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Rating: Among the most incredible things about this "69 Love Songs" is certainly the disarming ease with which the usual hesitation to dive into such a work (sixty-nine love songs, are you kidding me?) is swept away by the first notes of the nursery rhyme of Absolutely Cuckoo. A very simple song, with the usual acoustic guitar - keyboard accompaniment and lasts a minute and a half. Right after, we find ourselves at the opposite end, as a warm piano enters with Merritt's baritone voice, singing phrases of extraordinary strength: I Don't believe in the sun: how could it shine down on everyone and never shine on me? how could there be such cruelty? The piece is I Don't Believe In The Sun, a masterpiece permeated by a disillusionment that is typically Merrittian, whose story has been told too much to be retold in this review. A story perhaps all too typical and overused to define musicians of all genres, a difficult childhood, with little Stephen tossed from one city to another, a shy and insecure boy, living a troubled life, which is reflected today in rather unaccommodating behavior...the same old story, basically.
But all this should not distract from the beauty of the album, which is not beautiful relative to the author's story, it is not a rough work where glimpses of the great artist can be seen, it is truly an absolute masterpiece, humbly offering an impressive number of gems, drawing from all the best of sixty years of pop music and more. And so we have the romantic All my little Words, The Book Of Love (there is a Peter Gabriel cover included in the album "Scratch My Back", Come Back To San Francisco, Parades Go By, My Sentimental Melody (the first disc is indeed the one that leans more in this direction), The Way You Say Goodbye and Bitter Tears, masterpieces dripping with pathos like the aforementioned I Don't Believe in The Sun, Papa Was A Rodeo, Busby Berkeley Dreams, in my opinion the most beautiful tracks of the album, not coincidentally placed one per each of the three discs, tracks leaning more towards electronics (a passion - almost - never concealed by the Boston genius) and experimentation, especially in the second and third disc, for example Underwear, It's A Crime, Strange Eyes, Love Is Like Jazz, Love Is A Bottle Of Gin, Promises of Eternity, Long Forgotten Fairytale, Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits, Fido your Flesh Is Too Long, country sounds (Absolutely Cuckoo, Rino Dakota, I Think I Need A New Heart, A Chicken With The Head Cut Off, I'm Sorry That I Love You brief musical sketches (sometimes frankly useless, here we have a few of the album's rare lapses in style), the best Boa Constrictor and Roses, rock accents as in When My Boys Walks Down The Street, I Don't Want To Get Over You and livelier moments, even if often the lyrics take on none of that liveliness: perhaps the most poignant is that of No One Will Really Love You, an absolute masterpiece, then The Luckiest Guy On The Low-East Side, Crazy For You But Not That Crazy and Kiss Me Like You Mean It.
In reality, my categorization is quite approximate, as many tracks represent, in their brevity, the magical meeting of multiple musical ideas, with the most disparate deployment of instruments, from voice-guitar or voice-keyboard pieces to pieces that evoke strings and percussion.
In essence, an extraordinary album, among the best of its era and genre. Love told in 69 songs without appearing for even a moment banal or sappy. Do not imagine anything of the "stilnovistic": a terrestrial, suffered love (fortunately not always :D), no angel woman (surely not angel, probably not even women) and nothing previously heard.
An album to listen to and love, which will serve as a benchmark for all pop to come, with an impressive emotional charge. Arm yourself with tissues and patience (of course, absorbing so many tracks is not easy) and buy it.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Absolutely Cuckoo (01:35)
Don't fall in love with me yet
We only recently met
True I'm in love with you, but
You might decide I'm a nut
Give me a week or two to
Go absolutley cuckoo
Then when you see your error,
Then you can flee in terror
Like everybody else does
I only tell you this cause
I'm easy to get rid of
But not if you fall in love
Know now that I'm on the make
And if you make a mistake
My heart will certainly break
I'll have to jump in a lake
And all my friends will blame you
There's no telling what they'll do
It's only fair to tell you
I'm absolutely cuckoo
Don't fall in love with me yet
We only recently met
True I'm in love with you, but
You might decide I'm a nut
Give me a week or two to
Go absolutley cuckoo
Then when you see your error,
Then you can flee in terror
Like everybody else does
I only tell you this cause
I'm easy to get rid of
But not if you fall in love
Know now that I'm on the make
And if you make a mistake
My heart will certainly break
I'll have to jump in a lake
And all my friends will blame you
There's no telling what they'll do
It's only fair to tell you
I'm absolutely cuckoo
It's only fair to tell you
I'm absolutely cuckoo
03 All My Little Words (02:46)
You are a splendid butterfly
It is your wings that make you beautiful
And I could make you fly away
But I could never make you stay
You said you were in love with me
Both of us know that that's impossible
And I could make you rue the day
But I could never make you stay
Not for all the tea in China
Not if I could sing like a bird
Not for all North Carolina
Not for all my little words
Not if I could write for you
The sweetest song you ever heard
It doesn't matter what I'll do
Not for all my little words
Now that you've made me want to die
You tell me that you're unboyfriendable
And I could make you pay and pay
But I could never make you stay
04 A Chicken With Its Head Cut Off (02:42)
Eligible, not too stupid
Intelligiable, and cute as cupid
Knowledgeable, but not always right
Salvageable, and free for the night
Well my heart's runnin' round like a chicken with its head cut off
All around the barn yard falling in and out of love
Poor thing's blind as a bat
Gettin' up, fallin' down, gettin' up
Who'd fall in love with a chicken with its head cut off?
Woah Nelly
My wife doesn't understand me
Many dozens, hope to land me
I'm for free love
And I'm in free fall
This could be love
Or nothing at all
But my heart's runnin' round like a chicken with its head cut off
All around the barn yard falling in and out of love
Poor thing's blind as a bat
Gettin' up, fallin' down, gettin' up
Who'd fall in love with a chicken with its head cut off?
We don't have to be stars exploding in the night
Or electric eels under the covers
We don't have to be
Anything quite so unreal
Lets just be lovers
Well my heart's runnin' round like a chicken with it's head cut off
All around the barn yard falling in and out of love
Poor thing's blind as a bat
Gettin' up, fallin' down, gettin' up
Who'd fall in love with a chicken with its head cut off?
It ain't pretty
05 Reno Dakota (01:05)
Reno Dakota there's not an iota of kindness in you
You know you enthrall me and yet you don't call me
It's making me blue Pantone 292 Reno Dakota I'm
reaching my quota of tears for the year Alas and
alack you just don't call me back You have just
disappeared It makes me drink beer I know you're
a recluse You know that's no excuse Reno that's
just a ruse Do not play fast and loose with my heart
Reno Dakota I'm no Nino Rota I don't know the score
Have I annoyed you or is there a boy who
Well he's just a whore I've had him before
It makes me drink more
08 The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side (03:43)
Andy would bicycle across town in the rain to bring you
candy and John would buy the gown for you to wear to the
prom with Tom the astronomer who'd name a star for you
(C): But I'm the luckiest guy on the Lower East Side
cause I've got wheels and you want to go for a ride
Harry is the one I think you'll marry but it's Chris
that you kissed after school I'm a fool, there's no doubt
but when the sun comes out and only when the sun
comes out... (C) The day is beautiful and so are you
My car is ugly but then I'm ugly too I know you'd
never give me a second glance but when the weather's
nice all the other guys don't stand a chance
I know Professor Blumen makes you feel like a woman
but when the wind is in your hair you laugh like a little girl
So you share secrets with Lou but we've got secrets too
Well, one: I only keep this heap for you
cause I'm the ugliest guy on the Lower East Side
but I've got wheels and you want to go for a ride
Want to go for a ride?
14 How Fucking Romantic (00:59)
how fucking romantic
all the stars are out
twinkling twinkling twinkling
and fluttering about
what a tacky sunset
what a vulgar moon
play another charming
rogers and hart tune
how fucking romantic
must we really waltz?
drag another cliche
howling from the vaults
love you obviously
like you really care
even though you treat me
like a dancing bear
toss your bear a goldfish
as it cycles by
don't forget to feed your
bear or it'll die
18 Boa Constrictor (00:59)
I spend my evenings alone talking to your picture, babe Love is
wrapped around my heart like a boa constrictor, babe My mother
should have murdered me What jury would convict her, babe for
love is wrapped around my heart like a boa constrictor, babe
20 My Sentimental Melody (03:08)
I'm a hopeless romantic
You're a terrible flirt
Cool and unfazed,
you're always amazed
when someone gets hurt
I live on the blue planet
that I saw in your eyes
but now I can't stay
knowing it's made
of beautiful lies
but my sentimental melody
like a long-lost lullabye
will ring in your ears
down through the years
bringing a tear to your eye
Goodbye
Love can kill people, can't it
Well it still might kill me
Each drop of rain
is a glass of champagne
It's sweet and it's free
When I drink I don't panic
When I drink I don't die
When I'm far gone
it's all just a song
just beautiful lies...
but my sentimental melody
like a long-lost lullabye
will ring in your ears
down through the years
bringing a tear to your eye
Goodbye
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Other reviews
By MaledettaPrimavera
"'The first non-metal masterpiece in history' - I thought with my eyes closed."
"May the wicked force always be with you."
By Alemisso
It too is a young lad for me and has a lot it wants to show, even if in the end it turns out to be quite monotonous for most, given the large number of songs: 69.
I recommend it to all lovers, to those who like someone, to those who love indie-pop music, or carefree music without too many expectations.
