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Rating: Everything that left me puzzled while listening to their debut now, with this follow-up, makes me want to applaud them. On the second try, Hothouse Flowers manage to perfectly blend the pale-reddish hue (from freckles) of Irish skin with the black of the coloreds in America.
To avoid any misunderstandings, I repeat that the move in question wasn't the most original, as many artists, English but also Scottish and Irish, tried (and each in their own way succeeded) to find their own way to combine the music that was in the air and in their DNA with the music that was inside their dreams, tastes, and ambitions.
The Hothouse Flowers, far from associating themselves with extremely pompous stuff like some U2 tracks (stuff like "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "Desire"), while not benefiting from any Prince-like ballads or from any other colored artist, experiment in 1990 with their personal recipe.
In just one episode, gospel is tied to traditional folk, and it's safe to say this is not a folk-based work. Incidentally, the other folk track doesn't even head west but favors the east of Buddhist temples. As for the rest, for pop, here there's total abundance: ranging from the spiritual-rock of "Hardstone City" to the very slow blues of "Sweet Marie," where the song of the slaves becomes a lullaby. In a couple of pieces, "Give It Up" and "Giving It All Away," there is the perfect marriage between epic-Celtic torment and the all Afro-American panic of finding oneself in the complete glory of God. In "Christchurch Bells," the same solution applies to a placid ballad: the old soul extinguishes among a thousand fumes the animistic anxiety of someone who has always had the wind in their hair.
The Hothouse Flowers' recipe seems universal and suits even the famous "I Can See Clearly Now" by Johnny Nash; it even works in "Movies," a more danceable piece with an instrumental space for funky bass, exotic percussion, and... harmonica (!). In a continuous escalation, in "Shut Up And Listen," it seems as if the poor Africans were not deported to the USA but to Ireland, to work and reside there: here, Ó Maonlaí is the first bluesman on the face of the earth to tackle an Irish traditional. And what if the first song in history wasn't a tribal chant but a Gaelic prayer?
In the end, it's possible that this could be a valid interpretation: for as much as it's revamped, keeping up with the times, African or Irish as it may be, the music of the Hothouse Flowers, in the religious quest for truth, seems (knowingly?) to aspire to be the echo of a millennial voice.
Pagan rock.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Give It Up (03:31)
I'm coming face to face with my conscience
Coming to an understanding of myself
Clear out all the old cobwebs
Clear the old books from the shelf
This song is inspired by a good man
And his tune
Thinking good of others
Sing Amazing Grace to you
It doesn't really matter if you're all
Jumbled up inside
As long as you know love is
Endless and the world is wide
Give it up share it out
Help who you can
Talk about it
It's late in the morning, close to the time
Mary's in the alley she never stops smiling
Always love to see her -- means a lot to me
But I know she has a hard time trying to
Make ends meet
Chorus: Give it up...
Down George Street arcade where the poor children play
Gathering up charity just to help them make their day
Me I was once their age, me I was once young
But I knew I had my family to fall back on
Give it up...
07 I Can See Clearly Now (04:53)
I can see clearly now the rain has gone
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It's going to be a bright, bright sunshiny day
I think I can make it now the pain has gone
And all of the bad feelings have disappeared
Here is the rainbow I've been praying for
It's gonna be a bright, bright sunshiny day
Look all around there's nothing but blue skies
Look straight ahead nothing but blue skies
I think I can make it now the pain has gone
And all of the bad feelings have disappeared
I can see clearly now the rain has gone
It's gonna be a bright, bright
Sunshiny day
11 Home (04:28)
Why is it, we have to run to understand
And why is it that every time we grow close
We fall down, and why is it I break my
Rules to let you in. Why is it?
I act the fool, let you in, you in
Now my spinning head is slowly slowing down
At least my lonely bed is in my favourite town
Sometimes at night feel heartbroken
Sometimes just don't know what to say
Sometimes I make mistakes and I hurt you
But we're only human and we're all built
That way
Now my spinning head is slowly slowing down
At least my lonely bed is in my favourite town
(Repeat 2)
Don't expect too much
You've nothing to prove
It's a hard old station
Hold onto the truth
Words together send them to you
Explain how I feel
Explain What I think
13 Dance to the Storm (04:13)
When I first saw you with hair like a river
Eyes like the sky
This real feeling came right up inside me
And I felt like flying
And I still see you, you smiling angel I see your eyes
And I'll remember just the way you talked to me and
The way I cried
I cried...
Rejoice in the sunrise
Dance to the moonlight
Dance to the storm
You are the sweetest angel, you are the highest flyer
I know it's true
There'll never be another quite as beautiful
Quite like you
Dance....
and then I saw you, you were alone by the river
Looking for love
This real feeling came right up inside me
I give you love
14 Seoladh Na Ngamhna (00:42)
But now my love as you are leaving
It remains our love was not in destiny
I place three kisses upon each finger
To you my love farewell five hundred times
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