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Rating:
It's the summer of 1997.
The radio is filled with songs like "Drinking in L.A." by Bran Van 3000 and "Closing Time" by Semisonic, the hit is "Solo una volta (o tutta la vita)" by Alex Britti, the surprise is "Quelloché" by 99 Posse.
But on the medium wave frequencies, something new, or rather something old, creeps in: a ballad that accompanies the evenings by the sea of a group of then fourteen-fifteen-sixteen-year-olds dealing with their first crushes. It’s "When Susannah Cries," the third track of this album, the work of an unknown Norwegian singer.
The media notices him, he appears at small guest spots. On Cioè and similar magazines, the headlines shout: "the Nek from the cold," but fortunately for my ears, he shares with the Romagnolo singer only the color of his eyes.
This "Red" (which I desperately searched for at the end of that beautiful summer) is shamelessly pop, but undoubtedly of excellent and careful craftsmanship.
It opens with "Messing with Me," rhythmic guitars, voice well blended with the choruses that doesn't sound "already heard." "Baby You're So Cool" is curious, with a falsetto chorus that's memorable. Written, produced, and arranged by Espen himself (a true self-made man!) it shows remarkable care in both lyrics and music, and, while being a classic product for teenagers, it can be appreciated by another audience as well, without pretending to be a milestone in world music.
It goes a bit too unfairly under the radar, apart from that handful of tracks about the river of tears Susannah cries over the betrayal of her man, while there are a couple of pieces that deserved more than one listen and certainly greater promotion. One, in my opinion, is "Niki's Theme," a rarefied ballad dedicated to the ex-girlfriend (who also appears in the credits as a special mention) with an "adoring" text ("and if you said my eyes were beautiful that's cause they were looking at you") constructed almost like an acoustic piece, with a profusion of violins under a very delicate voice. It closes with "The Buffalo Tapes (My So-Called Friends)," again featuring falsetto (clearly the strong point of Espen's vocal cords) and the rhythm is rhythmic, but mild, as if to tell a story taking all the time to do so, without haste.
After this album (which represents a debut only at the European level, since Lind's career in his home country was already underway), the Norwegian with ice-blue eyes disappears from our radios and charts, replaced by other pretty faces who surely can sing and compose much less than him but have had the fortune of being pushed by perhaps more aggressive management. He does not disappear in his home country, in fact, he continues to release music, growing work after work, with collaborations, side projects, and even soundtrack contributions. He reappears in 2000 with "April," a more mature and heartfelt work, but that... is another review.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
03 When Susannah Cries (03:38)
Chorus:
When Susannah cries
she cries a rainstorm
she cries a river
she cries a hole in the ground
She cries for love
she cries a sad song
she cries a shiver
sometimes she cries for me too
And I say I'll never hurt her
but she knows it isn't true
'cos although I never told her
I think she knows about me and you
now she cries with silent tension
this can't be right
and the downtown special cries along
'cos I'm leaving tonight
Chorus
Now I slip the night around her
and I hope she'll be okay
I just pray someone will find her
and guide her along her way
'cos I'm leaving on the 1 am
by soon I'm out of sight
but she'll always be my baby
though I'm leaving tonight
Every night I hear her
talking in her sleep
she says �You know I'll always be there�
and I feel like such a creep
please take back the love she gave to me
and in time her grief will pass
just tell her that I loved her
now it's all...
she has
when Susannah cries
04 Lucky for You (04:41)
Once in a while
When I'm sleeping
My horses are wild
And I'm weeping
Just like a child
I wake up dreaming that I've been loved
Nights are in blue
And Castillian
Thinking of you
Senses reeling
Diving into
This feeling that I have been loved
Lucky for you
You know what to do
When somebody hurts you
Somebody enters your life, disappears
Leaves you in tears
Stirs up your fears, oh yeah
If you have a clue
About what to do
Then it's lucky for you, yeah, yeah
Still lucky for me
You're amazing
You made me see
Sparks come blazing
I was lucky to be
Made to feel like I had been loved
Lucky for you
You know what to do
When somebody hurts you
Somebody enters your life, disappears
Leaves you in tears
Stirs up your fears, yeah, yeah, yeah
If you have a clue
About what to do
Then it's lucky for you
I didn't think you would sacrifice
U-u, the love I made you receive, no, no
I'd pay a grand for some paradise
but I'm just too scared to believe, o-o-oh!
Instrumental
Lucky for you
If you know what to do
When somebody hurts you
Somebody enters your life, disappears
Leaves you in tears
Stirs up your fears, yeah, yeah, yeah
If you have a clue
About what to do
When somebody hurts you
Somebody enters your life, disappears
Leaves you in tears
Stirs up your fears, yeah, yeah
If you have a clue
About what to do
Lucky for you
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