•
Rating:
Symphonies for Broken Hearts.
There have been several moments in my life when I had an extreme need for Belle & Sebastian… probably the root is the same that led a "forgotten" generation of the '80s to listen to the Smiths and Morrissey's lyrics, or that so-called "dark" generation to listen to the Cure and Joy Division.
But for many years, the void left by the Smiths, at least from a lyrical impact standpoint, seemed insurmountable: until this fantastic Scottish band arrived. The music of Belle & Sebastian should be experienced as a parenthesis beyond reality and beyond one's own memory, and never as in this case is it necessary to underline the inseparable pair between melody and singing, which in a certain sense is parallel or proportional to the dualism of ethics/aesthetics. These two elements blend together, become one, and almost transform into a standalone instrument that leads the listener to completely detach from their present. B & S evoke images, colors, people, and situations that you may have experienced or from which your reality could not be more distant... figures of serenity and nostalgia that with the music become increasingly abstract, almost as if Stuart Murdoch were there to make them impalpable... as if he were singing in your room, sitting beside you. At least that's the sensation I feel while listening to tracks like "The State I Am In," the band's first flagship song, "My Wandering Days Are Over," and many, too many others.
Ed O'Brien of Radiohead said that as a kid, he listened to the Smiths because listening to them made it seem like Morrissey was speaking directly to him, a true catharsis: it's more or less in the same way that for many periods Belle & Sebastian's records have worked as a therapeutic method for my mood.
I'm almost glad that the band's latest works from Dundee have perhaps been less poetic and memorable: this way, that magnificent trilogy inaugurated in 1996 by this phenomenal "Tigermilk" I still feel a bit more mine, sharing it with an invisible (but surely existing) community of incurable broken hearts. Although many suggest the next two albums (surely more polished and financed), for me, the real masterpiece of the group is this debut, which is often unjustly overlooked. Made with a very low budget (a scholarship), with promotional momentum equal to zero, "Tigermilk" sublimely captures what the Great Belle & Sebastian truly were, those destined to enter pop history.
This album, completely self-produced, would remain hidden for years (in Italy it would be released only in 1999 - three years after its release in the UK - following the surprising success of "The Boy With The Arab Strap") but contains some of the greatest classics of this group whose name is a tribute to the famous novel by Cecilie D'Aubry.
Immersed in a dreamlike atmosphere, it thrives on standalone strokes of genius like the aforementioned "The State I Am In," the poignant "We Rule The School," the '60s garage of "You're Just A Baby," and the lo-fi electropop of "Electronic Renaissance" which stuns compared to the sound of other tracks, which retraces a bit of Donovan (for Murdoch's singing and the acoustic introspections) and a bit of Nick Drake (for the overall mood of the album, which nevertheless opens to sunny and bright tracks like "She's Losing It" very much in the vein of Ray Davies).
The references are numerous, the band's loves (a total of 7 members, among which the beautiful and ethereal Isobel Campbell and the shadowy Stevie Jackson stand out) countless, yet perfectly amalgamated into a single atmosphere: Bob Dylan, Morricone, indeed the Smiths, Neil Young, the Velvet Underground, and many others.
The most intense moment is "My Wandering Days Are Over" where the arrangement evolves, from simple (just voice and guitar) to increasingly complex and sophisticated: the lyrics of the songs perfectly adapt to this particular "Wall Of Sound," delicately addressing sometimes surprisingly themes such as repressed homosexuality and urban solitude.
A small, and unforgettable, jewel of the past decade.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 The State I Am In (04:58)
I was surprised, I was happy for a day in 1975
I was puzzled by a dream, stayed with me all day in 1995
My brother had confessed that he was gay
It took the heat off me for a while
He stood up with a sailor friend
Made it known upon my sisters wedding day
Got married in a rush to save a kid from being deported
Now she's in love
I was so touched, I was moved to kick the crutches
From my crippled friend
She was not impressed cause I cured her on the Sabbath
So I went to confess
When she saw the funny side, we introduced my child bride
To whisky and gin
The priest in the booth had a photographic memory
For all he had heard
He took all of my sins and he wrote a pocket novel called
"The State I Am In"
So I gave myself to God
There was a pregnant pause before he said ok
Now I spend my day turning tables round In Marks & Spencer's
They don't seem to mind
I gave myself to sin
I gave myself to Providence
And I've been there and back again
The state that I am in
Oh love of mine, would you condescend to help me
I am stupid and blind
Desperation is the Devil's work, it is the folly of a boys empty mind
Now I'm feeling dangerous, riding on city buses for a hobby is sad
Why don't you lead me to a living end?
I promised that I'd entertain my crippled friend
My crippled friend
02 Expectations (03:34)
Monday morning, wake up knowing that you've got to go to school,
Tell your mum what to expect, she says it's right out of the blue
Do you want to work in Debenham's, because that's what they expect?
Start in Lingerie, and Doris is your supervisor
And the head said that you always were a queer one from the start
For careers you say you went to be remembered for your art
Your obsessions get you known throughout the school for being strange
Making life-size models of the Velvet Underground in clay
In the queue for lunch they take the piss, you've got no appetite
And the rumour is you never go with boys and you are tight
So they jab you with a fork, you drop the tray and go berserk
While your cleaning up the mess the teacher's looking up your skirt
You've been used, you're confused
Are you calm? Settle down
Write a song, I'll sing along
Soon you will know that you are sane
You're on top of the world again
Monday morning, wake up knowing that you've got to go to school
Mum said she had little choice when she was young, so why should you?
Do you went to work in C&A, 'cause that's what they expect
Move to Ladie's wear and take a feel off Joe the Storeman
Tell Veronica the secrets of the boy you never kissed
She's got everything to gain 'cause she's a fat girl with a lisp
She sticks up for you when you get aggravation from the snobs
'Cause you can't afford a blazer and you're always wearing clogs
At the interval you lock yourself away inside a room
Head of English gets you, asks you, "What the Hell do you think you're doing?"
"Do you think you're better then the other kids? Well get outside."
You've got permission, but you've got to make the bastard think he's right
You've been used, you're confused
Write a song, I'll sing along
Are you calm? Settle down
Soon you will know that you are sane
You're on top of the world again
05 Electronic Renaissance (04:51)
Play a game with your electronics
Take a step to the discotheque, and people
Go outside where there's someone watching cars go by
And the city tall with steeples
Hand in hand with the Electronic Renaissance Is the way to go
Hand in hand with the Electronic Renaissance is the way to go, boy
Hand in hand with the Electronic Renaissance is the way to go
You're learning, soon you will do the things you wanted
Since you were wearing glitter badges
If you work for much very longer
You'll be known as the boy who's always working
If you dance for much very longer
You'll be known as the boy who's always dancing
Monochrome in the 1990's
You go disco and I'll go my way
Monochrome in the 1990's
You go disco and I'll go my way
Monochrome in the 1990's
You go disco and I'll go Funkadelic, man
Is the way to go
So drop a pill and then say hello
07 We Rule the School (03:27)
On a beech tree rudely carved
NC loved me
Why did she do it?
Was she scared?
Was she bored?
On a beech tree rudely carved
NC loved me
Why did she do it?
Was she scared?
Was she pushed?
Do something pretty while you can
Don't fall asleep
Skating a pirouette on ice is cool
Do something pretty while you can
Don't be a fool
Reading the Gospel to yourself is fine
On a bus stop in the town
"We Rule The School"
Written for everyone to read and see
On a bus stop in the town
"We Rule The School"
Written for everyone with eyes in their head
Do something pretty while you can
Don't fall asleep
Driving from California to New York
Call me a prophet if you like
It's no secret
You know the world is made for men
You know the world is made for men
You know the world is made for men
Not us
08 My Wandering Days Are Over (05:26)
You know my wandering days are over
Does that mean that I'm getting boring?
You tell me
I'm tired of listening to myself now
I'm tired of fixing things for Michael and the rest of them
You know my bip-bopping days are over
I hung my boots up and then retired from the disco floor
Now the centre of my so called being is
The space between your bed and wardrobe with the louvre doors
I said "My celibate days are over"
You put me straight on the finer points of my speech rehearsed
In the mirror of my steamy bathroom
Where the lino tells a sorry story in a monologue
Six months on, the winter's gone
The disenchanted pony
Left the town with the circus boy
The circus boy got lonely
It's summer, and it's sister song's
Been written for the lonely
The circus boy is feeling melancholy
It's got to be fate that's doing it
A spooky witch in a sexy dress has been bugging me
With the story of the way it should be
With the story of Sebastian and Belle the singer
I said "My one man band is over"
I hit the drum for the final time and I walked away
I saw you in Japanese restaurant
You were doing it for business men on the piano, Belle
You said it was a living Hell
You said you were in Hell
10 Mary Jo (03:30)
Mary Jo, living alone
Drinking tea, on her own
She wants, tell em what you want
Mary Jo, living alone
Drinking gin the tellys on
She wants
The night to follow day and back again
She doesn't want to sleep
Well who could blame her if she wants?
The night to follow day and back again
She doesn't want to sleep
Well who could blame her, if she sleeps?
Well who could blame her, if she sleeps?
Well who could blame her, if she's sleeping?
Mary Jo, back with yourself
For company, keep telling yourself you're young
And it will happen soon
Mary Jo, no one can guess
What you've been through
Now you've got love to burn
It's someone else's turn to go through Hell
Now you can see them come from fifty yards
Yeah you can tell
It's someone else's turn to take a fall
And now you are the one who's strong enough to help them
The one who's strong enough to help them
The one who's strong enough to help them all
Mary Jo, you're looking thin
You're reading a book, "The State I'm In"
But oh, it doesn't help at all
Cause what you want is a cigarette
And a thespian with a caravanette in Hull
Your life is never dull in your dreams
A pity that it never seems to work the way you see it
Life is never dull in your head
A sorry tale of action and the men you left for
Women, and the men you left for
Intrigue, and the men you left for dead
Your life is never dull in your dreams
A pity that it never seems to work the way you see it
Life is never dull in your head
A sorry tale of action and the men you left for
Women, and the men you left for
Intrigue, and the men you left for dead
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By Cordell
Their music is genuine, it’s delicate, and the verses Murdoch sings almost timidly in that masterpiece called "Tigermilk," tap on our eardrums with a gentle touch.
"Tigermilk," prepared in 5 days for a university competition, assures them the expected victory and much, much more.
