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There are things in life that seem to be born naturally, spontaneously, apparently without any creative effort and "study" from man, such is their grace. Things that hide complexity behind a balance and harmony that make them appear very simple. "Another Green World" belongs to this category. It is situated in the middle phase of Eno's career, between experiments on song form and the pioneering future works of ambient music. It's what is commonly referred to as a transitional work.
One would then expect a somewhat fragmented, non-uniform work. But that's not the case. How is it possible?
Imagine a flowered meadow. We can admire its multicolored carpet from a distance and be enchanted by it, just as we can get closer and pick a rose or a violet, smell its fragrance, and be equally enchanted. "Another Green World" is like that. Its tracks are color notes, small crystalline pieces that shine with their own light and together form a marvelous picture. Technically this is possible because Eno uses the recording studio in a revolutionary way. That is, as an instrument. With his creative genius, he "manipulates," treats sounds like the canvas of a painting, he is mostly interested in tapes. And here even an incompetent person could work on it, assembling at will parts played by "competent" musicians. It's his theory of "music for non-musicians."
When the sound of the opening track "Sky Saw" fills the air, we begin to realize all of this. Staggering drums wrapped in brilliant swathes of synth, in the middle a hinted chorus, itself an "instrument" (the voice is no longer "front" in recording phase but is treated just like a "sound" and that's it)
Result? A sense of clarity and transparency unlike any other, a wonderful integration between classical and electronic instruments, with the latter never having sounded so natural until then.
The same enchantment is repeated by "St. Elmo's Fire," a catchy melody embellished by a warm and sparkling guitar solo by Robert Fripp that slices through the organ and piano textures as well as the heart.
"In The Dark Trees" introduces us to Eno's world of ambient suggestions, dark, threatening, and unsettling like a walk in the woods at night.
The peace returns in the sunny "I'll Come Running" where Fripp is once again the protagonist. The brief title track is as clear as a mirror of water rippled by the concentric circles of a pebble that gently dies at the bottom.
Another splendid miniature is "Little Fishies," so delightful it flows away each time without fully appreciating its taste.
Very tender and melancholic is "Golden Hours," with Eno's voice getting lost among sounds and its hopes.
The following "Becalmed" takes us adrift in a calm, nocturnal sea, in search of the utmost calm, so delicate and subdued that it is almost less intrusive than silence.
The album closes with unease in "Spirit Drifting," the last ambient piece with an undefinable flavor, floating among the darkest and remotest thoughts, fearsome and therefore repelled.
No doubt about it. An extraordinary album, of splendid taste, a precursor of concepts that would become a standard in the future (we are in 1975), an exaltation of the naif genius, the only thing, however, that cannot be taught in school.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
04 In Dark Trees (02:30)
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06 I'll Come Running (03:51)
I'll find a place somewhere in the corner
I'm gonna waste the rest of my days
Just watching patiently from the window
Just waiting seasons change, some day
Oh, oh, my dreams will pull you through that garden gate.
I want to be the wandering sailor
We're silhouettes by the light of the moon
I sit playing solitaire by the window
Just waiting seasons change, ah, ah
You'll see, one day, these dreams will pull you through my door
And I'll come running to tie your shoe
And I'll come running to tie your shoe.
08 Sombre Reptiles (02:26)
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09 Little Fishes (01:30)
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10 Golden Hours (04:01)
The passage of time
Is flicking dimly up on the screen
I can't see the lines
I used to think I could read between
Perhaps my brains have turned to sand
Oh me oh my
I think it's been an eternity
You'd be surprised
At my degree of uncertainty
How can moments go so slow.
Several times
I've seen the evening slide away
Watching the signs
Taking over from the fading day
Perhaps my brains are old and scrambled.
Several times
I've seen the evening slide away
Watching the signs
Taking over from the fading day
Changing water into wine.
Several times
I've seen the evening slide away
Watching the signs
Taking over from the fading day
Putting the grapes back on the vine.
(Simultaneously with the last two verses, another voice sings another melody with different words, as follows:)
Who would believe what a poor set of eyes can show you
Who would believe what an innocent voice could do
Never a silence always a face at the door.
Who would believe what a poor set of ears can tell you
Who would believe what a weak pair of hands can do
Never a silence always a foot in the door.
11 Becalmed (03:57)
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12 Zawinul/Lava (03:01)
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13 Everything Merges With the Night (04:00)
Rosalie
I've been waiting all evening
Possibly years I don't know
Counting the passing hours
Everything merges with the night
I stand on the beach
Giving out descriptions
Different for everyone I see
Since I just can't remember
Longer than last September.
Santiago
Under the volcano
Floats like a cushion on the sea
Yet I can never sleep here
Everything ponders in the night.
Rosalie
We've been talking all summer
Picking the straw from our clothes
See how the breeze has softened
Everything pauses in the night.
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