Musical trends, as we know, change significantly year by year. If during a certain period we hear bands with a sound and a way of handling melodies reminiscent of the '60s, shortly after we might have other bands whose style is tied to the Glam of the following decade. In recent months, the reference sound for many bands, especially English ones, is the New Wave of the early '80s and its first stirrings in New York in the second half of the '70s. Considering these influences should place "Marquee Moon" by Television among the canon of the most influential (and/or important) albums in rock history, often compiled by music magazines, an album highly praised by musicians and critics but rarely remembered by magazine readers or by radio and TV music users.

The characteristics of the album’s sound include an accompanying, non-intrusive drum, the interplay of Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd’s guitars which weave among arpeggios, phrases, or simple chords complemented by a precise and present bass and Verlaine's own voice. This precise structure is evident today in bands like Franz Ferdinand, The Departure, or Cribs, while New Yorkers Strokes heavily cite the repertoire of their fellow citizens, especially in their guitar usage (and Julian Casablancas’s voice often recalls Verlaine's as well as Lou Reed's). However, despite Television's sound precision, it is not cold or impersonal; the guitars intertwine nervously, responding to each other, accompanying the singing and highlighting the more expressive passages.

Tom "Verlaine," as one might easily guess from his chosen stage name, was heavily influenced by French symbolist poetry and carved out a role as a maledicted singer in New York's vivid scene of the second half of the '70s. A scene usually associated with the birth of Punk, offering much more richness than the simple music genre. Not only the Ramones were born in this environment, but also photographers like Robert Mapplethorpe or writers like Jim Carroll. Musically, the Television was inspired by another great New York band, the Velvet Underground. Additionally, John Cale, one of the band's many souls, was very present in the New York music scene. "Marquee Moon" is not much tied to the aggressiveness of Punk as it is to the hypnosis of its psychedelia. As can be understood from the few words said earlier about the sound structure, the songs are not aggressive or fast; the guitars have little distortion and stand out with an emphatic and expressive singing style. The lyrics are visionary and talk about the difficulties of growing up in an unfair society ("Friction") and the desire to escape it ("See No Evil"). There are cultured references such as in "Venus" where Verlaine's sensations during a surreal walk through New York are described saying "and I fell right into the arms of Venus de Milo."

Other masterpieces of this album include the long "Marquee Moon" and the emphatic and powerful "Torn Curtain" that closes the album's tracklist in its '77 version, where at the end, the guitar pretends to miss a few notes to renew the final phrase. In recent years, the album has been reissued with some additional tracks. Thus, we can listen to "Little Johnny Jewel," the group’s first single, with a whimsical arrangement, or alternate versions of "See No Evil," "Friction," and "Marquee Moon," with louder guitar, especially in "See No Evil" where a sort of counterpoint to the melody is created.

In short, "Marquee Moon" is an album that every music enthusiast of yesterday and today must discover, or rediscover, at least to understand a significant part of today’s bands.

Tracklist Lyrics and Videos

01   See No Evil (03:57)

What I want
I want now
and it's a whole lot more
than 'anyhow'
I want to fly
fly a fountain
I want to jumpjumpjump
jump a mountain

lunderstandall... iseeno...
destructiveurges... iseeno...
itseemssoperfect... iseenoo...
i see... i see no... i see no evil

I get ideas
I get a notion
I want a nice little boat
made out of ocean.
I get your point.
You're so sharp.
Getting good reactions
with your ''BeBo'' talk.

Don't say unconscious
No don't say doom.
If you got to say it
let me leave this room
Cuz what I want
I want now
and it's a whole lot more
than 'anyhow.'

I'm runnin wild with the one i love
I see no evil
I'm runnin wild with the one-eyed ones
I see no evil
Pull down the future with the one you love
Pull down the future

02   Venus (03:53)

(Verlaine)

Tight toy night, streets were so bright.
The world looked so thin and between my bones and skin
there stood another person who was a little surprised
to be face to face with a world so alive.
I fell.

Didja feel low? No, not at all. Huh???

I fell right into the Arms of Venus de Milo.
I stood up, walked out of the Arms of Venus de Milo.
You know it's all like some new kind of drug.
My senses are sharp and my hands are like gloves.
Broadway looked so medieval -
it seemed to flap, like little pages:
I fell sideways laughing with a friend from many stages.
How l felt.
Suddenly my eyes went so soft and shaky.
I knew there was pain but pain is not aching.
Then Richie, Richie said:
"Hey man let's dress up like cops
Think of what we could do!"
But something, something said "you better not."
And I fell.

03   Friction (04:43)

I knew it musta been some big set-up.
All the Action just would not let up.
It's just a little bit back from the main road
where the silence spreads and the men dig holes.
I start to spin the tale
you complain of my diction

You Give Me Friction
But I Dig Friction
You Know I'm Crazy About Friction

My eyes are like telescopes
I see it all backwards: but who wants hope?
If I ever catch that ventriloquist
I'll squeeze his head right into my fist.
something comes tracking down,
What's the prediction?

I'll betcha it's Friction...
Stop this head motion... set the sails.
You know all us boys gonna wind up in jail.
I don't wanna grow up
there's too much contradiction

04   Marquee Moon (09:58)

I remember
how the darkness doubled
I recall
lightning struck itself.
I was listening
listening to the rain
I was hearing
hearing something else.

Life in the hive puckered up my night,
the kiss of death, the embrace of life.
There I stand neath the Marquee Moon Just waiting,
Hesitating...
I ain't waiting

I spoke to a man
down at the tracks.
I asked him
how he don't go mad.
He said "Look here junior, don't you be so happy.
And for Heaven's sake, don't you be so sad."

Well a Cadillac
it pulled out of the graveyard.
Pulled up to me
all they said get in.
Then the Cadillac
it puttered back into the graveyard.
And me,
I got out again.

05   Elevation (05:09)

The last word
is the lost word
Why don't you say so

I sleep light
on these shores tonite
I live light on these shores

Elevation... don't go to my head
Now you give me no trouble
and you give me no help
It is the clown
that works so well

I sleep light on these shores tonite.
I live light on these shores.

Elevation don't go to my head
Our lips are sealed our breath is burning
These cold wild seas have left us turning
But I sleep light on these shores tonite
I live light on these shores

06   Guiding Light (05:35)

Do I, Do I?
belong to the night?
Only only
Only tonight.
All the ladies
Stay inside.
Time may freeze,
A world could cry.
All this night running loud
I hear the whispers I hear the shouts.
And tho they never cry for help...

Tell me who sends these
infamous gifts.
To make such a promise
and make such a slip.
Oh no
Can't pull a trick
Never the rose
Without the prick
But tell me how do I say?
I woke up and it was yesterday.
Do I again face this night?

Guiding Light. Guiding Light
Guiding thru these nights.

Darling Darling
Do we part like the seas? The roaring shell...
The drifting of the leaves...
All intent
Remains unknown.
It's time to sit up
Up on the throne.
It's seen before but it's always new.
So look close and see who's come thru.
Never again to face this night
Guiding Light, Guiding Light
Guiding thru these nights.

07   Prove It (05:03)

The docks
The clocks
A whisper woke him up
The smell of water
Would resume.
The cave
The waves
Of light the unreal night.
That flat curving
Of a room.

Prove it... just the facts... the confidential
This case, this case, this case that i...
I've been workin' on so long...

First you creep
Then you leap
Up about a hundred feet
Yet you're in so deep
You could write the Book.
Chirpchirp
The birds
They're giving you the words
The world is just a feeling
You undertook.
Remember?

Now the rose
It slows
You in such colorless clothes
Fantastic! You lose your sense of human.
Project
Protect
It's warm and it's calm and it's perfect
It's too "too too"
To put a finger on
This case is closed.

08   Torn Curtain (07:02)

Torn Curtain reveals another play.
Torn Curtain, Such an expose!
I'm uncertain when beauty meets abuse.
Torn Curtain loves all ridicule.

Tears... tears rolling back the years
Years... Flowing by like tears.
Tears holding back the years.
Years. The tears I never shed.
The years I've seen before

Torn Curtain giving me the glance.
Torn Curtain bringing on the trance.
I'm not hurting: Holding to the thread.
Torn Curtain lifts me on the tread.

Torn Curtain feels more like a rake.
Torn Curtain - how much does it Take?
Burn it down
Tears, tears. Years, years.

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Other reviews

By jeremy

 The band’s sound is fundamentally based on a solid guitar architecture, with Verlaine and Lloyd extracting wonderful harmonies from their guitars.

 Songs like See No Evil, Venus, Elevation, and the visionary and minimalist ten minutes of the title track are spine-tingling.


By NickGhostDrake

 Fuck Tom Verlaine, because I believed in virginity and instead, he told me everything had already been raped 30 years ago.

 And for a child it is always a source of pride when told 'how beautiful you are... You are just like your father.'


By Stefano Potenza

 One of the masterpieces of the American new wave and the entire history of rock, certainly to be counted among the most important and influential albums of all time.

 The guitars of Verlaine and Richard Lloyd converse perfectly, in a rare and miraculous blend of vigor and minimal elegance.


By David Bowie

 Few resources but many ideas.

 'Marquee Moon' is a forward-looking record for compositional and stylistic ideas, anything but dated and ready to be rediscovered.