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Rating:
Discovered thanks to the highly recommended autobiography (head on/repossessed) of the eccentric and bizarre Julian Cope (a great one in my opinion, despite his countless plagiarisms, but who doesn’t?), Scott turns out to be an unexpected surprise (at least for me, a convinced psychedelic rocker and not just that). An American transplanted at a young age to London, a lover of the more decadent European charm, disfigured by two damn world wars and recited with solemn, pessimistic/poetic charm by Jacques Brel (his obsession) and Camus, a sound trip that is incredible, because never before had a crossover so distinctly pop and pessimistic been heard in years that were still not entirely ready to break away from the societal norms of the time, years still conservative yet revolutionary in the sense that sonic transgression, and not only, was growing, fortunately contrasting with the orchestrated light music norms, which still appeared as a sweetening and reassuring appealing boundary, especially to the wealthy of that time and even according to us now.
Confusion aside, even if all this is clear to me, assimilating and crossing vocal and partly instrumental setup akin to Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett (which, by the way, I recognize as talent, but doesn’t fit my difficult musical tastes), back then and even now, it's an orchestrated pop, pompous and ambitious like Phil Spector and Burt Bacharach, a damn disconcerting thing and attractive even for the new generations. A man who, if he had wanted to lighten the themes of his lyrics, would have reached the status of an acclaimed and loved star by all (hats off if he had succeeded, he deserved it), something he partly achieved with his beat group the Walker Brothers, which he immediately repudiated as he couldn’t stand the pressures of success. Scott, pressured by the media that wanted him to be the new John Lennon, steps into a misanthropic and antisocial phase (dear to various Syd Barrett, Roky Erickson, Skip Sence, and many others).
Scott 4 was supposed to be the LP that would have consecrated him as an undisputed cursed star, but instead, it was a commercial flop, a beautiful album understood by few, a masterpiece understood by few, but that now holds immense value, forget Tilt, listen to this, (you can find it for 10 euros, e.n.). Scott is exclusive, for the few, a great if you can endure the suffering dirges, Scott 4 is, for me, one of the albums of the century, buy it for 9.90 and take it home, I love you all, a kiss...........Scott 4 is good for any season, if you want an accompaniment for a starry sky, it’s perfect, kisses to all ;)))))))))))
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 The Seventh Seal (04:57)
Anybody seen a knight pass this way
I saw him playing chess with Death yesterday
His crusade was a search for God and they say
It's been a along way to carry on
Anybody hear of plague in this town
The town I've left behind was burned to the ground
A young girl on a stake her face framed in flames cried
I'm not a witch God knows my name
The knight he watched with fear
He needed to know
He ran where he might feel God's breath
And in the misty church
He knelt to confess
The face within the booth was Mr. Death
My life's a vain pursuit of meaningless smiles
Why can't God touch me with a sign
Perhaps there's no one there answered the booth
And Death hid within his cloak and smiled
This morning I played chess with Death said the knight
We played that he might grant me time
My bishop and my knight will shatter his flanks
And still I might feel God's heart in mine
And through confession's grille Death's laughter was heard
The knight cried No you've cheated me!
But still I'll find a way
We'll meet once again and once again
Continue to play
They met within the woods the knight his squire and friends
And Death said now the game shall end
The final move was made
The knight hung his head
And said you've won I've nothing left to play
The minstrel filled with visions sang to his love
To look against the stormy sky
The knight his squire and friends
Their hands held as one
Solemnly danced toward the dawn
His hourglass in his hand his scythe by his side
The master Death he leads them on
The rain will wash away the tears from their faces
And as the thunder cracked they were gone
04 Angels of Ashes (04:21)
The Angels of Ashes
will give back your passions
Again and again
Their light shafts
will reach through the darkness
and touch you my friend
They'll fly in a mind dance
and blind you with wings
wrapped in flame
If you're down to an echo
they just might remember
your name
In the unbroken darkness
where emptiness empties
alone
There's no starting or stopping
where there is no right or
no wrong
Well that's all right for some
who can hang the absurd
on their wall
If your blind hands can't grope
through these measureless waters
you'll fall
You've been following patterns
and fleeting sensations
too long
And the fullness that fills up
the pulse of durations
is gone
Let the great constellation
of flickering ashes
be heard
Let them burn with a fire
all it takes to confess
is a word, just a word
I can recommend angels
I've watched as they've made a man strong
Oh so strong
If your humbleness shows
then I'm sure that they'll take you
along
You can tell them who sent you
it might help to get you
above
You can say that he laughed
and he walked like St. Francis
With love
06 Hero of the War (02:28)
He's a hero of the war
All the neighborhood is talkin' 'bout your son
Mrs. Reiley get his medals
Hand them 'round to everyone
Show his gun to all the children in the street
It's too bad he can't shake hands or move his feet
He's a hero of the war
You can see his picture in the local news
Mrs. Reiley seems the girl next door is nowhere to be found
Once you couldn't keep that boy from hangin' 'round
Never mind dear, you're with your mum once more
He's a hero of the war
Like his dad he gave his life the war before
It was tragic how you almost died of pain when he was born
With no husband there beside you through it all
Ring the bell if you get hungry or you fall
You're a hero of the war
Why those teardrops on your cheek? it's so absurd
Feelin' empty it's the emptiness of heroes like your son
And what made him leave his mother for a gun
Driven forward driven back and nothing more
He's a hero of the war
08 Duchess (02:50)
It's your bicycle bells and you Rembrandt swells
Your children alive and still breathing
And your look of loss when you're coming across
Makes me feel like a thief when you're bleeding
Duchess Duchess
Light up your candles for me
Duchess Duchess
Put all your love back in me
I come listening I touch touching
With the Persian sea running through your veins
You shed your names with the seasons
Still they all return with the last remains
And they lay them before you like reasons
With your shimmering dress it says no it says yes
It says I've nothing left for conceiving
Its your shiftless flesh and your old girls grace
Its your young girls face that I'm breathing
Duchess Duchess
Light up your candles for me
Duchess Duchess Duchess
Put all the love back in me
I am lying she is crying
09 Get Behind Me (03:14)
Get Behind Me
It's the signs as we see them
There's no thresholds at all
There's no vows to be broken
As we rise, or we fall
There's no noise high above us
As the moon turns in space
Just the face of a lady
Who we loved for her grace
Get behind me, Get behind me
Won't you bend my ear again
I really need a friend
Get behind me, Get behind me
Remind me to remind me
Not to go back there again
When the threads of dark moments
Start to tremble with sound
And an almost formed whisper dies
The boundaries surround
We keep reaching beyond us
Through the shape shifting clouds
Why ain't I like you brother,
So electric, so proud
Get behind me, Get behind me
Won't you bend my ear again
I really need a friend
Get behind me, Get behind me
Remind me to remind me
Not to go back there again
Set us free of this feeling
So we'll be once again
So we won't feel the gravity of time
And the face in the faces
Of the loves we move through
Reappears in original design
Get behind me, Get behind me
Won't you bend my ear again
I really need a friend
Get behind me, Get behind me
Remind me to remind me
Not to go back there again
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Other reviews
By paolofreddie
"Everything about 'Scott 4' speaks volumes about the sincerity and creative intelligence of its author."
"A masterpiece without 'ifs' and 'buts' that perfectly combines orchestral tradition, acoustic instruments, and rhythmic setup."
