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Rating:
"Peace" is not just the final statement of a band that in the much-vaunted Eighties elevated the synth-new wave movement to the nth degree, but it is also a solid declaration of intent before writing the unfortunately sad expression "the end" over a most respectable list of musical products.
It's 1999, and the generation of electronics has significantly downsized, caught between the grunge wave and the emerging boy-girl bands: within the Eurythmics family, the eclectic Annie Lennox is fresh from a debut that was truly remarkable (Diva), but also from a second studio effort (Medusa) that quite well consolidates her "egocentric" ambitions. Both solo works, however, highlight a brave attempt to shelve the vibrant dynamics of the electropop season and embrace an acoustic pop-rock with few frills and nonsense: a style more sober, clean, and dry (despite an already unshowy look during her partnership with David Stewart) that finds its perfect expression in the unforgettable hit ballads Why and No More I Love You's.
The final chapter of the Eurythmics saga is nothing but a "continuation" of Lennox's solo journey, far from the fluorescence and the multicolored, fun-loving, carefree party mood of Sweet Dreams and Beethoven (I Listen To). A bold turn that nonetheless detracts nothing from the full artistic validity of the duo, but rather elevates them to a maturity that probably would have been lacking if they had made a comeback conforming to the pre-1990 period. A tracklist of sweet lullabies leaning toward instrumental and rock'n'roll-like tracks, a small simple jewel that is anything but anachronistic and dated, the last attempt to send a semi-muted cry to a music-media landscape completely overturned ten years after their penultimate effort, We Too Are One.
Thus, the mini dialectic between soft ballads and energetic pop-rock bursts serves as the backbone for the entire album: on the one hand, there's the folk-instrumental nostalgia of the first single I Saved The World Today, the tearful chorus of strings and gentle semi-unplugged guitar strums in I've Tried Everything, the incredible lightness of Beautiful Child and Peace Is Just A Word (in my opinion the most significant and exemplary piece of the entire album), on the other hand, emerges the almost playful vigor reminiscent of Roxette in Power To The Meek, the pseudo rock'n'roll/country anger simmering in I Want It All, and the spiritual-vocal classical ascension of Forever.
It's highly probable that the Eurythmics myth is part of that collective imagination which sees the colorful 80s as the birth, life (and not death) of a party spirit, almost reductive and overly makeshift and artificial. But Ms. Lennox and Mr. Stewart have managed to transcend the fragile boundaries of these stereotypes, offering a pop in full evolution and completion, never trivial and plastic. And with "Peace" they have also managed to "deny", albeit kindly, the glories of the notorious decade, showing the crowd of records and cassettes, of walkmans and CD players, that beneath the surface sheen, there is much more, something else to be discovered, delved into, and continued.
Eurythmics, "Peace"
17 Again - I Saved The World Today - Power To The Meek - Beautiful Child - Anything But Strong - Peace Is Just A Word - I've Tried Everything - I Want It All - My True Love - Forever - Lifted
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 I Saved the World Today (04:53)
Monday finds you like a bomb
It's been left ticking there too long
You're bleeding
Some days there's nothing left to learn
From the point of no return
You're leaving
Hey hey I saved the world today
Everybody's happy now
The bad things gone away
And everybody's happy now
The good thing's here to stay
Please let it stay
There's a millions mouths to feed
But I've got everything I need
I'm breathing
And there hurting thing inside
But I've got everything to hide
I'm grieving
Hey hey I saved the world today
Everybody's happy now
The bad things gone away
And everybody happy now
The good thing's here to stay
Please let it stay
Doo doo doo doo doo the good thing
Hey hey I saved the world today
Everybody's happy now
The bad things gone away
And everybody happy now
The good thing's here to stay
Please let it stay
Everybody's happy now
03 Power to the Meek (03:18)
I'm just a girl with my head screwed on
I'm just a girl with a smoking gun
I got my fingers stung
My fingers stung yea
I'm just a girl with my fingers stung
Bless these bones
Bless this skin
All of me and the mess I'm in
Yea the mess I'm in
But I don't care
Don't know where I've been
But I'll get me there
I'm alive
Yea and it's alright
I'm alive
Yea and it's alright
Power to the meek
Power to speak
I got the power within me
Yea yea
Power to the shine
In my worn out shoes yea
Power to me
Power to you
Yea bless this head
Bless his hair
Bless me to the dirt
In my fingernails yea
Bless this day
Bless this night
Give me something good
Make me feel alright
I'm alive
Yea and it's alright
I'm alive
Yea and it's alright
04 Beautiful Child (03:27)
Something that I said
Made you wear a frown
The way you hang your head
Has made the tears come down
But don't you wear a sigh
My beautiful child
You know it doesn't burn
When you touch the sun
So don't be concerned
My golden one
You're gonna reach the sky
Fly...
Beautiful child
There is no other place
The human race
Is running out of space
There is no better love
And human love
Is what it takes
And I'll be at your side
When you're falling down
You'll be feeling fine
When you hit the ground
So don't slip away
Stay...
Beautiful child
05 Anything but Strong (05:04)
Why do you hurt yourself?
You do it very well
You do it so politely
That you couldn't even tell
When everything has changed
You think you're not to blame
How come you keep on talking
When the whole thing feels so strange?...
But seeing is not the same as believing
When everything goes wrong
You're anything but strong
It's all bittersweet
Outside in the street
The grass is growing greener
Underneath your feet
We come and go
The deep water flows
Tiny leaves from small seeds
To tall trees do grow
But wanting is not the same as needing
There's no need to pretend
You can't turn back again
And loving is so different to keeping
The hurting that we send
Is so difficult to mend
[Hold on to the good things]
[That keep you from falling down]
[Hold on the the good things]
[That keep you from falling down]
How my heart aches
More than I can take
What are we really learning
When we make the same mistakes?
Where is your hope?
It's all gone up in smoke
You used to be so funny
Now it's just the same old joke
And laughing is so very close to crying
When there's nothing to defend
It gets you in the end
And living is so very close to dying
You struggle on and on
To find where you belong
Where do you belong?
07 I've Tried Everything (04:17)
The truth of life is the greatest gift
But I don't think I can make it fit
And who would guess it would come to this
When I've tried everything
And I should know but I can't explain
The endless noise sounding in my brain
Who would've thought that you could feel such pain
When you've tried everything
Yea.. you're a loser now
Yea.. you're a loser now
I should be cool
But I'm burning hot
I should be good
But I fell apart
Don't look at me now don't even start
Cause I've tried everything
Yea.. You're a loser now
Yea.. You're a loser now
10 Forever (04:08)
Forever
Now that you’re gone
Gone forever
But the day goes on
Forever
When we were young
With time to waste
Everything was clear and good
Thought we could live
For a thousand years
But yesterday is done
And tomorrow’s yet to come
You’ll never know
Forever
Now that you’re gone
Gone forever
But the day goes on
Forever
Yea yea yea
Forever
And I remember when we were fools
Everything was me and you
Thought we were kings
With time to kill
But yesterday is done
And tomorrow’s yet to come
You live and learn
Some people never take the time to try
The way you live’s the way you die
The stuff of life’s in short supply
And if it sometimes hits you strong
Remembering that things go wrong
The song of life is just a song
And everything goes on and on
Forever
Now that you’re gone
Gone forever
But the day goes on
Forever
Yea yea yea
Forever
11 Lifted (04:49)
Don't be afraid when you
Walk through the dark
Just when you feel that
Your day fell apart
Stay strong
Keep holding on
Clear skies ahead and the dark day is done
Keep on lifted
Keep on lifted
I wish you everything
That you could want
Just when the day finds you
Turned back to front
Stay clear
Rescue is near
When you feel
That you're drowned in despair
Keep on lifted
keep on lifted
You're a bird in the sky now baby
Earthbound
Feet on the ground
Now you can find peace at last
Now you can find peace at last
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