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Rating: Sometimes life is strange; one thinks that to buy a great album, you need a bit of money or the usual 10 Euros for reissues. Instead, one day you walk into any megastore and buy a piece of history for 4 euros. It's funny; that's how I came to own this extraordinary live album by an artist who has always fascinated me and whom I admire for her great, immense willpower.
Once a muse for the Rolling Stones, Faithfull, the daughter of an Austrian baroness, fell into severe drug addiction in the '70s, which led her to attempt suicide multiple times. Then, incredibly, she was reborn, first personally with detoxification and then artistically with the famous and beautiful "Broken English."
This live recording, captured in 1989 in New York, is the most concrete affirmation of the artist's life; the sensations that Faithfull's hoarse and powerful voice, inherited from years of excess, convey are unique. Just listen to her rendition of Lennon's "Working Class Hero", where the delicate acoustic threads of the original version are transformed into vibrant rock pulsations; the sound of the drums is unique and impeccable, despite everything being played in a cathedral. Noteworthy is the cover of "Strange Weather," or the eight minutes of "Guilt," and then "Sister Morphine," far superior to the original version by the "Rolling Stones," with Marianne’s voice highlighting the dramatic elements of the song. Following is "As Tears Go By," the first song recorded in 1964, written by Jagger and Richards, here in an impeccable execution that draws new life from Faithfull's radically changed voice. The rest of the work is on the same level as the mentioned songs, particularly listen to "Times Square," Marianne's solo voice in "She Moved Through The Fair," and the rhythmic "Broken English" that closes the album.
Listen to it, I highly recommend it to you, and you will discover an artist who has improved tremendously over the years and is today a respected performer, who above all has taken sweet revenge against the "rolling bones."
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Strange Weather (05:18)
Will you take me across the Channel,
London Bridge is falling down.
Strange a woman tries to save
What a man will try to drown.
And he's the rain that they predicted,
It's the forecast every time.
The rose has died because you picked it
An' I believe that brandy's mine.
And all over the world
Strangers
Talk only about the weather.
All over the world
It's the same
It's the same
It's the same.
The word is getting flatter,
The sky is falling all around.
And nothing is the matter
For I never cry in town.
And a love like ours, my dear,
Is best measured when it's down.
And I never buy umbrellas,
For there's always one around.
And all over the world
Strangers
Talk only about the weather.
All over the world
It's the same
It's the same
It's the same.
And you know that it's beginning,
And you know that it's the end
When once again we are strangers
And the fog comes rolling in.
And all over the world
Strangers
Talk only about the weather.
All over the world
It's the same
It's the same
It's the same.
Dr. John:
You ready ? 2, 3, 4, 1.
03 Guilt (07:59)
I feel guilt, I feel guilt,
Though I know I've done no wrong I feel guilt.
I feel guilt, I feel guilt,
Though I know I've done no wrong I feel guilt.
I feel bad, so bad,
Though I ain't done nothing wrong I feel bad.
I feel bad, so bad,
Though I ain't done nothing wrong I feel bad.
I never lied to my lover,
But if I did I would admit it.
If I could get away with murder
I'd take my gun and I'd commit it.
I never gave to the rich, I never stole from the poor,
I'm like a curious child, give me more,
More, more, more, more, more, more.
I feel blood, I feel blood,
Though I feel it in my veins, it's not enough.
I feel blood, I feel blood,
Though it's streaming through my veins it's not enough.
I never stole a scarf from Harrods,
But if I did you wouldn't miss it.
I never stole a doll from Lovecraft,
But if I did you know I'd kiss it.
I never stole from the rich, I never gave to the poor,
I'm like a curious child, just give me more,
More, more, more, more, more, more, more, more.
I feel guilt, I feel guilt,
Though I know I've done no wrong I feel guilt.
I feel guilt, I feel guilt,
Though I ain't done nothing wrong I feel guilt.
Guilt, guilt, guilt, guilt
Guilt, guilt, guilt, guilt ...
04 Working Class Hero (06:12)
As soon as you're born they make you feel small
By giving you no time instead of it all
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all.
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
They hurt you at home and they hit you at school,
They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool
Till you're so fucking crazy you can't follow their rules.
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
When they've tortured and scared you for twenty odd years
Then they expect you to pick a career,
But you really can't function you're so full of fear.
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV
And you think you're so clever and classless and free,
But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see.
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
There's room at the top they are telling us still,
But first we must learn how to smile as we kill
If we want to live like the folks on the hill.
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
05 Sister Morphine (07:41)
Here I lie in my hospital bed,
Tell me, Sister Morphine, when are you coming round again.
Oh, I don't think I can wait that long,
Oh, you see I'm not that strong.
The scream of the ambulance is sounding in my ears.
Tell me, Sister Morphine, how long have I been lying here ?
What am I doing in this place ?
Why does the doctor have no face ?
Oh, I can't crawl across the floor.
Can't you see, Sister Morphine, I'm just trying to score.
Well, it just goes to show things are not what they seem.
Please, Sister Morphine, turn my nightmare into dreams.
Oh, can't you see I'm fading fast
And that this shot will be my last.
Sweet Cousin Cocaine, lay your cool hands on my head.
Hey, Sister Morphine, you'd better make up my bed
For you know and I know in the morning I'll be dead,
And you can sit around and you can watch the clean white sheets stain red.
06 As Tears Go By (04:25)
It is the evening of the day,
I sit and watch the children play.
Smiling faces I can see
But not for me,
I sit and watch as tears go by.
My riches can't buy everything,
I want to hear the children sing.
All I hear is the sound
Of rain falling on the ground,
I sit and watch as tears go by.
It is the evening of the day,
I sit and watch the children play.
Doing things I used to do
They think are new,
I sit and watch as tears go by.
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm ...
13 Broken English (07:37)
Could have come through anytime,
Cold lonely, puritan
What are you fighting for ?
It's not my security.
It's just an old war,
Not even a cold war,
Don't say it in Russian,
Don't say it in German.
Say it in broken English,
Say it in broken English.
Lose your father, your husband,
Your mother, your children.
What are you dying for ?
It's not my reality.
It's just an old war,
Not even a cold war,
Don't say it in Russian,
Don't say it in German.
Say it in broken English,
Say it in broken English.
US CD MFSL Ultradisc UDCD 640
r. 08 08 1995
What are you fighting for ?
What are you fighting for ?
What are you fighting for ?
What are you fighting for ?
What are you fighting for ?
What are you fighting for ?
Could have come through anytime,
Cold lonely, puritan.
What are you fighting for ?
It's not my security.
It's just an old war,
Not even a cold war,
Don't say it in Russian,
Don't say it in German.
Say it in broken English,
Say it in broken English.
Say it in broken English,
Say it in broken English.
What are you fighting for ?
What are you fighting for ?
What are you fighting for ?
What are you fighting ...
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