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Secondo album della band di Louisville, Kentucky. Prima formazione. 2001.
Mi lascio sopraffare dalla calma piatta dell’estate. La casa vuota, i muri bollenti e le tapparelle socchiuse per cercare di mantenere il termometro sotto i venticinque gradi.
Cerco di nascondermi. Filtra comunque un pulviscolo di luce che annebbia la mia vista e mi sprofonda in un’altra dimensione.
Ancora qualche errore tecnico qua e là, non si capisce se veramente voluto o dovuto solamente alla rapidità delle registrazioni in presa diretta. Ma si riesce già ad intuire il gigantesco talento del frontman Jim James.
Un lavoro che ad oggi risulta da un lato un po’ datato, dall’altro invece anticipa tante piccole mode venute fuori solo una decina d’anni dopo, vedi tutta quella miriade di cantautori folk americani, chitarrina e voce, né carne né pesce.
Appena accennate le tastiere del nuovo arrivato Danny Cash.
Alcuni brani sono solo accennati, come “If It Smashes Down”, voce e banjo, bellissima. Probabilmente portavano con sé un qualche significato che per l’autore, poco più che vent’enne, era molto importante. Impossibili dunque da eliminare dalla tracklist.
Tutto il disco comunque sembra ancora alla ricerca di una vera band che supporti la creatività e sensibilità di James. Alla ricerca del proprio mojo insomma.
Ci sono anche canzoni più heavy, senza una precisa identità però. Come “Strangulation!”, che potrebbe facilmente appartenere a qualche lavoro del Neil Young più oscuro, l’influenza si sente ancora tanto.
Un album molto lungo (settantaquattro minuti, quasi un doppio), forse troppo lungo.
Poi però ad un certo punto accade qualcosa di strano, una perla di rara bellezza, “Hopefully”, e tutto diventa più nitido.
Adesso ho capito. Spero che tutto vada bene ecco… e se così non sarà, cercherò di tener duro fino alla fine.
Elenco tracce e testi
02 At Dawn (00:00)
at dawn they ride again, they'll haul you out to the streets.
They'll burn your papers and your empty trash cans,
beat this thought into your head, singin over and over again:
"all your life is obscene!"
"forget the papers, forget your musical dreams!"
but that's when my knife rises,
their life ends and my life starts again!
03 Lowdown (00:00)
lowdown, cheatin, aint no need for repeatin,
so love, dawg, cant ye see? That you never gotta fight with me.
Hurtin. Beatin. Aint no need for repeatin,
so love dawg cant ye see, that you never gotta bleed for me.
Chancing, glancing, sho nuff mood for romancing
so love dawg cant ye see that you only gotta dance with me.
04 The Way That He Sings (00:00)
why's it so strange when they say that the world's movin upwards?
Why's it surreal when my hands feel they cant roll the dice?
Why's it so great just to wake every day, alive and by your side.
It's a mystery I guess, there's lots of things I cant find.
Its not the way that you look, but your move that catches my eye.
Why's it so soft when the cannons unload on the others?
Why're we so loud when we say it wont happen to us?
Why does my mind blow to bits every time they play that song?
It's just the way that he sings,
not the words that he says, or the band.
I'm in love with this soul, it's a meaning that I understand.
05 Death Is The Easy Way (00:00)
some say, death is the easy way and I think they're right. Cause nights tick, by like a long week except when you stop by. And I know that tryin gets nothing done and I see you're about dry. Cause nothing gets you high, you're poor the day you die, and alcohol it only makes you tired. But seein you feels good, and its always understood. That anything much sweeter would make me die.
06 Hopefully (00:00)
I wont ask you where you're goin.
I wont ask you where you been.
I know after a million times you get sick of all my lines,
but I just wanna see you safe again.
Hopefully it occurs to me that there's one thing I cant stand.
That's the thought of a single day, without your head in my hand.
I know that just now I aint been showin,
the kind of love you know that I can.
So gimmie a little time and you'll be knowin your good lovin
baby is back on top again.
I always hoped you'd be showin,
and now you've shown as much as you can.
But after each time im still glowin
with a good lovin smile that's yours until the end.
07 Bermuda Highway (00:00)
sometimes I walk around town looking at faces
wonderin why their bodies go to silly places.
Walkin past the carpet mills looking in and takin stills,
your ass it draws me in like a Bermuda highway.
Oh, don't carve me out! Don't let your silly dreams,
fall in between the crack of the bed and the wall.
Two times I fell asleep in a dirty basement
snoozing in cobwebs and the cement.
Sometimes I wonder why that meek guy got all the fame,
maybe im to blame for his short bitter fucked up life.
14 Phone Went West (00:00)
is there a doctor in the house tonite?
If there's a wrong, he could make it right.
Is there still a lock on your front door?
Is there still a lock on yer back door?
Tell me im wrong, tell me im right.
Tell me there's nobody else in the world.
Tell me im wrong. Tell me im right.
Tell me there's nobody else in the world.
16 Hopefully (00:00)
I wont ask you where you're goin.
I wont ask you where you been.
I know after a million times you get sick of all my lines,
but I just wanna see you safe again.
Hopefully it occurs to me that there's one thing I cant stand.
That's the thought of a single day, without your head in my hand.
I know that just now I aint been showin,
the kind of love you know that I can.
So gimmie a little time and you'll be knowin your good lovin
baby is back on top again.
I always hoped you'd be showin,
and now you've shown as much as you can.
But after each time im still glowin
with a good lovin smile that's yours until the end.
18 Bermuda Highway (00:00)
sometimes I walk around town looking at faces
wonderin why their bodies go to silly places.
Walkin past the carpet mills looking in and takin stills,
your ass it draws me in like a Bermuda highway.
Oh, don't carve me out! Don't let your silly dreams,
fall in between the crack of the bed and the wall.
Two times I fell asleep in a dirty basement
snoozing in cobwebs and the cement.
Sometimes I wonder why that meek guy got all the fame,
maybe im to blame for his short bitter fucked up life.
19 Lowdown (00:00)
lowdown, cheatin, aint no need for repeatin,
so love, dawg, cant ye see? That you never gotta fight with me.
Hurtin. Beatin. Aint no need for repeatin,
so love dawg cant ye see, that you never gotta bleed for me.
Chancing, glancing, sho nuff mood for romancing
so love dawg cant ye see that you only gotta dance with me.
21 At Dawn (00:00)
at dawn they ride again, they'll haul you out to the streets.
They'll burn your papers and your empty trash cans,
beat this thought into your head, singin over and over again:
"all your life is obscene!"
"forget the papers, forget your musical dreams!"
but that's when my knife rises,
their life ends and my life starts again!
24 Phone Went West (00:00)
is there a doctor in the house tonite?
If there's a wrong, he could make it right.
Is there still a lock on your front door?
Is there still a lock on yer back door?
Tell me im wrong, tell me im right.
Tell me there's nobody else in the world.
Tell me im wrong. Tell me im right.
Tell me there's nobody else in the world.
Carico i commenti... con calma
