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Rating:
Unjustly overshadowed by the two subsequent works, the first album by Soft Machine contains some of the best pop ideas of the entire Canterbury scene, and remarkable more experimental tracks, typical of that avant-garde-that-doesn't-take-itself-seriously of which the band would become one of the major exponents.
The album begins with "Hope For Happiness", and "Hope For Happiness" begins with "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah". A dissonant track, with two magnificently overlapping vocal tracks, and with a chorus that would have made history if Soft Machine had achieved a tenth of the success they deserve. Another track that requires comment is "Why Am I So Short?", which continues into the next "So Boot If At All". Fantastic melody, excellent rhythmic breaks. One of the best tracks, if I have to be honest; a delightfully pop piece that fades into a delirium of dissonances held together by Wyatt's drums, and that closes with the return of the main theme.
It is an album that on some occasions appears somewhat unspontaneous, but it is so full of ideas, power, and irony [finish the sentence with a banal comparison of your choice between "that makes it one of the best albums of the entire Canterbury scene"... "that immediately places it in the pantheon of indispensable albums"... "my uncle can't stand ski instructors"].
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Hope for Happiness (04:22)
I can tell... like the ring of a bell
A chime that is clear and true
But if a crack, the sound is flat
Like happiness... that's become untrue
Out of the East, the sun flew West
Trailing its golden spray
My heart burns, when fortune turns
The trail to light my way
Days go by, I watch the sky
My eyes forever quest
The sun returns, though my hope yearns
Forever things point the rest
Sun heart burns, moon glow turns
Stars will trade hope for happiness
Hope for happiness, happiness, happiness
Flowers grow wild, just for the child
Sniff this sprinkling bloom
When you grow up, hope colours up
The things that cause us gloom
Tell can you now how fun is made?
It's how happiness is really found
Look for advice, be told more than twice
By people all around
Sun heart burns, moon glow turns
Stars will trade hope for happiness
Hope for happiness, happiness, happiness
05 So Boot If at All (07:24)
You may laugh at me
Say I don't deserve
All the things I've had
Sad...
06 A Certain Kind (04:14)
A certain kind... of love, I'd say
Exists for me, and every night
Your kind of love sets me alight
And I know it's real, it's what I feel, what I feel...
And loving you the way I do
Makes everything seem right again
And when you're near I know
I know you just can't tell the time
When you... it's just not right
And so our love I see in you
The things today, the things we do
And when you're near I know
You just can't see... well
I know it's real, it's what I feel
And loving you the way I do
Makes everything seem right again
And when you're near I know
I know you just can't see
All the time of day
I know you're mine, and all the time
09 Lullabye Letter (04:42)
I've got something to tell you
Hold on, I wanted to thrill you
It's nice, makes you feel better
It's called the Lullabye Letter
Hold tight, I'm not trying to con you
Get ready, I'm going to lay it on you
You're the sweetest thing I ever seen
I'm telling you it's no lie
I've got lights in my brain, girl
We'll have fights in the rain, girl
You'll be good and bad together
Writing songs and call that the weather
If you've got something to save me
4 o'clock is the best time to ring me
You're the sweetest thing I ever seen
I'm telling you it's no lie
I've got lights in my brain
We'll have fights in the rain
You'll be good and bad together
Writing songs and call that the weather
You're the sweetest thing I've seen
I'm telling you it's no lie
I've got something to tell you
Hold on, I wanted to thrill you
It's nice, makes you feel better
It's called the Lullabye Letter
Hold tight, I'm not trying to con you
Get ready, I'm going to lay it on you
You're the strangest scene I ever seen
I'm telling you it's no lie
You're the sweetest thing I've seen, seen
In my life, life
10 We Did It Again (03:46)
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
I did it again.
''(repeat ad nauseam)''
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Other reviews
By luludia
Soft Machine was a fabulous and boiling cauldron of wonders.
"Why Are We Sleeping?" is a march with a fabulous psychedelic organ, very British voice, and an ultra-psychotic chorus.
