Che c'entra mai il blues con l'Irlanda, dico io? Cosa fu questa mania tutta anni ottanta di mescere il celtico con l'afro, la brughiera coi campi di cotone, la birra col whiskey? Solo una questione di mode? E così gli U2 tiravano fuori pezzi all'americana, la O'Connor impazzava con un lentone di Prince, gli scozzesi Waterboys prendevano la cittadinanza musicale irlandese con quello che era del pescatore si, ma era pur sempre Blues...
Nel 1988 esordiva un'altra stramba formazione (non certo i Pogues, comunque), pronta a rimescolare le carte da poker dentro a un mazzo da scopette da villa comunale. In questo disco vi cimenterete con un predicatore poprock, vi imbatterete nel suo gospel scatenato ("I'm Sorry") anche se maledirete gli anni '80 perché il brano è troppo keyboard-driven; batterete il piede col rhythm and blues ("Love Don't Walk This Way" e "Feet On The Ground"); vi ungerete grazie ad un pinzimonio blues, come nello specifico gli Hothouse Flowers fanno per la loro ballad "Forgiven". Fin qui, inevitabilmente, v'è la sensazione d'essere alle prese con qualcosa di già visto, già sentito, assimilato millenni orsono, la cui aggiunta del famoso pesto alla dublinese non ce lo fa passare per pietanza nuova. E' blues, è spiritual, è nero.
Lasciano però interdetti (la pietanza, se ti stupiusce, ti piace o no?) i sermoni irish di questi predicatori allucinati: a metà strada tra il fondamentalismo tutto irlandese e l'esuberanza del pastore d'una chiesetta di campagna nel Tennessee, Liam Ó Maonlaí e la sua band abbinano ritornelli da Radio MotherMary a brani dalla struttura epico-celtica, su cui nel finale innestano sassofoni e cori spiritual; propongono pezzi con un incipit quasi sempre parlato, manco fossero tutte "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love", insomma uniscono tutto ciò "che non accomuna" le due lande in brani che seguono comunque un trend cominciato anni orsono da altra gente e da altri conterranei.
E' questo l'album dell'interlocutorio esordio per la più famosa band di buskers in quegli anni in Irlanda. Buskers perché forse, non saprei dire per suonare, ma per le strade di Dublino si predica meglio che nei pubs.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 I'm Sorry (03:36)
This song tells exactly how, when I was, while I was
Sitting back on my deep pile reclining chair
Thinking about my life and all the good things that happened
Well it just came to mind to me that
Yeah came to mind to me that
I ain't been treatin her too bad...too well too well
No I been pushin' her 'round
And you know
There comes a time in every mans life when he's got to
Look over his misdemeanours, misgivings, misfortunes and
Miss Whatever her name is ha ha
I'm sorry I'm sorry
Yeah and say you're sorry, so I say, I'm sorry
'Cos I been telling you lies, standing on your face
I been making you cry all over the place Lord
I should have known (known) should've known better
Well I could not phone (phone) but I could
I'm sorry
You know I'm crazy sorry sorry sorry baby
I think it's time I realised get down on my knees
And apologise
Oh Lord
I didn't know when I hurt you
I didn't know when you cried
I didn't know when you screamed Lord
I didn't know when you stopped to cry
I didn't know when you called
I didn't know when you hurt
I didn't know sweet Mama
I didn't know I should
I am
I'm sorry
05 Hallelujah Jordan (03:07)
Hallelujah Jordan he went to the nearest bar
He ordered whiskey and soda
See how far he'd get to forgetting her
Yeah
Hallelujah Jordan went to the nearest bar
He ordered whiskey and soda
See how far he'd get to forgetting her
Yeah
He met her at an all night cafe
And they sat all night drinking coffee and talking
A and they found they had a lot in common
And later on they went back to his place and they sat 'till dawn
Laughing, talking yeah
They found they had a lot in common
He was young
He had a young spirit
They could have kissed all night
And he knew that he loved her yeah
He was young
He had a young spirit
They could have kissed all night
And he knew that he loved her yeah
But now you'll find Hallelujah Jordan
In some unknown late bar
Trying to tell strange folks his secrets and his problems yeah
Yeah you'll find Hallelujah Jordan in a late bar the ghetto
Wine stains on his belly and oh he'll tell ya...
How she was flattered by a smart young man
He drove a fast car and ooh ooh she want it
Hallelujah Jordan you can tell me your secrets
You can tell me your problems
I think I know what you mean...
Hallelujah Jordan you can tell me your secrets
You can tell me your problems
I think I know what you mean...
Now Hallelujah loves the bottle more brittle than her body
More brittle than the heart she'd broken yeah...
Now Hallelujah loves the bottle more brittle than her body
More brittle than the heart she'd broken yeah...
Hallelujah left this town
The next drink he had he drowned oh
Finally drowned his sorrows yeah
07 The Older We Get (04:45)
As a child touching age we think that it's so
That life love and everything is easy to know
The old, they can't reach us,
Their ways are not ours
Though the furrowed our futures
Our freedom they bore
The older we get the further we see
The more we mean to each other
The more you mean to me
I believe in these people
I believe in this age
Though I hear about torment in lifes lonely page
Yet still we walk strong
We'll remember we're free
For the truth we are given
For what we believe
The older we get the further we see
The more we mean to each other
The more you mean to me
I have searched out the answers
To the mysteries the laws
Though still I find barriers
Yet still I would fall
But I struggle on
The truth that I seek
But I must remain strong
For the lonely the weak the weak the old
The older we get the further we see
The more we mean to each other
The more you mean to me
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