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A Boy Named Goo rappresentò un punto di svolta per i Goo Goo Dolls.
Fu infatti l'ultimo album registrato con la collaborazione del loro primo batterista George Tutuska, e fu anche l'ultimo con la Metal Blade Records che fin dagli esordi simil punk del 1987 li aveva accompagnati.
Mi avvicinai con cautela alla band, con il timore che la loro musica si rivelasse soltanto una lagna amorosa seguita da qualche riff, ma mi sbagliai di grosso. Per grattare la superficie del loro sound, conoscerli tramite quest'opera (o la precedente, Superstar Car Wash) è indispensabile.
A Boy Named Goo racchiude infatti i testi meno romantici della loro carriera, qui concentrati sulle emozioni negative esorcizzate da Rzeznik già dalla prima traccia, Long Way Down.
Si tratta di uno stupendo album rock n roll, trascinante quanto sorprendente con una tempistica che adoro (loro elemento da non sottovalutare).
Si alternano i pezzi cantati dal già citato chitarrista a quelli del bassista Robby Takac, dalla verve punk e acida che lo fa sembrare la parte malvagia del trio (era lui in principio il leader della band).
Le 5 stelle le merita soprattutto per Naked, ballad (ma non troppo) che vale l'intero lotto.
Shots in the dark from empty guns, never heard by anyone.
Slave Girl è una cover dei Lime Spiders, ed è facile intuire chi magistralmente la interpreta, con la quantità giusta di veleno a metà strada tra il glam dei Mötley e l'attitudine dei Black Flag.
Sorprende il fatto che si alternino tra loro brani molto diversi, escludendo la noia dalla reazione che si può avere dopo l'ascolto.
Dal successivo Dizzy Up The Girl, essi cambieranno ancora la loro formula mantenendo però riconoscibile la loro dinamica e il loro stile.
Consigliato, del buon rock di classe A.
Elenco tracce e testi
01 Name (04:29)
And even though the moment passed me by
I still can't turn away
'Cause all the dreams you never thought you'd lose
Got tossed along the way
Letters that you never meant to send
Get lost and thrown away
And now we're grown up orphans
That never knew their names
We don't belong to no one
That's a shame
But you could hide beside me
Maybe for a while
And I won't tell no one your name
And I won't tell 'em your name
Scars are souvenirs you never lose
The past is never far
Did you lose yourself somewhere out there
Did you get to be a star
And don't it make you sad to know that life
Is more than who we are
You grew up way too fast
And now there's nothing to believe
And reruns all become our history
A tired song keeps playing on a tired radio
And I won't tell no one your name
And I won't tell 'em your name
I won't tell 'em your name
Mmm, mmm, mmm
And I won't tell 'em your name...
Mmmmmm
I think about you all the time
But I don't need the same
It's lonely where you are come back down
And I won't tell 'em your name
03 Naked (03:45)
Yeah I'm fadin
And I call out
No one hears me
Never been never felt never thought I'd say a word
Weighed
Down
Safe
Now
You're naked inside your fear
You can't take back all those years
The shots in the dark from empty guns
Are never heard by anyone
Never heard by anyone
Yeah I'm hiding
in the fallout
Now I'm wasted
They don't need me don't want me don't hear a word I say
Weighed
Down
Safe
Now
You're naked inside your fear
You can't take back all those years
Shots in the dark from empty guns
Are never heard by anyone
Never heard by anyone
Inside your head
No one's there
And I don't think I'll ever be
And I don't care
You're naked inside your fear
You can't take back all those years
The shots in the dark from empty guns
Are never heard by anyone
04 Ain't That Unusual (03:20)
Could you talk to me
Honestly
Cause I never heard a word you said now
And I ain't just being mean
Cause all we are is what we're told
And most of that's been lies
It's like a made for TV movie
And I just blew my line
Someday you never made it
and maybe it never will
Hey, you never made it
Ain't that unusual
Now I feel unknown
And it's safe that way
Are you too bored to care or too dumb to be scared now
What's that supposed to mean
I'm burned out on some empty reasons
Another waste of time
There's somethin' that I wish I'd said
But I don't think it'd rhyme
Someday you never made it
and maybe it never will
Hey, you never made it
And ain't that unusual
See I'd love to be you
At least then I'd see you
Sorry I put them words in your mouth
But you wouldn't talk to me
And everyhing, I want haven't got
I'm sick of everything now I'm not
I put my heavy coat on for a while
It's freezing in the corner of my mind
Someday you never made it
and maybe it never will
Hey, you never made it
Ain't that unusual?
05 So Long (02:35)
Don't take much looking back to know I took my coffee black then
Nothings different now but nothing seems the same and it's alright
Your optimistic views your hundred dollar running shoes and
Carpel tunnel syndrome we all had a laugh about it
I'd love to stick around but I gotta tell you all
So long
But I didn't wanna tell you all so long
Don't take much looking back to know I faked that heart attack then
And nothings different now but nothing seems the same and it's alright
You always spoke the truth from circa disco abba boots and
All that showbiz talk we all had a laugh about it
I'd love to stick around but I gotta tell you all
So long
But I didn't wanna tell you all so long
I gotta get back to where I belong
So long
But I didn't wanna tell you all so long
07 Impersonality (02:41)
When I was three feet tall
I loved them all
And lived life for myself
Falling down for laughs
Your photograph
Some puppets made of felt
Watching life in Oz Thanksgiving eve on grandma's old TV
Dancing roundabout I'd twist and shout for everyone to see
Impersonality
It's leaning hard on me
Momma's in a shop
Watching little sister by myself
Robbed a wishing pond
In a fleeting bond
Vowed to share the wealth
Scooping up the coins
A warning shot from some authority
Doesn't matter now but I'll shout out loud for everyone to see
Never got to know you
Did you ever wonder why
Now it's nice to know you
And I'm glad you're doing fine
Think of all the time lost
Was it really lost at all
Now I'm so proud of ya
I'd love to tell you all I see
Listen hard to your realities
Impersonality
It's leaning hard on me
09 Disconnected (03:02)
I don't remember
it doesn't ring a bell
and when you call me everything is swell
I tend to forget about the times we had
and now it doesn't matter cuz I feel so sad
Cause, I've been disconnected
someone pulled the plug
oh you're so distant won't you come along....yeah
We've paid the price and now we're both alone
and if you call me you'll find me home
I found another
someone to take your place
now if you don't mind
just get out of my face
10 Burnin' Up (02:30)
Said you're burnin up inside, no one seems to tell
You're living from a personalized manual from hell
Life seems pretty easy when it's from my easy chair
And you're burnin up inside and no one cares
Said you had enough this time cause time don't treat you well
You always cried coincidence while I drew parallels
Life it seems so easy when it's from my easy chair
And you're burnin up inside and you hurt me
Come and take my hand tonight I'll show you where to start
Cause every word that left your lips like a needle through my heart
And life it seems so easy when it's from my easy chair
And you're burnin'up inside and you hurt my eyes
12 Only One (03:20)
I'll open up my head awhile
It's been dead for years
I must have been a victim of my peers
One is for my happiness
The other for my health
The last is something bigger than myself
I ain't the only one
I ain't the only one
I ain't the only one to say
I'm talking to myself again
I'll just start a fight
Nobody can prove me wrong
I'm right
Anti-hero idol with a suicide excuse
A thousand other suckers will try and fill your shoes
I ain't the only one
I ain't the only one
I ain't the only one to say
I ain't the only one
I ain't the only one
I ain't the only one to say
Little pictures in my head
Turning inside out again
'Cause fucking up takes practice
I feel I'm well rehearsed
Because the past is a bully and the future's even worse
You tell me what you fear 'cause I can feel it like a curse
Well, you used to be a folk singer
Now you're just a joke singer
Ain't no smoking dope singer
Swinging from a rope singer
I ain't the only one
I ain't the only one
I ain't the only one to say
13 Flat Top (04:30)
Flat top intervention
Bringing home the new invention
See it there in pieces on the ground
A television war between the cynics and the saints
Flip the dial and that's whose side you're on
Sleeping on the white house lawn ain't never changed a thing
Look at all the washed out hippie dreams
And it's falling all around us
Is this some kind of joke they're trying to pull on us?
Falling all around us
I'll turn my head off for a while
Tabloid generation's lost
Choking on it's fear
Used to be that's all we had to fear
conscience keeps us quiet while the crooked love to speak
There's knowledge wrapped in blankets on the streets
A visionary coward says that anger can be power
As long as there's a victim on tv
And it's falling all around us
Is this some kind of joke they're trying to pull on us
Falling all around us
I'll turn my head off for a while
And my dirty dreams all come alive
On my TV screen
And assassination plots
Show me what I haven't got
Show me what I love and who I'm supposed to be
Show me everything I need
Show it all to me
And it's falling all around us
Is this some kind of joke they're trying to pull on us?
Falling all around us
I'll turn my head off for a while
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