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Rating: When my brother revealed to me the identity of that skull that appears in the beautiful Gorillaz video "Dare", I was really upset. No, it couldn't be Shaun Ryder, leader of the beloved Happy Mondays, that Michelin man, with teeth so damaged as if a "billladen" had exploded in his mouth. Truly unrecognizable, perhaps too much so even for a survivor like him: the image of devastation and of what excesses (of all kinds, he didn't deny himself anything...) can produce. Gradually, the astonishment gave way to a strange feeling, a mix of guilt and relief.
I haven't forgotten that Shaun, at a certain point in life, was one of my idols, like Ian Brown, like Tim Burgess, like Bobby Gillespie. When "Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches" by Happy Mondays came out, the so-called "Manchester scene" wasn't just a subgenre to be used in academic critical-musical disputes. In the early '90s, albums like "Some Friendly" by the Charlatans, the eponymous album by the Stone Roses, "Life" by Inspiral Carpets were released along with "Phills...", all characterized by a warm, very warm fusion between brit-pop tradition and club culture, acid house, "pump the bass" rhythms, and a sincere, contagious, irrepressible desire for liberation. An exciting recipe that would find another excellent version in "Screamadelica" by Primal Scream. From "Madchester," as the city had been renamed during that period, came an impetuous disinhibiting wind, a shout of joy for the imminent end of the Iron Lady with all that her unfortunate period had meant for English society and beyond. A "spring" that lasted a short time, a flare that left more than a few "burned" on the field, but that was a more genuine "movement" than others, which captured a sincere desire for rebellion, suppressed for too long, of the twenty-something generation of that period. I was among them. And the fact that I didn't want to, or couldn't, due to bourgeois common sense or simply a lack of courage, participate in the "party" is totally secondary. Although I was desperately committed to finishing my studies, I lived in that phase as split: part of me was with Shaun and the others, with whom I secretly shared the musical aesthetics and the rebellious lifestyle.
The album in question is a powerful concentrate of energy, a perfectly successful synthesis, I know it will seem strange, of anarchic attitude, distorted "rock" guitars, elements of funky & soul, with a rhythmic base borrowed from a shabby rave-party. In some episodes, like the opening "Kinky Afro", in "God's Cop", in the cover "Step On" acid takes over and you find yourself dancing uncontrollably, repeating the unrepeatable phrases recited more than sung by Shaun, almost incomprehensible due to his dialectal pronunciation and his perpetually slurred mouth. In "Dennis and Lois" and in "Holiday" the black component prevails: always sustained, pumped rhythms, also supported by Motown-style '70s choirs. But the extreme versatility of the Happy Mondays, their blessed state, can be verified by listening to the most "deviant" episodes like "Grandbag's Funeral", which has an almost psychedelic taste, or the alluring "Bob's yer Uncle", with a flute borrowed from the Philadelphia sound, very Afro percussion, and an intoxicating vocalist that seems to, rather than accompany the piece, express the peak of pleasure.
Yes, I felt a certain sense of guilt and an indefinable relief seeing how the elder Ryder has ended up. The guilt comes from the fact that I somehow used him. I don't know, it's hard to explain, but it's as if with his wild and above, well above, the lines life, he somehow paid for everyone; even for me, a fearful and overly rational rebel. But perhaps it is right this way. Music is also an opportunity to live vicariously, to share an imagery without fully identifying with it; to be able to tell your children that the guy in the cartoon so messed up was once a friend of dad's.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Kinky Afro (03:59)
Son, I'm 30
I only went with your mother 'cause she's dirty
And I don't have a decent bone in me
What you get is just what you see yeah
I see it so I take it freely
And all the bad piss ugly things i feed me
I never help or give to the needy
Come on and see me
Yippee-ippee-ey-ey-ay-yey-yey
I had to crucify some brother today
And I don't dig what you gotta say
So come on and say it
Come on and tell me twice
I said dad you're shabby
You run around and groove like a baggy
You're only here just out of habit
All that's mine you might as well have it
You take ten feet back and then stab it
Spray it on and 'tag it
So sack on me
I can't stand the needy
Get around here if you're asking you're feeling
Yippee-ippee-ey-ey-ay-yey-yey
I had to crucify somebody today
And I don't dig what you gotta say
So come on and say it
Come on and tell me twice
So sack all the needy
I can't stand to leave it
You come around here and you put both your feet in
Yippee-ippee-ey-ey-ay-yey-yey
I had to crucify somebody today
And I don't dig what you gotta say
So go on and say it
Yippee-ippee-ey-ey-ay-yey-yey
I had to crucify some brother today
And I don't hear what you gotta say
So come on and say it
Come on and tell me twice
02 God's Cop (04:58)
I can virtually do anything I read
Someone somewhere swa between your knees
Hand me out fish, did some big tease
Oh man did you fuck it, Baby brother I took it
Then I pilfered th ebag and the amex gold
Because the lord chief constable knows I'm owen
And everybody said I told you so
God made it easy
God made it easy on me
God made it easy on me
God rains it E's
God rains it E's all on me
God made it E's all on me
'Coz me and the chief got soul to soul
Me and the chief got slowly stoned
Me and the chief got soul to soul
Oh me and all the chiefs get slowly stoned
I like it and I want it and I just don't need to stop it
Cos me and all the rich got mobile homes - homes
Me and all the rich got mobile phones - bones
God made it easy
God made it easy on me
God made it easy on me
God rains it E's
God rains it E's all on me
God made it E's all on me
'Coz me and the chief got soul to soul
Me and the chief got slowly stoned
Me and the chief got soul to soul
Oh me and all the chiefs get slowly stoned
God made it easy
God made it easy on me
God made it easy on me
God rains it E's
God rains it E's all on me
God made it E's all on me
03 Donovan (04:04)
Six cheap people in an empty hotel
Every last one with a story to tell
Give them all pills, so their heads won't swell
We were borne to a woman whose husband did quite well
Oh sunshine, shone brighty
Through my windoew today
Could have tripped out quite easy but I decided to stay
Hold ouit your hand said whitey with the blame
Gonna bring you up so you really dig the pain
Take you under my wings so you'll never be the same
Cos your wife is so much older and both her legs are lame
A sunbeam shone brightly through my window today
Could have gone 20 miles but I decided to stay
All my flock has packed up and flocked back to hell
Open up the windows so the place don't start to smell
Carry on with what your doing cos you don't to it that well
I've been umpteen different people and no one else can tell
Sunshine shone brightly through my asshole today
Could have tripped out quite easy but I decided to stay
To stay a while
Come up and see me make me smile
Come up and see me make me smile
05 Loose Fit (05:07)
Has to be a loose fit
Has to be a loose fit
Go on move in it
Go on do your bit
Small, big, take your pick
Doesn't have to be legit
's gotta be a loose fit
's gotta be a loose fit
Don't need no skin tights in my wardrobe today
Fold them all up and put them all away
Won't be no misfit in my household today
Pick him all up and send him on his way
Do what you're doin’
Say what you're sayin’
Go where you're goin’
Think what you're thinkin’
Sounds good to me
Don't know what you saw
But you know it's against the law
And you know that you want some more
I've heard it all before
Gonna buy an air force base
Gonna wipe out your race
Get stoned in a different place
Don't you know I got better taste
Do what you're doin’
Say what you're sayin’
Go where you're goin’
Think what you're thinkin’
Sounds good to me
Do what you're doin’
Spend what you're owin’
Pay what you're payin’
Look where you're goin’
Say what you're thinkin’
Kill who you're killin’
Sing if you're singin’
Speak if you're speakin’
Sounds good to me
06 Dennis and Lois (04:24)
We all learn to box at the Midget Club
Where we punch with love and did someone some good
It's good to see ya, to see ya nice
If you do it once, well we'll do it twice
We're twice as likely we're twice as bright
You say it's wrong but we know it's right
Right
Right on, right on
Right
Right on, right on
We all learn to wash at the scrubbers club
Where we ring out the dirt with rub a dub dub
Tell me how you think if you think it's good
Say it loud and clear so it's understood
You take it how you make it like I knew you would
Let it bleed let it heal let me sleep it's no good, so...
Let's ride, right on right on
Right, right on right......
Honey how's your breathing
If it stops for good we'll be leaving
And honey how's your daughter
Did you teach her what we've taught yer
And if you didn't well you ought to do it now
Well lets ride ride on ride on
Ride on ride...
Honey how's your breathing
If it stops for good we'll be leaving
And honey how's your daughter
Did you teach her what we've taught yer
And if you didn't well you ought to do it now
07 Bob's Yer Uncle (05:10)
What do you want to hear when we're making love
What do you want to hear when we're making love
Can I take you from behind and hold you in my arms
What do you want to hear when we're making love
Can I take you from behind and feel you in my heart
What do we need to re-live to bring us close
Why don't you do it to me
Why don't you do those things to me
Why don't you do it to me
Why don't you do those things to me
Four fall in a bed, three giving head, one getting wet
Four fall in a bed, three giving head, one getting wet
What do you want to hear when we're making love
Can I hold you from behind and tell you that it's me
Why don't you do it to me
Why don't you do those things to me
Why don't you do it to me
Why don't you do those things to me
The love drug is a bug that cuts us both uo
Why don't you do those things to me
Why don't you do it of me, why don't you do those things to me
What can I say to you when we're making love
I could take you from behind and make you live
What do you need me to say when we're making love
I can take you from behind and then I'll forgive
Why don't you do it to me
Why don't you do those things to me
Why don't you do it to me
Why don't you do those things to me
08 Step On (05:17)
You're twistin' my melon man,
You know you talk so hip man,
You're twistin' my melon man (call the cops).
Hey rainmaker, come away from that man,
You know he's gonna take away your promised land,
Hey good lady, he just wants what you got you know,
He'll never stop until he's taken the lot.
He-he-hey, he-he-hey-hey.
Gonna stamp out your fire, he can change your desire,
Don't you know he can make you forget you're a man?
Gonna stamp out your fire, he can change your desire,
Don't you know he can make you forget you're a man, you're a man?
You're twistin' my melon man, you speak so hip.
Hey rainmaker, he got golden plans, I tell you,
You'll make a stranger in your own land,
Hey good lady, he got God on his side,
He got a double tongue you never think he would lie.
(oh he lied, ooh he's twistin' my melon man,
oh he lied, ooh he's twistin' my melon man)
Gonna stamp out your fire, he can change your desire,
Don't you know he can make you forget you're a man?
Gonna stamp out your fire, he can change your desire,
Don't you know he can make you forget you're the man (you're the man)?
He's gonna step on you again,
He's gonna step on you,
He's gonna step on you again,
He's gonna step on youuuuuuu.
Hey rainmaker, come away from that man,
You know he's gonna take away your promised land,
Hey good lady, he got God on his side,
He got a double tongue you never think he would lie.
Gonna stamp out your fire, he can change your desire,
Don't you know he can make you forget you're a man?
Gonna stamp out your fire, he can change your desire,
Don't you know he can make you forget you're the man (you're the man)?
You're twistin' my melon man,
You know you talk so hip man.
He-he-hey, he-he-hey-hey.
*whistles*
09 Holiday (03:27)
Holiday
Holiday
Hold it here boy is that your bag
In a small sneak and you've just been had
Is that your scene bin, been what have I seen
Well take a seat, feet, get your feet a seat
Put circle round this this and a circle round that
You put one in the front, and one in the back
Would you show it to your mother or share it with another
Slow down bitch
Oh bitch slow down
I'm so good, I'm so good, I'm so good, man i've been so good
I'm so nice, I'm so nice, I'm so nice, man i'm so nice
Holiday
Holiday
I'm here to harass you, I want your pills and your grass you
You don't look first class you
Let me look up your ass you
I smell dope, I smell dope, I smell dope, I am smelling dope
I smell dope, I smell dope, I smell dope, I am smelling dope
Holiday
We're so good, We're so good, We're so good, man we've never been so good
We're so nice, We're so nice, We're so nice, man we've never been so nice
10 Harmony (04:04)
Harmony
Harmony
I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony
Cut it up in little tiny bits
and give it all away for free
Harmony
What we need is a big big cooking pot
Big enough to cook every wonderful
Beautiful, trustworrthy, lovely idea we've got
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