwells inside of me
I’m taking it all out on you and all the shit you put me through
No one here is getting out alive
This time I’ve really lost my mind and I don’t care
So close your eyes
And kiss yourself goodbye
And think about the times
You spent and what they’ve meant
To me it’s nothing
To me it’s nothing
To me it’s nothing
To me it’s nothing
Do you ever think back to another time?
Does it bring you so down that you thought you lost your mind?
Do you ever want to lead a long trail of destruction and now down
any bullshit that confronts you?
Do you ever build up all the small things in your head
To make one problem that adds up to nothing.
To me it’s nothing
To me it’s nothing
To me it’s nothing
03 Chump (02:54)
I don't know you but I think I HATE you
You're the reason for my misery
Strange how you've become my biggest enemy
And I've never even seen your face
Maybe it's just jealousy
Mixing up with a VIOLENT mind
A circumstance that doesn't make much SENSE
Or maybe I'm just DUMB
You're the cloud hanging out over my head
Hail comes crashing down welting my face
MAGIC MAN, EGOCENTRIC PLASTIC MAN
Yet you still got one over on me
Maybe it's just jealousy
Mixing up with a VIOLENT mind
A circumstance that doesn't make much SENSE
Or maybe I'm just DUMB
I'm a chump
''This part of the song is instrumental.''
04 Longview (03:59)
I sit around and watch the tube, but nothing's on
I change the channels for an hour or two
Twiddle my thumbs just for a bit
I'm sick of all the same old shit
In a house with unlocked doors
And I'm fucking lazy
Bite my lip and close my eyes
Take me away to paradise
I'm so damn bored I'm going blind
And I smell like shit
Peel me off this velcro seat and get me moving
I sure as hell can't do it by myself
I'm feeling like a dog in heat
Barred indoors from the summer street
I locked the door to my own cell
And I lost the key
Bite my lip and close my eyes
Take me away to paradise
I'm so damn bored I'm going blind
And I smell like shit
I got no motiviation
Where is my motiviation?
No time for no motiviation
Smoking my inspiration
Sit around and watch the phone, but no one's calling
Call me pathetic, call me what you will
My mother says to get a job
But she don't like the one she's got
When masturbation's lost its fun
You're fucking lonely
Bite my lip and close my eyes
Take me away to paradise
I'm so damn bored
I'm going blind
And loneliness has to suffice
Bite my lip and close my eyes
I'm slipping away to Paradise
Some say, "Quit or I'll go blind"
But it's just a myth
05 Welcome to Paradise (03:44)
Dear mother, can you hear me whinin'?
It's been three whole weeks since I have left your home
This sudden fear has left me tremblin'
Cause now it seems I am out here on my own
And I'm feeling so alone
Pay attention to the cracked streets and the broken homes
Some call it slum, some call it nice
I want to take you through a wasteland I like to call my home
Welcome to Paradise
A gunshot rings out at the station
Another urchin snaps and left dead on his own
It makes me wonder why I'm still here
For some strange reason it's still now feeling like my home
I'm never gonna go
Pay attention to the cracked streets and the broken homes
Some call it slum, some call it nice
I want to take you through a wasteland I like to call my home
Welcome to Paradise
Dear mother, can you hear me laughin'?
It's been six whole months since I have left your home
It makes me wonder why I'm still here
For some strange reason it's still now feeling like my home
I'm never gonna go
Pay attention to the cracked streets and the broken homes
Some call it slum, some call it nice
I want to take you through a wasteland I like to call my home
Welcome to Paradise
06 Pulling Teeth (02:30)
I'm all busted up
Broken bones & nasty cuts
Accidents will happen
But this time I can't get up
She comes to check on me
Making sure I'm on my knees
After all she's the one who put me in this state
Is she ultra-violent?
Is she disturbed?
I better tell her that I love her
Before she does it all over again
Oh god, she's killing me
For now I'll lie around
Hell, that's all I can really do
She takes good care of me
Just keep saying my love is true
Is she ultra-violent?
Is she disturbed?
I better tell her that I love her
Before she does it all over again
Oh god, she's killing me
Looking out my window for
Someone that's passing by
No one knows I'm locked in here
All I do is cry
For now I'll lie around
Hell, that's all I can really do
She takes good care of me
Just keep saying my love is true
07 Basket Case (03:03)
Do you have the time
To listen to me whine
About nothing and everything all at once
I am one of those
Melodramatic fools
Neurotic to the bone, no doubt about it
Sometimes I give myself the creeps
Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I'm cracking up
Am I just paranoid?
Or am I just stoned?
I went to a shrink
To analyze my dreams
She says it's lack of sex that's bringing me down
I went to a whore
He said my life's a bore
So quit my whining 'cause it's bringing her down
Sometimes I give myself the creeps
Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I'm cracking up
And am I just paranoid?
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Grasping to control
So I better hold on
Sometimes I give myself the creeps
Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I'm cracking up
Am I just paranoid?
Or am I just stoned?
09 Sassafras Roots (02:37)
Roaming 'round your house
Wasting your time
No obligation, just
Wasting your time
So why are you alone ?
Wasting your time
When you could be with me
Wasting your time
I'm a waste like you
With nothing else to do
May I waste your time too ?
Warding off regrets
Wasting your time
Smoking cigarettes
Wasting your time
I'm just a parasite
Wasting your time
Applying myself to
Wasting your time
well, I'm a waste like you
With nothing else to do
May I waste your time too ?
So why are you alone ?
Wasting your time
When you could be with me
Wasting your time
well, I'm a waste like you
With nothing else to do
May I waste your time too ?
May I waste your time too ?
May I waste your time too ?
May I waste your time too ?
10 When I Come Around (02:58)
Well, I heard you crying loud
All the way across town
'Cause you've been searching for that someone
And it's me out on the prowl
As you sit around feeling sorry for yourself
Well don't get lonely now
And dry your whining eyes
I'm just roaming for the moment
Sleazin' my backyard, so don't get
So uptight you've been thinking about ditching me
No time to search the world around
'Cause you know where I'll be found
When I come around
I heard it all before
So don't knock down my door
I'm a loser and a user
So I don't need no accuser
To try and slag me down because I know you're right
So go do what you like
Make sure you do it wise
You may find out that your self-doubt
Means nothing was ever there
You can't go forcing something if it's just not right
No time to search the world around
'Cause you know where I'll be found
When I come around
No time to search the world around
'Cause you know where I'll be found
When I come around
When I come around
When I come around
When I come around
11 Coming Clean (01:35)
== Seventeen and strung out on confusion
Trapped inside a roll of disillusion
I found out what it takes to be a man
Mom and Dad will never understand
Secrets collecting dust but never forget
Skeletons come to life in my closet
I found out what it takes to be a man
Mom and Dad will never understand
What's happening to me
Seventeen and COMING CLEAN for the first time
I finally figured out myself for the first time
I found out what it takes to be a man
Mom and Dad will never understand
What's happening to me
----
12 Emenius Sleepus (01:43)
I saw my friend the other day and I don't know
Exactly just what he became
It goes to show
It wasn't that long ago
I was just like you
And now I think I'm sick and
I wanna go home
How have I been, how have you been
It's been so long
What have you done with all your time
And what went wrong
I knew you back when
And you ... you knew me
And now I think you're sick
I wanna go home
Anybody ever say no?
Ever tell you that you weren't right?
Where did all the little kid go?
Did you lose it in a hateful fight?
And you know it's true
It wasn't that long ago
I was just like you
And now I think I'm sick and
I wanna go home
14 F.O.D. (04:08)
Something's on my mind
It's been for quite some time
This time I'm on to you
So where's the other face?
The face I heard before
Your head trip's boring me
Let's nuke the bridge we torched
2,000 times before
This time we'll blast it all to hell
I've had this burning in my guts now for so long
My belly's aching now to say
Stuck down in a rut of dilogic and smut
A side of you well hid
When it's all said and done it's real and it's been fun
But was it all REAL fun
Let's nuke the bridge we torched
2,000 times before
This time we'll blast it all to hell
I've had this burning in my guts now for so long
My belly's aching now to say
to say...
You're just a fuck
I can't explain it 'cause I think you suck
I'm taking pride
in telling you to fuck off and die
I've had this burning in my guts now
for so long
My belly's aching now to say
I'm taking pleasure in the doubts
I've passed to you
So listen up as you bite this
You're just a fuck
I can't explain it 'cause I think you suck
I'm taking pride
in telling you to fuck off and die
Good night
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Altre recensioni
Di ste84
"Dookie è la noia, la rabbia, il divertimento e la cattiveria di tre ragazzi."
"C’è un po' di Dookie in tutti noi!"
Di John
Questo album vale per il Punk come Thriller vale per il Pop.
"Basket Case" diede il successo mondiale ai Green Day e al Punk con il suo ritornello che si instaura in testa e a distanza di anni ti accorgi che non se ne sia andato ancora.
