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Rating:
Ideal subtitle: Deal-with-it.
The good old Robbie is more or less the ideal archetype of a male superstar/popstar as I see it: charisma, charm, the right amount of cheekiness, and above all, he has always offered (at least from what I know, up until around 2007/2008) good quality Pop with unmistakably British-European connotations, which is already better than any "counterpart" from across the ocean. Excellent performer, dynamic, eclectic, never overly sentimental, let's say that I'm even willing to forgive him certain collaborations with a certain Australian flake, imagine that, after all, business is business and he's a great guy.
A great guy... uhm... tell me, is there perhaps a musical genre capable of embodying the concept of "cool" in its classiest sense better than swing? Come on, even the name is enough to evoke a distinctive visual imagery; hair gel, champagne, a bon-vivant attitude, superficial just enough, that everyone needs, in the right amount, at least in my opinion. At least I never miss out on it whenever I can.
With these premises, I consider "Swing When You're Winning" from 2001 the pinnacle of Robbie's career, at least from a purely interpretative point of view. A flawless collection of standards performed with a perfect entertainer/cabaret attitude. He's really into it, timeless melodies like "Mack The Knife", "Things", and "Ain't That A Kick In The Head" fit him like a glove, and besides, they are perfect touchstones to evaluate the caliber of a performer: can you imagine some Disney-made parvenu handling such material? Eh eh eh...
Among smoother performances like "They Can't Take That Away From Me" and "One For My Baby", a grandiose and sufficiently Broadway-like introduction such as "I Will Talk And Hollywood Will Listen", and a couple of impeccable singles, "Somethin' Stupid" and "Mr. Bojangles", time flies with absolute class and lightness, reaching its peaks in a couple of exquisite moments of pure cabaret, "Me And My Shadow" and especially the priceless "Well, Did You Evah!", a masterpiece of Porter-like memory.
It would be great if so-called stars were all like Robbie, able as he is to entertain, with an eye for class and style, for traditions like the one celebrated in this album. Robbie is perhaps the last heir, obviously a child of his times, obviously in due proportion, of the lineage of Freddie Mercury, Elton John, perhaps George Michael, or Ron Dennis and Frank Williams, James Hunt and Jenson Button, all people who have in their way contributed to giving an unmistakable (and envied, for good reasons) image to Perfida Albione. May God and the Queen have him in their glory.
Now, as a good rule, I should close with some bolded lines; I would say that in this case
"What a swell party this is!"
Could suffice.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
02 Mack the Knife (03:20)
Mack The Knife
Oh the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear,
And he shows them, pearly white,
Just a jackknife has MacHeath, babe,
And he keeps it, out of sight,
Ya know when that shark bites with his teeth, dear,
Scarlet billows start to spread,
Fancy gloves, oh, its old MacHeath, babe,
So there's never, never a trace of red
On the sidewalk, oh, Sunday morning, dontcha know,
Lies a body just oozin' life,
And someone's sneakin' 'round the corner,
Could that be our boy, Mack the knife?
From a tug boat, down by the river, dontcha know,
There's a cement bag just dropping on down,
That cement's there, it's there for the weight, dear,
Five'll get ya ten old Mack, he's back in town
D'ja hear 'bout Louie Miller, he disappeared, baby,
After drawing out all, his hard-earned cash,
And now MacHeath spends, he spends just like a, like a sailor,
Could it be, could it be, could it be, our boy's done something rash?
Now Jenny Diver, oh Sukey Tawdry,
Look out Miss Lotte Lenya, and ole Lucy Brown,
Yeah, the line forms on the right, babe,
Now that Macky's back in town
I said Jenny Diver, woah, oh Sukey Tawdry,
Look out Miss Lotte Lenya, and ole Lucy Brown,
Yeah the line forms on the right, babe,
Now that Macky's, back in town...
Look out, old Macky is back, wow!
06 Straighten Up and Fly Right (02:38)
A buzzard took a monkey for a ride in the air,
The monkey thought that everything
was on the square.
The buzzard tried to throw the monkey
off his back,
The monkey grabbed his neck and said,
"Now listen, Jack..."
Straighten up and fly right,
Straighten up and stay right
Straighten up and fly right
Cool down, papa, don't you blow your top.
Ain't no use in divin',
What's the use in jivin'?
Straighten up and fly right
Cool down, papa, don't you blow your top.
The buzzard told the monkey,
You are chokin' me.
Release your hold and I'll set you free.
The monkey looked the buzzard right
dead in the eye and said,
Your story's so touching, but it sounds
just like a lie.
Straighten up and fly right
Straighten up and stay right
Straighten up and fly right
Cool down, papa, don't you blow your top.
Straighten up and fly right
Straighten up and stay right
Straighten up and fly right
Cool down, papa, don't you blow your top.
Ain't no use in divin'
Ain't no good in jivin'
Straighten up and fly right
Cool down, papa, don't you blow - your - top.
Fly right!
08 Mr. Bojangles (03:19)
Bojang,Bojangle
Bojang,Bojangle
Bojang,Bojangle
Bojang,Bojangle
Bojang,Bojangle
*whistle*
I knew a man
Bojangles and he'll dance for you
In wornout shoes
With silver hair a ragged shirt
And baggy pants
He would do the old soft shoe
He would jump so high
Jump so high
Then he'd lightly
touch down
Told me of the time he worked with
with Minstrel shows
travelling throughout the south
Spoke with tears for fifteen years
How his, How his dog and he
They would travel about
But his dog up and died
got up and died
And after twenty years he still grieves
He said I dance now and
every chance in the Honky Tonks
For my drinks and tips
But most the time I
I spend behind these county bars
You see son I,
I drinks a bit
Then he shook his head
Oh Lord when he shook his head
I could swear I heard somebody say please, please
That`s Mister Bojangles
Call him Mister Bojangles
Mister Bojangles come back and dance
And dance and dance, please dance
Mister Bojangles
Mister Bojangles
ahhmm, Mister Bojangles
Come back and dance
And dance and dance, please dance
Come back and dance again Mr Bojangles
11 Ain't That a Kick in the Head (02:29)
How lucky can one guy be?
I kissed her and she kissed me.
Like a fella once said:
"Ain't that a kick in the head?"
The room was completely black,
I hugged her and she hugged back.
Like a sailor said quote:
"Ain't that a hole in a boat?"
My head keeps spinnin',
I go to sleep and keep grinnin'
If this is just the beginnin'
My life is gonna be beautiful.
I've sunshine enough to spread,
It's just like the fella said.
Tell me quick,
ain't that a kick in the head?
Like the fella once said:
"Ain't that a kick in the head?"
Like the sailor said quote:
"Ain't that a hole in a boat?"
My head keeps spinnin',
I go to sleep and keep grinnin'
If this is just the beginnin'
My life is gonna be beautiful.
She's telling me we'll be wed,
She's picked out a king size bed,
I couldn't feel any better or I'd be sad.
Tell me quick,
Oh, ain't that a kick...?
Tell me quick,
ain't that a kick in the head?
13 Have You Met Miss Jones? (02:35)
Have you met Miss Jones
Someone said as we shook hands
She was just Miss Jones to me
Then I said Miss Jones
You're a girl who understands
I'm a man who must be free.
And all at once I lost my breath
And all at once was scared to death
And all at once I own the earth and sky
Now I met Miss Jones
And well keep on meeting till we die
Miss Jones and I
And all at once I lost my breath
And all at once was scared to death
And all at once I own the earth and sky
Now I met Miss Jones
And well keep on meeting till we die
Miss Jones and I
Miss Jones and I
Miss Jones and I
15 Beyond the Sea (07:45)
Somewhere, beyond the sea
Somewhere waiting for me...
My lover stands on golden sands
And watches the ships that go sailing
Somewhere, beyond the sea
She's there watching for me
If I could fly like birds on high
Then straight to her arms
I'll go sailing
It's far, beyond the stars
It's near, beyond the moon
I know... beyond a doubt
My heart will lead me there soon...
We'll meet, beyond the shore
We'll kiss just like before
Happy we will be beyond the sea
And never again, I'll go sailing
I know, beyond a doubt...
My heart... will lead me there soon
We'll meet, I know we'll meet, beyond the shore
We'll kiss just as before
Happy we will be beyond the sea...
And never again, I'll go sailing
No more sailing
So long, sailing, sailing
No more sailing
Goodbye, farewell, my friend
No more sailing
So long, sailin'
No more sailing
No more, farewell
Auf wiedersehen (to ya and ya and ya)
No more sailing
(No more) Oh, no more sailing
No more, no more
No more sailing...
No more
One more time
No more sailing...
Yeah
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