• Voto:
Michael Holbrook Penniman, detto Mika, non è stato saggio nella scelta del genere da interpretare.
Artisti pop come lui, infatti, sono spesso sopravalutati (ma non nel suo caso) dai major e dal pubblico, ma sempre sottovalutati dalle riviste indipendenti e dai critici. Mika, infatti, è pop, senza sottogeneri, e si avvicina non poco alla disco e al glam degli anni '80 in puro stile Jake Shears, leader degli Scissor Sisters. Ma andiamo con ordine.
L'album è pubblicato il 5 febbraio 2007 e contiene 11 tracce che si spostano tra i pezzi dance piu sfrenati alle ballate suonate interamente al piano. Al primo ascolto si è accompagnati nell'atmosfera da "Grace Kelly", primo singolo che consacra il talento del giovane artista inglese. "Grace Kelly" è magnifica: allegra, divertente, pulsante, con un videoclip che lo celebra alla perfezione in cui i costumi e i muri di colori sgargianti che non fanno che accentuare il sound di questa canzone, assolutamente irresistibile. Cercare di ascoltare "Grace Kelly" senza ballare è una tortura, impossibile non ricavarne nemmeno un sorriso. Si procede poi con "Lollipop" e il ritmo non cambia. Allegra, veloce, quasi infantile, spinge chi la ascolta ad alzarsi in piedi e a saltare. "My Interpretation" fa rimpiangere a chiunque di non essere un artista: catapulta l'ascoltatore sul palco di un festival, come se davanti a lui vi fossero migliaia di persone, dietro il vuoto ed avesse la forza di abbattere qualsiasi barriera solo con la potenza della sua voce. Grandissimo pezzo al piano anche questo, allegro e vivace. Si prosegue con "Love Today" e da qui in poi si entra nella parte "dance" del disco. Le note gravi del piano fungono da batteria e un coro di voci femminili sì innalza da qualche parte nelle casse. Sicuramente uno dei migliori pezzi del disco. E il tono forse cala con "Relax (Take It Easy)", dove si abbandona il pop e sì tocca l'house più autentica e sfrenata e anche il videoclip legato a questa traccia ne accentua l'atmosfera da discoteca con delle donne che ballano su cubi concentrici multicolore.
"Any Other World" poi funge quasi da filo conduttore tra questo macchia di house e il resto del disco. Suonata al piano, lenta e malinconica, come una pausa dall'allegria che fino ad allora aveva pervaso il disco. Subito dopo ecco che si riparte con "Billy Brown", altra traccia da ammirare. Il ritmo non è dei migliori ma sicuramente anche questo porta a "dondolare con il capo", senza mezzi termini, è questo che si fa sentendo questa canzone. Abbiamo poi "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)", ottava traccia del disco ma che ancora mostra la presenza accentuata di influenze dance nel disco, veloce e dinamica, anche questa con sottofondo di qualche nota di piano. "Stuck in the Middle" è molto simile a "My Interpretation", suonata al piano ed è un vero pugno dello stomaco, come se Mika volesse dire "se non è piaciuto l'album non sono affari miei" perchè anche qui il tono non cala, stessa vivacità, stesso movimento. Ma Mika mostra la sua bravura in "Happy Ending", dimostrando di saper dare ritmo e vivacità anche ad un pezzo lento come questo: un coro femminile accompagna la voce di Mika, rigorosamente in falsetto. Quattro minuti e trenta secondi di musica da ascoltare ad occhi chiusi, lasciandosi cullare.
Il disco contiene poi due tracce extra: "Ring Ring", ballata pop che non ha nulla da invidiare a "Love Today" e "Over My Shoulder", sicuramente il pezzo più lento dell'album, interamente al piano.
E' un ottimo disco, sono presenti dei cali tra una traccia e l'altra ma nel complesso non annoia ed è piacevole da ascoltare. Mika continuerà sicuramente la sua carriera di cantante, anche se sicuramente non ha iniziato una rivoluzione. Non rappresenta il nuovo Freddie Mercury, seppure la loro voce sia molto simile. Eppure 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. Il sintetizzatore, diffusissimo nelle canzoni di successo ai giorni nostri, è inesistente (o quasi). Quindi bisogna riconoscere a questo artista, di origini libanesi, il coraggio di essere un'isola pop in un oceano rap.
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...
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 ilpanes
Colpa mia perché mi sono lasciato trasportare da un entusiasmo quasi infantile di fronte al miracolo di "Grace Kelly".
E’ solo la solita musica!
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 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."
