•
Rating: Perhaps the word "pop," wrongfully and sadly overused by the music business, demands justice and a fitting place in the swirling universe of contemporary song? It is certain that it, born with a dual handicap - its strong sociological connotation and a dangerous scent of lightness - should be somewhat clarified, repositioned, encouraged. And not to the mortification and condemnation of a concept, precisely that of "light," which is far from being the enemy of the people or a shame for the artist; nothing like the "little songs," after all, communicates certain truths to us better.
The not too distracted ear will notice how this task was already accomplished not many years ago, when suddenly, in its path towards liberation, pop managed to push beyond the boundaries that had frustrated it from birth, to surpass the limit within which its message could not have become truly universal.
A very strange character, the deus ex-machina of this silent Copernican revolution: on one side, a past as a gas station attendant and a never too delved vocation to become a priest, one of the many pale faces mirrored in the perpetual rain of the Northern lands; on the other, the unconditional love for American musicals, the protagonist of endless dreams that would soon "implode into one." From the beginning, and without hesitation at least until '90, Paddy McAloon placed his dream under the service of a project as concrete as it was singularly metaphysical: to bestow the pop with an "other" dignity, spreading an entire decade with prefabricated seeds that would yield unripe (but how intense...) fruits in the challenging, unattainable "free pop" of "Swoon" (1983), mature plants with the elegiac and subtly restless "Steve McQueen" (1985) or the sharp and good-naturedly ironic "From Langley Park To Memphis" (1988).
The ground was fertile, the dish full of gifts: who would forget the delicate poetry and ethereal sounds, bordering on the impalpable, of an "Elegance", the anger and impotence whispered in those masterpieces of balance that were and remain "Bonny" or "Goodbye Lucille No. 1", Bacharach strolling through the fields of Newcastle ("Moving The River", "Cruel", "Horsin' Around"), perhaps arm in arm with Proust ("I Remember That")? And sketching a thanks for "When Love Breaks Down" is an almost trivial operation.
But at the opening of the new decade, "Jordan: The Comeback" goes beyond the mark: a perfect and unattainable synthesis of a path that for some has no equal in the post-Beatles era. A project of vast musical scope, a cauldron where definitions are lost and lose any meaning: it is pop at its highest level of transcendence, the point of no return where "easy listening" and "cultured" music blend and confuse, serving a narrative with a biblical flavor.
No preaching intent, however, wets McAloon's pen: where the reference to the sacred peeks through (the last section of the record, besides the title track), it is bent to the needs of a discourse with strongly humanistic connotations: "Michael", "Mercy", the splendid "One Of The Broken" are nothing but an iconic phenomenology of error and human weakness. And the dream of an infinite medley where sophisticated avant-garde pop and Broadway reminiscences no longer have boundaries is all earthly: gems like "Paris Smith", "The Ice Maiden", "The Wedding March", the inspired promise of "All The World Loves Lovers" are born. If the stride of "Wild Horses" has something spiritually sensual, "We Let The Stars Go" is the quintessence of nostalgia in music, while superb in "Moondog" (where, among other things, the Elvis theme of "The King Of Rock'n'Roll" returns, now more subtly) is the alternation of spatial melody and rhythmic perfection.
And so on, in a whirlwind of endless citations that make little sense to delve into: we are faced with about seventy minutes of pure music, not a comma out of place, no concession to the slightest intent of "mainstream," a lethal distillation of perfect pop for the use and enjoyment of all generations, a little-frequented cornerstone of modern music still awaiting due recognition.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Looking for Atlantis (04:03)
If you're looking for Atlantis
You should cast your eye on me
Put your two and two together
Don't you know who built Atlantis
Then returned to the sea
Don't you know who owns the weather ?
Rain or shine
Sure is good to seek a challenge
Sure is fine to set your sights
Sure is foolish to be blinded
There are legions out there churching
Searching for the holy grail
Isn't one of them can find it
All this time
You should be loving someone
And you know who it must be
Cause you'll never find Atlantis
Til you make that someone me
You should be loving someone
And you know who it must be
Cause you'll never find Atlantis
Til you make that someone me
Say you do find your volcano and the darn thing is still hot
Lesson one : Child don't waste it
Lesson two : The world's your cherry
But tomorrow ? Maybe not
Lesson three : Come on and taste it
All this time
You should be loving someone
And you know who it must be
Cause you'll never find Atlantis
Til you make that someone me
You should be loving someone
And you know who it must be
Cause you'll never find Atlantis
Til you make that someone me
02 Wild Horses (03:44)
Through the rails I spied
Your ponytail. I tried
With sugar cubes - And they're O.K.
But I don't think
I'll catch you that way
I hate myself 'cause you're so cool
With your mocking eyes
"Won't you look at the old fool"
Wild horses - I want to have
Wild horses - I want to have
Wild horses - I want to have
Wild horses - I want to
Look at you - Unflawed.
Now look at me - Plain overawed
Grace and looks take no credit for
Girl you're young
And they're part of the score
Like the chemicals at war in me
'Til I'm a wolf with an eye for the ponies
Wild horses - I want to have
Wild horses - I want to have
Wild horses - I want to have
Wild horses - I want to
I want extra time to play,
Afternoons in the hay
It's a sorry way for a man to feel
But sentimental is part of the deal
I hate myself because it shows how
I'm a fool for your rodeo
Wild horses - I want to have
Wild horses - I want to have
Wild horses - I want to have
Wild horses
Wild horses - I want to have
Wild horses - I want to have
Wild horses - I want to have you
04 We Let the Stars Go (03:39)
There was that girl I used to know
She'd tease me about my name
Fan the embers long enough
I sometimes catch her flame
The soothing voice of distance tells me
"That was just a fling"
Other music fills my ears
But I still hear her sing :
She sings :
Paddy Joe, say Paddy Joe
Don't you remember me ?
How long ago one gorgeous night
We let the stars go
Paddy Joe, say Paddy Joe
Don't you remember me ?
How long ago one gorgeous night
We let the stars go free
There was a boy I used to be
I guess that he was cold
If she came to buy him now
How cheaply he'd be sold
But the light is gone and it is dark
What used to be the sky
Is suddenly embarrassing
To the naked eye
You see :
Paddy Joe, see Paddy Joe
Can't face this memory
How long ago one gorgeous night
We let the stars go
Paddy Joe, see Paddy Joe
Can't face this memory
How long ago one gorgeous night
We let the stars go
Long ago one gorgeous night
We let the stars go
Long ago one stupid night
We let the stars go free
We let the stars go free
We let the stars go free
We let the stars go free
We let the stars go free
05 Carnival 2000 (03:23)
Tonight let's raise a glass my friend
To those who couldn't make it
A century has shut its eyes
And who are we to wake it ?
Cool music we play, dance and say
Carnival 2000 :
Lives come and go but life no denial
Is always in style. Welcome to :
Carnival 2000 :
Loves come and go but love above all
Is belle of the ball
We ask for any wrong we've done
The years ahead forgive us
We ask for any good we've done
That all of it outlive us
Cool music we play, dance and say
Carnival 2000 :
Lives come and go but life no denial
Is always in style. Welcome to :
Carnival 2000 :
Loves come and go but love above all
Is belle of the ball
Welcome to :
Carnival 2000 :
Lives come and go but life no denial
Is always in style. Welcome to :
Carnival 2000 :
Loves come and go but love above all
Is belle of the ball
06 Jordan: The Comeback (04:13)
They say the spirit moves in mysterious ways
Sometimes the way it moves looks plain berserk
But two things you should be slow to criticize
A mans choice of woman and his choice of work
Some work'll earn you top dollar
In this here tinsel town
That's where I started thinkin' of something else
Cos they couldn't film the spirit
From the waist on down
Sometimes I don't sleep too well,
But one day I know :
End of the road I'm travelling,
I will see Jordan beckoning
End of the road I'm travelling,
I will see Jordan beckoning
And all those books about me
Well there wasn't much love in 'em boys
I'm tellin' you if I'd taken all that medication
Man, I'da rattled like... one o' my lil girls toys
Now they call me a recluse
Been in the desert so long
Layin' on my back bidin' my time
I'm just waitin' for the right song
Then I'm comin' back
Sometimes I don't sleep too well,
But one day I know :
End of the road I'm travelling,
I will see Jordan beckoning
End of the road I'm travelling,
I will see Jordan beckoning
Jordan sweet Jordan
Hand me any cup you find that's lyin' spare
Lord I've long time been a thirstin' for a share
Jordan waiting for me there
End of the road I'm travelling,
I will see Jordan beckoning
End of the road I'm travelling,
I will see Jordan beckoning
End of the road I'm travelling,
I will see Jordan beckoning
End of the road I'm travelling,
I will see Jordan beckoning
Jordan sweet Jordan
Hand me any cup you find that's lyin' spare
End of the road I'm travelling,
I will see Jordan beckoning
End of the road I'm travelling,
I will see Jordan beckoning
Jordan sweet Jordan
Hand me any cup you find that's lyin' spare
End of the road I'm travelling,
I will see Jordan beckoning
End of the road I'm travelling,
I will see Jordan beckoning
Jordan sweet Jordan
Hand me any cup you find that's lyin' spare
13 Paris Smith (02:55)
Little Paris Smith
Lovely name for a girl is Paris Smith
Baby Paris Smith
Don't repeat my mistakes Paris Smith
Paris : Any music worth its salt is good for dancing
Paris : But I tried to be the Fred Astaire of words
Paris you heard
Little Paris Smith one day you'll have a job
Yes Paris Smith
Baby Paris Smith don't you grow up a snob
No Paris Smith
Paris : There are benefits to syncopated motion
Paris : Which no high falutin' double talk can show - Paris
Paris : Any music worth its salt is good for dancing
Paris : But I tried to be the Fred Astaire of words
Paris you heard
16 Michael (03:02)
All the jobs I've ever held, positions I have known
The one I was a fool to leave was
Right hand to the throne
Ambition took me speed of light
To God's exclusion zone
Michael if you're listening,
Michael who stayed true
One of us got out of line when Paradise was new
One of us was exiled and the one who wasn't's you
Michael - help me write a letter to you know who
I will sign it "Lucifer regrets..."
Can't forget his final words were
"Ain't no comeback gonna come your way"
What if I pray ?
Michael the archangel listen.
Michael don't you see ?
We've come to stand for principles that
Prove free will is free
If you are on the side of good
Now where does that leave me ?
Michael - help me write a letter to you know who
I will sign it "Lucifer regrets..."
Can't forget his final words were
"Ain't no comeback gonna come your way"
He never could resist a sinner
Or ignore a distress call - but such a fall
19 Doo Wop in Harlem (03:43)
There is a door we all walk through
And on the other side I'll meet you
Reunion in the air - A cappella meets pure prayer
Somewhere : I can't wait to meet you there
Somewhere : I can't wait to meet you there
If there ain't a heaven that holds you tonight
They never sang doo-wop in Harlem
If there ain't a heaven that holds you tonight
They never sang doo-wop in Harlem
There is a door it may seem locked
But in a little while - Don't be shocked
Above the noise, behind the glare
I know you're listening out there - Somewhere
Somewhere : I can't wait to meet you there
Somewhere : I can't wait to meet you there
If there ain't a heaven that holds you tonight
They never sang doo-wop in Harlem
If there ain't a heaven that holds you tonight
They never sang doo-wop in Harlem
If there ain't a heaven that holds you tonight
They never sang doo-wop in Harlem
If there ain't a heaven that holds you tonight
They never sang doo-wop in Harlem
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By Abraham
Prefab Sprout are universally recognized as a balm for the contemporary pop scene.
'Jordan: The Comeback' is an atypical concept album, played with uncommon kindness.
