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Rating: Produced by Joe Strummer. This fact alone should be enough to make us understand that we are dealing with a little musical gem.
The setting? The land of Hell's Ditch. The realm of the eight guys led by Shane MacGowan, and their 13 songs.
This CD takes us directly there, to those Irish lands. The other face of that Britain conquered and queen of '70s rock, and particularly of Ireland itself, which has U2 as its cornerstones.
Here there’s a different air. The mind is light, it travels. Not like on a psychedelic trip due to ‘some little drug’, but as only a dreamer can do.
The first two tracks are worth the entire CD alone. That wonderful "Sunnyside Of The Street", "I know I’m better than before. I will not be reconstrued. Just wanna stay right here, on the sunnyside of the street"... and the equally beautiful "Sayonara", which fans of Brizzi will remember as key parts of the imaginary soundtrack of his most famous book, are perfect pearls of expressiveness that, through different sounds, traditional or of oriental inspiration, manage to convey to us different situations and feelings at their core.
Here there is no space for super-fast scales, perfect vocalizations, or for that music that generally populates 90% of our lives... the feelings, however, are always the same. And it's nice, maybe after a year, to find this disc, put it in the player, travel, and feel at peace with oneself, to then put it back in its place, because the right moment to listen to it again will come, by chance... Ok it’s time for Sayonara...
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Sayonara (03:07)
OK, it's time for Sayonara
So long yankee break my heart
Now there's nothing left but sorrow
Even the best friends they must part
I walked into the nearest bar
I sat and gazed across the sea
I wandered lonely on the beach
The waves just whispered misery
She had a red red scarf
Around her neck
Her eyes were green
Her hair was black
Ooh she gave me Mekong Whiskey
Ooh she gave me Hong Kong Flu
Ooh she gave me Mekong Whiskey
Put me on a breeze to Katmandu
(Som-yat-zu, som-yat-zu)
I got new papers in a bordello
With some luckies and my I.D.
My heart was pounding like a hammer
Thai Thai Thai Thai Thai! I am free
She kissed me softly on the lips
She took my hand without a sound
This was our happy ever after
So motherfucker kiss the ground
03 The Ghost of a Smile (02:58)
You gotta walk that mile Honeychild
You gotta walk that mile Honeychild
Well I'll show you what is hip
As we walk down Leeson strip & I'll do it for the ghost of a smile
Just the ghost, the ghost of a smile
Just the ghost, the ghost of a smile
You can't take it with you when you go
You can't take it with you when you go
You gotta walk, walk that mile
& I'll be with you Honeychild
& I'll do it for the ghost of a smile
Just the ghost, the ghost of a smile
Just the ghost, the ghost of a smile
Don't wait too long
Don't wait too long
Don't wait too long or I'll be gone
Don't wait too long
Don't wait too long
Don't wait too long
Or I'll be gone
Just the ghost, the ghost of a smile
Just the ghost, the ghost of a smile
Just the ghost, the ghost of a smile
Just the ghost, the ghost of a smile
05 Lorca's Novena (04:40)
Ignacio lay dying in the sand
A single red rose clutched in a dying hand
The women wept to see their hero die
And the big black birds gathered in the sky
Mother of all our joys, mother of all our sorrows
Intercede with him tonight
For all of our tomorrows
The years went by and then the killers came
And took the men and marched them up the hill of pain
And Lorca the faggot poet they left till last
Blew his brains out with a pistol up his arse
Mother of all our joys, mother of all our sorrows
Intercede with him tonight
For all of our tomorrows
The killers came to mutilate the dead
But ran away in terror to search the town instead
But Lorca's corpse, as he had prophesied, just walked away
And the only sound was the women in the chapel praying
Mother of all our joys, mother of all our sorrows
Intercede with him tonight
For all of our tomorrows
06 Summer in Siam (04:06)
When it's Summer in Siam
And the moon is full of rainbows
When it's Summer in Siam
And we go through many changes
When it's Summer in Siam
Then all I really know
Is that I truly am
In the Summer in Siam
07 Rain Street (04:00)
The church bell rings
An old drunk sings
A young girl hocks her wedding ring
Down on Rain Street
Down the alley the icewagon flew
Picked up a stiff that was turning blue
The local kids were sniffin' glue
Not much else for a kid to do
Down Rain Street
Father McGreer buys an ice cold beer
And a short for Father Loyola
Father Joe's got the clap again
He's drinking Coca-Cola
Down on Rain Street
Bless me Father I have sinned
I got pissed and I got pinned
And God can't help the state I'm in
Down on Rain Street
There's a Tesco on the sacred ground
Where I pulled her knickers down
While Judas took his measly price
And St Anthony gazed in awe at Christ
Down on Rain Street
I gave my love a goodnight kiss
I tried to take a late night piss
But the toiled moved so again I missed
Down Rain Street
I sat on the floor and watched TV
Thanking Christ for the BBC
A stupid fucking place to be
Down Rain Street
I took my Eileen by the hand
Walk with me was her command
I dreamt we were walking on the strand
Down Rain Street
That night Rain Street went on for miles
That night on Rain Street somebody smiled
09 The Wake of the Medusa (03:04)
The guests are stood in silence
They stare and drink their wine
On the wall the canvas hangs
Frozen there in time
They marvel at the beauty
The horror and despair
At the wake of the Medusa
No one shed a tear
Sit my friends and listen
Put your glasses down
Sit my friends and listen
To the voices of the drowned
In the moonlight's ghostly glow
I waken in a dream
Once more upon that raft I stand
Upon a raging sea
In my ears the moans and screams
Of the dying ring
Somewhere in the darkness
The siren softly sings
Out there in the waves she stands
And smiling there she calls
As the lightning cracks the sky
The wind begins to howl
The architects of our doom
Around their tables sit
And in their thrones of power
Condemn those they've cast adrift
Echoes down the city street
Their harpies laughter rings
Waiting for the curtain call
Oblivious in the wings
The casket is empty
Abandon ye all hope
They ran off with the money
And left us with the rope
11 5 Green Queens and Jean (02:35)
I recall the moment
Before it slipped away
When 5 green queens
On a black bin bag
Meant all the world to me
And I recall the moment
More distant than it seems
When 5 green queens
On a black bin bag
Meant all the world to me
And I recall the moment
Much closer than it seems
When 5 green queens
On a black bin bag
Meant all the world to me
And I recall the moment
Before it slipped away
When 5 green queens
On a black bin bag
Meant all the world to me
5 green queens and Jean
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