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E' dopo un certo lasso di tempo che Sarah McLachlan decide di pubblicare il suo nuovo album in studio nel 2003. Dopotutto, è una cantautrice che si è sempre presa i suoi tempi, tranquilla e rilassata come la musica che compone. Nel frattempo, dal precedente "Surfacing" sono accaduti pochi ma significativi eventi. La nascita di sua figlia, come è successo ad altre cantanti della sua risma (vedi Tori Amos), ha addolcito ancor di più il suo sound già posato di per sé. La morte della madre, altro evento cardine di una cantante (pseudo)femminista, approfondisce l'introspezione psicologica che già permeava le sue canzoni. Infine, già si avvertono le avvisaglie di un rapporto coniugale difficile, che naufragherà anni dopo.
Perché soffermarsi sugli aspetti biografici di questa cantante? Perché i testi delle canzoni ne sono la trascrizione fedele. Il filo conduttore è quello del fallimento, dell'amore stentato, del senso di colpa e della speranza intravista all'orizzonte. Un orizzonte illuminato dalla tetra luce del crepuscolo (Afterglow, per l'appunto), che lascia confidare in una prossima alba. Le parole delineano dunque lo stato interiore di Sarah, sorrette come sempre da una capacità interpretativa fuori dal comune. La sua voce riesce a valorizzare la sostanza di ogni parola con una pronuncia che indugia su ogni suono. Una voce modulata in infinite varianti, dal tono sommesso e sussurrato all'accenno di pianto, fino a rapide impennate dalle sfumature quasi celtiche. Una voce dalle connotazione quasi teatrali che rende vive le parole.
Per quanto riguarda l'aspetto più propriamente musicale, ci troviamo di fronte a un lavoro molto omogeneo, che forse manca in parte del brio dei suoi primi lavori (come dimenticare l'acerbo ma superbamente evocativo Touch?), ma che ci rende l'immagine di una donna adulta e consapevole. Il folk la fa da padrone, con aggraziate chitarre acustiche e rapidi arpeggi di pianoforte. Il tutto è però condito da un uso calibrato dell'elettronica, come nell'intro del singolo Fallen o nel sintetizzatore pulsante che fa da sottofondo a World on fire, oppure ancora nei violini sintetici di Stupid. Si prosegue con Drifting, la quale sviluppa le sfumature celticheggianti mai abbandonate da Sarah, con rimandi alla musica di Enya. Gli elementi folk spiccano in maniera più chiara in Push o in Perfect girl, dalla melodia lineare ma avvolgente.
A proposito di linearità, le canzoni di Sarah appaiono sempre molto fluide a un primo ascolto. Tuttavia, vi è bisogno di più tempo per esplorarle più in profondita, scoprendo quanto in realtà siano sofisticate. Accade così per la delicata Answer, sorretta da un pianoforte quasi essenziale e per Time, dove l'elettronica torna a ricreare un sottofondo sfumato ed evanescente. Infine, l'album si chiude con l'amara Dirty little secret, dando gli ultimi ritocchi all'atmosfera dimessa e di penombra di cui l'album è intriso, una canzone che suona come una patita accusa a sé stessa per gli errori commessi, una sommessa richiesta di aiuto e di perdono.
Si chiude così Afterglow, dopo poco più di 40 minuti di ascolto. Sufficienti, a dire la verità, per un sound che alla lunga potrebbe annoiare per la sua omogeneità (ma non ripetitività). 40 minuti di relax allo stato puro, ma anche di riflessione e di struggimento.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Fallen (03:47)
Heaven bend to take my hand
And lead me through the fire
Be the long awaited answer
To a long and painful fight
Truth be told I tried my best
But somewhere 'long the way
I got caught up in all there was to offer
And the cost was so much more than I could bear
Though I've tried I've fallen
I have sunk so low
I messed up
Better I should know
So don't come 'round here and
Tell me I told you so
We all begin with good intent
When love was raw and young
We believe that we can change ourselves
The past can be undone
But we carry on our back the burden time always reveals
In the lonely light of morning
In the wound that would not heal
It's the bitter taste of losing everything
That I've held so dear
I've fallen
I have sunk so low
I messed up
Better I should know
So don't come 'round here and
Tell me I told you so
Heaven bend to take my hand
I've nowhere left to turn
I'm lost to those I thought were friends
To everyone I know
Oh they turn their heads embarrassed
Pretend that they don't see
That it's one missed step one slip before you know it
And there doesn't seem a way to be redeemed
Though I've tried I've fallen
I have sunk so low
I messed up
Better I should know
So don't come 'round here and
Tell me I told you so
I messed up
Better I should know
So don't come round here and
Tell me I told you so
02 World on Fire (04:22)
Hearts are worn in these dark ages
You're not alone in this story's pages
The light has fallen amongst the living and the dying
And I'll try to hold it in
Yeah I'll try to hold it in
The world's on fire
It's more than I can handle
Tap into the water
Try and bring my share
Try to bring more
More than I can handle
Bring it to the table
Bring what I am able
I watch the heavens but I find no calling
Something I can do to change what's coming
Stay close to me while the sky is falling
I don't wanna be left alone.. don't wanna be alone
The world's on fire
It's more than I can handle
Tap into the water
Try and bring my share
Try to bring more
More than I can handle
Bring it to the table
Bring what I am able
Hearts break, hearts mend
Love still hurts
Visions clash, planes crash
Still there's talk of
Saving souls, still the cold
is closing in on us
We part the veil on our killer sun
Stray from the straight line on this short run
The more we take the less we become
The fortune of one man means less for some
The world's on fire
It's more than I can handle
Tap into the water
Try and bring my share
Try to bring more
More than I can handle
Bring it to the table
Bring what I am able
03 Stupid (03:23)
Night lift up the shades
let in the brilliant light of morning
but steady there now
for i am weak and starving for mercy
sleep has left me alone
to carry the weight of unravelling where we went wrong
it's all i can do to hang on
to keep me from falling
into old familiar shoes
how stupid could i be
a simpleton can see
that you're not good for me
but you're the only one i see
love has made me a fool
it set me on fire and watched as i floundered
unable to speak
except to cry out and wait for your answer
but you come around in your time
speaking of fabulous places
create an oasis
dries up as soon as you're gone
you leave me here burning
in this desert without you
chorus
everything changes
everything falls apart
can't stop to feel myself losing control
but deep in my senses i know
chorus
chorus again
04 Drifting (03:23)
Drifting Sarah McLachlan Album: Afterglow
You've been gone so long
All that you know has been shuffled aside
As you bask in the glow
Of the beautiful strangers that whisper your name
Do they fill up the emptiness?
Larger than life is your fiction
In a universe made up of one
You have been drifting for so long
I know you don't want to come down
Somewhere below you there's people who love you
And they're ready for you to come home,
please come home
Walk in a room and the world stops to stare
Mesmerized all who are caught in the glare
Of the spotlight that follows wherever you go,
Does it light up the emptiness?
Larger than life is your fiction
In a universe made up of one
You have been drifting for so long
I know you don't want to come down
Somewhere below you there's people who love you
And they're ready for you to come home
please come home
05 Train Wreck (04:36)
Would your love in all its finery
tear at the darkness all around me
until I can feel again
until I can breathe again
'Cause I'm a train wreck waiting to happen
waiting for someone to come pick me up off the tracks
a wild fire born of frustration
born of the one love that gets me so high
I've no fear at all
Would your eyes like midnight fireflies
light up the trenches where my heart lies
until I can see again
to find my way back again
Chorus
To fall so deep into you
lose myself completely
in your sweet embrace
all my pains erased
From your mouth its all that I wish
the mercy of your lips just one kiss
until I can breathe again
so that I can sing again
chorus
06 Push (03:55)
Everytime i look at you
The world just melts away
All my troubles, all my fears
Dissolve in your affection
You see me at my weakest
But you take me as i am
When i fall you offer me a softer place to land
You stay the course, you hold the line
Keep it all together
You're the one true thing i know i can believe in
You're all the things that i desire
You save me, complete me
You're the one true thing i know i can believe in
I get mad so easy
But you give me room to breathe
No matter what i say, you'll do
Because you're too good to fight about it
Even when i have to push
Just to see how far you'll go
You wont stoop down to battle but
You never turn to go
You stay the course, you hold the line
Keep it all together
You're the one true thing i know i can believe in
You're all the things that i desire
You save me, complete me
You're the one true thing i know i can believe in
Love is just the antidote
Nothing else can cure me
There are times I cant decide
When i cant tell up from down
You make me feel less crazy
Otherwise I'd drown
But you pick me up and brush me off
You tell me I'm okay
Sometimes thats just what we need
To get us through the day
Chorus
07 Answer (03:57)
I will be the answer
At the end of the line
I will be there for you
While you take the time
In the burning of uncertainty
I will be your solid ground
I will hold the balance
If you can't look down
If it takes my whole life
I won't break, I won't bend
It'll all be worth it
Worth it in the end
'Cause I can only tell you what I know
That I need you in my life
When the stars have all gone out
You'll still be burning so bright
Cast me gently
Into morning
For the night has been unkind
Take me to a
A Place so holy
That I can wash this from my mind
The memory of choosing not to fight
If it takes my whole life
I won't break, I won't bend
It'll all be worth it
Worth it in the end
'Cause I can only tell you what I know
That I need you in my life
When the stars have all burned out
You'll still be burning so bright
Cast me gently
Into morning
For the night has been unkind
09 Perfect Girl (04:43)
Am I faithful, am I strong, am I good enough to belong
in your reverie a perfect girl
Your vision of romance is cruel and all along I played the fool
all you expectations bury me
Chorus:
Don't worry you will find the answer if you let it go
give yourself some time to falter
But don't forgo knowing that you're loved no matter what
and everything will come around in time
I own my insecurities I try to own my destiny
That I can make or break it if I choose
But you take my words and twist them 'round
'til I'm the one who brings you down
Make me feel like I'm the one to blame for all of this...
Chorus
You need everybody with you on your side
Know that I am here for you but I hope in time
You'll find yourself alright alone
You'll find yourself with open arms
You'll find yourself you'll find yourself in time
The riot in my heart decideds to keep me open and alive
I have to take myself away from you
'cause I can't compete I can't deny there's nothing that I didn't try
how did I go wrong in loving you
Chorus
10 Dirty Little Secret (03:56)
If I had the chance, love
I would not hesitate
To tell you all the things I never said before
Don't tell me it's too late
''Chorus:''
Cause I've relied on my illusions
To keep me warm at night
But I denied in my capacity to love
I am willing, to give up this fight
I've been up all night drinking
To drown my sorrow down
Nothing seems to help me since you went away
I'm so tired of this town
Where every tongue is wagging
When every back is turned
Their telling secrets that should never be revealed
There's nothing to be gained from this
But disaster..
Here's a good one..
Did you hear about my friend
He's embarrassed to be seen now
Because we..
know his sin
If I had the chance love
You know, I would not hesitate
To tell you all the things I never said before
Don't tell me it's too late
''Chorus:''
Cause I've relied on my illusions
To keep me warm at night
But I denied in my capacity to love
I am willing, to give up this fight
Oh, I am willing to give up this fight..
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