La creatura di Mike Ness,si affaccia sul panorama punk americano nei primissimi anni '80 come una delle band più promettenti della scena. Il cammino dei californiani si interrompe bruscamente nel 1985 a causa dei seri problemi di droga che porteranno lo stesso Ness addirittura ad un ricovero e a una lunga riabilitazione.
Premettendo che i Social Distortion in quasi trentanni di carriera hanno sempre prodotto ottima musica, direi che tra tutti gli album "Somewhere between heaven and hell" del 1992 sia il più famoso , quello che meglio li rappresenta, e semplicemente quello che amo maggiormente. Dopo un ottimo debut, "Mommys little monster", che getterà le basi per quel punk californiano scanzonato e melodico che sarà particolarmente in voga negli anni Novanta, la band seguirà la sua strada in maniera molto più personale. La proposta artistica non è semplicemente collocabile sotto l'ala del punk, ma si lascia chiaramente influenzare dalle sonorità tipicamente americane folk country e rock'n roll, di cui l'atteggiamente rockabilly sarà predominante anche nell'immagine, nell'attitudine e nei testi.
"Somewhere" accentua particolarmente questa direzione stilistica, e brani come "Born to lose" e "Bad Luck" ci fanno immaginare i quattro californiani alle prese con harley, jack daniels, e gioco d'azzardo. Musicalmente parlando si tratta di puro punk'n roll dalle forti tinte southern, ed è facilmente immaginabile che Bruce Springsteen e Johnny Cash siano per loro due enormi punti di riferimento. Una delle cose che ho sempre ammirato dei Social Distortion sta sicuramente nell'essere rimasti immutati nonostante l'alternarsi delle mode all'interno del rock stesso, e nell'essere rimasti coerenti con l'immagine che si sono costruiti in una così longeva e non sempre fortunata carriera.
Tra i migliori episodi dell'album,oltre le già citate "Born to lose" e "Bad Luck", meritano di essere menzionate "Making Believe", la rokkeggiante "Bye Bye Baby", e "Sometimes i Do" con il suo refrain accattivante. Nonostante il punk americano torni di nuovo in testa alle classifiche con Green Day, Offspring, Nofx e Rancid i Social Distortion disertano questo calderone non snaturando il proprio sound che, anche se piuttosto orecchiabile, riescono a mantenere più maturo e personale dei giocosi e più commerciali colleghi
Purtroppo i gravi problemi di droga continueranno ad essere un ostacolo anche negli anni seguenti, e la morte improvvisa dello storico chitarrista Dannis Danell interromperà nuovamente il cammmino della band. Ciò creerà grande incostanza nella produzione a venire (solo due album per tutti i '90), e bisognerà aspettare quasi dieci anni per vederli tornare nella scena. Un punk adulto, ragionato, meno cazzeggione di tanti altri, maggiormente roccioso grazie anche alla timbrica vocale sofferente di Mike che lo rende molto più interessante e piacevole da ascoltare.
Una band da riscoprire e da amare.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Cold Feelings (03:31)
Unvited feelings they come
with out warning and stay too long
i don't wanna feel, and if run
they'll be twice as strong
i wait for a warning,
i'm waiting for some kinda sign
i try to seperate my body from my mind
chorus:
cold feelings in the night
you know this feeling just ain't right
and though i try i just can't hide
cold feelings in the night
i watch the second hand as it slowly
goes strolling by. i don't want to feel
when a loved ones time's come to die
i wait for a warning, i'm waiting for
some kinda sign
i try and seperate, try to seperate
my body from my mind
yeah i got faith but sometimes
fear it just weighs too much
i don't wanna feel, cold winds blowin'
through me w/ an icy touch
i wait for a warning, i'm waiting
for some kinda sign.
i try to seperate my body from my mind
02 Bad Luck (04:26)
Some people like to gamble
But you, you always lose
Some people like to rock n' roll
You're always singin' the blues
You got a nasty dispostition
No one really knows the reason why
You got a bad, bad reputation
Gonna hang down your head and cry
You got bad, bad luck
Bad, bad luck
You got bad, bad luck
Bad, bad luck
Thirteen's my lucky number
To you it means stay inside
Black cat done crossed my path
No reason to run and hide
You're looking through a cracked mirror
No one really knows the reason why
Your enemies are getting nearer
Gonna hang down your head and cry
You got bad, bad luck
Bad, bad luck
You got bad, bad luck
Bad, bad luck
Some people go to church on Sunday
Others, they pray at home
You tell them that there ain't no God
That they're better off standing alone
You're always scratchin' at the eight ball
No one really knows the reason why
You get to the top and then you fall
Gonna hang your head down and cry
You got bad, bad luck
Bad, bad luck
You got bad, bad luck
Bad, bad luck
04 Born to Lose (04:09)
I was brought in this world
1962 didn't have much choice
you see but by the time i was eight
i could tell i was too late
i was already barking up the wrong tree
when i was in school
you thought i was a fool
in trouble, breaking all the rules
i was absent from class
my daddy spanked my bare ass
but i sure tried hard to be cool
chorus:
born to lose, was what they said,
you know i was better off dead
born to lose your just bad news
you dont get no second chance
it was a hot summer night
in mid july a hangover and
a black eye. your mama said
i was a loser, a dead end cruiser
and deep inside i knew that
she was right
Repeat chorus
i tried to get myself a job
because thats the way things are
wanna have a nice things and go far
well im' sorry honey
i ain't got much money
but i can sure play this here old guitar
as the years went on
i made a few mistakes
it was troublebound for this
young man
the police knockin' at my door
" well he don't live he no more,
and he's playin' in a rock n' roll band"
Repeat chorus
05 Bye Bye Baby (03:06)
I believed I was wrong but baby
Now I know, you and your evil
Ways gotta go. Take the key and
Break away these chains of love,
And I'll thank the good Lord
Above.
The radio's playin' a sad song...
"Bye Bye Baby."
Well, maybe the others will
Believe your lies, you can tell
Those schoolboys your alibis.
And baby I'll catch you later on
Down the line, cuz maybe I got
Better things on my mind.
The band's playin' a sad song...
"Bye bye baby."
06 When She Begins (05:04)
I was feelin' kinda beat, I decided
To hit the streets. I was lookin'
For a place for this heart of
Mine. Well I said to myself, oh
God this must be hell
I think I was slowly losin' my mind
chorus:
Well round and round she goes
Where she'll stop nobody knows.
Y'know that woman put a spell
On me, but if you start me, start
Me, start me you can't stop me,
Stop me, stop me. When she begins
To rock, honey, I begin to roll
I was hangin' by the phone, tired
Of sleepin' alone
Baby tell me where did I go wrong? When
Minutes seem like hours and
Days seem like weeks, how could
A year last so fucking long?
chorus:
Well round and round she goes
Where she'll stop nobody knows.
Y'know that woman put a spell
On me, but if you start me, start
Me, start me you can't stop me,
Stop me, stop me. When she begins
To rock, honey, I begin to roll
I was hangin' with a couple
Of chicks, man I was just looking
For a place for this raggedy ol'
Heart of mine.
chorus:
Well round and round she goes
Where she'll stop nobody knows.
Y'know that woman put a spell
On me, but if you start me, start
Me, start me you can't stop me,
Stop me, stop me. When she begins
To rock, honey, I begin to roll.
08 King of Fools (02:50)
I was born, a king of fools.
Most people think im just a playboy breaking rules.
but they dont know when it comes around
That's why i call myself the King Of Fools.
I was born to never care.
but now im all alone that i can't share
Im searching babe for a love that would never be true
That's why i call myself the King Of Fools.
kings of fools x2
I was born without one good thought.
Just to live fast, lie, and break hearts.
I have broken many hearts, and i 've broke many rules
That's why i call myself the King Of Fools.
King Of Fools
King Of Fools
When it comes around,your love, I always lose.
I was born a King Of Fools.
and any other game i'd never lose.
but when it comes around, your love, that's when i realize
I was born the King Of Fools
King Of Fools
King Of Fools
when it comes around, your love, i always lose
King Of Fools
King Of Fools
at any other game i'd lose.
King Of Fools
King Of Fools
when it comes around, your love, i always lose
09 Sometimes I Do (04:01)
Sometimes i like you
and sometimes i don't
i feel like i'm gonna
then i won't
sometimes i wanna live
to see a hundred
other times i wanna
lay down and die
sometimes i'm weak
and sometimes i'm strong
you know i loved you
all along
sometimes i'm rich
and sometimes i'm poor
nothing really matters
when you dead on the floor
sometimes i'm hot
and sometimes i'm cold
sometimes i feel like i'm getting old
sometimes i'm fast and
sometimes i'm slow
other times i don't even wanna go
sometimes i laugh and
sometimes i cry
other times i sit ans wonder why
sometimes i'm up and
sometimes i'm down
other times i wanna blow this town
11 Ghost Town Blues (04:38)
Ever since my baby left me you
Know this ghost town ain't no
Fun no more she stole my heart
Away from me and then she
Dropped it on the floor my
Outside's tough, hellbent
Leather overcoat of what was
Once a man but inside's a little
Broken hearted boy whose
Feelings he cannot stand.
chorus:
I've got these ghost town blues
With nothing left to lose
The noose swings high up on the
Gallows in the wind
I've got these ghost town blues
I feel like an undertaker dressed
In black but no one left for dead
She left me in a heartbeat
And now there's no one left to
Sleep in my bed where laughs and
Cries and memories were once
Now lie and tumbleweeds and dust
And an empty graveyard
Feeling that began once just as a
Childhood lust
chorus:
I've got these ghost town blues
With nothing left to lose
The noose swings high up on the
Gallows in the wind
I've got these ghost town blues
My pontiac spit back feelings of
Contempt out the exhaust
A hundred miles an hour down a
Highway. Well I'm beat up and I'm
Lost she's gone and I know it,
Like an outlaw she ran for the
Hills and I'll start a brand new
Life with a new girl and these
Same old ghost town thrills.
chorus:
I've got these ghost town blues
With nothing left to lose
The noose swings high up on the
Gallows in the wind
I've got these ghost town blues.
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