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Rating: I never thought that a band like Motorhead and especially its singer, Lemmy Kilmister, could make me shiver with emotion with one of their songs. Until now, I considered Motorhead a powerful, raw band with no frills. Dedicated to Heavy Metal until death, with its "Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll" themes, I never imagined they could reach such a poetic peak.
I never imagined, however, I could listen to a song written by the mustachioed singer-bassist so dense and full of pathos and meaning. An emotion that is hardly describable; if I had to use words, I would say: chilling.
Chilling. I felt my blood run cold when I listened to "1916", the title track of the ninth album produced by the quartet Lemmy, Phil "Animal" Taylor, Phil Campbell, and Wurzel. I started listening to this album from the end, with this song so far from the Motorhead style in sound. The track is performed with only the presence of Lemmy's voice, accompanied by a violin, percussion, and an electric keyboard. All of it, musically, gives the impression of hearing a funeral march Old West style. This march is the perfect accompaniment for the lyrics, which deal with the massacres of the First World War. A tragedy recounted through the eyes of a sixteen-year-old soldier, who describes with raw atrocity the life in the trenches and who will perish in battle alongside a comrade. Those who have read the poem "Soldati" by Ungaretti can well imagine the terrible scenario experienced by the combatants of the "Great War."
The entire album proves to be well-executed and with the usual Motorhead drive: perfect tracks for Heavy Metal, as the band has accustomed us to in their long career. It begins with the single taken from the LP: "The One To Sing The Blues", a song that advances like an armored vehicle and pierces through the speakers of your stereo, dominated by Campbell's guitar distortion; just enough time to move on and immediately pick up the pace with "I'm So Bad (Baby I Don't Care)", "No Voices In The Sky", and "Make My Day". Damn, they are Motorhead, after all.
"Going To Brazil" is a perfect Heavy 'N' Roll track, then the fun time ends (what fun, though!) and transitions to “dreamy” atmospheres with "Nightmare/The Dreamtime" and the power ballad "Love Me Forever", showcasing the sweet side of Lemmy & Co., especially a Campbell in great form.
Even though they do it well, Motorhead can't stick to slow rhythms and start running again first with a tribute to the best Punk Rock band in history: the Ramones, praised in the track "R.A.M.O.N.E.S." and, finally, with "Shut Your Gun".
Finally, the requiem: stop fooling around, sit down, listen to the march of "1916", reflect on the barbarities of War and say no to every conflict (and this is neither simple rhetoric nor banal moralism).
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
04 Going to Brazil (02:32)
Here we go again, on a 747,
Looking at the clouds from the other side of heaven,
Smoking & drinking, never gonna stop,
Reading magazines, stop me looking at the clock,
Wanna watch the movie, can't sit still,
Flying down to Rio, going to Brazil,
Watching all the roadcrew attacking little girls,
Joined the mile high club, goin' round the world,
All the booze is free, airline going broke,
Here come the lady with another jack and coke,
Wanna watch the movie, can't sit still,
Flying down to Rio, going to Brazil,
Steve, Clem, Hobbsy, John, Crazy Dil & Pappy,
Had to travel second class, they ain't too fucking happy,
Elevator music, butter in my ears,
Think we're gonna die, just the pilot changing gear,
Wanna watch the movie, can't sit still,
Flying down to Rio, going to Brazil.
09 R.A.M.O.N.E.S. (01:28)
New York City, N.Y.C.
Pretty mean when it wants to be
Black leather, knee-hole pants
Can't play no highschool dance
Fuzz tone, hear 'em go,
Hear 'em on the radio
(chorus)
Misfits, twilight zone
R-A-M-O-N-E-S, R-A-M-O-N-E-S
RAMONES!
Bad boy rock, bad boy roll
Gabba gabba see them go
C. Jay, now, hit the gas
See Marky kick some ass
Go, Johnny, go, go, go
Go Tommy, o-way-o
(chorus)
Bad boy then, bad boy now
Good buddy, mau, mau, mau
Keep it up, rock 'n' roll
Good music, save your soul
Dee Dee, he left home
Joey call me on the phone
(chorus)
11 1916 (03:45)
16 years old when I went to war,
To fight for a land fit for heroes,
God on my side, and a gun in my hand,
Chasing my days down to zero,
And I marched and I fought and I bled and I died,
And I never did get any older,
But I knew at the time that a year in the line,
Is a long enough life for a soldier,
We all volunteered, and we wrote down our names,
And we added two years to our ages,
Eager for life and ahead of the game,
Ready for history's pages,
And we brawled and we fought and we whored 'til we stood,
Ten thousand shoulder to shoulder,
A thirst for the Hun, we were food for the gun,
And that's what you are when you're soldiers,
I heard my friend cry, and he sank to his knees,
Coughing blood as he screamed for his mother,
And I fell by his side, and that's how we died,
Clinging like kids to each other,
And I lay in the mud and the guts and the blood,
And I wept as his body grew colder,
And I called for my mother and she never came,
Though it wasn't my fault and I wasn't to blame,
The day not half over and ten thousand slain,
And now there's nobody remembers our names,
And that's how it is for a soldier.
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By CapPixel
There was a period... when even Motörhead tried to make 'variations on the theme.'
1916 remains, as a testament that Motörhead are true, sincere, and complete musicians.
