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Rating: Not many days ago I was talking with my friends about the songs that in some way marked our childhood. As we mentioned various artists like Britney Spears, Spice Girls, Aqua, Cristina D'Avena, all the way down to the dramatic experiences in church choirs, an uncontrollable embarrassment crept up due to the revealing of said secrets. Stuff you'd find in an alcoholics anonymous circle. Then it was my turn. With a childlike innocence fueled by the unfolding of such truthful and compromising confessions, I mentioned that the first song (that I remember) which truly struck me (after "Imagine" by Lennon sung during my first school performance-wow-) was "Labyrinth" (which, for those who don't know, have forgotten, or are pretending to be ignorant, is the second single from Elisa's first album "Pipes and Flowers", 1997). They’re still mocking me and I don’t know why. The fact is, from nine to sixteen years old, I completely forgot who Elisa was. They told me, "But how come?! The one who won Sanremo this year "incidentally" because they still do Sanremo?"; "Caterina Caselli’s discovery is indeed interesting"; "What? Were you also obsessed with Gazosa?"; "The cover of "Almeno tu nell’universo" is beautiful…"; "Indeed, beautiful lament (It was truly a dirge)". Then, I don’t remember why, where, or when, wandering among the shelves of the only record store in my town, I saw "Then Comes the Sun". The owner, counting on the fact that when I enter that wretched hole, I don't leave without buying at least a single, was pestering me with records that wouldn’t sell, from Alabina to Grazia Guerra (it was a lean period), so to escape from that torment, I grabbed the album (the one I should be reviewing if I stop being overly verbose) and dragged it to the checkout (maybe I vaguely remembered something about Elisa, otherwise I wouldn't have bought anything). Despite my recklessness, I do not regret it.
"Then Comes the Sun" was released in 2001, and the title might appear to be a homage to a famous Beatles song, "Here Comes the Sun", although it isn’t (a display of erudition). The record opens with a nice trio: "Rainbow" tackles the theme of loss with an apparent delicacy that conceals a strong message about the inseparability of true, spontaneous ties. "Heaven Out of Hell" is dedicated to her mother, but it assumes a character of generality without losing itself in risks or simplicities: its course is the cult of the search for an individual freedom that does not trample on others' freedoms, a sensitive search that abandons during its course the cult of inner strength to appeal, paradoxically, to vulnerability. "Dancing" is a piece of great impact where Elisa's purely feminine sensitivity bursts out completely.
The album continues with "Fever", a track that seems to suspend the ethereal and subtle atmospheres of the beginning to give ample space to an outburst against the world's diseases, an implicit anthem to peace, but also an exaltation of the relationship between man and nature (I was walking when I saw a bird in the sky/ I followed its flight with my eyes/ and it felt like I could fly there/ and it made me smile inside), which nowadays would seem to anticipate the times, given the various "LiveAid", "Ecological Day", "Organic Waste Feast", etc. …"Fairy Girl" represents, along with "The Window" and "Simplicity", one of the most essential moments of the album and seems impossible to completely describe the emotional baggage they convey, the images they evoke, the sensations of clarity, lightness, depth they carry. "Rock Your Soul" reiterates the identification between man and nature's forces, and manages to convey to the listener that sense of maternal warmth that the most sensitive perceive from the earth (Although personally, I consider the version present in "Lotus" to be far superior). The only flaw of the album appears to be "Time" which seems to undermine the homogeneity of the album.
In conclusion, "Then Comes the Sun" is a more than pleasant album, to be listened to with attention but also to be lived, dedicated to those who need to rejoice and be moved, to those who seek to draw a vein of optimism from negative experience; an album that admits no definitions or limits, just like the skies of California, the state that hosted the recording of the album itself.
Quick, meditated, deep.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Rainbow (05:01)
You are not an enemy anymore
there's a ray of light upon your face now
I can look into your eyes
and I never thought it could be so simple
you can hear the music with no sounds
you can heal my heart without me knowing
I can cry in front of you
'cause you're not afraid to face my weakness
when we'll wake up some morning rain will wash away our pain
when we'll wake up some morning rain will wash away our pain
'cause it never began for us
It'll never end for us
'cause it never began for us
It'll never end for us
you are not my enemy anymore
there's a ray of light upon your face now
It’ll be all new again
there is something else just round the corner
so when we'll wake up some morning rain will wash away our pain
when we'll wake up some morning rain will wash away our pain
'cause it never began for us
It'll never end for us
no it never began for us
It'll never end for us
I was looking for a place to stay
are you looking for a place to stay?
no it never began for us
It'll never end for us
no it never began for us
It'll never end for us
no it never began for us
It'll never end for us
no it never began for us
and it'll never end for us
02 Heaven out of Hell (04:55)
So are you turning around your mind?
do you think the sun won't shine this time?
are you breathing only half of the air?
are you giving only half of a chance?
Don’t you wanna shake because you love
(cry) because you care (feel) 'cause you're alive (sleep) because you're tired
(shake) because you love (cry) because you care (feel) 'cause you're alive
Make heaven, heaven out of hell now
Make heaven, heaven out of hell now
are you locked up in you counting the days?
oh how long until you have your freedom, your freedom?
just shake because you love
(cry) because you care (feel) 'cause you're alive (sleep) because you're tired
(shake) because you love (bleed) 'cause you got hurt (die) because you lived
Make heaven, heaven out of hell now
Make heaven, heaven out of hell now
are you still turning around the same things?
are you still trying that way?
are you still praying the same prayers?
are you still waiting for that same day to come?
climbing the same mountain you’re not getting higher
you’re running after yourself you can't let go
hiding in that place you don’t wanna be
you pushed happiness so far away but it comes back
to give you all that you've given before
to love you the way you do like a mirror
look in the air 'n catch the boomerang
can’t fall anywhere else but in your own hand
make heaven, heaven out of hell now
make heaven, heaven out of hell now
are you still waiting?
are you still praying?
are you still losing?
I wanna fly because I dream
03 Dancing (05:36)
Time is gonna take my mind
and carry it far away where I can fly
the depth of life will dim
my temptation to live for you
if I were to be alone silence would rock my tears
‘cause it’s all about love and I know better
how life is a waving feather
so I put my arms around you, around you
and I know that I’ll be leaving soon
my eyes are on you, they’re on you
and you see that I can’t stop shaking
no I won’t step back
but I’ll look down to hide from eyes
‘cause what I feel is so sweet
and I’m scared that even my own breath
oh, could burst it, if it were a bubble
and I’d better dream if I have to struggle
so I put my arms around you, around you
and I hope that I will do no wrong
my eyes are on you, they’re on you
and I hope that you won’t hurt me
I’m dancing in the room
as if I was in the woods with you
don’t need for anything but music
music’s the reason why I know time still exists
time still exists
time still exists
time still exists
so I just put my arms around you, around you
and I hope that I will do no wrong
my eyes are on you, they’re on you
and I hope that you won’t hurt me
my arms around you, they’re round you
and I hope that I will do no wrong
my eyes are on you, they’re on you, they’re on you
my eyes…
04 Fever (04:19)
Why do you wanna know everything?
why do you need a plan in your mind?
why do you smile if you don’t want to?
why do you act if this is all true?
how can you keep your wish inside you?
how can I just forget about you?
when I can never lie to you
when I can never hide it from you
even if I’d only give you silence
you would know what’s taking place in my mind
but your world has got the fever
you are killing it with your reasons
your world has got the fever
‘n you step on it, ‘n you don’t see it…
why do we end up being so lonely?
now where have your eyes gone if nothing scares you?
why is this all just never enough
to make you happy, to stop your thinking?
but your world has got the fever
you are killing it with your reasons
your world has got the fever
‘n you step on it, ‘n you don’t see it…
(think I’m falling give me your hand…)
I was walking by when I saw a bird in the sky
‘n I followed its flight with my eyes
I felt like I could take myself up there
and it just made me smile inside
and it just made me fall in love
with everything, everything…
world has got the fever
you are killing it with your reasons
your world has got the fever
‘n you step on it, ‘n you don’t see it…
your world has got the fever
you are killing it with your reasons
your world has got the fever
It is shaking ‘n you jump on it…
your world has got the fever
you are killing it with your reasons
your world has got the fever
has got the fever, has got the fever…
05 Stranger (03:54)
Stranger you look so different
some other thoughts fill up your mind
and you just made it happen
got me thinking of you in my life
and now
I hope that my wish’s not so weak
I hope that my will is enough enough
‘cause you made it all good for me yeah
you made it all right
you made it all good for me yeah
you made it just fine
stranger can you forgive me
if it sounds like I know you too well
it’s just that you
have been like water when I was feeling so thirsty
oh and now
I think of you though you don’t know
the reason why I love you so
but never mind
‘cause you made it all good for me yeah
you made it all right
you made it all good for me yeah
you made it just fine
yet I know
it’d be too much to wait for your love
it’d be sad to wait for anything…
your anything…
so I sing… sing the words that I would say to you
sing the time that would spend with you… with you…
‘cause you made it all good for me yeah
you made it all right
you made it all good for me yeah
you made it just fine
just fine
could I feel higher?
could I feel better?
could I feel happier?
could I feel higher?
stranger you look so different
some other thoughts fill up my mind
and you just made it happen
got me thinking of you in my life
06 A Little Over Zero (05:30)
What shall I do, just to feel
a little over zero… a little over
now that I’m sadness
now that I’m weakness
gonna walk like it’s forever
gonna walk because it would save me
and my fragility could kill me
is this the best
I can be
is this the best
I can give
‘cause I wanna break out
‘n just live my life
yeah I wanna wake up
‘n find out I’m alive
a saint for each bone
would be magical
it would feel so all consuming
that I’d burn up just like paper
and my serenity
it would kill me so
is this the best
I can be
is this the best
I can give
‘cause I wanna break out
‘n just live my life
I wanna wake up
‘n find out I’m alive
I wanna break out
‘n just live my life
I wanna wake up
‘n find out I’m alive alive alive alive
is this the best
I can be
is this the best
I can give
is this the best
I can give to you
is this the best
I can give to you
10 Rock Your Soul (05:03)
The more I think, the less I see
when I'm able to walk
I'm queen of my world
I let it rain on my skin
I don't let myself down
I don't let myself down
just wanna be one with you
wanna be one with you
The more I think, the less I do
when I'm able to talk
I'm queen of my world
I let it rain on my skin
I don't ask myself why
I don't ask myself why
I wanna be one with you
wanna be one with you
and all I want is to rock your soul
all I want is to rock your soul
all I want is to rock your soul
I feel closer to the clouds
I'm touching all the highest leaves
on top of the trees
It's my desire's release
we let it rain on our skin
you're holding my hand
I'm holding your life
'n I feel like I'm one with you
and all I want is to rock your soul
all I want is to rock your soul
all I want is to rock your soul
I think I have to give you something
more than words is that something
I show you my dreams
to make 'em our dreams
won't you just be
I'm what you see
and all I want is to rock your soul
all I want is to rock your soul
all I want is to rock your soul
Together with the sun
we shine all the way
together with the rain
we fall through the air
Together with the sun
we shine all the way
together with the rain
with the sun
with the rain
the rain and the sun
together with the rain
and the sun
only with the rain the rain
and the sun
with the sun
with the sun
with the sun
with the sun
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Other reviews
By e-bow
There isn’t a single flaw in this record, there isn’t a single ill-chosen track, there isn’t a single word out of place.
Overall, a melancholic album, but crossed by the certainty that after... after comes the sun.
By Me Myself & I
Then comes the sun… a declaration of a poetics, of a way to react to the world and the darkness of life.
No matter how much rain there may be in our lives, there will come a moment when the sun arrives, a moment when we will be winners, morally.
By marcounali
Then Comes The Sun implies continuity, in the sense that life, one day, even without us, will continue to go on.
You can hear the music with no sounds, you can heal my heart without me knowing.
