• Voto:
Bene, questa volta cercherò di trattenere i toni estatici che di solito pervadono queste recensioni.
Hardin aveva 25 anni quando registrò questo esordio. Perché ho accennato prima a toni che di solito adotta chi parla di questa musica? Perché con questo album il nostro andava a far compagnia a Tim Buckley, Fred Neil, Dylan, Van Zandt. Le loro canzoni destano lacrime e pensieri assorti, e tutti salparono dal porto sicuro del folk per attraversare orizzonti che poi si sarebbero rivelati diversi per ognuno. Tim Hardin no.
Ho letto una volta (doveva essere Bertoncelli) che non amava quell'etichetta troppo in fretta appiccicata; si definiva più compiutamente un jazzista, un bluesman o perlomeno un aspirante tale - e questo sarà chiaro solo qualche anno più tardi. E poi, canzoni come Misty Roses, How Can We Hang On to a Dream, Never Too Far e la pluriconosciuta Reason to Believe denotano una sensibilità sbrigativa, vicina eppure diversa da quelle sopra citate. Canzoni scritte di getto, non rifinite: sembrano dei provini, e molto spesso lo sono. Quanto al jazz, While You're on Yor Way, How Long, Part of the Wind sono lì a parlare una lingua soffice, spesso mischiata col blues o con il country e bisbigliata dal vibrafono di Gary Burton.
Nel 1969 Hardin avrà la sua porta per la gloria: tra il folto ensemble di folksingers sul palco di Woodstock c'era anche lui. Avrebbe dovuto aprire il Festival, ma l'ennesima crisi da palco posticipò a notte inoltrata l'esibizione. Di lui restano poche immagini, gironzolare lungo il parco ancora una volta strafatto, biascicando frasi sconnesse. Sempre Bertoncelli scrisse che dopo le ultime note di If I Were A Carpenter cominciò a diluviare sull'immensa campagna: e il cerchio si chiudeva.
Elenco tracce e testi
01 Don't Make Promises (02:24)
It seems the songs we're singing
Are all about tomorrow
Tunes of promises you can't keep
Every moment bringing a love I can only borrow
You're telling me lies in your sleep
Do you think I'm not aware of what you're saying
Or why you're saying it
Is it hard to keep me where you want me staying
Don't go on betraying it
Don't make promises you can't keep
We had a chance to find it
Our time was now or never
You promised me things that I need
But then the things behind it took away the chance forever
You're telling me lies in your sleep
Do you think I'm not aware of what you're saying
Or why you're saying it
Is it hard to keep me where you want me staying
Don't go on betraying it
Don't make promises you can't keep
07 Reason to Believe (01:58)
If I listened long enough to you
I'd find a way to believe that it's all true
Knowing that you lied straightfaced while I cried
Still I'd look to find a reason to believe
Someone like you makes it hard to live
without somebody else
Someone like you makes it easy to give
and never think of myself
If I gave you time to change my mind
I'd find a way to leave the past behind
Knowing that you lied straightfaced while I cried
Still I'd look to find a reason to believe
Someone like you makes it hard to live
without somebody else
Someone like you makes it easy to give
and never think of myself
11 Misty Roses (01:58)
You look to me
Like misty rose
Too soft to touch
But too lovely to leave alone.
If I could be
Like misty roses
I'd love you much
You're too lovely to leave alone.
Flowers often cry
But too late to find
That their beauty has been lost
With their peace of mind.
You look to me
Like love forever
Too good to last
But too lovely not to try.
If I believed
In love forever
I'd forget the past
You're just too lovely not to try.
12 How Can We Hang on to a Dream (02:02)
What can I say, she's walking away
From what we've seen
What can I do, still loving you
It's all a dream
How can we hang on to a dream
How can it ever be the way it seems
What can I do, she's saying we're through
With how it was
What will I try, I still don't see why
She says what she does
How can we hang on to a dream
How can it ever be the way it seems
What can I say, she's walking away
From what we've seen
What can I do, still loving you
It's all a dream
How can we hang on to a dream
How can it ever be the way it seems
How can we hang on to a dream
What can I say, she's walking away
From what we've seen
What can I do, still loving you
It's all a dream
How can we hang on to a dream
How can it will it be the way it seems
How can we hang on to a dream
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