"Se Dio fosse improvvisamente condannato a vivere la vita che egli ha inflitto agli uomini, vorrebbe uccidersi!".
Si presenta con questa frase di Dumas l'ultimo lavoro dei Type o Negative, band dedita ad un sound che mischia Beatles, Black sabbath e un pò di Gothic decadente a cui fà capo il lunatico Pete Steele. Questo disco uscì nel 2003 dopo anni di attesa ed avrebbe dovuto servire a rafforzare l'immagine della band dopo un album travagliato come "World coming down" del 1999, considerato dallo stesso Steele il loro peggior album; con un pò di sforzo in più i 4 Newyorkesi riescono a sfornare un disco niente male che include il solito mix di doom, melodie hippie e tappeti tastieristici a volte anche da cattedrale, ed in questo disco anche un pò progressive, unito a dei testi singolari che si fondono con il titolo dell'album stesso "Life is killing me"; Steele che di solito si occupa della stesura dei testi se la prende ad esempio con il sistema ospedaliero e contro i dottori, "i quali hanno il solo scopo di tenerti in vita per accrescere il loro conto in banca", oppure fa emergere il proprio lato misogino in pezzi come "How could she?". Non c'è dubbio che Steele scriva testi folli, tanto folli quanto ormai lo è l'uomo. Al cantante Newyorkese interessa criticare una società che va in decadenza anche solo a causa di singole persone, cosa non da poco che può rovinare la vita a chiunque. Ecco perchè la vita ci sta uccidendo!
Veniamo alla scaletta dei pezzi: "thr13teen " è una intro "doomeggiante" che sembra uscita dall'album precedente, ma già con la successiva "I don't wanna be me", pezzo veloce e dotato di un simpatico assolino, ci viene da pensare a "Bloody Kisses". Interessante "Less Than zero (<0)", dove riesce perfettamente il mix Beatles/Black Sabbath, con un sitar hippie, un coretto che proviene da "October Rust" e riffs pesanti sabbathiani. Lo stesso vale per la traccia 4 "Todd's ship Gods(above all things)", mentre "I like Goils" che sarebbe girls (deformazione fonetica dell'inglese di Brooklyn) è sfrontata e carica. La voce di Steele che finora è stata aggressiva e tenebrosa, si fà dolce e suadente nella elegante "...a dish best served coldly" almeno nella prima parte, che cede il passo al doom e ad un pizzico di progressive nella seconda parte, sapientemente interpretato dall'ottimo Josh Silver alle tastiere.
Altre canzoni degne veramente di nota (direi tutte quante) sono la omonima traccia che dà il nome al disco, "Nettie", molto "bloody kisses", "(We were) electrocute" e la perla "Anesthesia". Per il resto il disco si mantiene ad alti livelli, ma non altissimi secondo me come nel loro capolavoro assoluto che è "Bloody kisses" (non volevo ripeterlo ancora). Canzoni passate come "Black N. 1", "Christian Woman" rimarranno tali almeno fino all'uscita di un lavoro futuro che possa aggiungere tra il novero delle loro creazioni nuovi capolavori.
Intanto ci ascoltiamo questo "Life is killing me" che è comunque un ottimo disco alla sua maniera.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
02 I Don't Wanna Be Me (03:44)
I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be me
I don't wanna be
Me anymore, more
Men are throwing at his home
Two glass houses, twenty stones
Fourteen yellow, six are blue
Could it be worse? Quite doubtful...
I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be me
I don't wanna be
Me anymore
I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be me
I don't wanna be
Me anymore
One, two...
One,two,three,four...
Two steps forward, three steps back
Without warning, heart attack
He fell asleep in the snow
Never woke up, died alone
I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be me
I don't wanna be
Me anymore
I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be me
I don't wanna be
Me anymore
One, two...
One,two,three,four...
Please don't dress in black
When you're at his wake
Don't go there to mourn
But to celebrate
Please don't dress in black
When you're at his wake
Don't go there to mourn
But to celebrate
I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be me
I don't wanna be
Me anymore
I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be me
I don't wanna be
Me anymore
One, two...
One,two,three,four...
I don't wanna be
(I don't wanna be)
I don't wanna be me
(Wanna be me)
I don't wanna be
(I don't wanna be)
Me anymore
I don't wanna be
(I don't wanna be)
I don't wanna be me
(Wanna be me)
I don't wanna be
(I don't wanna be)
Me anymore
04 Anesthesia (06:46)
Like a flash of light in an endless night
Life is trapped between two black entities
'Cause when you trust someone
Illusion has begun
No way to prepare
Impending despair
Did one say so cruel
'Tis better to love and lose
Ignorance is bliss
Wish not knew your kiss
So many times been burned
This lesson goes unlearned
Remember desire only fuels the fire
Liar!
Betwixed birth and death
Every breath regret
I pity the living
Envy for the dead
Emotionally stunned
In defense - I'm numb
I'd rather not care then to be aware
Be scared
I don't need love
Are a thousand tears worth a single smile?
When you give an inch, will they take a mile?
Longing for the past but dreading the future
If not being used, well then you're a user and a loser
World reknowned failure at both death and life
Given nothingness, purgatory blight
To run and hide, a cowardly procedure
Options exhausted, except for anesthesia
Anesthesia
I don't feel anything
I don't need anything
I don't need love
05 The Dream Is Dead (05:03)
Champagne glass of blood and wine
On chocolate hearts, alone i dine
Candle weeping waxing hearts
Ten four roses, each one a year - Disappear
Arrows fester in my heart
Each memory another dart
Love and death both colored red
Showing my past, the dream is dead
Another lonely valentine's day
I can't believe things turned out this way
And though i hate to see you go
I know it must be so
Another lonely valentine's day
Nobody will break your fall
All for one, yeah, none for all
Nothing's so cruel as the truth
Join the festival of fools
Nobody will break your fall
All for one, yeah, none for all
Nothing's so cruel as the truth
Join the festival my fools
Another lonely valentine's day
I can't believe things turned out this way
And though i hate to see you go
I know it must be so
Another lonely valentine's day
The dream is dead (x13)
06 Todd's Ship Gods (Above All Things) (04:07)
Grease, sweat, coffee, faded shipyard pictures Giant living there I used to know Author of the testosterone scriptures Where did you go? Now I remember what you told me that time Falling from my bike, scraping my knee If you're gonna weep, keep it from sunshine, So no one sees I won't cry Above all things boy, be a man See little boy hiding amongst shadows Ashamed of tears exposing ancient pain From the storms predicted by the Tarot Pray for the rain I won't cry Above all things boy, be a man
08 Less Than Zero (<0) (05:10)
My reflection as that shadow's
Blessing my death
Lost asoul in agony meet machine tragedy
God if you love me, then why won't
You set me free?
I don't have call-waiting, hey, was that
You pranking me?
The sheep within
Wearing wolf's skin
Weak vagiant
Amongst midgets
Snot and cum, piss and shit
Of this i am made - like the taste of it?
Vomit, pus, sweat, tears, blod
The scab removed, revealing what was
Of this man of Steele
Nothing is real
The truth be scant
Lord of Idiots
The punishment?
Eternal lent
Victims be clear
You're all volunteers
09 ...A Dish Best Served Coldly (07:24)
What Makes you thing that you have won
When the battle has only just begun?
Let the punishment fit the crime
Bad things come to those in all good time
My mistake was to put you first
Deceitful bubble was so soon to burst
I asked you - believe in just us
Now my faith lie in mine own justice
How many times must i say I'm not sorry?
And how many ways can i show you i don't care?
Rotting bodies of enemies
Cannot smell sweet enough to me
What is the price of a friend
Who would carry out revenge?
In this bleak world of absent laws
One in which the just are whores
An honour to die for the truth
Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth
How many times must i say i'm not sorry?
And how many ways can i show
I don't care?
11 I Like Goils (02:35)
Forget the jar of Vaseline
Hey rich-bitch boy I'm not gonna be your queen
And yeah,
You can drool, beg me and hope
There's no damn way I'm playing drop the soap
OK,
I know I'm strange but I ain't no queer
So Take your rage and disappear
But I'm proud not to be PC
'Cause-
I like goils
Bad goils all over the place
Now I don't know whose ass you've licked
No shit-tongued boy will ever taste my dick
He says:
"How 'bout no sex - we'll just be friends"
Hey no thanks pal, I'll stick to lesbians
You're right!
A sexist pig, I guess it's true
(I hate all men including you)
I don't care what you think of me
'Cause-
I like goils
Bad goils all over this world
I'm quite flattered that you think I'm cute
But I don't deal well with compacted poop
So look,
If my views make you annoyed
You're just jealous I don't have hemorrhoids
So now,
To make it clear that you can't bone me
My tattooed ass reads "exit only"
I don't care much for sodomy
'Cause-
I like goils
Bad goils all over this world
12 How Could She? (07:46)
Wilma FLintstone, Marcia Brady,
Alice Kramden, Gladys Kravitz,
Laverne and Shirley, Jeannie
Morticia Adams, Aunt Esther,
Sweet Polly Purebread, Natasha
Mrs. MacGillicuddy
How Could She?
Ginger, Mary Anne, MRs. Howell
Samantha Stevens, Lieuteniant Uhura,
Judy Jetson
Olive Oyl, Ethel Mertz
Edith Bunker, Marilyn Munster,
Rhoda, Penny Robinson
How could she?
Why don't you love me anymore?
Quite upset, angry, just plain annoyed
No recourse except for the celluloid
in my heart, I know you are not real
Though in mind, suspect you still can feel
Walt Disney or Hanna-Barbera
Black or White, Stunning Technicolor
Warner Brothers and the A.A.P.
I've become addicted to TV
Crissy snow, Catwoman, Creepela,
Weezie Jefferson, Betty Rubble, Little Cindy WHo
Penelope Pitshop, Lois Lane
Vanna White, Wonder Woman,
Elly May, Maude, Witchiepoo
How Could she?
Why Don't You love me anymore?
How could You?
13 Nettie (04:42)
Nettie, no need to cry
Let me wipe those tear drops from your eyes
In the dark bathed in Cathode ray blue
Miss Red Hook of 1922
Weeping silently for the pain of others
Every night a tearful rosary
A victim of the curse of empathy
Her reward for compassion is to suffer
Nettie, no need to cry
Let me wipe those tear drops from your eyes
My shortcomings I know caused her grief
Still she loves me. This I can't believe!
Responding not with anger but a prayer
Heaven's just Southwest of Cobble Hill
True, I am the son of an Angel
Maternally, not one woman compares
Nettie, no need to cry
Let me wipe those tear drops from your eyes
If you fall, I will catch you
When you're lost, I'll be there soon
Far away, but of course near
When you're sad, I'm always here
Thank you for saving me from myself
Your compassion became it's own hell
Unequivocably beautiful inside and out
Without a doubt
Nettie, no need to cry
Let me wipe those tear drops from your eyes
14 Angry Inch (03:38)
My sex-change operation got botched
My guardian angel fell asleep on the watch
Now all I got is a Barbie Doll-crotch
I got an angry inch
Six inches forward and five inches back
I got a
I got an angry inch
I'm from the land where you still hear the cries
I had to get out to sever all ties
I changed my name and assumed a disguise
I got an angry inch
Six inches forward and five inches back
I got a
I got an angry inch
Six inches forward and five inches back
The train is coming and I'm tied to the track
I try to get up but I can't get no slack
I got an angry inch, angry inch, angry inch
Six inches forward and five inches back
I got a
I got an angry inch
A long story short:
When I woke up from the operation
I was bleeding down there
Bleeding from the gash between my legs
My first day as a woman
And already it's that time of the month
But two days later
The hole closed up and the wound healed
And I was left with a one inch mound of flesh
Where my penis used to be
Where my vagina never was
A one inch mound of flesh
With a scar running down it
Like a sideways grimace
On an eyeless face
It was just a little bulge
It was an angry inch
Six inches forward and five inches back
The train is coming and I'm tied to the track
I try to get up but I can't get no slack
I got an angry inch, angry inch, angry inch
Six inches forward and five inches back
Stay undercover 'til the night turns to black
I got my inch and I'm set to attack
I got an angry inch, angry inch, angry inch
15 IYDKMIGTHTKY (Gimme That) (06:36)
It's been doing some thinking
And felt that she should she know
All actions in which partake
Are far beyond it's control
Whether It was born or bred
(Genetic, Environment)
I wouldn't bother to ask it why
Simply concentrate on when
It lies awake, yes, quite obsessed
Making plans but it won't tell
So longs to hear her final words:
"I brought this on myself"
The theory of futility
Now you'll learn, so be prepared
Enemies are equal to
Wrath times the speed of fright squared
If you don't kill me
I'm going to have to kill you... you - who
My God helps those who help themselves
Of thus, she shant be ashamed
Crawl into line and wait your turn
Remember Jesus slaves
Department of Probation:
"Legally It can't be blamed,
since It's clinically insane
- what a shame again"
If you don't kill me
I'm going to have to kill you... you - who
You must decide
We're out of time
No place to hide
Your choice, not mine!
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