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Rating: Quick, because if you need to have Roy Orbison explained to you, it might already be too late.
Quick if a country singer from Texas is going to become a star, but to look at him you'd never believe it because he looks like an insurance agent, a traveling salesman, a used car dealer (also true for his friend Buddy Holly). In 1958, he switched to rock and roll and, like Little Richard, wrote his own songs, played the guitar with a certain twang scent that he would never lose, and like Johnny Cash had a dark and tragic edge that was very perceptible, both in fast songs and unmistakable ballads. The dark glasses glued on for life due to a concert mishap did the rest, the legend ran on vinyl, and "Pretty Woman" became a classic in 1964. In the meantime, Elvis Presley (not just anybody) declared around that the best singer in the world was Roy Orbison, and well, these are things that make you feel good.
Years pass quickly, and like all the pioneers of rock, Roy is somewhat sidelined, his beloved wife Claudette dies while they are traveling across America on a motorcycle, and two sons lose their lives in a house fire. Roy Orbison becomes mute and grim, performing just an occasional concert, then at the end of the eighties, a series of chance encounters put him back in the studio with friends George Harrison, Bob Dylan, and Jeff Lynne: he is drawn in the face and fifty years old, but he challenges himself again and America rediscovers his legendary three-octave voice in all its stellar grace.
The newfound fame brings celebration: Roy enters the Walk of Fame, and in December 1987, he is on stage with Elvis Presley's band (the amazing James Burton) plus Springsteen and Costello on rhythm guitars, T-Bone Burnett on lead, Tom Waits on piano, and Jackson Browne on backing vocals (and these are satisfactions). Right after, Jeff Lynne convinces him to get back in the recording studio, arranges a handful of excellent tracks, and this "Mystery Girl" is ready to release in January 1989. A wonderful lead single, "You Got It," announces the comeback to the world, and everything seems ready for the party.
The vinyl indeed comes out in January and is a huge hit, platinum records abound, Lynne has done an exceptional job, and Orbison's old-fashioned music is dressed in modern and convincing sounds, the voice is intact, and the dark charm is all there. It's a pity the singer can't enjoy the success: on December 7, a heart attack stopped the heart of a man weakened by too many losses, and half the world discovers, or rediscovers, Roy Orbison too late to applaud him once more as he deserves.
"Mystery Girl" is the beautiful gift that Roy just managed to leave us in time, and it's worth having in your collection, balancing between nostalgia and real music, music that with a few chords could make your heart soar.
Today no young person knows who Roy Orbison was.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
06 She's a Mystery to Me (04:16)
(David Evans, Paul Hewson)
Darkness falls and she will take me by the hand
Take me to some twilight land
Where all but love is grey
Where I can't find my way
Without her as my guide
Night falls I'm cast beneath her spell
Daylight comes our heaven turns to hell
Am I left to burn
and burn eternally
She's a mystery to me
She's a Mystery Girl
She's a Mystery Girl
In the night of love words tangled in her hair
Words soon to disappear
A love so sharp it cut like a switchblade to my heart
words tearing me apart
She tears again my bleeding heart
I want to run she's pulling me apart
Fallen angel cries
And I just melt away
She's a mystery to me
She's a Mystery Girl
She's a Mystery Girl
She's a Mystery Girl
She's a Mystery Girl
Haunted by her side it's the darkness in her eyes
That so enslaves me
But if my love is blind then I don't want to see
She's a mystery to me
Night falls I'm cast beneath her spell
Daylight comes our heaven turns to hell
Am I left to burn
and burn eternally
She's a mystery to me
She's a Mystery Girl
She's a Mystery Girl
She's a Mystery Girl
She's a Mystery Girl
She's a Mystery Girl
She's a Mystery Girl
She's a Mystery Girl
She's a Mystery Girl
She's a Mystery Girl
She's a Mystery Girl
07 The Comedians (03:26)
(Elvis Costello)
I sat there alone upon the ferris wheel
A pastel colored carriage in the air
I thought you'd leave me dangling for a little while
A silly twist upon a childish dare
Below I saw you whispering to another man
Who held the lever that could bring me down
He'd stop the world from turning at your command
It's always something cruel that laughter drowns
And I'm up while the dawn is breaking
Even though my heart is aching
I should be drinking a toast
To absent friends
Instead of these comedians
I can hardly hear the music from the carousel
The wind picks up, the carriage starts sway
As one by one the lights go out
It's closing time
I see you take his hand and walk away walk away
They say that you will always be the last to know
They say that all that glitters is not gold
It's not just that you're never coming back to me
It's the bitter way that I was told
And I'm up while the dawn is breaking
Even though my heart is aching
I should be drinking a toast
To absent friends
Instead of these comedians
08 The Only One (03:55)
(W.Orbison/C. Wiseman)
Everyone you know's been through it
You bite the bullet, then you chew it
Tie a knot at the end of your rope
Buy a book to help you cope
But no consolation gonna come
You're the only one
Take a look at history
Recant some bits of poetry
You'll find the words still ring true
Some things don't change
Some things do
And you're the only one with a broken heart
the only one who's afraid of the dark
the only one in a crowded room
the only one who sees the blue moon
What you wouldn't give right now
To be another face in the crowd
And you're the only one who is all alone
the only one whose love is gone
the only one who has given in
the only one who will give again
And you're the only one with a broken heart
the only one who's afraid of the dark
the only one in a crowded room
the only one who sees the blue moon
09 Windsurfer (04:02)
Windsurfer
Windsurfer
All he wanted was to ride out on the wind
Windsurfer
To be one of the guys and to look good in her eyes
He practiced in his dreams
Trying to coast the waves
Most of the time he sailed alone
Endless summer days
Flying in the sun
He'd ride and wait for the wind
To take him home
Windsurfer
Windsurfer
Windsurfer
Windsurfer
He said let's sail away together
She told him no no never no
Wind windsurfer
It was early one morning
On a lovely beach
He left a message and
He wrote it in the sand
Why do we always go for
Something out of reach?
Nobody ever really understands
Windsurfer
All he wanted to do
Was outrun the sun
Windsurfer
To take her in his dreams
When the lonely day was done
Windsurfer
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