•
Rating:
"My life's a mess, I'm waiting for you to pass by... I'm sitting here at the bar with an empty glass in hand" This is a passage from the song that titles Pete Townshend's 1980 album. At that point in his life, things seemed to be exactly like that: the band he had thrilled the world with, The Who, the most fantastic bunch of rock hooligans, had become a flabby dinosaur made even older by the punk movement that had actually been inspired by them; his fragile drummer and friend Keith Moon had died two years earlier from too much "good life"; he himself was at 35 years old feeling like an old veteran caught between drugs and alcohol...
But what is genius, as Perozzi from "Amici miei" used to say? Imagination, intuition, decision, and realization—exactly what Townshend manages to do in this album, gathering ten formidable songs as he hadn't written in a long time (and unfortunately wouldn't write again...), so much so that his bandmates were quite miffed for keeping them for his solo work. Start listening with "Rough Boys", I was about to say lower the needle, because I’m re-listening to it on vinyl, an anthem and tribute to the punk movement, overwhelming with its choruses and its rhythm breaking into moments of sweetness; continue with "I Am an Animal," intense and autobiographical; float among the clouds with the keyboards in "And I Moved," and then rejoice dancing to the rhythm of "Let My Love Open the Door"!
What a great album! I tell myself again, as I savor the philosophical "A Little Is Enough," the title track, and the final rocker "Gonna Get Ya," concluding a work by a brilliant artist, tormented yet always sharp and bright, here assisted by excellent musicians and endowed with a splendid compositional vein, with an intelligent use of synthesizers reminiscent of "Who's Next," The Who's masterpiece. Even his subsequent "All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes," though less successful in sales, is a good work, but it’s here that one truly experiences the pleasure of hearing the "classic" Townshend sound.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Rough Boys (04:04)
Tough boys
Running the streets
Come a little closer
Rough toys
Under the sheets
Nobody knows her
Rough boys
Don't walk away
I very nearly missed you
Tough boys
Come over here
I wanna bite and kiss you
I wanna see what I can find
Tough kids
Take a bottle of wine
When your deal is broken
Ten quid
She's so easy to find
Not a word is spoken
Rough boys
Don't walk away
I feel pretty blissed here
Tough boy
I'm gonna carry you home
You got pretty pissed dear
Gonna get inside you
Gonna get inside your bitter mind
Rough boys
Don't walk away
I wanna buy your liver
Make noise
Try and talk me away
We can't be seen together
Tough kids
What can I do?
I'm so pale and weak
Rough fits
In my Hush Puppy shoes
But I'm still pleading
Tough boys
Running the streets
Come a little closer
Rough toys
Under the sheets
Nobody knows her
Rough boys
Don't walk away
I very nearly missed you
Tough boys
Come over here
I wanna bite and kiss you
I wanna see what I can find!
03 And I Moved (03:24)
And I moved
As I saw him looking in through my window
His eyes were silent lies
And I moved
And I saw him standing in the doorway
His figure merely filled the space
And I moved
But I moved toward him
And I moved
And his hands felt like ice exciting
As he laid me back just like an empty dress
And I moved
But a minute after he was weeping
His tears his only truth.
And I moved
But I moved toward him
04 Let My Love Open the Door (02:45)
When people keep repeating that you'll never fall in love
When everybody keeps retreating, but you can't seem to get enough
Let my love open the door, let my love open the door
Let my love open the door to your heart
Let my love open the door, ooh
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door, ooh
Let my love open the door
When everything feels all over, everybody seems unkind
I'll give you a four-leaf clover, take all worry out of your mind
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door to your heart
Let my love open the door, ooh, to your heart
Let my love open the door, ooh
Let my love open the door, ooh
Let my love open the door, ooh
The only key to your heart
That can stop you from falling apart
Try today, your finest way
Come on and give me a chance to say
Let my love open the door, it's all I'm living for
Release yourself from misery
There's only one thing going to set you free
That's my love, that's my love
Let my love open the door (to your heart)
Let my love open the door (to your heart)
Let my love open the door (to your heart)
Let my love open the door
When tragedy befalls you, don't let it drag you down
Love can cure your problems, you're so lucky I'm around
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door to your heart
06 Keep On Working (03:23)
I was digging in the yard today
When a letter came from Southampton way
Keep on working
Keep on working
I must admit I was a bit in the red
But if you never have pleasure then you could be dead
Keep on working
Keep on working
But there's on thing
They can't take away
Hear the sea sing
See a smiling face
I think we're OK
Though we all could be mad
That's what they say
We just can't all be bad
I got something now to think about
I'll work all day but not to pay it out
Keep on working
Keep on working
Don't care if they say where a dying race
I'd rather be here than any other place
Keep on working
Keep on working
And there's another whirl
They can't ever touch
Just need a boy and girl
It don't cost you much
And if your luck is in
you might have kids at play
To make you laugh and sing
When you're old and gray
07 Cat's in the Cupboard (03:34)
Cats in the cupboard
You've got to set him free
Cats in the cupboard you've got to set him free
Cats in the cupboard
You've got to set him free
Rats on the high street
You've got to let'em be
Rats on the high street
You've got to let'em be
Rats on the high street
Can't you let them be
While you're racing
People wasting
Life's enthralling
People are calling
While you're weeping
Blood is seeping
While you're dancing
No ones answering me
(SOLO)
Cats? It's cool for rats!
Cats in the cupboard
You've got to set him free
Cats in the cupboard you've got to set him free
Cats in the cupboard
You've got to set him free
Rats on the high street
You've got to let'em be
Rats on the high street
You've got to let'em be
Rats on the high street
Can't you let them be
While you're racing
People wasting
Life's enthralling
People are calling
While you're weeping
Blood is seeping
While you're dancing
No ones answering me
Nobody's answering me
09 Empty Glass (05:24)
Why was I born today
Life is useless like Ecclesiastes say
I never had a chance
But opportunity's now in my hands
I stand with my guitar
All I need's a mirror
Then I'm a star
I'm so sick of dud TV
Next time you switch on
You might see me...oh.what a thrill for you
I've been there and gone there
I've lived there and bummed there
I've spinned there, I gave there
I drank there and I slaved there
I've had enough of the way things been done
Every man on a razors edge
Someone has used us to kill with the same gun
Killing each other by driving a wedge
My life's a mess I wait for you to pass
I stand here at the bar, I hold an empty glass
Why was I born today
Life is useless like Ecclesiastes say
I didn't get a chance
Opportunity's in my hand
I stand with my guitar
All I need's a mirror
Then I'm a star
I'm so sick of dud TV
Next time you switch on
You might see me...
I've been there and gone there
I've lived there and bummed there
I've spinned there, I gave there
I drank there and I slaved there
I've had enough of the way things have been done
Every man on a razors edge
Someone has used us to shoot with the same gun
We where killing each other by driving a wedge
My life's a mess I wait for you to pass
I stand here at the bar, I hold an empty glass
Don't worry smile and dance
You just can work life out
Don't let down moods entrance you
Take the wine and shout
My life's a mess I wait for you to pass
I stand here at the bar, I hold an empty glass
10 Gonna Get Ya (06:21)
I'm walking.. Stand still
Not running.. Sit tight
Soft talking. I'm thrilled
Not gunning..By your light
Not flying..Lady
I'm Falling..This way
I'm not crying..Mabey
I'm calling and I'm going to get you anyway
I'm gonna get you
I'm gonna get you anyway
I'm cooking..Hot Me
Not raping..Blue eyes
Just looking..you got me
Not gaping..No lies
Not chasing..Lady
I'm trailing..This way
I'm not racing..Crazy
I'm wailing but I'm gonna get you anyway
I'm gonna get you
I'm gonna get you anyway
I'm gonna get you anyway
By sheer persistence
I'm gonna get you anyway
Break down your resistance
I'm gonna get you anyway
Babe I'm gonna woo ya
I'm gonna get you anyway
Girl I'm gonna do ya
I'm gonna get you anyway
(solos)
I'm gonna getyou anyway
I'm gonna get you anyway
I'm gonna get you anyway
I'm gonna get you anyway
I'm gonna get you anyway
I'm gonna get you anyway
Girl I'm gonna do ya
I'm gonna get you anyway
Athletic..boggey down
Hustle..Turn back
Feel pathetic..Sugar town
No muscle..Soul hack
I'm jumping..You move
No dancer..Beside me
I'm thumping..You prove
Don't get no answer but I'm gonna get you anyway
I'm gonna get you,gonna get you, gonna get you, gonna get you
I'm gonna get you anyway
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By Giancazzo
Everything travels in the incredible disarming purity and sincerity of someone who...has the talent to communicate their torment through music.
The aim to exorcise it with it.
