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Main protagonists alongside the Patti Smith Group, Talking Heads, and the Ramones of the American new wave of the mid-'70s, Television was part of that great New York rock season centered around CBGB’s, which saw an explosion of talent like never seen before.
Led by the talented Tom "Verlaine" Miller, the quartet also included Richard Lloyd on guitar, Fred Smith (formerly of Blondie) on bass, and Billy Ficca on drums. They debuted at full length in '77 with this gem of the highest caliber. The band's sound is fundamentally based on a solid guitar architecture, with Verlaine and Lloyd extracting wonderful harmonies from their guitars, of unique elegance that materializes in breathtaking duets and perfect solos.
A kind of art-punk (Verlaine's somewhat ramshackle and nasal singing leaves no doubt that it's '77) with psychedelic attitudes, the art of Television would find space for only one more album before disbanding due to internal disagreements and unsatisfactory commercial responses.
Songs like See No Evil, Venus, Elevation, and the visionary and minimalist ten minutes of the title track are spine-tingling, speaking of a rock always closely tied to melody, which found in its mix of intellectualism, vigor, and immediacy a magical balance that, almost thirty years later, still manages to captivate, amaze, and above all, set the standard.
The Interpol have truly learned the lesson well.
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 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.
By vinrock
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.
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.
