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Il terzo disco dei Love, band di Los Angeles capitanata dal talentuoso e eccentrico Arthur Lee, esce nel giugno del 1967, all’inizio della “Summer of Love”. Ma, a parte la concomitanza storica, poco condivide con altri dischi che fecero da colonna sonora a quell’estate, come “Surrealistic Pillow” dei Jefferson Airplane.
Inoltre Los Angeles non era San Francisco e la (contro)cultura hippie non fu l’influenza determinate per Lee e soci, almeno da quanto si desume dai testi delle canzoni. C’è poco o niente della retorica “peace & love” in questo disco, ma una strisciante inquietudine che si insinua qua e là negli arrangiamenti di archi, nelle voci sfasate che fanno capolino, nell’uso quasi nevrotico dei (pochi) fraseggi di chitarra elettrica.
Ciò che stupisce dell’album è la scelta dell’accompagnamento orchestrale utilizzato in molti brani, fra archi e trombe mariachi, le quali ben rispecchiano l’influenza della cultura chicana a Los Angeles. Il passo delle composizioni è sempre lento, a parte le più sostenute “A House is not a Motel” e “Bummer in the Summer”, e a volte sembra di perdersi nel tempo, in un tempo cristallizzato dove Lee si sofferma in estatica contemplazione, come in “Andmoreagain”. L’essere un’opera profondamente senza tempo - figlia degli anni ’60, ma allo stesso tempo fruibile appieno a più di trentacinque di distanza e quindi sempre attuale – è uno dei meriti maggiori di questo “Forever Changes”. Mai titolo è stato più profetico nel sintetizzare l’atemporalità e il fragile equilibrio di queste composizioni, equilibrio che di lì a poco verrà meno, minato dall’abuso di eroina, determinando la fine di questa line-up e in pochi anni del gruppo stesso.
“This is the time and life that i’m living, and i face each day with a smile”Elenco tracce testi e samples
01 Alone Again Or (03:18)
Yeah, said it's all right
I won't forget
All the times I've waited patiently for you
And you'll do just what you choose to do
And I will be alone again tonight my dear
Yeah, I heard a funny thing
Somebody said to me
You know that I could be in love with almost everyone
I think that people are
The greatest fun
And I will be alone again tonight my dear
Yeah, I heard a funny thing
Somebody said to me
You know that I could be in love with almost everyone
I think that people are
The greatest fun
And I will be alone again tonight my dear
02 A House Is Not a Motel (03:32)
At my house I've got no shackles
You can come and look if you want to
In the halls you'll see the mantles
Where the light shines dim all around you
And the streets are paved with gold and if
Someone asks you, you can call my name
You are just a thought that someone
Somewhere somehow feels you should be here
And it's so for real to touch
To smell, to feel, to know where you are here
And the streets are paved with gold and if
Someone asks you, you can call my name
You can call my name
I hear you calling my name yeah all right now
By the time that I'm through singing
The bells from the schools of wars will be ringing
More confusions, blood transfusions
The news today will be the movies for tomorrow
And the water's turned to blood, and if
You don't think so
Go turn on your tub
And it it's mixed with mud
You'll see it turn to gray
And you can call my name
I hear you call my name...
03 Andmoreagain (03:21)
And if you'll see Andmoreagain
Then you will know Andmoreagain
For you can see you in her eyes
Then you feel your heart beating
Thrum-pum-pum-pum
And when you've given all you had
And everything still turns out
Bad, and all your secrets are your own
Then you feel your heart beating
Thrum-pum-pum-pum
And I'm
Wrapped in my armor
But my things are material
And I'm
Lost in confusions
'Cause my things are material
And you don't know how much
I love you
Oh, oh, oh...
And if you'll see Andmoreagain
Then you might be Andmoreagain
For you just wish and you are here
Then you feel your heart beating
Thrum-pum-pum-pum
And I'm
Wrapped in my armor
But my things are material
And I'm
Lost in confusions
'Cause my things are material
And you don't know how much
I love you
Oh, oh, oh...
04 The Daily Planet (03:31)
In the morning we arise and
Start the day the same old way
As yesterday the day before and
All in all it's just a day like
All the rest so do your best with
Chewing gum and it is oh so
Repetitious
Waiting on the sun
Down on Go-stop Boulevard it
Never fails to bring me down
The sirens and the accidents and
For a laugh there's Plastic Nancy
She's real fancy with her children
They'll go far, she
Buys them toys to
Keep in practice
Waiting on the war
I feel shivers in my spine
When the iceman says his ice is melting
Won't be there on time
Hope he finds a rhyme
For his little mind
I can see you
With no hands (face)
Eyes I need you
You're my heart (face)
Look we're going round and round
07 Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale (03:35)
Verse 1:
What is happening and how have you been
Gotta go but I'll see you again
And oh, the music is so loud
And then I fade into the...
Verse 2:
Crowds of people standing everywhere
'Cross the street I'm at this laugh affair
And here they always play my songs
And me, I wonder if it's...
Verse 3:
Wrong or right they come here just the same
Telling everyone about their games
And if you think it obsolete
Then you go back across the street
Yeah, street, hey hey
Verse 4:
When I leave now don't you weep for me
I'll be back, just save a seat for me
But if you just can't make the room
Look up and see me on the...
Verse 5:
Moon's a common scene around my town
Here where everyone is painted brown
And if we feel that's not the way
Let's go paint everybody gray
Yeah, gray, yeah
08 Live and Let Live (05:27)
Oh, the snot has caked against my pants
It has turned into crystal
There's a bluebird sitting on a branch
I guess I'll take my pistol
I've got it in my hand
Because he's on my land
And so the story ended
Do you know it oh so well
Well should you need I'll tell you
The end-end-end-end-end-end-end-end
And...
Yes I've seen you sitting on the couch
I recognize your artillery
I have seen you many times before
Once when I was an Indian
And I was on my land
Why can't you understand
And so the story ended
Do you know it oh so well
Well should you need I'll tell you
The end-end-end-end-end-end-end-end
And...
Served my time
Served it well
You made my soul
Write the rules
In the sky
But ask your leaders
Why Why
Oh, the snot has caked against my pants
It has turned into crystal
There's a bluebird sitting on a branch
I guess I'll take my pistol
I've got it in my hand
Because he's on my land
And so the story ended
Do you know it oh so well
Well should you need I'll tell you
The end-end-end-end-end-end-end-end
And...
Served my time
Served it well
You made my soul
10 Bummer in the Summer (02:24)
Well I remember when you used to look so good
And I did everything that I possibly could for you
We used to ride around all over town
But they're puttin' you down for bein' around with me
But you can go ahead if you want to
'Cause I ain't got no papers on you
In the middle of the summer I had a job bein' a plumber
Just to pass till the fall it was you I wanna ball all day
Ah-we were walkin' along, honey, hand in hand
I'm a-thinkin' of you, mama, when you're thinkin' of another man
But you can go ahead if you want to
'Cause I ain't got no papers on you
(No, I don't I ain't got no papers on myself)
All alone on the bone when I didn't have a home
When I saw the way I was and I knew where I was supposed to be
I was twitchin' so I turned and it's really hard to learn
That everyone I saw was just another part of me
But you can go ahead if you want to
'Cause nobody's got no papers on you
(No, babe, it's just a falsehood)
11 You Set the Scene (06:49)
Where are you walking, I've seen you walking
Have you been there before?
Walk down your doorsteps, you'll take some more steps
What did you take them for?
There's a private in my boat and he wears
Pins instead of medals on his coat
There's a chicken in my nest and she won't
Lay until I've given her my best
At her request she asks for nothing
You get nothing in return
If you want she brings you water
If you don't then you will burn
You go through changes, it may seem strange
Is this what you're put here for?
You think you're happy and you are happy
That's what you're happy for
There's a man who can't decide if he should
Fight for what his father thinks is right
There are people wearing frowns who'll screw you up
But they would rather screw you down
At my request I ask for nothing
You get nothing in return
If you're nice she'll bring me water
If you're not then I will burn
This is the time and life that I am living
And I'll face each day with a smile
For the time that I've been given's such a little while
And the things that I must do consist of more than style
There are places that I am going
There'll be time for you to start all over
This is the only thing that I am sure of
And that's all that lives is gonna die
And there'll always be some people here to wonder why
And for every happy hello, there will be good-bye
There'll be time for you to put yourself on
Everything I've seen needs rearranging
And for anyone who thinks it's strange
Then you should be the first to want to make this change
And for everyone who thinks that life is just a game
Do you like the part you're playing
I see your picture
It's in the same old frame
We meet again...
You look so lovely
You with the same old smile
Stay for a while...
I need you so, oh, oh, oh, oh
And if you take it easy
I'm still teethin'
I wanna love you, but
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh...
This is the time and life that I am living
And I'll face each day with a smile
For the time that I've been given's such a little while
And the things that I must do consist of more than style
There are places that I am going
There'll be time for you to start all over
This is the time and this is the time and
It is time, time, time, time, time, time, time, time, time...
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Altre recensioni
Di Melissa
L’incantesimo che fece di questo disco un capolavoro sta nel sottile lavoro con il quale i Love riuscirono ad immettere ricami di flamenco su un tessuto sonoro rock.
Forever Changes è divenuto una pietra miliare del Rock, un’opera da sempre amata dagli appassionati dell’acid rock.
Di March Horses
«Forever Changes, dei californiani Love, è uno dei più grandi album della Storia della musica.»
«Arthur Lee pensava era convinto di morire ... questo doveva essere il suo personale requiem.»
