Produced by Joe Strummer. Già questo dato dovrebbe bastare a farci comprendere che ci troviamo davanti a una piccola perla discografica.
L’ambientazione? La terra di Hell's Ditch. Regno degli otto ragazzi capitanati da Shane MacGowan, e delle loro 13 canzoni.
Questo cd ci porta direttamente lì, in quelle terre d’Irlanda. L’altra faccia di quella Bretagna conquistata e regina del rock ’70, e in particolare della stessa Irlanda, che ha negli U2 i propri capisaldi.

Qui c’è un’altra aria. La mente è leggera, viaggia. Non come in un trip psichedelico dovuto a ‘qualche droguccia’, ma come solo un sognatore può fare.
I primi due pezzi valgono anche da soli l’acquisto dell’intero cd. Quella stupenda "Sunnyside Of The Street", "I know I’m better than before. I will not be reconstrued. Just wanna stay right here, on the sunnyside of the street"... e l’altrettanto bella "Sayonara", che gli appassionati di Brizzi, ricorderanno come parti portanti dell’immaginaria colonna sonora del suo libro più famoso, sono delle perle di espressività perfette che tramite sonorità differenti, tradizionali o d’ispirazione orientale, riescono a farci arrivare al cuore situazione e sentimenti differenti.

Qui non c’è spazio per scale iperveloci, vocalizzi perfetti, o per quella musica che in generale popola il 90% delle nostre vite... l’emozioni però sono sempre quelle. Ed è bello, magari dopo un anno, ritrovare questo disco, metterlo nel lettore, viaggiare, e sentirsi in pace con se stessi, per poi rimetterlo al suo posto, perché tanto il momento giusto in cui riascoltarlo arriverà, frutto del caso... Ok it’s time for Sayonara...

Elenco tracce testi samples e video

01   The Sunnyside of the Street (02:44)

02   Sayonara (03:07)

OK, it's time for Sayonara
So long yankee break my heart
Now there's nothing left but sorrow
Even the best friends they must part

I walked into the nearest bar
I sat and gazed across the sea
I wandered lonely on the beach
The waves just whispered misery
She had a red red scarf
Around her neck
Her eyes were green
Her hair was black

Ooh she gave me Mekong Whiskey
Ooh she gave me Hong Kong Flu
Ooh she gave me Mekong Whiskey
Put me on a breeze to Katmandu

(Som-yat-zu, som-yat-zu)

I got new papers in a bordello
With some luckies and my I.D.
My heart was pounding like a hammer
Thai Thai Thai Thai Thai! I am free

She kissed me softly on the lips
She took my hand without a sound
This was our happy ever after
So motherfucker kiss the ground

03   The Ghost of a Smile (02:58)

You gotta walk that mile Honeychild
You gotta walk that mile Honeychild
Well I'll show you what is hip
As we walk down Leeson strip & I'll do it for the ghost of a smile
Just the ghost, the ghost of a smile
Just the ghost, the ghost of a smile


You can't take it with you when you go
You can't take it with you when you go
You gotta walk, walk that mile
& I'll be with you Honeychild
& I'll do it for the ghost of a smile
Just the ghost, the ghost of a smile
Just the ghost, the ghost of a smile

Don't wait too long
Don't wait too long
Don't wait too long or I'll be gone

Don't wait too long
Don't wait too long
Don't wait too long
Or I'll be gone

Just the ghost, the ghost of a smile
Just the ghost, the ghost of a smile
Just the ghost, the ghost of a smile
Just the ghost, the ghost of a smile

04   Hell's Ditch (03:03)

05   Lorca's Novena (04:40)

Ignacio lay dying in the sand
A single red rose clutched in a dying hand
The women wept to see their hero die
And the big black birds gathered in the sky

Mother of all our joys, mother of all our sorrows
Intercede with him tonight
For all of our tomorrows

The years went by and then the killers came
And took the men and marched them up the hill of pain
And Lorca the faggot poet they left till last
Blew his brains out with a pistol up his arse

Mother of all our joys, mother of all our sorrows
Intercede with him tonight
For all of our tomorrows

The killers came to mutilate the dead
But ran away in terror to search the town instead
But Lorca's corpse, as he had prophesied, just walked away
And the only sound was the women in the chapel praying

Mother of all our joys, mother of all our sorrows
Intercede with him tonight
For all of our tomorrows

06   Summer in Siam (04:06)

When it's Summer in Siam
And the moon is full of rainbows
When it's Summer in Siam
And we go through many changes
When it's Summer in Siam
Then all I really know
Is that I truly am
In the Summer in Siam

07   Rain Street (04:00)

The church bell rings
An old drunk sings
A young girl hocks her wedding ring
Down on Rain Street

Down the alley the icewagon flew
Picked up a stiff that was turning blue
The local kids were sniffin' glue
Not much else for a kid to do
Down Rain Street

Father McGreer buys an ice cold beer
And a short for Father Loyola
Father Joe's got the clap again
He's drinking Coca-Cola
Down on Rain Street

Bless me Father I have sinned
I got pissed and I got pinned
And God can't help the state I'm in
Down on Rain Street

There's a Tesco on the sacred ground
Where I pulled her knickers down
While Judas took his measly price
And St Anthony gazed in awe at Christ
Down on Rain Street

I gave my love a goodnight kiss
I tried to take a late night piss
But the toiled moved so again I missed
Down Rain Street

I sat on the floor and watched TV
Thanking Christ for the BBC
A stupid fucking place to be
Down Rain Street

I took my Eileen by the hand
Walk with me was her command
I dreamt we were walking on the strand
Down Rain Street

That night Rain Street went on for miles
That night on Rain Street somebody smiled

08   Rainbow Man (02:46)

09   The Wake of the Medusa (03:04)

The guests are stood in silence
They stare and drink their wine
On the wall the canvas hangs
Frozen there in time
They marvel at the beauty
The horror and despair
At the wake of the Medusa
No one shed a tear

Sit my friends and listen
Put your glasses down
Sit my friends and listen
To the voices of the drowned

In the moonlight's ghostly glow
I waken in a dream
Once more upon that raft I stand
Upon a raging sea
In my ears the moans and screams
Of the dying ring
Somewhere in the darkness
The siren softly sings

Out there in the waves she stands
And smiling there she calls
As the lightning cracks the sky
The wind begins to howl

The architects of our doom
Around their tables sit
And in their thrones of power
Condemn those they've cast adrift
Echoes down the city street
Their harpies laughter rings
Waiting for the curtain call
Oblivious in the wings

The casket is empty
Abandon ye all hope
They ran off with the money
And left us with the rope

10   House of the Gods (03:46)

11   5 Green Queens and Jean (02:35)

I recall the moment
Before it slipped away
When 5 green queens
On a black bin bag
Meant all the world to me

And I recall the moment
More distant than it seems
When 5 green queens
On a black bin bag
Meant all the world to me

And I recall the moment
Much closer than it seems
When 5 green queens
On a black bin bag
Meant all the world to me

And I recall the moment
Before it slipped away
When 5 green queens
On a black bin bag
Meant all the world to me

5 green queens and Jean

12   Maidrin Rua (01:47)

Instrumental

13   Six to Go (02:58)

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