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When memories of the good old days resurface in an era where quality pop has been flushed down the toilet by MTV and the likes, it’s nice to see the original line-up of Duran Duran make a comeback. They do so with a stylish album, "Astronaut", that revisits their entire '80s production in an updated fashion, with the modernization of sounds by Nick Rhodes (the group’s keyboardist), thanks to the assistance of two high-profile producers such as Rich Harrison (Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blidge) and Don Gilmore (Pearl Jam, Linkin Park), allowing the group to catapult into the third millennium.
Let’s say it straight away, the reunion of the original formation has allowed the band to regain that fascinating rhythmic groove created by the hands of John and Roger Taylor, lost in previous albums, while keeping intact the hedonistic atmospheres embedded on a minimal electronic backdrop. The album opens with the single "(Reach for the) Sunrise", an immediate throwback to their self-titled debut with an impact reminiscent of "Planet Earth". The album never really takes off and the tracks almost anonymously slide past our memory, but if we assign it the less demanding task of simple accompaniment, with no artistic pretensions, "Astronaut" with its funky riffs, choruses, foreground bass lines, and synthetic intros, fulfills its purpose: to immerse us in those years, still alive in collective memory, thanks also to the contribution of Interpol and company. Now I hope that the over-thirty-year-olds, teenagers of the eighties, get caught up in a new collective hysteria, and that someone takes the responsibility to write a new book with the emblematic title "I’ll Grow Old with Simon Le Bon". It would be a nice way to spend the winter.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 (Reach Up for The) Sunrise (03:25)
Now the time has come
The music's between us
Though the night seems young
Is at an end
Only change will bring
You out of the darkness
In this moment everything is born again
Reach up for the sunrise
Put your hands into the big sky
You can touch the sunrise
Feel the new day enter your life
Reach up for the sunrise
Put your hands into the big sky
You can touch the sunrise
Feel the new day enter your life
Now the fireball burns
We go round together
As the planet turns into the light
Something more than dreams to
Watch out for each other
Coz we know what it means to be alive
Reach up for the sunrise
Put your hands into the big sky
You can touch the sunrise
Feel the new day enter your life
Reach up for the sunrise
Put your hands into the big sky
You can touch the sunrise
Feel the new day enter your life
Feel the new day enter your life
Feel the new day
Reach up for the sunrise
Put your hands into the big sky
You can touch the sunrise
Feel the new day enter your life
Reach up for the sunrise
Put your hands into the big sky
You can touch the sunrise
Feel the new day enter your life
Reach up for the sunrise
Put your hands into the big sky
You can touch the sunrise
Feel the new day enter your life
03 What Happens Tomorrow (04:04)
Child, don't you worry
It's enough your growing up in such a hurry
Brings you down, the news they sell ya
To put in your mind that all mankind is a failure
But nobody knows
What's gonna happen tomorrow
We try not to show
How frightened we are
If you love me, I'll protect you
However I can
You've got to believe
It'll be alright in the end
You've got to believe
It'll be alright again
Fighting because we're so close
There are times we punish those who we need the most
Though we can't wait for a saviour
Only got ourselves to blame for this behaviour
And nobody knows (nobody knows)
What's gonna happen tomorrow
We try not to show
How frightened we are
It would seem lonely
If you were the only
star in the night
You've got to believe
It'll be alright in the end
You've got to believe
It'll be alright again
And nobody knows
What's gonna happen tomorrow (nobody knows)
So don't let go
Now we've come this far
Hold my hand please
Understand me
Never alone
We've got to believe
It'll be alright in the end
(nobody knows)
You've got to believe
It'll be alright my friend
(so don't let go)
And yes we believe
(so don't let go)
04 Astronaut (03:24)
Makes my hair stand up on end
Something alien happenin'
Synchronise that don't comprehend
'Cause where I stop that's where you begin
Another moment, I commit
A pleasure rising when I take the hit
And I'm addicted to state you're in
Cause you're getting me out of it
Wasted
There's nothing gonna ace this
And we gonna go to space, hit
'Cause I'm leaving with an astronaut
Da da da da
Grooving out to x-ray specs
Something tells me you're the alien sex
I can't imagine now what comes next
When this astronaut connects
Comin' on when I touch your skin
A kind of strange light you emit
I feel your gravity pull me in
Now you're getting me out of it
Wasted
There's nothing gonna ace this
And we gonna go to space, hit
'Cause I'm leaving with an astronaut
Wasted
There's nothing gonna ace this
And we gonna go to space, hit
'Cause I'm leaving with an astronaut
They're feet for quantum leap
Because space is hard and deep
And we follow giant footprints
As we fall in
Falling like the twins
Through Saturn's holy rings
And if they can't hold us
Where it's gonna end up ?
Anybody knows
An astronaut
An astronaut
Wasted
There's nothing gonna ace this
And we gonna go to space, hit
'Cause I'm leaving with an astronaut
Wasted
There's nothing gonna ace this
And we gonna go to space, hit
'Cause I'm leaving with an astronaut
An astronaut
An astronaut
An astronaut
An astronaut
05 Bedroom Toys (03:50)
I been around the world
I seen a lot of things
That make your chicken curl
You're squeezing like boys and teasing like girls
Confusing like boys and girls
Plan an exit route, parachute, rubber suit
Are you ready for a little swim
There's regular, queen size, flip it on the b side, solid gold
Oh my God what's this?
I saw the bedroom toys
Now I'm stalling
I can't believe my eyes
I saw the bedroom toys
Now I'm crawling
I learn to improvise
Checking out the five star atmosphere
You want some expertise
If you got treasure, I'll pay you for the pleasure
It'll bring you to your knees
Silicone romance, what's your name fancypants?
Got your eye on the employees
Forget about the reeling, talk about the feeling
Solid Gold
You want it... you got it... now what you gonna do with it?
Now you washed up, beat smashing, grab no receipt takes the platinum off your shine
Lazy bed star, la di da, petty bourgeois
Oh my would you look at the time
Until you wise up, you know we're gonna line up
The pimps and snitches to dip into your riches
If you can't destroy it, you might as well enjoy it
I saw the bedroom toys
Now I'm stalling
I can't believe my eyes
I saw the bedroom toys
Now I'm crawling
I learn to improvise
You want it... you got it... now what you gonna do with it?
06 Nice (03:26)
Take the beautiful sting of a Scorpio
A careless smile and it begins to snow
And it hurts me to think
That you might never know
That I've got this thing about you
In case you don't understand
There's something else I meant to tell you
There is nothing better
Than being with you
And I'm feeling so nice
There is nowhere better
Than here with you
And it's feeling so nice
Staying up with the moon
And walking home in the rain
Mixed with your perfume
And never twice the same
I got a lot to lose
But everything to gain
When I really think about it
You haven't got a clue
It's all that I can do to hide it
There is nothing better
Than being with you
And I'm feeling so nice
There is nowhere better
Than here with you
And it's feeling so nice
Did I already say
'Cause you make me forget
I might as well be brave and tell 'ya
And it hurts me to think that
You might never know
Will it hurt as much being true?
I might as well be brave and tell 'ya
Yeah I'm feeling
And it's feeling so nice
07 Taste the Summer (03:52)
Doo doo doo doobeedoo
Doo doo doo, doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doobeedoo
Doo doo doo, doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doobeedoo
Doo doo doo, doo doo doo
(Taste the summer, you can taste the summer)
Can you, can you taste the summer?
I do, I find it in your mouth
Now if I have a weakness it's for sweetness
And it's... floating on your breath, the sweetest melody
Doo doo doo doobeedoo
Doo doo doo, doo doo doo
(Taste the summer, you can taste the summer)
Sure we can make it till the evenings
Cool haze is reflected off your thighs
Long days are coming up and staying up and playing
Music of the falling stars, a melody (melody...)
Doo doo doo doobeedoo
Doo doo doo, doo doo doo
(Taste the summer, you can taste the summer)
08 Finest Hour (03:55)
How does it feel out on the ice?
You speak to the crowd but nobody hears
It's not a dream and you are no prize
And you're not alone come in from the fear
Gonna take it back
Take back the life that you wanna lead
Been under quiet attack
But now it's time for you and me
Gonna take it back
You've got to fight for what you believe
We're gonna make this stand
The finest hour that we see
When did our choice become erased?
Where is the violence in this crowd?
Now that our voice has been replaced
with a silence that screams out loud
Gonna take it back
Take back the life that you wanna lead
Been under quiet attack
But now it's time for you and me
Gonna take it back
You've got to fight for what you believe
We're gonna make this stand
The finest hour that we see
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Gonna take it back
Take back the life that you wanna lead
Been under quiet attack
But now it's time for you and me
Gonna take it back
You've got to fight for what you believe
We're gonna make this stand
The finest hour that we see
yeah... The finest hour that we see
We're gonna make this stand
The Finest Hour that we see
Yeah -eah - eah -eah -eah
09 Chains (04:46)
An hour since the sundown
The ghosts are creepin in
Are gathering around me
Like starlings in the wind
Dark shapes gather round
Voices like my brother's
Are whispering to me
But I don't know these others
Who want to set me free
Come home you're out of time
But the life cannot let go
It's a chain cuts across my soul
Anchoring in this world
I put my hand into the flame
Burning but I feel no pain
Don't speak, don't speak my name
Hold on to this life of chains
The door is standing open
But I'm too tired to be afraid
My whole life's in this moment
I've been fighting all the way
Just need a little more time
Cuz the life just can't let go
It's a chain cuts across my soul
Anchoring in this world
I put my hand into the flame
Burning but I feel no pain
Don't speak, don't speak my name
Hold on to this life of chains
Nah nah nah nah nah x6
I put my hand into the flame
Burning but I feel no pain
Don't speak, don't speak my name
Hold on to this life of chains
Chains...chains...chains...
11 Point of No Return (04:57)
The random aspects of our lives
Come together once in a while
So blinding and decidedly
Naivete falls from our eyes
And we'll not regain
As we watch the tower falling down
Maybe things can change
Only if you want
Maybe things can change
Only if you want
You know, you know there's no avoiding
The lesson to be learned
The lesson to be learned
The point of no return
You say "What if?"
But can you live it?
It's all that we deserve
It's all that we deserve
The point of no return
Don't blame yourself
Don't blame me
But we're the ones
Who can feed the ground
So this poison tree, don't let it grow again
And from this glass and broken earth
There is a way that can be built
A better life for everyone
Maybe things can change
Only if you want
Maybe things can change
Only if you want
12 Still Breathing (08:31)
Home, it's not brick or stone
Or comfort in the firelight,
Not in that sense anyway.
Dreams, if only I had known
But these things always seem
So much clearer at a distance.
I'm walking out of this town
I'm never going back there,
I'm never going back there.
I'd burn the place to the ground.
I'm never going back there,
I'm never going back there again.
Words only could break that ring
You know the words still sting
So much harder than the blows ever did.
Heart, though it's hot and violent
My head is cool and quiet
As the ashes that fall from the sky
I'm walking out of this town
I'm never going back there,
I'm never going back there.
I burn the place to the ground.
I'm never going back there,
I'm never going back there again.
Now, I know this shattered feeling,
Trampled but still breathing.
I'm just waiting for a good day
I'm walking out of this town
I'm never going back there,
I'm never going back there.
I've burn the place to the ground.
I'm never going back there,
I'm never going back there again.
Never going back there again,
I'm never going back there again
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