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Rating:
On the fly DeBaseriani friends, I briefly review this Chumbawamba album, because I learned today (Thursday, October 24th) that the group will be closing its doors after 30 years and a bit of a (not always) honorable career.
Well, I must say that perhaps this is a wise choice: after 2000 I don't find albums capable of shining as in the past. It will be good to conclude and leave it to the private initiative of people to now bear the memory of this group.
Let's get straight to this "What You See Is What You Get" (whose acronym has to do with the field of computing): in 2000 one morning, Tg1 announced with Marco Betello the release of "She's got all the friends" and the anticipation of a great success for the summer (thinking back, I am amazed that a network like Rai talked then about a group like Chumbawamba, if even Vasco Rossi didn’t deserve that much attention).
In Italy, we don't pay much attention to them, and even abroad it seems that after "Tubthumper" things aren't going well.
But what is this album? It is a concept of songs, interspersed with a series of snippets, in which pop culture is targeted, as well as the world of boy bands and politics. The Leeds commune (the Chumba) hopes to see a plane with politicians and famous people like Bono from U2 on board crash (we are in the Jubilee period and of "Cancel the Debt" - proclaimed by Jovanotti at the Sanremo of that year).
"WYSIWYG" is weak compared to the previous work, but it's not poorly made and sounds good. The soundtrack of my summer 2008 (eight years later, I remembered the song "She's got all the friends"!), it includes important tracks like "Celebration, Florida" and the a cappella remake of "New York Mining Disaster 1941" by the Bee Gees, when they weren't yet popular with the falsetto of "Staying alive" (we are in the '60s).
The flaw of the album is that it lacks strength and robustness in the tracks and their cohesion, compared to "Tubthumper" where the songs (also here linked by snippets) appear strong and robust both in structure ("Amnesia" and "Smalltown", for example) and in cohesion itself.
Nonetheless, "WYSIWYG" is one of the albums I have at home to which I am more attached. It's interesting and in its own way engaging, but suited for a performance in venues with a rather small audience.
I'm finished. I give a heartfelt goodbye to Chumbawamba, concluding that the time of "I get knocked down..." and "She's got all the friends..." will always stay with me.
Goodbye
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
04 Hey Hey We're the Junkies (01:58)
Good evening, topping nightcast--a possible link between murder and music
Hey, hey, we're the Junkies!
Hey, hey, we're the Junkies!
Sticky pages in Hello with Hopper as Nero on Rome
See the social big guns going bang, bang, bang
Hey, hey, we're the Junkies!
Hey, hey, we're the Junkies!
Hey, hey, we're the Junkies!
No Xmas for Junkies..
Who put the U
Who put the U
Who put the U in the wamba?
So fashionably blue
Crime never pays, heroes are handsome,
So fashionably blue
Pretty children are popular, ugly children cynical
So fashionably blue
Mothers never work, single women always do
So fashionably blue
Politics doesn't exist, automobiles screech when they come to a stop
So fashionably blue
All problems are solved in slightly less than half an hour
13 The Standing Still (01:32)
Once upon a time
Days of wine and roses and smug suburban swine
Same old songs, same old cabaret
A fairytale in Notting Hill
Take your partners for the standing still
Once upon a time
Not so happy ending for the Mersey and the Tyne
Who said the story had to end this way?
A fairytale on Beeston Hill
Take your partners for the standing still
Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid...
14 She's Got All the Friends (03:11)
Turn down the lights
Kick off your shoes
And relax with that special someone
She's got all the friends that money can buy
She's the apple of her daddy's eye
She's got all the friends that money can buy
She's the apple of her daddy's eye
The family money has a magnetic pull
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Her social diary is always full
And both her faces--so easy on the eye
And everyone worth knowing is kissing her behind
She's got all the friends that money can buy
She's the apple of her daddy's eye
She's got all the friends that money can buy
She's the apple of her daddy's eye
Style has a price without much change
Yeah, yeah, yeah
If you have to ask then it's out of your range
And both her faces--so easy on the eye
And everyone worth knowing is kissing her behind
She's got all the friends that money can buy
She's the apple of her daddy's eye
She's got all the friends that money can buy
She's the apple of her daddy's eye
Oh ah, oh ah, oh ah, oh ah...
Versace and Prada mean nothing to me, to me...
Well, you can buy your friends, but I'll hate you for free
Hate you for free...
She's got all the friends that money can buy
She's the apple of her daddy's eye
She's got all the friends that money can buy
She's the apple of her daddy's eye
She's got all the friends that money can buy
She's the apple of her daddy's eye
You see, it's magic, and it shouldn't work
I still look at it most surprised it does
Hmmm, ahem, pass it along...
Pass it along, pass it along...
Pass it along...
What's the matter? You make too much money buddy?
16 Celebration, Florida (03:13)
The good folks pull together
It's july 4th forever
Down in celebration, florida
The neighbors bring you coffee
And everyone's always happy
Down in celebration, florida
There's a bake sell at the schoolhouse
And they're selling innocence
They're keeping out the deviants
To protect the residents
Of celebration, celebration, florida
They're buying up nostalgia
For a time they can't remember
Down in celebration, florida
They're sharing homemade corn chips
Even the dogs get facelifts
Down in celebration, florida
There's a bake sell at the schoolhouse
And they're selling innocence
They're keeping out the deviants
To protect the residents
Of celebration, celebration, florida
There's nation fighting nation
There's kids with malnutrition
But not in celebration, florida
Social engineering
It gives you that fuzzy feeling
Down in celebration, florida
There's a bake sell at the schoolhouse
And they're selling innocence
They're keeping out the deviants
To protect the residents
Of celebration, celebration, florida
Celebration, celebration, celebration, florida
Well, it's
It's very conventional, i don't know, and it's, it's, kind of just
Relies on some kind of simplistic folk ideology.
That's true, actually i'd agree with that.
20 Knickers (00:21)
There's a hole in your knickers, dear calvin Ba-ba-black sheep, have you any wool? Dramatic! Now let's see what happens with ba-ba-black sheep Dear calvin, there's a hole in your knickers, a hole
21 Lie Lie Lie Lie (02:32)
Lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie
Lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie
I failed the audition for celebrity squares
Your life is a dream, then you wake up
You watch Friends together, then you break up
I could win an Oscar, I could be so sincere
Lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie
My psychic make up--it's all over the place
Your life is a dream, then you wake up
You watch Friends together, then you break up
I'd like to thank you all, through this flood of tears
Lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie
Lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie
Thank you... thank you... oh, thank you...
Lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie
Lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie
Lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie
Lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie
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