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"Hello? Hi Pippo, it's Gianni!"
"Ah, hi Gianni... what's up in Bremen?"
"Nothing much, the same old story, never a thrill."
"What's the matter? You sound quite down, what's happening?"
"To tell the truth, I just finished listening to 'Down in the Groove,' and I'm a bit disappointed."
"What? What kind of stuff is it? Gothic? Dark? Viking?"
"Haha, what are you saying, silly, it's a Bob Dylan album!"
"Who?????"
"Robert Zimmerman, that American with a guitar and harmonica like Bennato."
"Ah, the Mr. Tambourine man?"
"No, that's Battiato! Dylan is the guy from the first rock song in history, got it?"
"But rock doesn't have a birth date, even Scarrufi says so!"
"Don't listen to him, or you'll end up preferring Aqua over ABBA!"
"And who should I listen to? You, talking to me about this Zimmerman?"
"Of course! Still haven't figured out who he is, have you? Remember 'Hurricane'?"
"'Hurricane'? By the Pooh?"
"For god’s sake, you're more stubborn than Isicùr! Don't make me spend more money; these people from ArtikPhone will skin me from the Kola Peninsula to Bremen! I just wanted to warn you not to buy this album because it's rehashed stuff from a person who exhausted his creative vein a while ago and now is said to even do an Unplugged on TV."
"Wow, so it's best to avoid... but when did it come out?"
"I don't know, they say it never comes out, he didn't even go to Woodstock, yet he lived there at the time... what a damn fool, right?"
"But why should I care about him? This album, I mean, when did it come out?"
"Oh, the album! It came out in '88."
"Does he play everything himself, like Bennato?"
"No, actually. He's surrounded by artists of the caliber of Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, Jerry Garcia, Paul Simonon... "
"No one else?"
"Other less known ones, like Bob Weir, Bobby King, Ron Wood, Larry Klein, Danny Kortchmar."
"Did he happen to find them in the London underground?"
"So what if he did?"
"Okay, okay, don't get upset... then, what were you saying? All these musicians for an album that disappointed you?"
"But it's a weak album, the usual two chords, the usual hoarse voice, practically an aging rocker, and not aging well!"
"But there must be something good; otherwise, what were the 40 years of career for?"
"In fact, there is a decent little song, 'Death Is Not the End,' also mentioned by Dream Theater and sung by Nick Cave."
"Nothing apocalyptic like Nick Drake?"
"No, sorry if you were expecting something like that."
"What else can you tell me about this album?"
"Nothing more, even Bob himself set it aside, keeping only 'Silvio' for the replayed live shows he keeps giving us."
"So it's not worth buying?"
"No, I don't feel like wasting 13 dollars like that."
"But how much did this call cost you?"
"God, what an idiot I am!"
...and he hung up. For the record, I'm Gianni, Gianni Decano, and Pippo is someone I care about.
Robert Zimmerman, on the other hand, is Bob Dylan, in the '50s an ambitious young man, in the '60s the father of singer-songwriters, in the '70s a convinced turncoat, in the '80s searching for a lost identity, in the '90s a shadow of himself, in 2000... damn, how long is this guy going to live?
Tracklist and Lyrics
07 Silvio (03:05)
Stake my future on a hell of a past
Looks like tomorrow is a coming on fast
Ain't complaining about what I got
Seen better times but who has not.
Silvio silver and gold
Won't buy back the beat of a heart grown cold
Silvio I gotta go
Find out something only dead men know.
Honest as the next jade rolling that stone
When I come and knockin' don't throw me no bone
I'm an old boll weevil looking for a home
If you don't like it you can leave me alone.
I can snap my fingers and require the rain
From a clear blue sky and turn it off again
I can stroke your body and relieve your pain
And charm the whistle off an evening train.
Silvio silver and gold
Won't buy back the beat of a heart grown cold
Silvio I gotta go
Find out something only dead men know
Give what I got until I got no more
I take what I get until I even the score
You know I love you and further more
When it is time to go you got an open door.
I can tell your fancy I can tell your plain
You give something up for ev'rything you gain
Since ev'ry pleasure's got an edge of pain
Pay for your ticket and don't complain.
One of these days and it won't be long
Going down the valley and sing my song
I will sing it loud and sing it strong
Let the echo decide if I was right or wrong.
Silvio silver and gold
Won't buy back the beat of a heart grown cold
Silvio I gotta go
Find out something only dead men know.
09 Shenandoah (03:38)
Oh, Shenandoah, I long to hear you
Look away, you rollin' river
Oh, Shenandoah, I long to hear you
Look away. We're bound away
Across the wide Missouri
Now the Missouri is a mighty river
Look away, you rollin' river.
Indians camp along her border
Look away. We're bound away
Across the wide Missouri
Well a white man loved an Indian maiden
Look away, you rollin' river
With notions his canoe was laden
Look away, we're bound away
Across the wide Missouri
Oh Shenandoah, I love your daughter
Look away, you rollin' river
It was for her I'd cross the water.
Look away, we're bound away
Across the wide Missouri
For seven long years I courted Sally
Look away, you rollin' river
Seven more years I longed to have her
Look away, we're bound away
Across the wide Missouri
Well, it's fare-thee-well, my dear,
I'm bound to leave you
Look away you rollin' river
Shenandoah, I will not deceive you
Look away, we're bound away
Across the wide Missouri
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Other reviews
By Hungry
Here’s the first beauty of this "little disc": the tracks...are played with a "raw" attitude and this is a significant step forward from his predecessors.
Anyone approaching Dylan for the first time should stay away from this work, there are much better places to start.
