Scrivo queste righe con un po' di risentimento… Colpa mia, lo so, colpa mia perché mi sono lasciato trasportare da un entusiasmo quasi infantile di fronte al miracolo di "Grace Kelly", il magnifico singolo che proprio in questi giorni sta impazzando su ogni stazione radiofonica e su ogni canale televisivo. Non capita tutti i giorni di notare una canzone nel perpetuo flusso di note troppo scontate che l'industria dello spettacolo ci somministra ogni giorno, e così, colpa mia, sono diventato un immediato fan di Mika, il ventitreenne d'origini libanesi che dovrebbe resuscitare il pop!

Risentimento, dicevo… Eh già, perché l'ascolto di questo "Life In Cartoon Motion" si è rivelato una doccia d'acqua fredda, tiepida a voler essere buoni.

Non fraintendetemi, non intendo con questo dire che si tratti di cattiva musica, tutt'altro: il disco suona come un buon prodotto di pop allegro e assolutamente non noioso, ben cantato, ben suonato, ben scritto.
Ma, appunto, c'è il presentimento che di prodotto si tratti… Ed è una sensazione che, dalla seconda traccia in avanti, torna, a intermittenza tra alcune effettive buone idee, decisamente troppe volte.

La ricetta è buona, ma se in cucina far distinguere il sapore dei vari ingredienti è un pregio con la musica il risultato varia…

- Una manciata abbondante di Scissor Sisters per piacere agli americani, di solito tanto ostili nei confronti dei prodotti inglesi: quindi abili falsetti ben piazzati ("Love Today"), attitudine al disco-revival (la base di "Relax, Take It Easy" è una "citazione" di "Died In Your Arms" dei Cutting Crew) e, perché no, qualche spudorata scopiazzatura (il giro di piano di "Stuck In The Middle" è davvero troppo simile a uno dei primi successi dei colleghi newyorkesi, una certa "Laura").

- Un cucchiaino di Robbie Williams d'annata (nella ballad "My Interpretation") e un cucchiaino di Robbie Williams novello (nella rudeboxiana "Big Girl").

- Per sottolineare il sapore british (e magari diventare Sir Mika) azzardiamo un pizzico di Beatles ("Billy Brown") e una passata generale nello stile di Elton John.

- Il tutto, tassativo per essere considerato un genio, spruzzato con una "quasi-overdose" di giochi canori alla Freddie Mercury (praticamente ovunque).

Probabilmente questo giovane cantante venderà tante copie da non doversi preoccupare di ripetere la fatica con un secondo album (un anno è Andreas Johnson, un anno è James Blunt), niente di male per carità. Se in più si pensa all'imminente ritorno di Britney Spears viene davvero spontaneo innalzare Mika a grande musicista, ma… ahimé… nessuna rivoluzione in atto…

E' solo la solita musica!

Elenco tracce testi samples e video

01   Grace Kelly (03:08)

''(I wanna talk to you.)

(The last time we talked, Mr. Smith, you reduced me to tears. I promise you it won't happen again.)''

Do I attract you?
Do I repulse you with my queasy smile?
Am I too dirty?
Am I too flirty?
Do I like what you like?

I could be wholesome
I could be loathsome
I guess I'm a little bit shy
Why don't you like me?
Why don't you like me without making me try?

I try to be like Grace Kelly
But all her looks were too sad
So I try a little Freddie
I've gone identity mad

I could be brown
I could be blue
I could be violet sky
I could be hurtful
I could be purple
I could be anything you like
Gotta be green
Gotta be mean
Gotta be everything more
Why don't you like me?
Why don't you like me?
Why don't you walk out the door?

''(Getting angry doesn't solve anything.)''

How can I help it?
How can I help it?
How can I help what you think?
Hello my baby
Hello my baby
Putting my life on my brink

Why don't you like me?
Why don't you like me?
Why don't you like yourself?
Should I bend over?
Should I look older just to be put on your shelf?

I try to be like Grace Kelly
But all her looks were too sad
So I try a little Freddie
I've gone identity mad

I could be brown
I could be blue
I could be violet sky
I could be hurtful
I could be purple
I could be anything you like
Gotta be green
Gotta be mean
Gotta be everything more
Why don't you like me?
Why don't you like me?
Walk out the door

Say what you want to satisfy yourself
But you only want what everybody else says you should want
You want

I could be brown
I could be blue
I could be violet sky
I could be hurtful
I could be purple
I could be anything you like
Gotta be green
Gotta be mean
Gotta be everything more
Why don't you like me?
Why don't you like me?
Walk out the door

I could be brown
I could be blue
I could be violet sky
I could be hurtful
I could be purple
I could be anything you like
Gotta be green
Gotta be mean
Gotta be everything more
Why don't you like me?
Why don't you like me?
Walk out the door

''(Humphrey. We're leaving.)''

Ka-ching!

02   Lollipop (03:03)

Hey, what's the big idea?

Yo Mika.

I said,
sucking too hard on your lollipop,
hey love's gonna get you down,
I said,
sucking too hard on your lollipop,
or love's gonna get you down.

Sucking too hard on your lollipop,
or love's gonna get you down,
sucking too hard on your lollipop,
or love's gonna get you down.
Say love, say love,
or love's gonna get you down.
say love, say love,
or love's gonna get you down.

I went walking with my mama one day,
when she warned me what people say;
live your life until love is found,
'cause love's gonna get you down.
Take a look at the girl next door,
she's a player and a down right bore,
Jesus loves her, she wants more,
oh bad girls get you down.

Singing,
Sucking too hard on your lollipop,
or love's gonna get you down,
sucking too hard on your lollipop,
or love's gonna get you down.
Say love, say love,
or love's gonna get you down.
say love, say love,
or love's gonna get you down.

Mama told me what I should know,
too much candy gonna rot your soul,
if she loves you, let her go,
'cause love only gets you down.
Take a look at the boy like me,
never stood on my own two feet,
now I'm blue, as I can be,
or love come get me down.

Singing,
sucking too hard on your lollipop,
or love's gonna get you down,
sucking too hard on your lollipop,
or love's gonna get you down.
Say love, say love,
or love's gonna get you down.
say love, say love,
or love's gonna get you down.

I went walking with my mama one day,
when she warned me what people say,
live your life until love is found,
or love's gonna get you down.

Singing,
sucking too hard on your lollipop,
or love's gonna get you down,
sucking too hard on your lollipop,
or love's gonna get you down.
Say love (say love), say love (say love),
or love's gonna get you down.
say love (say love), say love (say love),
or love's gonna get you down.

Mama told me what I should know,
too much candy gonna rot your soul,
if she loves you, let her go,
'cause love only gets you down.

Whoa-oh, whoa-oh, whoa-oh, lollipop.
Whoa-oh, whoa-oh, whoa-oh, lollipop.

Sucking too hard on your lollipop,
or love's gonna get you down,
say,
sucking too hard on your lollipop,
hey love's gonna get you down

03   My Interpretation (03:35)

You talk about life, you talk about death,
And everything in between,
Like it's nothing, and the words are easy.
You talk about me, and you talk about you,
And everything I do,
Like it's something, that needs repeating.

I don't need an alibi to offer you to realize,
The things we left unsaid,
Are only taking space up in our head.
Make it my fault, win the game
Point the finger, place the blame
It does me up and down,
It doesn't matter now.

[chorus]
'Cause I don't care if I ever talk to you again.
This is not about emotion,
I don't need a reason not to care what you say,
Or what happened in the end.
This is my interpretation,
And it don't, don't make sense.

The first to wish turn into ten,
I hold my breath and wonder when it'll happen,
Does it really matter?
If half of what you said is true,
And half of what I didn't do could be different,
Would it make it better?
If we forget the things we know.
Would we have somewhere to go?
The only way is down, I can see that now.

[chorus]

It's really not such a sacrifice.

[chorus]
If I never talk to you again,
This is not about emotion,
I don't need a reason not to care what you say,
Or what happened in the end.
This is my interpretation,
And it don't, don't make sense.

And it don't have to make no sense to you at all,
'Cause this is my interpretation, yeah, yeah, yeah.

04   Love Today (03:55)

Doom da da di da di Doom da da di da di

Everybody's gonna love today,
Gonna love today, gonna love today.
Everybody's gonna love today, gonna love today.
Anyway you want to, anyway you've got to,
Love love me, love love me, love love.

I've been crying for so long,
Fighting tears just to carry on,
But now, but now, it's gone away.

Hey girl why can't you carry on, (carry on)
Is it 'cause you're just like your mother, (like your mother)
A little tight, like to tease for fun, (tease for fun)
Well you ain't gonna tease no other,
Gonna make you a lover.

Everybody's gonna love today,
love today, love today.
Everybody's gonna love today,
Anyway you want to, anyway you've got to,
Love love me, love love me, love love.

Girl with a groove with the big bust on,
Big bust on, big bust on.
Wait till your mother and your papa's gone,
Papa's gone
Momma, momma papa, shock shock me,
Shock shock me, shock shock.

Everybody's gonna love today,
Gonna love today, gonna love today
I said,
Everybody's gonna love today, gonna love today,
Anyway you want to, anyway you've got to,
Love love me, love love me, love love.

Carolina sits on '95,
Give her a dollar and she'll make you smile.
Hooker, book her, nook her, walk away!


Carrie dresses like a kid for fun, (kid for fun)
Licks her lips like there's something on them, (something on them)
Tries to tell you life has just begun, (just begun)
But you know she's getting something other
Than the love from her mother


Everybody's gonna love today,
Love today, love today
Everybody's gonna love today,
Anyway you want to, anyway you've got to,
Love love me, love love me, love love.

Girl with a groove with the big bust on,
Big bust on, big bust on.
Wait till your mother and your papa's gone,
Papa's gone; momma, momma papa, shock shock me,
Shock shock me, shock shock.


I said,
Everybody's gonna love today,
Gonna love today, gonna love today
I said,
Everybody's gonna love today,
Gonna love today,
Anyway you want to, anyway you've got to,
Love love me, love love me, love love.


Doom da da di da di Doom da da di da di Doom da da di da di Doom da da di da di.....


Everybody's gonna love today,
Gonna love today, gonna love today
Everybody's gonna love today,
Gonna love today,
Anyway you want to, anyway you've got to,
Love love me, love love me, love love.

Doom da da di da di Doom da da di da di Doom da da di da di Doom da da di da di.....

05   Relax (Take It Easy) (03:45)

Took a ride to the end of the line
Where no one ever goes.
Ended up on a broken train with nobody I know.
But the pain and the longing's the same.
When you’re dying
Now I’m lost and I’m screaming for help alone.

Relax, take it easy
For there is nothing that we can do.
Relax, take it easy
Blame it on me or blame it on you.

It’s as if I’m scared.
It’s as if I’m terrified.
It’s as if I’m scared.
It’s as if I’m playing with fire.
Scared.
It’s as if I’m terrified.
Are you scared?
Are we playing with fire?

Relax
Love
There is an answer to the darkest times.
It’s clear
we don’t understand it but the last thing on my mind
Is to leave you.
I believe that we’re in this together.
Don’t scream – there are so many roads left.

Relax (Love), take it easy
For there is nothing that we can do.
Relax, take it easy
Blame it on me or blame it on you.

Relax, take it easy
For there is nothing that we can do.
Relax, take it easy
Blame it on me or blame it on you.

Relax, take it easy
For there is nothing that we can do.
Relax, take it easy
Blame it on me or blame it on you.

Relax, take it easy
For there is nothing that we can do.
Relax, take it easy
Blame it on me or blame it on you.

It’s as if I’m scared.
It’s as if I’m terrified.
It’s as if I’m scared.
It’s as if I’m playing with fire.
Scared.
It’s as if I’m terrified.
Are you scared?
Are we playing with fire?

Relax
Relax

06   Ring Ring (03:37)

I was sitting on the fence
and I thought that I would kiss you
I never thought I would have missed you
but you never let me fall
push my back against the wall
everytime you call, you get so emotional
I'm freaking out

(Chorus)
Ring Ring
Is that you on the phone
you think you're clever
but you never saying nothing at all
hey hey
the way you spin me around
you make me busy when you play me like a kid with a crown

You got a dangerous obsession
now I'm in need of some protection
that was never my intention
used to love me, now you hate me
say I drove you crazy
well if I did, you made me
wont somebody save me, from you now

(Chorus)
Ring Ring
Is that you on the phone
you think you're clever
but you never saying nothing at all
hey hey
the way you spin me around
you make me busy when you play me like a kid with a crown

It' words I wanted
until you blasted
why wont you leave me alone
hang up the phone
just let me go

(Chorus) x 2
Ring Ring
Is that you on the phone
you think you're clever
but you never saying nothing at all
hey hey
the way you spin me around
you make me busy when you play me like a kid with a crown

Ring Ring x 3

07   Any Other World (04:19)

In any other world
You could tell the difference
And let it all unfurl
Into broken remenances

Smile like you mean it
And let yourself let go

Cos' it's all in the hands
Of a bitter bitter man
Say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in

Take a bow, play the part
Of a lonely lonely heart
Say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in
To the world you thought you lived in...

I tried to live alone
But lonely is so lonely alone
So human as I am
I had to give up my defences

So I smiled and tried to mean it
To let myself let go

Cos it's all in the hands
Of a bitter bitter man
Say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in

Take a bow, play the part
Of a lonely lonely heart
Say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in
To the world you thought you lived in...

Cos it's all in the hands
Of a bitter, bitter man
Say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in

Take a bow, play the part
Of a lonely lonely heart
Say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in
To the world you thought you lived in...

Say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in
Say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in

Say goodbye...

In any other world
You could tell the difference

[Spoken]
"I never ever, I forget my story.
My face is not sad, but inside, I am sad."

08   Billy Brown (03:15)

Oh Billy Brown had lived an ordinary life
Two kids, a dog, and then a cautionary wife
While it was all going accordingly to plan
Then Billy Brown fell in love with another man

He met his lover almost every single day
Making excuses for his dodgy holidays
Unto religion that he said he'd newly found
They didn't know that his faith was earthly bound

Brown...Oh Billy Brown
Don't let the stars get you down
Don't let the waves let you drown
Brown...Oh Billy Brown
Gonna pick you up like a paper cup
Gonna shake the water out of every nook
Oh Billy Brown

Oh Billy Brown needed a place, somewhere to go
He found an island off the coast of Mexico
Leaving his lover and his family behind
Oh Billy Brown needed to find some peace of mind

And on his journey and his travels on the way
He met a girlie who was brave enough to say
When they made love he shared the burden of his mind
"Oh Billy Brown you are a victim of the times."

Brown...Oh Billy Brown
Don't let the stars get you down
Don't let the waves let you drown
Brown...Oh Billy Brown
Gonna pick you up like a paper cup
Gonna shake the water out of every nook
Oh Billy Brown

Brown.....Oh Billy Brown
Gonna pick you up like a paper cup
Gonna shake the water out of every nook
Oh Billy Brown

Oh Billy Brown had lived an ordinary life
Two kids, a dog, and then a cautionary wife
While it was all going accordingly to plan
Then Billy Brown fell in love with another man

09   Big Girl (You Are Beautiful) (04:08)

Big girl you are beautiful

Walks in to the room
Feels like a big balloon
I said, 'Hey girls you are beautiful'
Diet coke and a pizza please
Diet coke I'm on my knees
Screaming 'Big girl you are beautiful'

You take your skinny girl
Feel like I'm gonna die
'Cause a real woman
Needs a real man here's why

You take your girl
And multiply her by four
Now a whole lotta woman
Needs a whole lot more

Get yourself to the Butterfly Lounge
Find yourself a big lady
Big boy come on round
And they'll be calling you baby

No need to fantasize
Since I was in my braces
A watering hole
With the girls around
And curves in all the right places

Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful

Walks in to the room
Feels like a big balloon
I said, 'Hey girls you are beautiful'
Diet coke and a pizza please
Diet coke I'm on my knees
Screaming 'Big girl you are beautiful'

You take your girl
and multiply her by four
Now a whole lotta woman
Needs a whole lot more

Get yourself to the Butterfly Lounge
Find yourself a big lady
Big boy come on round
And they'll be calling you baby

No need to fantasize
Since I was in my braces
A watering hole
With the girls around
And curves in all the right places

Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful

Get yourself to the Butterfly Lounge
Find yourself a big lady
Big boy come on round
And they'll be calling you baby

No need to fantasize
Since I was in my braces
A watering hole
With the girls around
And curves in all the right places

Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Oh you are beautiful

Get yourself to the Butterfly Lounge
Find yourself a big lady
Big boy come on round
And they'll be calling you baby

No need to fantasize
Since I was in my braces
A watering hole
With the girls around
And curves in all the right places

Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Oh you are beautiful

Get yourself to the Butterfly Lounge
Find yourself a big lady
Big boy come on round
And they'll be calling you baby

No need to fantasize
Since I was in my braces
A watering hole
With the girls around
And curves in all the right places

Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girls you are beautiful
Big girl you are beautiful

10   Stuck in the Middle (04:09)

I sit and think about the day that you're gonna die,
'Cause your wrinkled eyes betrayed the joy with which you smiled.
Care to see my reason?
Care to put your life in mine?
Looking at life from the perspective of a boy
Who's learnt to love you but has also learned to grow.
Could we make it better, stormy weather,
So I dunno.

Oh, oh, oh - Is there anybody home?
Who will believe me, won't deceive me, who'll try to teach me?
Ah, ah, ah - Is there anybody home?
Who wants to have me, just to love me?
Stuck in the middle.

I look at you,
You look at me,
We bite each other.
And with your bitter words you kick me in the gutter.
But my troops are bigger than yours
'Cause you'll never stand my fight.
Ours is a family that's based upon tradition
But with my careless words I tread upon your vision.

Are five kids better than one, who'd doesn't like to be gone?

Oh, oh, oh - Is there anybody home?
Who will believe me, won't deceive me, who'll try to teach me?
Ah, ah, ah - Is there anybody home?
Who wants to have me, just to love me?
Stuck in the middle.
Yea...Yea...Yea...

This is to my name,
This ain't a pretty plan to break your heart of me.
I know that what I've started means that when we have parted
I can live in Honesty

Oh, oh, oh - Is there anybody home?
Who will believe me, won't deceive me, who'll try to teach me?
Ah, ah, ah - Is there anybody home?
Who wants to have me, just to love me?
Stuck in the middle,
Stuck in the middle,
Stuck in the middle,
Stuck in the middle

11   Erase (03:39)

I shouldn't have called so late last night, all insecure, out of my mind. I shoulda never left that message on your phone. I shouldn't have said the things I said, looking for love we left for dead in a grave, without a stone. As soon as you hear my voice, don't hesitate, put your finger on the button... Erase! My love. I bet you can't erase! My touch. You're trying to replace, a feeling without a name, with somebody's face! In your head! Everything's cool, your rent is paid; the house is clean, your bed is made. But it's a ghost town in your mind. We never had time to go to sleep, we'd wake up tangled in the sheets, on a bed, that we called home. When the pain won't go away, you might as well, put your finger on the trigger... Erase! My love. I bet you can't erase! My touch. You're trying to replace, a feeling without a name, with somebody's face! In your head! Erase! Erase! My love. I bet you can't erase! My touch. You're trying to replace, a feeling without a name, with somebody's face! In your head! Erase! Erase! You're trying to replace, a feeling without a name, with somebody's face! In your head! Erase!... Ohohoh...

12   Your Sympathy (03:18)

13   Happy Ending / Over My Shoulder (12:54)

This is the way you left me,
I'm not pretending,
No hope, no love, no glory,
No happy ending

This is the way that we love,
Like it's forever,
Then live the rest of our life,
Both not together

Wake up in the morning,
Stumble on my life,
Can't get no love without sacrifice,
If anything should happen,
I guess I wish you well,
Mmm a little bit of heaven,
But a little bit of hell

This is the hardest story,
that I have ever told,
No hope, or love, or glory,
Happy endings gone forever more
I feel as if I'm wasting,
And I'm waste'in every day

This is the way you left me,
I'm not pretending,
No hope, no love, no glory,
No happy ending

This is the way that we love,
Like it's forever,
Then live the rest of our life,
Both not together

Too black in the morning,
Someone's on my mind,
Cant get no rest,
Keep walking around,
If I pretend that nothing ever went wrong,

I can get to my sleep
I can dream now and just carry on?

This is the hardest story,
that I have ever told,
No hope, or love, or glory,
Happy endings gone forever more,
I feel as if I'm wasting,
And I'm waste'in every day,

Oh I feel as if I'm wasting,
And I'm waste'in every day,

(This is the way you left me,
Im not pretending,
No hope, no love, no glory,
No happy ending

This is the way that we love,
Like it's forever,
Then live the rest of our life,
Both not together)

A little bit of love

Little bit of love (repeated)


Oh I feel as if I'm wasting,
And I'm waste'in every day

This is the way you left me,
I'm not pretending,
No hope, no love, no glory,
No happy ending

This is the way that we love,
Like it's forever,
Then live the rest of our life,
Both not together

This is the way you left me,
I'm not pretending,
No hope, no love, no glory,
No happy ending

This is the way that we love,
Like it's forever,
Then live the rest of our life,
Both not together

This is the way you left me,
I'm not pretending,
No hope, no love, no glory,
No happy ending

-----------------------------------

Over my shoulder, running away,
Feels like I'm falling, losing my day.

Cold, and dry,
Cold, and dry.

Fog out my daylight, torture my night.
Feels like I'm falling, far out of sight.

Cold,

Drunk,

Tired,

Lost.


Over my shoulder, running away,
Feels like I’m falling, losing my way.

Cold dry,
Cold and dry.

Fog out my daylight, torture my night.
Feels like i'm falling, far out of sight.

Cold,
Drunk,
Cold and drunk.

Carico i commenti...  con calma

Altre recensioni

Di  GrantNicholas

 "Mika è oggettivamente il fenomeno pop del 2007."

 "Più che il nuovo Freddie Mercury siamo di fronte al (possibile) nuovo George Michael."


Di  Nalia

 "Cercare di ascoltare 'Grace Kelly' senza ballare è una tortura, impossibile non ricavarne nemmeno un sorriso."

 "La grandezza di Mika sta nell'avere registrato e pubblicato un pezzo pop senza influenze nella musica Rap o R'n'B come spesso succede oggi."


Di  andrew1992

 "Il cantante di origini libanesi mostra di avere un grande talento, sia vocale... sia compositivo."

 "Un pop gioviale, fresco e generalmente ben fatto, con buoni episodi alternati a ingenuità."