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“My life,” I said to this woman wanting to impress her, “is enclosed in this minute and sixteen.”
And I played her the intro of ‘Banging On The Door’.
Which is true, I can't explain (or I don't want to) but when I listen to that piece, which I've loved from the start, as long as I can remember, my whole life flashes before my eyes.
“Real Life”, 1991, is an own goal. “Real life,” does it mean there was only mush before? I don’t get it, Simple Minds. Care to explain?
“Street Fighting Years”, the predecessor, that was real life. Struggles, imprisonments, pain, tears.
This “Real Life” dangerously positions itself at the onset of a decade that will see pop rock stiffen, awaiting revision. Grunge, brit–pop, and experimentation (Nirvana, Oasis, Prodigy) are there, beckoning, ready to nudge those living off their legacy, albeit with dignity.
Anyway, I was happy when, during one of the last tours, they opened the set list with ‘Banging On The Door’, complete with the intro, not live but with the backing track, well, it’s okay.
The girl mentioned at the beginning said to me, “Ah, beautiful. I listen to Mengoni, Eros, Nannini,” or something like that. From the intifada in Ireland to the fringes of suburbia is just a moment. Anyway, she later blocked me; I don't remember why.
At the time of ‘Real Life’’s release, I was fifteen and captivated by the leading single, ‘Let There Be Love’, and bought the album.
Fresher than its predecessor, but more light-hearted. Less of a milestone, if I’m allowed, more of a dispensable episode.
I'm not exactly a fan of Simple Minds, but I appreciate their kindness, consistency, innocence.
The title track, ‘Let There Be Love’, ‘Woman’, ‘Let The Children Speak’, ‘Ghostrider’: they are pleasant episodes. They are rock, pop, played with dignity.
The album, however, loses a little in terms of personality. Kerr's voice (the booming voice) is reassuring, and whoever handled the keyboards instead of Mick MacNeil did a good job, worked hard.
What’s missing is a basic idea, which in ‘Street Fighting Years’ was the struggle, the guerrilla warfare with the related induced.
Here, perhaps in reaction, they position themselves on a more intimate and introspective plane, even musically. But it's as if a cleaver has been used to sever the past, as if reinventing was a tax to be paid to someone, as if after more than a decade the Simple Minds were still on trial, what do they have to offer now?
I’ll be harsh, I’ll be honest: not much. Unsurprisingly, from then on, they moved from stadiums to theaters.
And it's curious that when I need to self-celebrate, when I'm asked to place a song as a biographic manifesto, instinctively I go to the intro of ‘Banging On The Door’.
Anyone among you, it's clear, it's obvious, who is asked to draw from this deck would move on. Randomly quoting: it's to be expected that @IlConte makes love to the notes of ‘Travellin’ Man’, it’s plausible.
But I have never associated sex with music. Maybe once, but not with Simple Minds. Their immaculate genesis, the silent and clean downsizing, would have destabilized me.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
02 See the Lights (04:22)
Summer's gone winter's in your eyes
I can feel the thunder storms inside
I wake every morning and the cold winds cover me
All I've got's a ghost of what could be
If you can see the lights shine in front of me
If you can see the lights shout out where you'll be
I'm in a broken dream I stare out into space
You know I called you up cos nothing takes your place
I've got a heart of stone and it's sinking deep inside
I want to tell you love I'm too proud to cry
If you can see the lights shine in front of me
If you can see the lights shout out where you'll be
Summer's gone and I can't tell you lies
Oh forgive me love I'm too proud to cry
If you can see the lights shine in front of me
If you can see the lights shout out where you'll be
Summer's gone and I can't tell you lies
Forgive me love I'm too proud to cry
Too proud to cry
Too proud to cry
Too proud to cry
Written by : Kerr/Burchill Reproduced Without Permission
03 Let There Be Love (04:57)
Secrets of lovers
Whisper tonight
Broken down angel
Got lost in the cold daylight
The city is screaming
And I look for your eyes
Someone to lean on through the night
Your music talks to me and hits me tonight
One candle burning, I hear your voice say
So let there be love
Let there be love
Love
Let there be love
It heals and it hurts
She leads you to heaven's door
And leaves you for dirt
Someone to lean on, that's your own
Some magic conquers me and lives in my soul,
She comes like an ocean and I hear you sing
Love will conquer anything
So let it be love
Let it be love
Love
Let it be love
The wall's down
They're coming down
I can't slow
I know it now
So stay now
Hold on
And I'm praying
So let it be love
Let it be love
Love
Let it be love
I know what I want
I know what I feel
I know what I want
So let there be love
So let there be love
Let there be love
04 Woman (04:40)
Spirit of girl I know's in front of me
I brought her home its where she'd want to be
Picture of some strange tattooed bird on her thigh
Shine on walk on take a walk with me
Something going I can tell
The way you know its meant to be
There's something taking all your life
You're drifting far away from me
Spirit of the one I love walk in the room
It gets so hard when it's all too soon
Lover's lonely planet blue smoke in your eyes
Shine on get home when are you gonna rise
Shook my life
Mercury
You don't live here any more
Shine on
Mercury
Walking the the sunlight to the old courtyard
Where the weather's warm and the air tastes sweet
In a world where words can say what's in her eyes,
She will epitomise, so let her rest in peace.
Something's going I can tell
The way you know it's meant to be
Something taking all your life
And you're drifting far away from me
Something I can tell you
Mercury
Something I can tell you
Really want to tell you I'd really love to tell you
Written by : Kerr/Burchill Reproduced Without Permission
07 African Skies (04:52)
You say you're surprised
I thought I'd write today
Pieces of my life
That time can't fade away
Land lies dry - Africa
And the clouds roll by - Africa
I held you every night
I believed in all you'd say
Now the dust blows in my eyes
But those dreams won't fade away
The sky burns red - Africa
Don't you cry - Africa
Africa
When you cry it rains - Africa
Still the children smile - Africa
When you cry it rains - Africa
When the wild dogs howl - Africa
Still the clouds roll by - Africa
Written by : Kerr/Burchill Reproduced Without Permission
08 Ghostrider (03:21)
Shadows in your room
Like a ghost you never see
Look in to the one you love if you're afraid of me
Ghettos in his eyes
He plays a torch song melody
Listen to the one you love if you're afraid of me
Ghost rider
E S P
Paperback rider
You can't fool me
When all is said and done
Babylon was meant to be
Shitting on the one you love if you're afraid of me
He's got the wild dog in his eyes
He's got a speedball in his brain
Running through the roads of love like a marathon man
Ghost rider
E S P
The devil inside her
Don't want it to be
Yeah the ghost rider
E S P
A paperback rider
Deep down in his soul
Every little boy knows
The he can't stop running so go
Look out
There's been a shoot out for love
I've got the shivers of love
Ghost rider
E S P
The devil inside her
I don't want it to be
Ghost rider
E S P
She's got the devil inside her
Oh no you can't
You can't fool me
Oh no you can't
You can't fool me
Oh no you can't
Yeah the ghost rider
E S P
Oh paperback rider
Oh no you can't fool
Oh no you can't fool
10 Banging on the Door (04:23)
You know that it hurts
These things that you say
But I'll be alright
Don't lose your faith
Just swallow your pride tonight
God only knows this place is strange
Banging on the door again
Banging on the door that's locked forever
Losing on a lover's game
Winning on the one side and losing forever
The air that we breather hangs heavy tonight
Still I look for your face
I'm home all alone again
Some dreams grow old and then they just die
I'm banging on the door again
Still banging on the door that's locked forever
Losing on a lover's game
Winning on the one track and hurting forever
Oh your love is a symphony
All this love over all of me
Oh your love is a symphony
Oh sweet love I can feel it
Still banging on the door again
I'm banging on the door that's sealed forever
Losing on a lover's game
Winning on the one track hurting forever
Written by : Kerr/Burchill Reproduced Without Permission
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Other reviews
By rosharris
"Real Life" represents the ultimate test for Simple Minds.
"The title track is amazing; the introductory keyboard, Burchill’s arpeggio and riffs, Kerr’s ethereal voice, and the evocative rhythm make it an exceptional piece.
