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Rating: Operation Nostalgia. The freshman college dorm room abroad, the harsh autumn, the turtleneck sweaters back in fashion, the new wine of the Bolognese taverns, the afternoons spent wandering between the bookstore shelves, the endless and inconclusive discussions about politics. And above all, the reddish cover CD of a so-called Scottish band ("where the heck do you find these groups?") with a ridiculous and improbable name, a title that sounds like a psychotropic slogan, "If you're Feeling Sinister," a record that gets under your skin and that you will carry inside forever, like a piece of your genetic code.
Ten years have passed, it seems like a century, and the nostalgia operation is signed by Belle & Sebastian, releasing online (iTunes Store, as usual) the live version of that album, recorded at the Barbican in London in September 2005, as part of the "Don't Look Back" Series (organized by All Tomorrow's Parties, one of the major independent music festivals in Great Britain), performances where artists play live and in full one album from their discography.
Apparently, Stuart Murdoch was never very satisfied with the arrangements of the original version of "If you're Feeling Sinister." Too minimalist and low-fi for his (latest) tastes that require a profusion of baroque orchestrations and polished deviations between glam and funk. Put this way, the intention of proposing those songs today sounded almost sacrilegious, and the mere idea that Tony Hoffer, shameless producer of "The Life Pursuit," could extend his evil influence to "If you're Feeling Sinister" was already stomach-churning.
But instead, the worst fears are unfounded, and this "Live at the Barbican," in truth released a few months before "The Life Pursuit," is pleasant to listen to and really manages to integrate and enrich some weaker passages of the original recordings. Murdoch and company unleash a 12-member band for this performance, but the spirit of the album remains unchanged: intimate, minimalistic, melancholic, and irreverent at the same time, in a word, "twee-pop" in its essence.
The opening of "Stars of Track and Field" is almost indistinguishable from the original version, if it weren't for the show of strength in the last 10 seconds with the whole band pushing the accelerator. The massive presence of strings is the real novelty, and if there are indeed songs that gain from the conquest of high fidelity ("Seeing Other People"), in many cases, they sound artificial and redundant ("If you're Feeling Sinister" and "The Boy Done Wrong Again").
But what pleases the most about this performance by Belle & Sebastian is the realization of how their maturity still manages to marry the desire to have fun and entertain: the performance of "Me & The Major" borders on perfection, the groove that changes speed with each beat, and the devilish mouth harmonica that draws applause on the open stage, proof of a technical mastery long conquered (it's no secret that the live performances of early Belle & Sebastian often left something to be desired). Today, as then, the record shows no weak points and continues to thrill in particular moments: "Like Dylan in the Movies" with the strangled trumpet of Mick Cooke at the end and "Get Me Away from Here I'm Dying" 'archetype of Belle & Sebastian's sound with the guitar arpeggios and Hammond organ phrases.
And so the nostalgia operation succeeds fully, and, indeed, one must be very careful not to get too involved, or you even risk a tear at the remembrance of the good old days.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 The Stars of Track and Field (05:04)
Make a new cult every day to suit your affairs
Kissing girls in English, at the back of the stairs
You're a honey, with a following of innocent boys
They never know it
Because you never show it
You always get your way
They never know it
Because you never show it
You always get your way
Have you and her been taking pictures of your obsessions?
Because I met a boy who went through one of your sessions
In his blue velour and silk
You liberated
A boy I never rated
And now he's throwing discus
For Liverpool and Widnes
You liberated
A boy I never rated
And now he's doing business
The stars of track and field, you are
The stars of track and field, you are
The stars of track and field are beautiful people
Could I write a piece about you now that you've made it?
About the hours spent, the emptiness in your training
You only did it so that you could wear
Your terry underwear
And feel the city air
Run past your body
Could I write a requiem for you when you're dead?
"She had the moves, she had the speed, it went to her head"
She never needed anyone to get her round the track
But when she's on her back
She had the knowledge
To get her into college
But when she's on her back
She had the knowledge
To get her into college
02 Seeing Other People (03:58)
We lay on the bed there
Kissing just for practice
Could we please be objective?
Cause the other boys are queuing up behind us
A hand over my mouth
A hand over the window
Well, if I remain passive and you just want to cuddle
Then we should be ok, and we won't get in a muddle
Cause we're seeing other people
At least that's what we say we are doing
How are you feeling?
I don't think you can be dealing
With the situation very well
You take a lover for a dirty weekend, that's ok
But when it's over
You are looking at the working week through the eyes of a gigolo
You're kissing your elbow
You're kissing your reflection
And you can't understand why all the other boys are going for the
New, tall, elegant rich kids
You can bet it is a bitch, kid
But if they don't see the quality then it is apparent that
You're going to have to change
Or you're going to have to go with girls
You might be better off
At least they know where to put it
We lay on the bed there
Kissing just for practice
Could we please be objective?
Cause the other boys are queuing up behind us
A hand over my mouth
A hand over the window
Well, if I remain passive and you just want to cuddle
Then we should be ok, and we won't get in a muddle
Cause we're seeing other people
At least that's what we say we are doing
03 Me and the Major (04:02)
Me and the Major could become close friends cause we
Get on the same train and he wants to talk to me
Me and the Major could become close friends cause we
Get on the same train and he wants to talk
But there is too much history, too much biography between us
Me and the Major don't see eye to eye on a
Number of things, he'll take a guy like me oh yeah
Me and the Major don't see eye to eye on a
Number of things, he'll take a guy like me
And put him in the army
Cause the Queen's own army makes a man of you
But he doesn't understand and he doesn't try
He knows there's something missing and he knows it's you and I
We're the younger generation, we grew up fast
All the others did drugs
They're taking it out on us
They're taking it out on us
Me and the Major are from different worlds, but if
I get stuck in the lift it's always with a toff
Me and the Major are from different worlds, but if
I get stuck in the lift it's always with a man
Of noble standing who looks down on me like I was never born
I think the Major's going quite insane, he goes
Along the pavement and comes back again, oh yeah
I think the Major's going quite insane, he goes
Along the pavement and comes back again
Like he is on parade, and he is on parade
At least he thinks so
Now he is swapping his tent for a sheltered home
He doesn't have a family, he is living alone
He remembers all the punks and the hippies too
And he remembers Roxy Music in seventy-two
He doesn't understand and he doesn't try
He knows there's something missing and he knows it's you and I
We're the younger generation, we grew up fast
All the others did drugs
They're taking it out on us
They're taking it out on us
They're taking it out on us
I want a dance, I want a drink of whisky so I
Forget the Major and go up the town, oh boy
I want a dance, I want a drink of whisky so I
Forget the Major and go up the town
Because the snow is falling
04 Like Dylan in the Movies (04:26)
Lisa's kissing men like a long walk home
When the music stops
Take a tip from me, don't go through the park
When you're on your own, it's a long walk home
If they follow you
Don't look back
Like Dylan in the movies
On your own
If they follow you
It's not your money that they're after boy it's you
Pure easy listening, settle down
On the pillow soft when they've all gone home
You can concentrate on the ones you love
You can concentrate, hey, now they've gone
If they follow you
Don't look back
Like Dylan in the movies
On your own
If they follow you
It's not your money that they're after boy it's you
Yeah you're worth the trouble and you're worth the pain
And you're worth the worry, I would do the same
If we all went back to another time
I will love you over
I will love you over
I will love you
If they follow you
Don't look back
Like Dylan in the movies
On your own
If they follow you
Tenderly you turn the light off in your room
05 The Fox in the Snow (04:23)
Fox in the snow, where do you go
To find something you could eat?
Cause the world out on the street is you are starving
Don't let yourself grow hungry now
Don't let yourself grow cold
Fox in the snow
Girl in the snow, where will you go
To find someone that will do?
To tell someone all the truth before it kills you
They listen to your crazy laugh
Before you hang a right
And disappear from sight
What do they know anyway?
You'll read it in a book
What do they know anyway?
You'll read it in a book tonight
Boy on the bike, what are you like
As you cycle round the town?
You're going up, you're going down
You're going nowhere
It's not as if they're paying you
It's not as if it's fun
At least not anymore
When your legs are black and blue
It's time to take a break
When your legs are black and blue
It's time to take a holiday
Kid in the snow, way to go
It only happens once a year
It only happens once a lifetime
Make the most of it
Second just to being born
Second to dying to
What else could you do?
06 Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying (04:06)
Ooh! Get me away from here I'm dying
Play me a song to set me free
Nobody writes them like they used to
So it may as well be me
Here on my own now after hours
Here on my own now on a bus
Think of it this way
You could either be successful or be us
With our winning smiles, and us
With our catchy tunes, and us
Now we're photogenic
You know, we don't stand a chance
Oh, I'll settle down with some old story
About a boy who's just like me
Thought there was love in everything and everyone
You're so naive!
They always reach a sorry ending
They always get it in the end.
Still it was worth it as I turned the pages solemnly, and then
With a winning smile, the boy
With naivety succeeds
At the final moment, I cried
I always cry at endings
Oh, that wasn't what I meant to say at all
From where I'm sitting, rain
Falling against the lonely tenement
Has set my mind to wander
Into the windows of my lovers
They never know unless I write
"This is no declaration, I just thought I'd let you know goodbye"
Said the hero in the story
"It is mightier than swords
I could kill you sure
But I could only make you cry with these words"
07 If You're Feeling Sinister (06:09)
Anthony walked to his death because he thought he'd never feel this way again
If he goes back to the house then things would go from bad to worse, what could he do?
He wants to remember things exactly as he left them on that funny day
And if there is something else beyond, he isn't scared because
It's bound to be less boring than today
It's bound to be less boring than tomorrow
Hilary walked to her death because she couldn't think of anything to say
Everybody thought that she was boring, so they never listened anyway
Nobody was really saying anything of interest, she fell asleep
She was into S&M and bible studies
Not everyone's cup of tea she would admit to me
Her cup of tea, she would admit to no one
Her cup of tea, she would admit to me
Oh but her cup of tea, she would admit to no one
Hilary went to the Catholic Church because she wanted information
The vicar, or whatever, took her to one side and gave her confirmation
Saint Theresa's calling her, the church up on the hill is looking lovely
But it doesn't interest, the only things she wants to know is
How and why and when and where to go
How and why and when and where to follow
How and why and when and where to go
How and why and when and where to follow
But if you are feeling sinister
Go off and see a minister
He'll try in vain to take away the pain of being a hopeless unbeliever
la la la la la la la
When she got back, her spirituality was thrown into confusion
So she got a special deal on renting
From the man at Rediffusion
"Look at me! I'm on TV
It makes up for the shortcomings of being poor
Now I'm in a million pieces", picked up for deliberation
By the people listening at home
By the people watching on the telly
By the people listening at home
By the people watching on the telly
But if you are feeling sinister
Go off and see a minister
He'll try in vain to take away the pain of being a hopeless unbeliever
la la la la la la la
la la la la la la la
But if you are feeling sinister
Go off and see a minister
Chances are you'll probably feel better
If you stayed and played with yourself
08 Mayfly (03:52)
Lovesick on a sunny afternoon
You are tired of staying in
You are waiting for a sign
Mayfly, woken up when skies are clear
I don't mind you coming near
Keep me company till she comes again
You are the one who's making do
I am the one who's privy to
Because you saw him in the park
Because you saw him at the bridges
with the people in the dark
Cana was the start of something big
You were there in the beginning
You were there to see him play
Mayfly, woken up when skies are blue
I don't mind the sight of you
Keep me company till she comes again
You are the one who's making do
I am the one who's privy to
Because you saw him at the celebrations
Standing at the side
He had the moves to save the day
And you would love him anyway
Lovesick, it came back upon yourself
You are the one left on the shelf
You are incapable of playing the fool
Longing so what's different today?
You sent the boy and girl away
You are concerned with matters lofty
But puzzled so it makes you sick
Your diary's looking like the Bible
With its verses lost in time
And lost in meaning for the people who surround you
It's a crying shame
You know it's a crying shame
You know it's a crying shame
Mayfly, woken up when skies are blue
I don't mind the sight of you
Keep me company till she comes again
Mayfly, woken up when skies are clear
I don't mind you, come in here
Keep me company till she comes again
la la la la
she comes again
la la la la
she comes again
la la la la la
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