• Voto:
Su Debaser è recensito praticamente di tutto. Eppure salta agli occhi ogni tanto, tra 7(!!!) recensioni degli ultimi album di Oasis o Depeche Mode, l’assenza di nomi che hanno scritto pagine significative nella storia del pop. Una delle lacune più sorprendenti nell’archivio debaseriano credo sia quella relativa ai Pet Shop Boys.
Il duo formato da Neil Tennant e Chris Lowe non sfornò soltanto furbe istantanee dancey degli anni 80 come “West end girls” o “Domino dancing”, ma contribuì intelligentemente a plasmare l’estetica di quel decennio, e il modo in cui questa avrebbe esteso la sua influenza in senso post-moderno negli anni venire. Tale estetica si esprimeva sia nell’immaginario evocato dal duo – di solitudine e noia in mezzo all’ansia edonistica dell’era yuppie, nonché di emancipazione sessuale nell’Inghilterra thatcheriana – sia nel rendere appetibili alle masse le intuizioni dei vari Kraftwerk, rendendole organicamente dilatate. Si pensi in tal senso a un brano come “Dj Culture” o alla beffarda cover hi-nrg di “Where the streets have no name” degli U2.
Tale rivoluzione silenziosa venne portata avanti da una serie di singoli strepitosi, da “Rent” a “Left to my own devices”, che resero i Pet Shop Boys una delle band da singolo per eccellenza, come i Kinks o i T-rex. Non ci sono infatticapolavoro indiscutibili tra i vari album che Tennant e Lowe hanno realizzato nel corso degli anni, ma ci pare che “Behavior” sia quello che più sfiora la perfezione a 33 giri. Pubblicato nel 1990, mostrò in bella evidenza tutti gli elementi del sound che rese grandi i nostri. Le sontuose tessiture col sintetizzatore di Lowe, ora sinfoniche ora hi-nrg ( come da lezione Soft Cell), il pathos misurato del cantante Neil Tennant, un Morrissey altrettanto intelligente e ironico benché meno enfatico. L’approccio è però ben più ambizioso, organico e cerca palesemente di forgiare finalmente un album da registrare agli annali, come già tentato su “Actually”. In tal senso le prospettive stilistiche ampliano i propri orizzonti, con diverse partiture di pianoforte che soppiantano le tastiere e vi sono persino parti di chitarra (è ospite Sua Maestà Johnny Marr).
Di appetibile per i dancefloor c’è solo il numero alla Village People di “So hard”, il resto del disco scivola via su coordinate sonore inusitate, regalando una manciata di episodi memorabili. Esemplare in tal senso è “Jealousy”, in cui le tentazioni dance si infrangono su uno scintillante tappeto sonoro reminiscente del Bowie periodo “Rock ‘n’ roll suicide”. Eccellente è anche la cavalcata funk “How can you expect to be taken seriously?”, gustosa parodia delle varie “rockstar umanitarie” alla Bono e Sting, o la vena soul che avvolge “To face the truth” o una “Only the wind” la cui melodia – spogliata dalla scorza digitale – sembra uscita dalla penna del più grande soul man bianco conosciuto, Neil Young.
Ma il capolavoro di “Behavior” è certamente la struggente “Being boring”, a nostro avviso uno degli apici del pop di ogni tempo, grazie anche ad un videoclip che ha fatto epoca. E’ una commossa elegia di Tennant per un amico morto di Aids, nonché un affresco dolceamaro dell’Inghilterra negli anni verdi del cantante. Lowe è magistrale nel calibrare al meglio tastiere, chitarre e sintetizzatori in una miscela quasi morriconiana senza essere magniloquente, mentre Tennant fornisce la sua miglior performance di sempre, sussurrando frasi come “But I thought in spite of dreams /You’d be sitting somewhere here with me”. Migliore suggello agli anni 80 non poteva esserci, e di lì a poco sarebbe iniziato il declino della premiata ditta Lowe-Tennant.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Being Boring (06:50)
I came across a cache of old photos
And invitations to teenage parties
"Dress in white" one said, with quotations
From someone's wife, a famous writer
In the nineteen-twenties
When you're young you find inspiration
In anyone who's ever gone
And opened up a closing door
She said: "We were never feeling bored
'Cause we were never being boring
We had too much time to find for ourselves
And we were never being boring
We dressed up and fought, then thought: "Make amends"
And we were never holding back or worried that
Time would come to an end
When I went I left from the station
With a haversack and some trepidation
Someone said: "If you're not careful
You'll have nothing left and nothing to care for
In the nineteen-seventies"
But I sat back and looking forward
My shoes were high and I had scored
I'd bolted through a closing door
I would never find myself feeling bored
'Cause we were never being boring
We had too much time to find for ourselves
And we were never being boring
We dressed up and fought, then thought: "Make amends"
And we were never holding back or worried that
Time would come to an end
We were always hoping that, looking back
You could always rely on a friend
Now I sit with different faces
In rented rooms and foreign places
All the people I was kissing
Some are here and some are missing
In the nineteen-nineties
I never dreamt that I would get to be
The creature that I always meant to be
But I thought in spite of dreams
You'd be sitting somewhere here with me
'Cause we were never being boring
We had too much time to find for ourselves
And we were never being boring
We dressed up and fought, then thought: "Make amends"
And we were never holding back or worried that
Time would come to an end
We were always hoping that, looking back
You could always rely on a friend
And we were never being boring
We were never being bored
'Cause we were never being boring
We were never being bored
03 To Face the Truth (05:33)
(Tennant/Lowe)
--------------------
You know it hurts me when you lie
Sometimes it even makes me cry
'Cause I'm so in love with you
If you don't believe what I have said
Take a look, my eyes are red
'Cause I'm so in love with you
But all those sleepless nights in bed
When you've been out somewhere instead
I wonder if you care and cannot bear the proof
It hurts too much to face the truth
To face the truth
A lawyer with a case to prove
Would sift the evidence, then move
It's the only thing to do
So why then can't I face the facts?
Sift this evidence that backs
I am so in love with you
But all the nights when you have said
You must be somewhere else instead
I wonder where you go, but daren't expose the proof
It hurts too much to face the truth
To face the truth
To face the truth
You are the only one, the only one
You know it hurts me when you lie
Sometimes it even makes me cry
'Cause I'm so in love with you
If you don't believe what I have said
Take a look, my eyes are red
'Cause I'm so in love with you
But all the nights you don't show up
I know it's time I should grow up
I ask you if you care, you stand and stare aloof
It hurts too much to face the truth
To face the truth
To face the truth
07 So Hard (03:59)
I double-cross you
And you get mysterious mail
I've tried hard not to shock you
It's hard not to
With the things I could say
Tell me why
Don't we try
Not to break our hearts and make it so hard for ourselves
Why
Don't we try
Not to break our hearts and make it so hard for ourselves
You lock your letters in a box
And you've hidden the key
I go one better
I'm indebted
To a contact magazine
Tell me why
Don't we try
Not to break our hearts and make it so hard for ourselves
Why
Don't we try
Not to break our hearts and make it so hard for us
Everybody's got to live together
Just to find a little peace of mind there
If you give up your affairs forever
I will give up mine
But it's hard
So hard
I'm always hoping
You'll be faithful
But you're not, I suppose
We've both give up smoking
'Cause it's fatal
So whose matches are those
Tell me why
Don't we try
Not to break our hearts and make it so hard for ourselves
We make it so hard (it's so hard)
Tell me why
Don't we try
Not to break our hearts and make it so hard
Tell me why
Don't we try
Not to break our hearts and make it so hard for ourselves
Not to break our hearts and make it so hard for ourselves
We make it so hard for ourselves
We make it so hard
So hard
We make it so hard
08 Nervously (04:11)
(Tennant/Lowe)
------------
A nervous boy in several ways
I never knew the world could operate this way
I was nervous when we stopped to speak
And the world came crashing around my feet
We don't talk of love
We're much too shy
But nervously we wonder when and why
A nervous boy, in spite of which
I never thought I could tremble as much as this
Your flashing eyes and sudden smiles
Are never quite at ease, and neither am I
Oh, we'll talk about it all some night
But nervously we never get it
Right
From the start I approved of you
Right from the moment you turned to face me
A nervous boy from another town
With a nervous laugh and a concentrated frown
I spoke too fast with watchful eyes
Of a recent past and some nostalgic surprise
We don't talk of love
We're much too shy
But nervously we wonder when and
Smile
Knowing why I approved of you
Right from the moment you turned to face me
A nervous boy
10 Jealousy (04:50)
At dead of night, when strangers roam
The streets in search of anyone who'll take them home
I lie alone, the clock strikes three
And anyone who wanted to could contact me
At dead of night, 'til break of day
Endless thoughts and questions keep me awake
It's much too late
Where've you been?
Who've you seen?
You didn't phone when you said you would!
Do you lie?
Do you try
To keep in touch? You know you could
I've tried to see your point of view
But could not hear or see
For jealousy
I never knew time passed so slow
I wish I'd never met you, or that I could bear to let you go
At dead of night, 'til break of day
Endless thoughts and questions keep me awake
It's much too late
Where've you been?
Who've you seen?
You didn't phone when you said you would!
Do you lie?
Do you try
To keep in touch? You know you could
I've tried to see your point of view
But could not hear or see
For jealousy
Where've you been?
Who've you seen?
You didn't phone when you said you would!
Do you lie?
Do you try
To keep in touch? You know you could
I've tried to see your point of view
But could not hear or see
For jealousy
Where've you been?
Who've you seen?
You didn't phone when you said you would!
Do you lie?
Do you try
To keep in touch? You know you could
I've tried to see your point of view
But could not hear or see
For jealousy
Where've you been?
Who've you seen?
You didn't phone when you said you would!
Do you lie?
Do you try
To keep in touch? You know you could
I've tried to see your point of view
But could not hear or see
For jealousy
I never knew 'til I met you
11 It Must Be Obvious (04:25)
(Tennant/Lowe)
---------------
Are you feeling alright?
It's easy, we've been there before
But it feels like the flight
Of the von Trapps, does that mean it's war?
Oh no,
From my head to my toes
I'm in love with you
Do you think it shows?
We're meant to be friends
That's what it says in the script
Is it really the end
If, sometimes, I stray just a bit?
Oh no,
It should be poetry, not prose
I'm in love with you
Do you think it shows?
And everyone knows when they look at us
'Course they do, it must be obvious
I never told you, now I suppose
That you're the only one who doesn't know
You were different when
We met in an ordinary way
I didn't intend
To interrupt your own shadowplay
Oh no,
I won't upset the status quo
I'm in love with you
Do you think it shows?
And everyone knows when they look at us
'Course they do, it must be obvious
You've never asked me, and I'm surprised
That you're the only one who hasn't tried
Everyone knows when they look at us
'Course they do, it must be obvious
I never asked you, now I suppose
That you're the only one who doesn't know
Aah
When they look at us
It must be obvious
Oooh
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Altre recensioni
Di Abraham
"La tristezza è la colonna portante, il comune denominatore di 'Behaviour'"
"Rilassatevi, coricatevi, guardate il soffitto. È possibile che anche voi vi permeiate a 'Behaviour'"
