Ho empatizzato i grandi dischi come questo divenendo loro nella vita reale, praticandoli nei loculi domestici e fuori nelle strade, localizzandoli in un luogo del mio corpo di cui non ho sensibilità ma che ho fatto un mestiere a supporre. Nel 1984, esce il capolavoro dei Replacements di Minneapolis, indie band partita dal punk alla Ramones ed approdata a questa miscela esaltante di Byrd, hard rock anni '70, Stones, rabbia punk, influenze roots, si avverte quella urgenza creativa genuina tipica dei più alti, nobili vomiti rock buoni alla prima. Oltre ad essere provvisti di quel puro splendore che posseggono soltanto i grandi dischi, contribuirono attivamente ad aprire nuovi orizzonti al rock americano e crearono un genere di riferimento per parecchie formazioni degli anni Novanta.
"I Will Dare" apre il disco, melodia cantata, riff approssimativi e vivaci, il sound è quello sanguigno della scena rock di Minneapolis, dei primi Soul Asylum ad esempio, "Favorite Thing" mette in luce tutta l’urgenza creativa dell’indie americano anni 80, il fuoco alle polveri di "We’re Coming Out" , i Replacements incazzati, hard-rock ultra-cazzuto, scariche di adrenalina, la voce di Westerberg che si fa isterica, incazzata, insistente, disperata, scivolate sul ghiaccio, pezzo lanciato a bomba come un ariete, l’ assolo di chitarra è talmente isterico che non riesce a risolversi nelle retoriche scale pagaiane, vedasi il mio saggio in uscita “le barriere dei timpani dei muffosi” . La bellicosa "Tommy Gets His Tonsils" è un calcio nel deretano, perché trovare parole sempre più strane per mostrarsi cool e intellettuali quando non è altro che un calcio nel culo? Poi due ballatone: "Androgynous" con Westemberg al piano effetato, la sua voce colloquiale, e nonostante gli spurghi da pazzo-perdente, rutta confessioni assolutamente candide. "Unsatisfied" porta le prime lacrime: calibrata sulle regioni alte, commossa e emozionata. canto perfetto, dagli ondeggiamenti posati ma vibranti. "Black Diamond" cover dei Kiss, parte con un arpeggio fatalista proprio come la voce di Westemberg, solo 30 secondi e poi via di bridge imponente: uno dei pezzi migliori, quintessenza d'ogni rock'n'roll generazionale, ibrido introspettivo di rabbia e rimpianto, con Westerberg e Bob Stinson che lo interpretano come due pederasti a notte fonda. "Seen Your Video", quasi tutta strumentale e un saliscendi interiore che non si risolve e ti lascia appiccicato il suo pulsare di chitarre ultra sature, "Gary’s Got A Boner" (Gary ce lo ha duro) è punk sgangherato e indisciplinato, sixteen blue, che segue, il terzo ballatone del disco, sapori byrdsiani e adolescenziali e quell’assolo che parte nel finale , lo spettro della morte della giovinezza catturato in quel nanosecondo che lo vedi aleggiare sopra cotanta “sancta simplicitas” .
L’ultimo pezzo "Answering Machine", per voce e chitarra in distorsione e pre registrata. Per molti versi il linguaggio del primo punk è stato una perfetta sintesi di ciò che è (fu?) la musica rock, e dopo pochi anni diventò praticamente inevitabile un'evoluzione. "Let It Be" celebrava ad esempio la tradizione americana col nuovo spirito in voga in quegli anni cow-punk, e lo celebrava con un mood davvero intenso.
Elenco tracce testi e samples
01 I Will Dare (03:18)
How young are you?
How old am I?
Let's count the rings around my eyes
How smart are you?
How dumb am I?
Don't count any of my advice
Oh, meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime
Now I don't care, meet me tonight
If you will dare, I might dare
Call me on Thursday, if you will
Or call me on Wednesday, better still
Ain't lost yet, so I gotta be a winner
Fingernails and a cigarette's a lousy dinner
Young, are you?
Meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime
Now, I don't care, meet me tonight
If you will dare, I will dare (2x)
How young are you?
How old am I?
Let's count the rings around my eyes
How smart are you?
How smart are you?
How dumb am I?
Meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime
Now, I don't care, meet me tonight
If you will dare, I will dare (2x)
02 Favorite Thing (02:19)
Yeah!
Yeah, kid, it's a-really hip
With plenty of flash and you know it
Yeah, dad, you're rocking real bad
Don't break your neck when you fall down laughing
Donna, wanna, Donna
Yeah, I know I look like hell
I smoke and I drink and I'm feeling swell
Yeah, I hear you think it's weird
But I don't give a single shit
Yeah, man, it's a-hip, you know what I'm saying
It's a-hip, you know what I'm saying
And I hear it
My heart aches, it's a-looking for a dolly
Looking for a dolly, can't you hear it
Wanna be something, wanna be anything
Yeah, I know I feel this way
But I ain't gonna never change
Yeah, I hear, I think, I know
Rock don't give a shit, you know
You're my favorite thing
You're my favorite thing
Bar nothing
I think big once in a while
03 We're Comin' Out (02:20)
One more chance to get it all wrong
One more chance to get it all wrong
One more night to do it all wrong
One more warning
One more warning sound
We're comin' out
We're comin' out
One more day anyway
One more chance threw away
One more night anyway run away anyway
We're comin' out
We're comin' out
One more chance to get it all wrong
One more time to do it all wrong
One more night to get it half right
One more warning
One more warning sound
We're comin' out
We're comin' out
04 Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out (01:54)
Tommy gets his tonsils out
Hi Susie, do you know what?
I've been in the hospital...
Now open wide, the doctor's here
Everything is fine, got nothing to fear
Strap 'em down, we're outta gas
Stop your bawling, you little brat
Let's get this over with, I'm off in a hour
Didn't wash up, yesterday I took a shower
Get this over with, I tee off in an hour
My Cadillac's running
Let's..
Rip, rip, we're gonna rip 'em out now
Rip, rip, we're gonna rip 'em out now
Rip, rip, we're gonna rip 'em out now
Rip, rip, we're gonna rip 'em out now
Open wide, you little snot
That's the way we knock 'em out
Got nothing to fear
Got nothing to be afraid of
Doctor's here, nothing to be afraid of
Let's get this over, we have to tee off in an hour
Did I wash up?
Yesterday, I took myself a shower
My Cadillac's running
How ya doin'?
How do you feel after the operation?
Can I come by?
I'm really feeling terrible
05 Androgynous (03:11)
Here comes Dick, he's wearing a skirt
Here comes Jane, y'know she's sporting a chain
Same hair, revolution
Same build, evolution
Tomorrow who's gonna fuss
And they love each other so
Androgynous
Closer than you know, love each other so
Androgynous
Don't get him wrong and don't get him mad
He might be a father, but he sure ain't a dad
And she don't need advice that's sent at her
She's happy with the way she looks
She's happy with her gender
Mirror image, see no damage
See no evil at all
Kewpie dolls and urine stalls
Will be laughed at
The way you're laughed at now
Now, something meets boy, and something meets girl
They both look the same
They're overjoyed in this world
Same hair, revolution
Unisex, evolution
Tomorrow who's gonna fuss
And tomorrow Dick is wearing pants
And tomorrow Janie's wearing a dress
Future outcasts and they don't last
And today, the people dress the way that they please
The way they tried to do in the last centuries
06 Black Diamond (02:40)
Out on the street for a living
You know it's only begun
They've got you under their thumb
Out on the street for a living
And it is only begun
Doing all that you can
And now you're under their thumb
Oooh, black diamond
Oooh, black diamond
Out on the street for a country
And it's only a dream
Got other people marching
And it's only a way
Out on the street for a living
You know it is only begun
Regardless a street or a country
They got you under their thumb
07 Unsatisfied (04:01)
Look me in the eye
Then, tell me that I'm satisfied
Was you satisfied?
Look me in the eye
Then, tell me that I'm satisfied
Hey, are you satisfied?
And it goes so slowly on
Everything I've ever wanted
Tell me what's wrong
Look me in the eye
And tell me that I'm satisfied
Were you satisfied?
Look me in the eye
Then, tell me I'm satisfied
And now are you satisfied?
Everything goes
Well, anything goes all of the time
Everything you dream of
Is right in front of you
And everything is a lie (or) And liberty is a lie
Look me in the eye
And tell me that I'm satisfed
Look me in the eye
Unsatisfied
I'm so, I'm so unsatisfied
I'm so dissatisfied
I'm so, I'm so unsatisfied
I'm so unsatisfied
Well, I'm-a
I'm so, I'm so unsatisfied
I'm so dissatis,dissattis...
I'm so
08 Seen Your Video (03:08)
All day, all night, all music video
Seen your video, the phony rock 'n' roll
We don't want to know, seen your video
Your phony rock 'n' roll
We don't want to know
We don't want to know
We don't want to know
We don't want to know
09 Gary's Got a Boner (02:28)
Hut..yeah..c'mon
C'mon little kiddie, get your head on right
C'mon little kiddie, get your head on straight
You're gonna get her down
You're gonna finger to her
You're gonna suck me down
You're gonna see her out...
Forget about the lights, girl, and the cars
You never heard somebody so far
Grab ahold, gonna hold
You're gonna stick it to her
You're gonna stick it to her
Gary got a boner
Because Gary's got a boner
Gary got a boner
Gary's got a boner now
You locked that door, rolled up that window
Tied your sister up by the fender
I don't know if I will
You're gonna stick it to her
Yes, you're gonna stick it to her
Gary got a boner
Gary's got a boner
Gary's got a soft-on
Enough for more, more, more, more
Let it go
10 Sixteen Blue (04:23)
Drive yourself right up the wall
No one hears and no one calls
It's a boring state
It's a useless wait, I know
Brag about things you don't understand
A girl and a woman, a boy and a man
Everything is sexually vague
Now you're wondering to yourself
If you might be gay
Your age is the hardest age
Everything drags and drags
One day, baby, maybe help you through
Sixteen blue
Sixteen blue
Drive your ma to the bank
Tell your pa you got a date
You're lying, now you're lying on your back
Try to figure out, they wonder what next you'll pull
You don't understand anything sexual
I don't understand
Tell my friends I'm doing fine
Your age is the hardest age
Everything drags and drags
You're looking funny
You ain't laughing, are you?
Sixteen blue
Sixteen blue
11 Answering Machine (03:44)
Try to breathe some life into a letter
Losing hope, never gonna be together
My courage is at its peak
You know what I mean
How do you say you're okay
To an answering machine?
How do you say goodnight
To an answering machine?
Big time's got its losers
Small town's got its vices
A handful of friends
One needs a match, one needs some ice
Call-waiting phone in another time zone
How do you say I miss you
To an answering machine?
How do say good night
To an answering machine?
(If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again
If you need help, dial the number...)
I get enough of that
Try to free a slave of ignorance
Try and teach a whore about romance
How do you say I miss you
To an answering machine?
How do you say good night to
An answering machine?
How do you say I'm lonely to
An answering machine?
The message is very plain
Oh, I hate your answering machine
I hate your answering machine
I hate your answering machine...
(If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again...
If you need help...)
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