•
Rating:
I had a dream...
Someone was putting Marina Abramovic, Pippi Longstocking, and a couple of Bulgarian backup singers into a psychic blender...
And what came out was at the very least noteworthy...
__________________
There was a time when anything normal was never considered. Doing so would have been the worst betrayal. Against ourselves even before others.
After all, psychiatrists teach that any form of delusion soon transforms into a surrogate form of identity. And you don't mess with identity. At least, I wouldn't advise it.
Just to say, for a guru, we had someone who spent nights playing chess with an imaginary Sancho Panza. He always lost and after each defeat, the insults would start.
“Oh Sancho, Sancho, you certainly don't smell of ambrosia!!!”
What about Guglielmo Pasi, the unfathomable poet and author of the immortal masterpiece "My girlfriend is a howler monkey"? Well, better not say anything. After all, apart from the title which, admittedly, is quite good, no one remembers a single verse anymore.
Then there were us, intent on discussing the hole we ended up in and the one we wished to be in. Something like "and a bit lower the little bird of the godmother wanted to fly"...
But let's get back to our guru...
Imagine a gaze suspended between vagueness and myopia, a swaying gait, a look of sparkling freakiness in a punk sauce. Imagine a fine head with a flurry of thoughts and things.
A very funny and extravagant fish, in short. But anything but fake. Such characters at the time were as common as rain. Only most of them were as false as Judas. The Guru, no, the guru was authentic. Never mind if he was a cross between the tender Giacomo and the strange but true of the puzzle week.
He possessed, just to name one, a sort of instinctive esotericism. He was one of those who, after sizing you up for a moment, would come up with certain mysterious phrases like "you are suspended between power and abandonment" "the feminine rebalancing of your being is weakening." Then, to avoid making our heads spin uselessly, he would dilute his elixirs of words until he reached a series of down-to-earth statements good for us gullible. Nine times out of ten, he pierced your soul.
Another thing, as a child, he played with dolls and, fixated on pirates and princesses, sewed some amazing little outfits with his mom that resembled the costumes of Miss Lene Lovich.
“Do you remember Lene Lovich?”
“But who, that girl with the braids?”
“Exactly, the braids... the braids and the little feet...”
And, out of the blue, a line from Guglielmo Pasi knocks on my head... even though it isn't a line but a kind of concept. Something about flying...
"A flight including a landing on princess feet" ...
And Lene Lovich really did have princess feet. It's mentioned in a nice interview by a guy who played with her.
Obviously, the guru also went crazy for Lene/Marlene.
And the duo (the guru and Sancho Panza) became a trio (the guru, Lene Sancho Panza)...
Or rather, he (the guru) was in the middle, and the other two marked him closely. After all, we're all nailed between fantasy and rugged reality. Even if most don't know.
And anyway, Lene Lovich was a show. One of those where, yes, the record is good, but better see her live.
Between a witch and a blossoming maiden, it seemed like a switch turned on and off all the masks on her face.
Decked out, like a strange kind of gypsy from a chaos of mantillas and laces, her wild, spirited eyes darted, flashed, twitched, and God knows what else...
The absolute expressiveness passed through her as if she were a mime in the midst of electroshock.
And then that disjointed voice capable of trills and screeches. In short, a paradigm of tender and sweet wild femininity...
The music then... a sensational synthesis between Devo and Kate Bush...
If you want to know more, look up Lao Tze's page, a wonderful review...
I've only raved a bit
But now excuse me, good old Sancho Panza is giving me checkmate after a queen sacrifice.
“Oh Sancho, Sancho, if you were my nemesis, I think I deserved a more fitting one”
Trallallà...
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Lucky Number (02:51)
Udy, udy, udy, udy etc...
I never used to cry 'cause I was all alone
For me, myself and I is all I've ever known
I never felt the need to have a hand to hold
In everything I do I take complete control
That's where I'm coming from
My Lucky Number's one
I've everthing I need to keep me satisfied
There's nothing you can do to make me change my mind
I'm having so much fun
My Lucky Number's one
Ah! Oh! Ah! Oh!
Ay ay ay ay ay...
I now detect an alien vibration here
There's something in the air besides the atmosphere
The object of the action is becoming clear
An imminent attack upon my heart I fear
The evidence is strong
My Lucky Number's rung
Ah! Oh! Ah! Oh!
Something tells me my Lucky Number's gonna be changing soon
Something tells me Lucky Number's gonna be oweoweoweoweoweowe...
You certainly do have a strange effect on me
I never thought that I could feel the way I feel
There's something in your eyes gives me a wild idea
I never want to be apart from you my dear
I guess it must be true
My Lucky Number's two
This rearrangement suits me now I must confess
The number one was dull and number two is best
I wanna stay with you
My Lucky Number's two
Ah! Oh! Ah! Oh!
Number... Number...
Fade
02 Sleeping Beauty (03:02)
You could improve me, rebuild-anew me, heat up or cool me,
But don't forget to wake me in time....
You know I had a lot on my mind;
These tired old eyes await a surprise;
I wonder what the future will bring...
---
Fix me, mix me, rearrange me, change my body;
Make it so pretty, they can't resist me, queue up to kiss me,
But don't forget to wake me in time...
You know I got to be first in line;
This sensitive child is changing her style;
The ugly duck is starting to smile...
Open up your eyes;
You Sleeping Beauties must arise...
You're shaping up just fine,
So climb inside a brand new life...
This twilight seems like an eternity...
The changes I go through are hurting me...
Do we become what we deserve to be?
Open up your eyes;
You Sleeping Beauties must arise...
You're shaping up just fine,
So climb inside a brand new life...
Open up your eyes;
You Sleeping Beauties must arise...
You're shaping up just fine,
So climb inside a brand new life...
05 Say When (02:51)
Well, I'm all revved up and ready, baby
You're a man, I'm a lady
Better turn your eyes from this body of mine
I don't want you to be ahead of our time
I'll say when to stop
Hey, I call the shots
Baby, I say when
Say when
I'll say when to stop
Hey, I call the shots
Baby, I say when
Say when
Well, you look plenty good to me
Yeah, you got plenty of energy
And, I know that you're big and strong
But, I'll be the boss, so don't go wrong
I'll say when to stop
Hey, I call the shots
Baby, I say when
Say when
I'll say when to stop
Hey, I call the shots
Baby, I say when
Say when
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!
Well, I'm all revved up and ready, baby...
Yeah, you're a man, I'm a lady...
You better turn your eyes from this body of mine...
I don't want you to be ahead of our time...
I'll say when to stop
Hey, I call the shots
Baby, I say when
Say when
I'll say when to stop
Hey, I call the shots
Baby, I say when
Say when
Un, deux, trois, quattre, cinq, six, sept, huit, nine, ten!
11 I Think We're Alone Now (02:48)
Children behave
That's what they say when we're together
And watch how you play
They don't understand
And so we're running just as fast as we can
Holdin' onto one another's hand
Tryin' to get away into the night
And then you put your arms around me
And we tumble to the ground and then you say
I think we're alone now
There doesn't seem to be anyone around
I think we're alone now
The beating of our hearts is the only sound
Look at the way
We gotta hide what we're doin'
'Cause what would they say
If they ever knew
And so we're running just as fast as we can
Holdin' onto one another's hand
Tryin' to get away into the night
And then you put your arms around me
And we tumble to the ground and then you say
I think we're alone now
There doesn't seem to be anyone around
I think we're alone now
The beating of our hearts is the only sound
I think we're alone now
(Alone now)
There doesn't seem to be anyone around
I think we're alone now
(Alone now)
The beating of our hearts is the only sound
I think we're alone now
(Alone now)
There doesn't seem to be anyone around
I think we're alone now
(Alone now)
The beating of our hearts is the only sound
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By Lao Tze
Her Art resembles a bridge: a bridge thrown to cover the long distance that separates the vocal revolution of the New Wave godmother Patti Smith from Kate Bush.
'Stateless' is an absolute masterpiece of Pop eccentricity, where everything a singer can experiment is experimented.
