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Rating:
Re-released a few years ago on DVD, "Starshaped" documents the (dramatic) condition of the band between 1991 and 1994.
Angry, tired, broke, unsuccessful (the beautiful "Modern Life Is Rubbish" had been a genuine commercial flop) yet always with boundless enthusiasm, the four were literally on the brink of psychophysical collapse.
Filmed in an immediate and captivating way, through interviews with the band (memorable when silence falls as they talk about their condition between 1992 and 1993, interesting to hear Coxon talk about Morrissey), genuine hysteria with subsequent self-destruction (a schizophrenic Albarn on stage jumping and throwing himself against the amplifiers, only to have one fall on his foot allowing him yes, to continue jumping, but from pain and thus forcing him to come off stage where he begins to scream and complain), hangover symptoms (a suddenly missing Coxon then found wandering completely drunk).
These four madmen got it into their heads, in the midst of the Grunge era, to resist by proposing music with entirely different coordinates, and this is the point: before becoming the most important English band of the '90s with the epochal "Parklife", Blur were simply desperate and on the verge of breaking up. However, they were brimming with talent and with a genuine and burning passion for their music.
Fortunately subtitled in Italian, the documentary, accompanied by their period music and enriched with unmissable "gems" (the drunken "The Wassailing Song", the immediate and brilliant "Explain", the psychedelic "Luminous"), fully represents the various "when you have nothing left, you have nothing to lose", "you do your best when you hit rock bottom" or "once you've hit the bottom, the only way is up". And Blur had indeed hit rock bottom, and often here we find them still digging a little deeper (Albarn caught vomiting is more eloquent than a thousand words).
Dirty, fun, emotional, interesting, important and also enriched by a long and beautiful "Live In Kilburn" from the period, opened by a sadly never fully appreciated "Popscene", and by a fairly dispensable and thankfully short extract from a "Live At The Princess Charlotte", which seems to be amateurishly filmed with a camcorder.
The inclusion of the splendid and lysergic "Sing" in the "Trainspotting" soundtrack was no accident: "Starshaped" is the Trainspotting of a band captured in the moment of transition from chrysalis to butterfly.
"I can’t feel because I’m numb (..) / so what’s the worth of all of this if the child in your head is dead / sing to me"
("Sing")
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 Advert (00:00)
it is six oclock on the dot and i am half way home
i feel foul monthed as i stand and wait for the underground
and a nervous disposition does not agree with this
I need something to remind me that there is something else
you need a holiday somewhere in the sun
with all the people who are waiting
there never seems to be one
say something, say something else
advertisements are here for rapid persuasion
if you stare too long you lose your appetite
and a nervous disposition does not agree with this
you need fast relief from aches and stomach pains
03 Colin Zeal (00:00)
Colin Zeal knows the value of mass appeal
He's a pedestrian walker, he's a civil talker
He's an affable man with a plausible plan
Keeps his eye on the news, keeps his future in hand
And then he...
Looks at his watch, he's on time yet again
Looks at his watch, he's on time yet again
He's pleased with himself, he's pleased with himself
He's so pleased with himself, ah ha
While sitting in traffic, Colin thinks in automatic
He's an immaculate dresser, he's your common aggressor
He's a modern retard with a love of bombast
Keeps his eye on the news, doesn't dwells on the past
And then he...
Looks at his watch, he's on time yet again
Looks at his watch, he's on time yet again
He's pleased with himself, he's pleased with himself
He's so pleased with himself, ah ha
He's pleased with himself, he's pleased with himself
He's so pleased with himself, ah ha
And then he...
Looks at his watch, he's on time yet again
Looks at his watch, he's on time yet again
He's pleased with himself, he's pleased with himself
He's so pleased with himself, ah ha
He's pleased with himself, he's pleased with himself
He's so pleased with himself, ah ha
He's pleased with himself, he's pleased with himself
He's so pleased with himself, ah ha
He's pleased with himself, he's so pleased with himself
He's so pleased with himself, ah ha
He's a modern retard, he's terminal lard
He's an affable man, with a carrotene tan
Because Colin Zeal's ill
Colin Zeal's ill
Colin Zeal's ill
'Cos Colin Zeal knows
11 There's No Other Way (00:00)
You're taking the fun
Out of everything
Making me run
When I don't want to think
You're taking the fun
Out of everything
I don't want to think at all
There's no other way
There's no other way
All that you can do
Is watch them play
You're taking the fun
Out of everything
You're making it clear
When I don't want to think
You're taking me up when
I dont want to go up anymore
I'm just watching it all
There's no other way
There's no other way
All that you can do
Is watch them play
I'll watch you play
12 Luminous (00:00)
Don't look at me as
Your only regret what you don't see
You know more than I
So think for me
Think what your not
Ah ah ah ah
Love substitute for the
Never knew who you were
Half your life has been explained
You want the other half
Ah ah ah ah
Don't look at me as though I'm not here
Your only regret what you don't see
Half my life has been explained
16 Coping (00:00)
Primal evil what am I
Tongue-tied until the day I die
There's no love made with mermaids
It's just distraction or so they say
And I'm too tird to care about it
Can' t you see it in my face my face
When I feel this strange can I go through this again
It's a sorry state you're getting in
The same excuse is wearing thin
There's no self control left in me
What was not will never will be
And I'm too tired to care about it
Can't you see it in my face my face
When I feel this strange can I go through this again
28 Pop Scene (00:00)
A fervoured image of another world
Is nothing in particular now
And imitation comes naturally
But I never really stopped to think how
And everyone is a clever clone
A chrome coloured clone am I
So in the abscence of a way of life
Just repeat this again and again...and again
Hey, hey come out tonight
Hey, hey come out tonight
Popscene, all right
I'm leaving town to run away
Right into your twisted arms
No queues and there's no panic there
Just dangling your feet in the grass
My lack of natural luster now
Seems to be losing me friends
So in the abscence of a way of life
Just repeat this again and again...and again
Hey, hey come out tonight
Hey, hey come out tonight
Popscene!
Hey, hey come out tonight
Hey, hey come out tonight
Popscene, all right
Hey, hey come out tonight
Hey, hey come out tonight
Popscene!
32 For Tomorrow (00:00)
He's a twentieth century boy
With his hands on the rails
Trying not to be sick again
And holding on for tomorrow
London ice cracks on a seamless line
He's hanging on for dear life
So we hold each other tightly
And hold on for tomorrow
Singing
La la, la la la
La la la la la la la la (x3)
Holding on for tomorrow
...oh, oh, oh, oh, oh...
She's a twentieth century girl
With her hands on the wheel
Trying not to make him sick again
Seeing what she can borrow
London's so nice back in your seamless rhymes
But we're we're lost on the Westway
So we hold each other tightly
And hold on for tomorrow
Singing
La la, la la la
La la la la la la la la (x3)
Holding on for tomorrow
Trying not to be sick again
And holding for tomorrow
She's a twentieth century girl
Hanging on for dear life
So we hold each other tightly
And hold on for tomorrow
Singing
La la, la la la
La la la la la la la la (x3)
Holding on for tomorrow
Jim stops and gets out the car,
goes to a house in Emperor's gate,
Through the door and to his room,
Then he puts the TV on,
Turns it off and makes some tea,
Says Modern Life Is Rubbish I'm
Holding on for tomorrow,
Then Susan comes into the room,
She's a naughty girl with a lovely smile,
Says let's take a drive to Primrose Hill,
It's windy there and the view's so nice,
London ice can freeze your toes
Like anyone I suppose
I'm holding on for tomorrow...
33 Sunday Sunday (00:00)
Sunday, Sunday here again in tidy attire
You read the color supplement, the TV guide
You dream of protein on a plate, regret you left it quite so late
Together the family around the table, to eat enough to sleep
Oh the Sunday sleep
Sunday, Sunday here again a walk in the park
You meet an old soldier and talk of the past
He fought for us in two world wars
and says the England he knew is no more
He sings songs of praise every week but always falls asleep
For that Sunday sleep
You dream of protein on a plate, regret you left it quite so late
Together the family around the table to eat enough to sleep
And mother's pride is you epithet, that extra slice you will soon regret
So going out is your best bet, then bingo yourself to sleep
Oh the Sunday sleep
34 Chemical World (00:00)
The pay-me girl has had enough of the bleeps
So she takes the bus into the country
Although she got herself rosy cheeks
She didn't leave enough money to pay the rent
The landlord says that she's out in a week
What a shame she was just getting comfy
Now she's eating chocolate to induce sleep
In a chemical world, it's very, very, very cheap
And I don't know about you
But they're putting the holes in, yes, yes
It's been a hell of a do
They've been putting the holes in, yes, yes
Peeping Thomas has a very nice view
Across the street at the exhibitionist
These townies they never speak to you
Just stick together so they never get lonely
Feeling lead, feeling quite light-headed
Had to sit down and have some sugary tea
In chemical world, in a chemical world
It's very, very, very cheap
And I don't know about you
But they're putting the holes in, yes, yes
It's been a hell of a do
They've been putting the holes in, yes, yes, yes
I don't know about you
But they're putting the holes in, yes, yes
It's been a hell of a do
They've been putting the holes in, yes, yes
And now she's found about you
But they're putting the holes in, yes, yes
Well I don't know about you
They've been putting the holes in, yes, yes
Until you can see right through
Until you can see right through
Until you can see right through
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