Come si sa, la famiglia è importante. È tutto nella vita. È quel porto sicuro dove si attracca quando il mare è in tempesta, dove ci si rifugia nei momenti di difficoltà.
A metà anni Novanta, l’oceano che lambiva le coste della California e di Berkeley in particolare, era particolarmente agitato. I Green Day erano reduci dal grande successo di “Dookie” e da quello tiepido di “Insomniac”, comunque consacrati al pubblico planetario e in piena ascesa come band. Il successo travolgente, il cambio di prospettiva e la stanchezza hanno fatto il resto, gettando i nostri in una profonda crisi d’identità. Il tour europeo troncato, una vagonata di ansia, parecchio alcol e infine il crollo.
E qui arriva la famiglia. Durante la pausa di riflessione al cospetto del focolare domestico, Billie Joe, Mike e Tré non sono comunque rimasti con le mani in mano. Mentre sbocciava la consapevolezza e la maturità si allungava sulle eclettiche personalità del trio, sono venute alla luce tre dozzine di tracce.
Esattamente due anni dopo l’ultima pubblicazione, il 10 ottobre 1997 esce “Nimrod”, il quinto album in studio.Sempre su Reprise Records e sempre in compagnia del mentore del gruppo, Rob Cavallo.
Ancora un cambiamento, ancora una sostanziosa dose di rischio da assumere, “Nimrod”era anche questo.
Questo disco è la cosa più lontana da un concept album e dalla definizione di punk puro, anche al cospetto della variante californiana del genere. Ogni traccia è una realtà indipendente, seppur tratti temi divenuti ormai una sorta di imprinting della band. Questo quinto lavoro nasce con lo scopo di rompere i vincoli tipici del punk rock, pur mantenendo la rotta. Il songwriting, sempre affidato ad Armstrong, è come al solito di qualità. Si spazia e lo si fa parecchio. “King for a Day” è un pezzo ska punk, con la sua sezione di fiati, “Last Ride In” ha influenze surf rock.“Hitchin’ a Ride” si apre con il violino mediorientale di Petra Haden dei That Dog, guidata da un eclettico basso che la rende una traccia tipicamente rock’n’roll, strizzando l’occhio al rockabilly. “Worry Rock” è stata affiancata dalla critica a pezzi di Elvis Costello e i riff di “Redundant” richiamano le chitarre suonate in pezzi storici dei Byrds. Non manca neppure il punk più scatenato con “Platypus (I Hate You)”, a tratti devastante nei riff e nel drumming.
C’è anche la ballata, “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”, divenuta marchio di fabbrica con il passare degli anni. Avrebbe dovuto fare parte della tracklist di “Dookie” ma venne scartata al tempo, perché poco pertinente con il filo conduttore dell’album. Un pizzicato romantico guida la voce di Billie Joe, che intona un testo malinconico dedicato al fallimento della sua prima importante relazione. La protagonista dei fatti narrati è la stessa ragazza che ha ispirato “She” (Dookie), “Whatshername” (American Idiot) e “Amanda” (Tré!). Stranamente e se vogliamo incomprensibilmente, la gentil donzella non ha nulla a che fare con la storica consorte di Armstrong, Adrienne Nesser.
Come accennato prima, questo disco tratta temi più riflessivi e maturi rispetto ai lavori precedenti. Billie Joe Armstrong si concentra sulla paternità e sul ruolo di marito. Con “The Grouch”, un po’ in controtendenza ma a titolo di riflessione, si affronta la paura di invecchiare, di ingrassare, addirittura di diventare impotente e di perdere i propri ideali. Con “Walking Alone” il pensiero vira sulle amicizie perdute con il passare del tempo o di quelle che potrebbero svanire per colpa della poca attenzione.
Essendo il contenuto della tracklist altamente eterogeneo, si passa in un attimo dalla riflessione al cazzeggio, come il punk effettivamente vorrebbe.
E allora “Nice Guys Finish Last”, la scanzonata opening, torna ad affrontare il tema del successo e dell’arroganza delle figure che manovrano l’industria della musica. “Jinx” e “Prosthetic Head” sono puro cazzeggio e con i testi autoironici ci ricordano che i Green Day non hanno comunque intenzione di prendersi troppo sul serio.
Il titolo dell’album fa riferimento a un personaggio della Bibbia, un cacciatore, ma lo scopo del rimando è tutt’altro che nobile. Il termine “Nimrod”, infatti, viene utilizzato dagli americani per dare dello stupido, facendo riferimento più che altro all’omonimo cacciatore protagonista dei Looney Tunes, Elmer Fudd, soprannominato sarcasticamente così da Bugs Bunny.
La copertina è stata realizzata da Chris Bilheimer, grafico amico di Armstrong, che aveva già creato alcune cover per i R.E.M. Bilheimer si era ispirato ad alcuni manifesti elettorali che aveva visto girando per la città. I volti dei candidati erano stati strappati, come a voler privare i soggetti nella fotografia della loro identità. Che in definitiva è proprio ciò che vogliono trasmettere le diciotto tracce che compongono la tracklist.
La storia narra che “Nimrod” debuttò tra luci e ombre. Il tour promozionale partì con una rivolta popolare negli spazi della Tower Records di Manhattan, durante l’esibizione live del primo firmacopie. I Green Day non gradirono le critiche feroci mosse dalla stampa del settore, che li accusava di aver perso l’anima punk. Critiche riprese poi da parte delle millequattrocento persone presenti all’evento. La questione si chiuse con il lancio di una grancassa sul pubblico da parte di Cool e con la tentata emulazione del gesto da parte di Armstrong, stavolta con un monitor. Epilogo evitato solamente grazie al provvidenziale intervento del direttore del negozio. Ciò non dissuase comunque Billie Joe, che si congedò dalla Tower Records solamente dopo aver imbrattato le vetrine del negozio con scritte varie, tra le quali “Fuck” e “Nimrod”. Realtà o finzione a scopo commerciale?
Ai posteri l’ardua sentenza.
La versione pubblicata l’anno scorso, in occasione dei venticinque anni dell’album, contiene una demo, “Irritate Me”, inizialmente scartata dalla tracklist originale e una cover di “Allison” di Elvis Costello, insieme a trenta tracce bonus e versioni live.
“Nimrod” è l’ennesimo disco di rottura, che ha tolto ai Green Day una buona fetta di seguaci ma ha fatto guadagnare loro nuovi consensi e una nuova fanbase. È anche un lavoro coraggioso e maturo, eterogeneo e molto potente. Con Dookie e Insomniac forma un trittico granitico per l’attività della band nel loro primo decennio di musica. E ha indubbiamente scavato un profondo solco, che lo si voglia riconoscere oppure no.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Nice Guys Finish Last (02:49)
Nice guys finish last
You're running out of gas
Your sympathy will get you left behind
Sometimes you're at your best, when you feel the worst
Do you feel washed up, like piss going down the drain
Pressure cook and bake my brain and tell me I'm insane
I'm so fucking happy I could cry
Every joke can have it's truth and now the joke's on you
I never knew you were such a funny guy
Oh nice guys finish last, when you are the outcast
Don't pat yourself on the back, you might break your spine
Living on command
You're shaking lots of hands
Kissing up and bleeding all your trust, taking what you need
Bite the hand that feeds
You kill your memory and you' got no shame
Pressure cook and bake my brain and tell me I'm insane
I'm so fucking happy I could cry
Every joke can have it's truth and now the joke's on you
I never knew you were such a funny guy
Oh nice guys finish last, when you are the outcast
Don't pat yourself on the back, you might break your spine
Oh nice guys finish last, when you are the outcast
Don't pat yourself on the back, you might break your spine
Ooh!
Oh nice guys finish last, when you are the outcast
Don't pat yourself on the back, you might break your spine
Oh nice guys finish last, when you are the outcast
Don't pat yourself on the back, you might break your spine
02 Hitchin' a Ride (02:51)
Hey mister, where you headed?
Are you in a hurry?
I need a lift to happy hour
I say oh no
Do you brake for distilled spirits?
I need a break as well
The well that inebriates the guilt.
1, 2
1, 2, 3, 4
Cold turkeys getting stale, tonight I'm eating crow
Fermented salmonella poison oak no.
There's a drought at the fountain of youth, and I'm dehydrating
My tongue is swelling up, I say
1, 2
1, 2, 3, 4
Troubled times, you know I can not lie
I'm off the wagon and I'm hitchin' a ride
There's a drought at the fountain of youth, and I'm dehydrating
My tongue is swelling up,
I say SHIT!
(guitar solo)
Troubled times, you know I can not lie
I'm off the wagon and I'm hitchin' a ride
(No, no way!) Hitchin' a ride
(No, no way!) Hitchin' a ride
(No, no way!) Hitchin' a ride
(No, no way!) Hitchin' a ride
(No, no way!) Hitchin' a ride
(No, no way!) Hitchin' a ride
(No, no way!) Hitchin' a ride
Take one for the road trip!
03 The Grouch (02:12)
I was a young boy that had big plans
Now I'm just another shitty old man
I don't have fun and I hate everything
The world owes me so fuck you
Glory days don't mean shit to me
I drank a six pack of apathy
Life's a bitch and so am I
The world owes me so fuck you
Wasted youth and a fistful of ideals
I had a young and optimistic point of view
Wasted youth and a fistful of ideals
I had a young and optimistic point of view
I've decomposed yet my gut's getting fat
Oh my God, I'm turning out like my Dad
I'm always rude, I've got a bad attitude
The world owes me so fuck you
The wife's a nag and the kids fucking up
I don't have sex 'cause I can't get it up
I'm just a grouch sitting on the couch
The world owes me so fuck you
Wasted youth and a fistful of ideals
I had a young and optimistic point of view
Wasted youth and a fistful of ideals
I had a young and optimistic point of view
I am I am
I was a young boy that had big plans
Now I'm just another shitty old man
I don't have fun and I hate everything
The world owes me so fuck you
Glory days don't mean shit to me
I drank a six pack of apathy
Life's a bitch and so am I
The world owes me so fuck you
The world owes me so fuck you
The world owes me so fuck you
The world owes me so fuck you
04 Redundant (03:17)
We're living in repetition
Content in the same old shtick again
Now the routine's turning to contention
Like a production line going over and over and over
Roller coaster
Now I cannot speak, I lost my voice
I'm speechless and redundant
'Cause I love you is not enough
I'm lost for words
Choreographed and lack of passion
Prototypes of what we were
Went full circle 'til I'm nauseous
Taken for granted now
Now I waste it, I faked it, I ate it, now I hate it
'Cause I cannot speak, I lost my voice
I'm speechless and redundant
'Cause I love you is not enough
I'm lost for words, now I cannot speak
Now I cannot speak, I lost my voice
I'm speechless and redundant
'Cause I love you is not enough
I'm lost for words
Now I cannot speak, I lost my voice
I'm speechless and redundant
'Cause I love you is not enough
I'm lost for words
05 Scattered (03:02)
Well I've got some scattered pictures lying on my bedroom floor
Reminds me of the times we shared
Makes me wish that you were here
Now it seems I've forgotten my purpose in this life
All the songs have been erased
Guess I've learned from my mistakes
Open the past and present now and we are there
Story to tell and I am listening
Open the past and present and the future too
It's all I've got and I'm giving it to you
Loose ends tied in knots leaving a lump down in my throat
Gagging on a souvenir
Lodged to fill another year
Drag it on and on until my skin is ripped to shreds
Leaving my self open wide
Living out a sacrifice
If you got no one and I got no place to go
Would it be alright? Could it be alright?
09 Uptight (03:04)
I woke up on the wrong side of the floor.
Made made my way through the front door.
Broke my engagement with myself.
Perfect picture of bad health,
Another notch scratched on my belt.
The future just ain't what it used to
be.
I got a new start on a dead end road.
Peaked.
Peaked out on reaching new lows,
Owe.
I paid off all my debts to myself.
Perfect picture of bad health,
Another notch scratched on my belt.
The future's in my living room.
Uptight, I'm a nag with a gun,
All night, suicide's last call.
I've been uptight all night.
I'm a son of a gun
Uptight, I'm a nag with a gun.
11 Jinx (02:12)
I fucked up again it's all my fault
So turn me around and face the wall
Read me my rights and tell me I'm wrong
Until it gets into my thick skull
A slap on the wrist
A stab in the back
Torture me, I've been a bad boy
Nail me to the cross until you have won
I lost before I did any wrong
I'm hexed with regrets and bad luck
Keep you distance 'cause it's rubbing off
Or you will be darned to spend your life in heck
Or earth with me tangled at your feet
You finally met you nemesis disguised as your fatal long lost love
So kiss it good bye
Until death do we part
You fell for a jinx for crying out loud
12 Haushinka (03:25)
Haushinka is a girl with a peculiar name.
I met her on the eve of my birthday.
Did she know?
Did she know, before she went away?
Does she know?
Does she know?
But its too damn late
This girl has gone far away.
Now she's gone.
This girl has gone far away.
Now she's gone.
This girl has gone far away.
Now she's gone.
This girl has gone far away.
Now she's gone.
Now she's gone.
Now she's all gone.
All I have now is a memory to date.
A cheap hat and cigarettes, and a peculiar name.
I didn't know. I didn't know, before she went away.
I know now. I know now, and it's too damn late.
This girl has gone far away.
Now she's gone.
This girl has gone far away.
Now she's gone.
This girl has gone far away.
Now she's gone.
This girl has gone far away.
Now she's gone.
Now she's gone.
Now she's all gone.
Will she ever find her way?
I'm too damn young to be too late, but am I?
Yet again I'm kicking myself, and I'll be here in battle scars,
Waiting for you.
Waiting for you now.
This girl has flown far away.
Now she's gone.
This girl has flown far away.
Now she's gone.
This girl has flown far away.
Now she's gone.
This girl has flown far away.
Now she's gone.
Now she's gone.
Now she's all gone.
14 Reject (02:05)
Who the hell are you to tell me what I am
And what's my master plan
What makes you think that it includes you?
Self-righteous wealth
Stop flattering yourself
So when the smoke clears here I am
Your reject all-American
Sucking up you social sect
Making you a nervous wreck
To hell and back and hell again I've gone
You're not my type
Not my type
What's the difference between you and me?
I do what I want, and you do what you're told
So listen up and shut the hell up
It ain't no big deal
And I'll see you in hell
So when the smoke clears here I am
Your reject all-American
Falling from grace, right on my face
To hell and back and hell again I've gone
16 King for a Day (03:13)
Started at the age of 4.
My mother went to the grocery store.
Went sneaking through her bedroom door to find something in a size 4.
Sugar and spice and everything nice wasn't made for only girls.
GI Joe in panty hose is making room for the one and only.
King for a day, princess by dawn.
King for a day in a leather thong.
King for a day, princess by dawn.
Just wait 'til all the guys get get a load of me.
My daddy threw me in therapy.
He thinks I'm not a real man.
Who put the drag in the drag queen.
Don't knock it until you tried it.
Sugar and spice and everything nice wasn't made for only girls.
GI Joe in panty hose is making room for the one and only.
King for a day, princess by dawn.
King for a day in a leather thong.
King for a day, princess by dawn.
Just wait 'til all the guys get get a load of me.
(instrumental break)
Sugar and spice and everything nice wasn't made for only girls.
GI Joe in panty hose is making room for the one and only.
King for a day, princess by dawn.
King for a day in a leather thong.
King for a day, princess by dawn.
King for a day in a leather thong.
King for a day, princess by dawn.
King for a day in a leather thong.
King for a day, princess by dawn.
Just wait 'til all the guys
Just wait 'til all the guys
Just wait 'til all the guys get get a load of me.
17 Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) (02:34)
Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time
It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right
I hope you had the time of your life
So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind
Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial
For what it's worth it was worth all the while
It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right
I hope you had the time of your life
It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right
I hope you had the time of your life
It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right
I hope you had the time of your life
18 Prosthetic Head (03:38)
I see you, down in the front line.
Such a sight for sore eyes, you're a suicide makeover.
Plastic eyes, lookin' through a numbskull.
Self-effaced, what's his face.
You erased yourself so shut up.
You don't let up.
You have a growth that must be treated
Like a severed severe pain in the neck.
You can smell it but you can't see it.
No explanation identified 'cause you don't know.
You don't say.
And you got no reply.
Hey you, where did you come from?
Got a head full of lead, you're a inbred bastard son.
All dressed up, red blooded, Amannequin
Do or die, no reply, don't deny that you're synthetic.
You're pathetic.
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di ste84
Nimrod: 18 tracce per un album che supera di gran lunga il famosissimo Dookie.
La vera perla sta nella semplicità di 'Time Of Your Life', in quegli archi che fanno accapponare la pelle!
Di SandydeiNovanta
Ammettiamolo, ormai sono un gruppo per ragazzine totalmente incapaci di comprendere o lontanamente intuire il concetto del rock.
Questo è pop-punk, ed è ormai triste che, al giorno d’oggi, gruppi come i Doors, Hawkwind, Velvet Underground, Led Zeppelin non esistano più.
