Lou era un tipo che il naso alla critica musicale (e pubblica) lo faceva storcere di proposito, nessun dubbio su questo.
Quel famoso e rumoroso Metal Machine Music di qualche anno prima -per alienare i propri fans- aveva già mostrato il suo lato più cazzaro (o liberal/artistico ?). Parliamoci chiaro, poteva permettersi questo e altro Lou. Lo stesso tizio che mandò a quel paese Andy Warhol alla vigilia delle registrazioni per il secondo album dei Velvet Underground una decade prima.
Così gli anni settanta di Reed terminano con l'incisione del dandyano The Bells. I compagni d'avventura -di tutto rispetto- sono
Nils Lofgren (qualche anno dopo entrerà a far parte della E Street Band del Bruce come chitarrista) che firma alcuni brani affiancando Lou alla scrittura;
Don Cherry, trombettista tra i più prolifici della sua razza nonché papà di Neneh e Eagle-Eye. Il nome di quest'ultimo signore dovrebbe essere inciso sulla cover dell'album accanto a quello del protagonista poiché è proprio Don a reggere, delineare l'intero delirante branco di brani.
Delirante, si. Non per la struttura degli stessi bensì per la nevrotica, parodistica interpretazione da parte di Lou.
The Bells è un album più fatto del suo autore; ha la consapevolezza (forse non troppa però) di scimmiottare quella fase storica di Dance Music imperante. Disco Mystic infatti, seconda traccia, è a tutti gli effetti una sorta di strumentale ripetitiva. Stupid Man apre le "danze" con un incedere Iggypoppiano che narra di un uomo a cui manca la figlia e che per svariati motivi non può far altro che lasciarsi andare alla malinconia dell'assenza. Poi saltano fuori With You e City Lights, ovvero due delle canzoni più bizzarre mai registrate e concepite. La prima ad un certo punto ripete Slow Down, Slow Down (cosa che pensi anche tu mentre l'ascolti) e la seconda vede il timbro di Reed calare vertiginosamente per un testo dedicato a Chaplin e alle sue disavventure politiche. La traccia omonima The Bells invece è improvvisata negli studi di Berlino, o almeno il testo, e presenta un'introduzione tetra, rarefatta e triste in tributo ad Edgar Allan Poe.
Ah, broadway only knows The great white milky way It had something to say When he fell down on his knees After soaring through the air With nothing to hold him there It was really not so cute To play without a parachute
In sostanza il disco è uno dei più bizzarri ed eccentrici esperimenti di Lou Reed, e qua e la le chiacchere in studio hanno un volume più alto di quello dei brani; ma il vizioso è stato anche questo, uno che non si prendeva troppo sul serio (a me sembra addirittura che quel mezzo ghigno sulla copertina ti stia prendendo per il culo).
Elenco tracce testi e video
03 I Want to Boogie With You (03:54)
Hey pretty baby
don't you think you might give me a chance
Get it on with me
go downtown for some love and romance
And I know I ain't nothing
I ain't worth but a thin dime
But if you put your heart in my hands
I'm sure that I could change your mind
I wanna boogie with you
Yeah, I wanna boogie with you
There's something, baby, that your parents
both agreed
And that is that they both had it
deep distrust for me
And your best friend Frankie
well I know your best friend Frankie, he wants to see me sink
And I don't much blame him for that
he gets so useless after so few drinks, you know, baby
I wanna boogie with you
I wanna boogie with you
Well I know your little baby sister
she thinks that I'm a flop
But I guess that you know that it's true
I spent more time at the bottom than the top
Tell your little sister
I know she wants to give me a whirl
But I don't have the time, baby
to wait till she's grown up and she's a woman, not a girl
Don't you know I wanna boogie with you
Hey, I wanna boogie with you
I wanna boogie with you
I wanna boogie with you, yeah
Boogie with you
Down on the corner
boogie with you, yeah
08 Families (05:57)
(How's the family)
(How's the family)
Mama, you tell me how's the family
And papa, tell me how thing's going by you
And little baby sister, I heard that you got married
And I heard that you had yourself a little baby girl, too
And here's some uncles and some cousins I know vaguely
And would you believe my old dog Chelsea's here, too
And would you believe nobody in this family
wanted to keep her
And now that dog's more of a part of this family
then I am, too
I don't come home much anymore
No-no-no I don't come home much anymore
Mama
And mama, I know how disappointed you are
And papa, I know that you feel the same way, too
And no-no-no-no-no I still haven't got married
And no-no-no there's no grandson planned here for you
And by the way, daddy tell me how's the business
I understand that your stock she's growing very high
No, daddy, you're not a poor man anymore
And I hope you'll realize that before you die
Because I don't come home much anymore
No-no-no-no-no I don't come home much no more
But daddy
And please-please-please-please-please
come on let's not start this business again
I know how much you resent the life that I have
But one more time, I don't want the family business
Don't want to inherit it upon the day that you die
Really, daddy should have given it to my sister
You know Elisabeth, you know Elisabeth
she has a better head for those things than I
She lives practically around the corner
That's really the kind of child you could be proud of
But papa, I know that this visit's a mistake
There's nothing here we have in common, except our name
And families that live out in the suburbs
Often make each other cry
And I don't think that I'll come home much anymore
No-no, I don't think I'll come home much again
Mama
Papa
Families
Often make each other cry
No, I don't think that I'll come home much anymore
(How's the families)
09 The Bells (09:18)
And the actresses relate
to the actor who comes home late
after the plays have gone down
and the crowds have scattered around
Though the city lights and the streets
no ticket could be beat
for the beautiful show of shows
ah, Broadway only knows
The great white Milky Way
it had something to say
when he fell down on his knees
after soaring through the air
With nothing to hold him there
it was really not so cute
to play without a parachute
as he stood upon the ledge
Looking out, he thought he saw a brook
And he hollered, Look, there are the bells
and he sang out, Here come the bells
Here come the bells, here come the bells
here come the bells
Here come the bells
here come the bells
Here come the bells
here come the bells
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