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Rating:
A poignant portrait of a tormented existence, the new album from Antony & The Johnsons, "I Am A Bird Now", is one of the most beautiful works of 2005. You listen to it, and Antony's deep, vibrant voice seems to captivate you, take you elsewhere, reveal his soul to you in every song, and often seems to touch your own as well.
Your heart, after listening, will never be the same, and it will be difficult to do without his music, his piano that insinuates itself into your mind, bringing dreams, hopes, and disillusionments. There's something inside you that seems to want to scream to the world that here on Earth, something is wrong and needs to be changed.
Antony, with his "white soul", full of pathos and inner motion, seems to embody multiple personalities, also because it's quite difficult to associate him with any particular artist. From time to time, he seems to have the power of Otis Redding, or the elegance of Billie Holiday, and finally, the interpretative ability and depth of Jeff Buckley. Enhanced by excellent presences, like Lou Reed, who took Antony under his wing, the CD also boasts the participation of a rediscovered Boy George and great friends Rufus Wainwright and Devendra Banhart. Perhaps a single word can encapsulate the essence of this album: unique.
I can only recommend it to you.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Hope There's Someone (04:21)
Hope there's someone
Who'll take care of me
When I die, will I go
Hope there's someone
Who'll set my heart free
Nice to hold when I'm tired
There's a ghost on the horizon
When I go to bed
How can I fall asleep at night
How will I rest my head
Oh I'm scared of the middle place
Between light and nowhere
I don't want to be the one
Left in there, left in there
There's a man on the horizon
Wish that I'd go to bed
If I fall to his feet tonight
Will allow rest my head
So here's hoping I will not drown
Or paralyze in light
And godsend I don't want to go
To the seal's watershed
Hope there's someone
Who'll take care of me
When I die, Will I go
Hope there's someone
Who'll set my heart free
Nice to hold when I'm tired
02 My Lady Story (03:33)
My lady story
My lady story
My lady story
Is one of annihilation
My lady story
Is one of breast amputation
My lady story
My lady story
I'm a hole in love
I'm a bride on fire
I am twisted
Into a starve of wire
My lady story
My lady story
Lie in road for you
And I've been your slave
My womb's an ocean full of
Grief and rage
My lady story
My lady story
My lady story
My lady story
And still you're coaxing me
To come on out and live
Well I'm a crippled dog
I've got nothing to give
My lady story
My lady story
My lady story
My lady story
I'm so broken babe
But I want to see
Some shining eye
Some of my beauty
My lostest beauty
My lostest beauty
03 For Today I Am a Boy (02:36)
One day I’ll grow up, I’ll be a beautiful woman.
One day I’ll grow up, I’ll be a beautiful girl.
One day I’ll grow up, I’ll be a beautiful woman.
One day I’ll grow up, I’ll be a beautiful girl.
But for today I am a child, for today I am a boy.
For today I am a child, for today I am a boy.
For today I am a child, for today I am a boy.
One day I’ll grow up, I’ll feel the power in me.
One day I’ll grow up, of this I’m sure.
One day I’ll grow up, I know whom within me.
One day I’ll grow up, feel it full and pure.
But for today I am a child, for today I am a boy.
For today I am a child, for today I am a boy.
For today I am a child, for today I am a boy.
For today I am a child, for today I am a boy.
For today I am a child, for today I am a boy.
For today I am a child, for today I am a boy.
For today I am a child, for today I am a boy
05 You Are My Sister (03:59)
You are my sister, we were born
So innocent, so full of need
There were times we were friends but times I was so cruel
Each night I'd ask for you to watch me as I sleep
I was so afraid of the night
You seemed to move through the places that I feared
You lived inside my world so softly
Protected only by the kindness of your nature
You are my sister
And I love you
May all of your dreams come true
We felt so differently then
So similar over the years
The way we laugh the way we experience pain
So many memories
But theres nothing left to gain from remembering
Faces and worlds that no one else will ever know
You are my sister
And I love you
May all of your dreams come true
I want this for you
They're gonna come true (gonna come true)
08 Spiralling (04:25)
Well and I can and I die
I can, I die
Well and I'm freezing
I'm freezing
Well it's a sly curse
A sly curse
Well and I'm spiralling
I'm spiralling
In the broken heart game
I've got all my files
I've got all my ones to choose from
I gave waiting for you
Waiting for you
I'm ravage like a dog in heat
I'm gone, gone
???
I am, I'm undone
I am undone
Where go, where now
I can't stand
If I can, I can die
I'm freezing
It's like us
I'm spiralling
In my cruel life God poisoned
I was born old
Not a girl and not a jewel
I am,I am some son
I am some bum
Where go, where now
I can't stand
If I can, I can die
I'm freezing
It's like us
I'm spiralling
10 Bird Gerhl (03:14)
I am a bird girl now
I've got my heart
Here in my hands now
I've been searching
For my wings some time
I'm gonna be born
Into soon the sky
'Cause I'm a bird girl
And the bird girls go to heaven
I'm a bird girl
And the bird girls can fly
Bird girls can fly
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Other reviews
By sodo_caustico
Antony has a wo-n-der-ful voice, Lou Reed called it 'angelic.'
Recommended: to those who welcome anyone with open arms, without knowing their name.
By anitaerrabunda
This album encapsulates the story of a child, perhaps recounted by a kind of Pierrot, on a rainy night in the warmth of circus caravans.
It is one of the most moving albums I’ve heard lately.
By Mariaelena
Antony’s voice is not only inimitable but also of a painful, unparalleled beauty.
His music is a continuous pulse of life agglomerated to the despair that cries out for help.
By azzo
It is evident that Thomas Newman has worked mostly for cinema. He knows when the sound needs to be drier and when fuller, when it should engage and when it should allow the protagonist’s breath to be heard.
A woman’s voice that seems like a man’s, for a man who tries to be a woman.
