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Rating: Bryan Ferry- "Bête Noire" - 1987
That evening, the shower water did not want to come down. When water and foam reached his ankles and the shower tray was about to overflow, he decided. With the flow still on, he bent down and started to fumble to dismantle the drain. The surface plate came off easily, but the drain trap seemed stuck. He pulled hard and with a sound like a Champagne cork, the trap remained in his hand.
Elegant notes and a melodious voice filled the atmosphere, already saturated with water vapor. Each note became a droplet of water and condensed on the shower glass, to run, descending irregularly down the glass ("Limbo").
A trickle of blood, mixed with water whitened by soap foam, made him realize that not everything had gone right. Bent, with intimate parts soaking, he watched the blood float and sway to slip and slowly get lost in the drain, still partially clogged: he looked at his left hand and saw a nice cut between the phalanges of the middle finger. Only then did he pick up the trap again to find it completely clogged with long blonde hair, his own, and black, who knows whose.
A strangely dry and essential rhythm played hide and seek with the bass and with the impeccable cleanliness of the always recognizable Fender Stratocaster fingered by David Gilmour, over which that splendid voice rolled hypnotically ("Kiss And Tell").
Ah yes, at that time a good number of girls were revolving around his small apartment and his hair was long and especially he still had it. He made a ball of those tufts and threw it into the toilet. He put everything back in place, the water started to drain much better, he dried off, went to disinfect and put on a band-aid. All this happened in a short span of time, a few minutes, perhaps. Certainly less than the duration of the track that was playing loud enough to overcome the shower stream. But why did he hurt himself? Maybe that song was bad luck? Maybe the thoughts, overlapped and weighed down by fatigue, made him operate carelessly? Yes, all possible, but what was he listening to that night, perhaps too attentively.
That record had just come out, and he had placed it on the turntable three times in just a few hours. The vinyl swayed elegantly, rich in extreme refinements, embraced by that bit of warm melancholy that smells of memories and kisses, kisses given and not given, that saturates the soul with known things, to which we would like to give a name, a face, a sound, a smell ("Zamba"). The notes were rich in flavor that we now recognize as sophisticated '80s pop, danceable, captivating, packaged in the best way thanks to impeccable productions, with great level professionals ("The Right Stuff", "Seven Deadly Sins").
The cuttlefish with peas was almost ready just like the pasta to be seasoned with mussels and potatoes. On the table, the two settings were perfectly arranged.
A moodily warm, vaguely shadowy, and moody sound emerged. Supported by the crystal-clear, precise, and delicate rhythms of Vinnie Colaiuta and very Latin-inspired percussive streaks ("The Name Of The Game").
The doorbell rang when everything was ready for the magical night that would accompany his best thoughts for a long time.
The last track of the record was playing when the two embraced and kissed. He felt her breasts, warm, press against his chest. The track dragged on a very Latin rhythm, between tango and lambada, with a mournful bandoneon that gave everything a sense of sensual involvement, nothing could have gone better ("Bête Noire"). That record was perhaps not a masterpiece, more likely it was a perfect tool: a jewel of English pop, beautiful and useful. How can one forget it...
Sioulette.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Limbo (04:59)
(Ferry / Leonard)
Voodoo warning
Is calling
Down in limbo
Moonlight lush life
Bears strange fruit
Down in limbo
Come with me now
A moth to a flame
You never get near enough
You try again
Closer now
Oh how we dance
The spirit holding us
In a trance
Bamboo dancer
No stranger
Down in limbo
Can you tango?
Takes two to
Down in limbo
You are the one
Now is the time
Let your memory beat the drum
On the street car line
Voodoo warning
Is calling
Down in limbo
Moonlight lush life
Bears strange fruit
Down in limbo
Creole tattoo
I buy you
Down in limbo
Heartbeat you mistreat
I owe you
Down in limbo
02 Kiss and Tell (04:52)
Ten cents a dance
It's the only price to pay
Why give 'em more
When it's only love for sale?
Adam and Eve
It's the oldest game in town
Just a one way street
To a faded magazine
Kiss and tell
Money talks - it never lies
Kiss and tell
Give and take
- eye for an eye
Fever - the heat of the night
Dreamer - stealer of sighs
One public face
In a private limousine
Flash photograph
It's the only light you see
No secret life
There's no secret you can steel
Your lips are moving
But I will never know
What they mean
Kiss and tell
Money talks - and love...it burns
Kiss and tell
Give and take - we live and learn
Fever - the heat of the night
Dreamer - stealer of sighs
Fever - the heat of the night
Dreamer - stealer of sighs
Kiss and tell
We never lie
Kiss and tell
Eye for an eye
Kiss and tell
Blood on a nail
Kiss and tell
Kiss me again
Kiss and tell
Kiss and tell
Kiss and tell
Kiss and tell
Kiss and tell
Kiss and tell
Kiss and tell
03 New Town (05:03)
(Ferry)
New town
There´s a place
A mad affair
In a new world
Heaven send
A life that´s made for us
Out of luck
Out of touch
Out of love
No concrete jungle
Dancing feet
Cul-de-sac of desire
Is in itself
Destroying me
I´ve got to live down
Don´t want to dwell in history
That´s why I´m leaving now
New town
There´s a place
To do or die
In a new world
Heaven sent
A life that´s made for us
Out of luck
out of touch
Out of love
No laughing boys
Forbidden dreams
No willow weep
For me now
The shadow hanging over me
I´ve got to tear it down
New town - calling me
05 Zamba (03:02)
(Ferry/Leonard)
Girl you drive me crazy
Why you never come around
Now you´re such a lady
Why your feet don´t touch the ground
Tell me pretty baby
Say you´ll never let me down
Autumn clearing
All the leaves are falling down
I can see clearly now
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