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Rating: Clutch: yet another demonstration of how the reality of things should always be taken with a grain of salt. When Clutch is on the lips of some Americans, they only speak well of them, although (naturally) not the entire stars and stripes population knows who they are. If the same name is mentioned in Italy, but more broadly across the whole of Europe, many (the vast majority) would not even know who the hell they are. This happens due to that now widespread musical phenomenon (but not only) whereby "you sell if you sell yourself" and you are little known if you present yourself honestly and without particular advertising budgets.
This is the fate shared by an infinity of small contemporary bands that do not allow them to emerge. A malicious fate, partly met also by Clutch, although at least in their home country (United States, Maryland) they have a decent following. Their creation dates back almost twenty years ago when vocalist and leader Neil Fallon decided almost as a joke to start a hard rock band. Gradually, with tenacity and good work (particularly the self-titled album of 1995), the combo managed to gain that thin sliver of notoriety that allows them to survive. A sliver that was probably even harder to earn because the sonic proposal of the four band members was not (is not) something exciting in terms of originality.
Their hard rock with blues and stoner influences has had several interpreters over the years, which is why (at least initially) our Clutch struggled to find their dimension. "The Elephant Riders," their third album (1998), is somewhat a product of this situation. Caught between different artistic souls, it ends up being incomplete, and in some parts even seems forced. This is the case with "Ship of Gold" and "Eight Times Over Miss October" characterized by Fellon's powerful voice but lacking in particular flair. This is the main problem of the album: well-constructed in its continuous alternation of riffs, verses, and southern sound, but not very "attractive" in its final form.
This third album is reflective of the very situation in which it was born: a proposal of questionable appeal at the end of the '90s when the echoes of Nirvana were still strong. Add to this the difficulty of breaking through the American recording market, and you will also understand the struggles that "The Elephant Riders" had to fight from the beginning. Despite this general climate of uncertainty and although Clutch will do much better later on, songs like "The Yeti" and "Crackerjack" serve to give a glimpse of that blend of groove, blues, and rock which will lead them to better results in the future.
For those who do not know them, I recommend giving them a listen.
1. "The Elephant Riders" (3:50)
2. "Ship Of Gold" (4:22)
3. "Eight Times Over Miss October" (4:21)
4. "The Soapmakers" (2:57)
5. "The Yeti" (4:59)
6. "Muchas Veces" (5:44)
7. "Green Buckets" (3:52)
8. "Wishbone" (3:43)
9. "Crackerjack" (5:10)
10. "The Dragonfly" (12:01)
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 The Elephant Riders (03:50)
I'll keep pulling on the towpath.
You keep floating on the river.
Yeah, until the day is done.
Keep on keeping on the low road,
Chesapeake and Ohio.
Because on the higher ground you will find
Elephant Riders to the northwest bring news from father.
Looking like it's always closing,
the Salty Dog is always open.
Here, I got an I.O.U.
Clickity clack clack, clickity clack clack,
Baltimore and Ohio,
Clickity clack clack, clickity clack clack,
roll on, roll on.
On our way to Washington where work is done by men with gavels,
I heard a sound that just about removed me from my filly's saddle.
Just outside of Antietam, where once there was a mighty battle,
I heard the rhythm of the hammers beating the rail lines together.
Elephant Riders to the northwest bring news from father.
Don't be eating all the hard tack.
Between we two there's half a small sack.
Still, we got miles to.
Giddy up pony, Giddy up pony,
Camptown Race is five miles long.
Giddy up pony, Giddy up pony,
ride on, ride on.
On our way to Washington where work is done by men with gavels,
I heard a sound that just about removed me from my filly's saddle.
Just outside of Antietam, where once there was a mighty battle,
I heard the rhythm of the hammers beating the rail lines together.
Elephant Riders to the northwest bring news from father.
Elephant Riders to the northwest bring news of battle.
02 Ship of Gold (04:22)
Tin shacks and catfish bones
have been about all I've ever known.
The junebugs rattle and roll
around the old maypole.
Thunder and lightning,
the catfish are biting,
I took a riverboat downstream.
I think you know what I mean.
The chicken hawks, they are gathering.
Above my head, they are circling.
Old friends come out visiting,
say, "Hi," and talk about collecting.
Stray dogs won't come near me.
Was blind, now I see clearly.
Believe I'm fixing to die.
When you're living in the country it's, "why, oh why?"
Oh, I'm sorry that I left my home.
Oh. Oh. Oh.
Oh, I'm sorry that I left my home.
Oh. Oh. Oh.
Look over yonder there,
on the farther shore.
On the farther shore,
look over yonder there.
I see a ship of gold.
I see a ship of gold.
Beyond that mountain there,
I see a Citty-on-the-Hille.
Its gates are open wide.
I hear the ringing bells.
Look over yonder there,
on toward the burying ground.
Poor boy is all afire.
Poor boy is dead and gone.
One of these days the Ship of Gold
will carry me to my reward.
Out of this world it will take me
to hear the horns of Jubilee.
Pig fat and old pork rinds
ain't enough to keep a man alive.
The bullfrog sleeps all day.
Come night he has his say.
Believe I'm fixing to die.
Believe I'll take my rest.
Believe I'm fixing to die.
Believe I'll take my rest.
Oh, I'm sorry that I left my home.
Oh. Oh. Oh.
Oh, I'm sorry that I left my home.
Oh. Oh. Oh.
03 Eight Times Over Miss October (04:21)
Once again I'm denied my choice.
Once around the stump, then twice across the ceiling,
now eight times over Miss October is out for me.
Believe me when I tell you she's all about destruction.
It's just about enough to make a grown man cry.
Good God Almighty we was panning for gold
down at the banks of mighty Colorado,
when all of a sudden came an awful sound;
ten thousand buffalo were running us down.
Once again I'm denied my joy.
Sieves and peas, oh Lord, oh Lord!
Thunder and lightning at a feverish pitch.
Must be the workings of the Old West Witch.
I crossed her once when I was just a youth.
Been scared stiff ever since, to tell you the truth.
Once again I'm denied my joy.
Sieves and peas, oh Lord, oh Lord!
She went once around the stump, then twice across the ceiling,
now eight times over Miss October is out for me.
Believe me when I tell you she's all about the voodoo.
and all the things I'm losing when I pay no mind.
Get off on the good foot and start another day.
Maybe head for Hazel, California.
Oh, but sooner or later she'll go to town
sure as the Earth runs around and around.
Again I'm denied my joy.
Sieves and peas, oh Lord!
At the side of the road
a bundle of twine,
and on it I found a note.
It read, "You'll be running until the end of time."
She went once around the stump, then twice across the ceiling,
now eight times over Miss October is out for me.
Believe me when I tell you she's all about destruction.
It's just about enough to make a grown man cry.
04 The Soapmakers (02:57)
Behind the Cliffside Inn,
I heard a fiddle and a mandolin,
keeping rhythm on an old washboard
and stomping on the floor.
Saw people of all sorts
dancing 'round in twos and fours,
caroling about days of old,
and what the future holds.
In the middle was a big cauldron
that they were stirring, stirring,
and there were trees around
that they kept burning, burning.
I asked a toothless man
who all these people were, and
he said, "The soapmakers,
and we are working, working."
As they stirred Heaven and Earth, they combined to one,
and everything was everyone and each one was all.
As they stirred I heard a trumpet call,
and everything was everyone and each one was all.
As they stirred Heaven and Earth, they combined to one,
and everything was everyone and each one was all.
As they stirred I heard a trumpet call,
and everything was everyone and each one was all.
05 The Yeti (04:59)
Standing waist high in snow,
what brought me here I do not know.
Sky is filled with starry scenes
of heroes and their greatest deeds.
Satellites move across the sky,
and every year they multiply.
Father bear is sound asleep
and will be so for several weeks.
Across the plain I see a figure,
every instant growing bigger.
Instinct tells me to run away
while faith proposes that I wave.
He approaches to a rod.
I whisper up a prayer to God.
The stranger asks me with a grin,
"Do you have the time my friend?"
Himalaya is my old time stomping ground
(oh yes, time is of the essence).
Manitoba, better snows I've never found
(oh yes, time is of the essence.)
The author looms above his page
and thinks it strange that at his age
he can not find the proper words
to describe his only world.
One would think that in a life
where no two snowflakes are alike
one would have a brilliant rhyme
for each and every bit of time.
Himalaya is my old time stomping ground
(oh yes, time is of the essence).
Manitoba, better snows I've never found
(oh yes, time is of the essence.)
06 Muchas Veces (05:44)
Went to the five and dime,
bought myself a copy of Time,
and on the cover was a woman that I knew
when I was excavating in the mountains of Peru.
I caught a plane to L.I.A.
I didn't know what I would say.
Maybe she would like me, I had lost a lot of weight
since she had last seen me in 1988.
Went to a local bar and ordered a cerveza,
asked a man about the woman on the cover,
dijo, "Claro que si, es el presidente's daughter."
Asked him where she might me,
"You did not hear this from me.
The girl is a terrorista
en las montanas a Chuquibambilla."
Took a bus through mountains.
Oh, my head was pounding.
Got to stay strong and carry on.
Got to stay strong, it won't be long.
Arrived in the villa surrounded by guerrillas.
Then my girl took me in her arms.
She said, "How have you been?
Oh, but I'll see you again."
I woke up in a coffin underneath
an altar to the east of Machu Pichu.
Crawled from the royal tomb.
The sun was bright, it burned my eyes.
I knew that she was gone
so I went down to the riverside
and I cried.
I went down to the riverside
I went down and I cried.
Muchas veces, I don't know if I'm coming or I'm going.
Muchas veces, I'm at a loss as what to do.
Muchas veces, I don't know if I'm coming or I'm going.
Muches veces, I'm at a loss as what to do.
My friend said, "She's nothing but pain."
I said, "I still love her the same.
All she needs is a little bit of love and
I'm sure I can make her change some."
"What about that girl in Zaire
that you met while a volunteer?
She got quite the education and
quite the pair of legs on her."
"Oh, she married an Englishman,
a correspondent for CNN.
She thought he was rather handsome
in a UN blue flak jacket.
Oh, I see where your coming from,
but for me there is no other one.
I must be on my merry way."
Went to the five and dime,
bought myself a copy of Time,
and on the cover was a woman that I knew
claiming she was a kahuna down on Oahu.
Caught a plane to H.I.A.
The sun was bright, it burned my eyes.
I knew that she was near because I felt
shivers on my spine.
I felt fine.
08 Wishbone (03:43)
For Thanksgiving we had 'tatas,
succotash and rudebagas.
Then came turkey from the oven.
Broke the wishbone.
Covenants were sealed and set.
On the losing end of a wishbone,
and I won't pretend not to mind.
On the losing end of a wishbone,
and I won't pretend not to mind.
Christmas Eve we ate at Aunty's.
We had some ham glazed with honey.
Rolled the Yule log on the fire.
Threw the hambone to the dogs and went to bed.
On the losing end of a wishbone,
and I won't pretend not to mind.
On the losing end of a wishbone,
and I won't pretend not to mind.
In the morning the weathercock was heard
asking what he had learned of the Earth.
"Is it a round place with deserts and oceans,
housing as many winds as one might wish?"
We were standing by the gate.
He said, "Oh my, it's getting late!"
Then he took off flying to the south
with a black snake in his mouth.
You can shake it, break it, or glue it whole,
but there's no two ways about it with a broke wishbone
on the losing end.
You can shake it, break it, or glue it whole,
but there's no two ways about it with a broke wishbone
on the losing end.
For St. Patrick's we had cabbage,
corned beef stew, egg salad sandwich.
Then came the whiskey from the basement.
Danced all night into the dawn,
then held our heads.
On the losing end of a wishbone,
and I won't pretend not to mind.
On the losing end of a wishbone,
and I won't pretend not to mind.
10 The Dragonfly (12:02)
Could've been a swan on a glassy lake.
Could've been a gull in a clipper's wake.
Could've been a ladybug on a windchime,
but she was born a dragonfly.
In the sun she warmed her wings
and listened to the cicadas sing.
"The trees are all bending
in one direction
because of something..."
Cross-pollination by the legs of bees in the spring
is a beautiful thing.
Oh when the sun goes down,
the fireflies come out.
In a pond crept a slimy thing
that hummed a theme from the Rites of Spring.
Pity the mate of Queen Mantis,
so content, but so headless.
Katydid nothing but shiver and cry,
as did the dragonfly.
In the shade the gypsies spin
Among the cloves, they drop their skin.
"...beyond the hedgegrove,
over by the willows,
deep in the shadows..."
Regeneration occurs at a furious speed
beneath the white oak tree.
Oh when the sun comes up
the moon buds fold up.
In the sun she warmed her wings
and listened to the Rites of Spring
Could've been a swan on a glassy lake.
Could've been a gull in a clipper's wake.
Could've been a ladybug on a windchime,
but she was born a dragonfly.
"...ain't ever seen it, but i have heard it.
Sounds like the millstones when they are turning,
but every moment getting louder and louder,
and then there is silence,
and the smell of flowers."
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