Jonathan Richman - Here Come The Martian Martians

Artist: Jonathan Richman
Song: Here Come The Martian Martians
Album: Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers (1977)


“Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers” is a jewel of oddness and adolescent carelessness, in which paradox and futility live wonderfully. The street shuffle “Here Come The Martian Martians” is a wonderful example of childhood regression, a nursery rhymes that tells us the invasion of Martians cycling!
Jonathan on great form. Impossible to listen to this without breaking into a smile.

but you have to be careful: to understand Jonathan Richman records, it's almost imperative that you see him perform. On disc his passionate sing-alongs about dancing, UFOs or the old corner store can seem affected, embarrassing or just plain goofy. But in concert his doleful smile and heartfelt delivery can nudge sensitivity out of even the most hardened cynic. Richman is capable of converting a clubful of strangers into rapt devotees.


Here come the Martian Martians,
And I wouldn't be surprised if they were riding on their Martian bike.
And we have to find out right now
What kind of flavor do these Martians like.

Here come the Martian Martians
And they're riding on their Martian bike
Well, we have to find out right now
What kind of ice cream do the Martians like?
Here come the Martian Martians
Why staying in such a cheap hotel?
Maybe we should help out the Martians
Looks like the Martians ain't doin' too well.

Martian time time time
Well, it's Martian rhyme time
We got a Martian rhyme for Martian Martian time
And the Martians got notebooks in their little hand
Well they're strangers in this land
Martian time It's Martian Martian time

Well, here come the Martian Martains.
They're trying to fight with rocks and sticks
Don't the Martians know better?
Looks like they're up to their same old tricks.
Well, here come the Martian Martians,
They got notebooks in their hand.
What are they trying to write down?
I guess they must be strangers in this land.

Martian rhyme rhyme
Well, Martian time time
Well, you got Martian rhymes for Martian Martian time.
See, the Martians have notebooks in their little hand.
See, they're still strangers in this land.
Martian time, it's Martian Martian time.

Well, here come the Martians
Baking up a Martian cake
We better find out right now
What kind of flavor do these Martians make.
Well, here come the Martian Martians,
There're Martian schoolgirls too
Well, I like the Martian schoolgirls,
And I hope they like me too.
Martian rhyme rhyme rhyme
It's Martian time time time
You got the Martian rhymes for Martian Martian time.

The Martians have notebooks in their little hand
Because they're strangers in this land.
Martian rhyme, it's Martian Martian time.
Well, here come the Martian Martians
Well, they're baking up a Martian pie
I hope the Martians like me
And give some to I.
Well, here come the Martian Martians,
Well, they're setting up a Kool-Aid stand.
Where's their financial advisor?
Somebody should take him by the hand.
Martian rhyme rhyme rhyme
Martian time time time
You got a Martian rhyme for Martian Martian time.
And the Martians have notebooks in their little hand
They're still strangers in this land
Martian rhyme, it's Martian Martian time.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Bicycle Song

Artist: Red Hot Chili Peppers

Song: Bicycle Song

Album: By The Way (2005)

To highlight particular moments of quiet and reflection, you can get around by bike some big rock band, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, for example. Their "Bicycle Song" is published in the album "By The Way" (but it’s a bonus track of the i-tunes version, out in 2005). The song is a nostalgic ballad in the typical style of the californian quartet, where the pleasant refrain emphasizes that " How could I forget to mention the bicycle is a good invention ". We agree!

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I think that only the melody of the song is upbeat, and happy. If you listen to the lyrics I think that the song is about a girl that he truly respects and cares about, but he keeps messing up the way he treats her. “I’d hop this fence to make amends I hope this movie never ends” I think that in the song he cares about the girl but doesn’t know how to communicate he feels and gets frustrated, because the bicycle is a symbol showing it’s a cycle of many similar relationships. That is what I thing, but maybe I am being too pessimistic.

Here she comes in a suit and tie
Shepard’s bush and a leopard’s pie
She marching to the funky beat of
James Brown and his dancing feet
Gonna set your fish on fire
Pistol whipping of desire
So please do not resist your fate
I’ll pick you up yes it’s a date How could I forget to mention the bicycle is a good invention
Sitting there in a silent movie
Beside the only girl who really ever moved me
Happy days but sad I’m facin
Heaven knows that I’m on the case
How could I forget to mention the bicycle?
Somebody told the world
The beauty of your verse
My girl I heard it first
The beauty of your verse
A sticky finger and a wicked taste
Gotta a lot of love and a lyrical case
Be sure to write it in your book
I promise not to look
Wanna smell your sunny face
Funny place but it’s never a waste
I’d hop this fence to make amends
I hope this movie never ends
How could I forget to mention the bicycle is a good invention
Make it up makin you my business
A funny buttercup but I let her forgiveness
Happy days but sad I’m facin
Heaven knows that I’m on the case
How could I forget to mention the bicycle?
Somebody told the world
The beauty of your verse
My girl I heard it first
The beauty of your verse

Joe Jackson - Take It Like A Man

Artist: Joe Jackson

Song: Take It Like A Man

Album: Volume 4, 2003

In 2003, Joe Jackson reunited his original quartet for an album (entitled Volume 4, implying that it was the follow-up to his first three albums with the original band) and lengthy tour. As before the quartet consisted of Jackson, Graham Maby, Dave Houghton and Gary Sanford. "Take it Like A Man", song lyrics by very very ironic, opens the album and will also in "Afterlife", live document of the following year.

review

Don't let her down
Just 'cos you could before
She stole the crown
You don't rule anymore

Oh no - take it like she did before
Oh no - take it like a man

Strong, sexy, smart
Slim, slassy, super-cool
She gets the parts
You get to play the fool
Mean, drunk or dumb
Were' not casting votes today
Breaveheart of bum
Who needs you anyway

Oh no - take it like she did before
Oh no - take it like a man

Don't feel so down
Your'll find some job to do
Gansta or clown
She'll keep a place for you
You feel her touch
Fingers like icicles
She needs you so much
Like fish need bicycles

oh no - take it like she did before
oh no - take it like a man

Cracker - I Ride My Bike

Artist: Cracker

Song: My Bicycle Spaniard

Album: Golden Age (1996)

music

review

And its a long, long way to the top
But when you come down its one headlong rush
You’ve got an itch to scratch the shiny bits of light
Hanging like stars, hanging like stars

And Mary says, you’re such a restless soul
My bicycle spaniard, my magyar of cold
You’ve got an itch to find whats best left lost and cold
My bicycle spaniard, my poor restless soul
My bicycle spaniard, my poor restless soul

Eric Clapton - Bike Ride

Artist: Eric Clapton

Song: Bike Ride

Album: Homeboy (soundtrack, 1988)

instrumental

Soundtrack featuring Eric Clapton, Jb Hutto and the New Hawks, Peggy Scott, the Brakes, and Magic Sam.

The guitar pieces are great, Eric Clapton and the other artists who have created tracks especially for this, have done themselves proud. Very moody, bluesy, country, a melting pot of musical influences and emotions, very much like the film.

film

Eric Clapton, in his youth, rode a bike as well as played guitar; he even raced a little and rode a few time-trials. The guitar became his number one passion and won out over the bicycle, but the bicycle keeps popping up now and then throughout his life and career.

I recently discovered Eric Clapton has a personal blog. He doesn’t write much, mostly posts pictures of his travels, and of objects that interest him.
Recently he posted a picture of a Unicanitor bicycle saddle along with pictures of some cowboy belt buckles. You would be hard pressed to find more dissimilar objects than these and no one but an ex-cyclist would find a bike saddle interesting enough to take a picture.
The Cinelli Unicanitor saddle dates from 1962 and far was a truly innovative product, the first saddle with a plastic hull!
A search through the archives, unearthed a picture of a Cinelli badge, the kind they used to put on their steel handlebar stems. Also, a fixed gear Cinelli track bike.

on November 17th, 2006, he wrote:
“Driven by insatiable passions, governed by the need to be free and independent.......these are some of the things that stop me in my tracks.”
This quote is followed by photos of two different Ferrari cars, and a Dodge Night Runner truck. The fourth picture is of a vintage Cinelli Special Corsa road bike that appears to be in new condition.

Talking Heads - Hey Now

Artist: Talking Heads

Song: Hey Now

Album: True Stories (1986)

About “Hey Now”:

"Hey Now" pits the singsong insistence of early R&B with the hop-along kick of Tex-Mex.

In “Hey Now” Byrne is only interested in super-saccharine bastardizations of exotic influences like Caribbean music.

"Hey Now", a sort of Hawaiian welcome complete with garlands of flowers to men-mass pseudo-civilized, fell from a cruise ship

Review

But if "Hey Now" is the only song of the Talking Heads in which appears a bicycle, is the great passion for cycling leader David Byrne that transpires through his collaboration with the NYC Department of Transportation: his latest project is a series of nine bike racks installed on the streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan. Responding to his own love of cycling, Byrne submitted ideas to the DOT of graphic shapes, inspired by specific locations throughout the city: the Ladies Mile (a high heel), the Villager (a dog), the Wall Street (a dollar sign) and so on.

More…

and more

But the passion for cycling to Byrne is even more profound

Read more about the event at Streetfilms.org.

See also, the article in amNewYork and Canada's The Globe & Mail

I wanna bicycle
I wanna popsicle
I wanna space face
Buy me a cherry face now

Hey now!
Hey now!
Hey now now!
Hey now!
Hey now!
Hey now now!

I wanna video
I wanna rock and roll
Take me to the shopping mall
Buy me a rubber ball now

Hey now!
Hey now!
Hey now now!
Hey now!
Hey now!
Hey now now!

Every night sun goes down
And the people are staying at home
You can tell your momma & daddy
Leave those children alone

They know what they're doin'
They ain't runnin' away
Uncle John said, "Tell Aunt Mary
I got nothing to say"
(And she say:)

Hey now!
Hey now!
Hey now now!
Hey now!
Hey now!
Hey now now!

Ho---
Would the light come hitcha in the eye
Hey---
Gonna stop, gonna getcha by surprise!

Every night when the sun goes down
And the people are staying at home
You can tell your momma & daddy
Leave those children alone

They know what they're doin'
They ain't runnin' away
Uncle John said, "Tell Aunt Mary
I got nothing to say"
(And she said!)

Hey now
Hey now
Hey now now
Hey now
Hey now
Hey now now

Ho---
Would the light come hitcha in the eye
Hey---
Gonna stop, gonna getcha by surprise

I am the king of the world
The boss of the boys & girls
You can live till a 100 & 10
If you listen to what I said

Hey now
Hey now
Hey now now
Hey now
Hey now
Hey now now

Hey now
Hey now
Hey now now
Hey now
Hey now
Hey now now

Hey now
Hey now
Hey now now
Hey now
Hey now
Hey now now

Grandaddy - Where I'm Anymore

Artist: Grandaddy

Song: Where I’m Anymore

Album: Just Like The Fambly Cat

from...

I just watched the video for Grandaddy's "Where I'm Anymore" over at Aquarium Drunkard. It features Jason Lytle riding a bike through California, but not in the trans-state adventure sense. It's generic California, a grove of lemon trees and a suburban street, no clouds in a high, flat sky. He's singing to the camera, or rather lip-synching, cracking a smile at times and at one point laughing. His hat fell off when he ducked under a particularly low branch - it wasn't scripted (if indeed any of this was) and he couldn't help it. There's something bittersweet about seeing him without his trademark trucker's cap, the way he looks so old and a little resigned. But there's also something in his laugh, and how he grins to his friend behind the camera. Lytle, we get the sense, is exactly where he belongs and exactly where he couldn't escape: the deathless suburbia of Modesto, CA. He's a boy on his bike, probably bored but eternally all right, all too relatable. And what's more, watching this video makes it clear that Grandaddy is done. Done being a band, done touring the world, and mostly done trying to be what they could have been. Embracing their irrelevance, showing us that these sunny anystreets are where they belong, and that they will be and have been fine without us.

from...

That is, until I caught the new Grandaddy video for “Where I’m Anymore” (online of course). It’s back to basics weirdness, Jason Lytle on a bicycle, riding along in a grove of trees and a typical American suburban neighborhood, singing his song with in inanimate cat (the Fambly Cat, I assume).

It’s sort of indicative of the current state of Grandaddy, all that’s left is Jason. He just finished up a short promotional tour with some in store acoustic performances and radio interviews. From what I understood from his WOXY interview, he’s heading back to his new home in Montana to live the quiet life. ‘Just Like the Fambly Cat’ is sadly Grandaddy’s swan song, but I’d bet Jason will be soaking up some inspiration out there in the Big Sky Country and it won’t be too long before we hear his melodic, poetic tech-organic-space tunes again….

video

review

Ten Million Pounds Of Plastic Baby Stuff There
Beyond the Doors
Garage Sale Sunday In.. I Don't Know Where I'm
Anymore
M'ijas Ridin Little Pink Bikes In The Middel Of the Road
Garage Sale Sunday In.. I Don't Know Where I'm
Anymore

Chorus: Meow,Meow,Meow,Meow,Meow
Where I'm Anymore(2)

There Was a Punch Out, Happened At the Take-out,
a Tweaker And a Dog
It Seems That the dog stole a Blanker From
the tweaker in the park
But Cheap Shots Happen When Thermometers are yellin
104
Garage Sale Sunday In..I Don't Know Where I'm
Anymore

Chorus

The Ice Cream Truck Each Night Plays"Don't Belive The Hype"
For Oil Stained Driveways With Exercise Equipment
Piled High
All This seen From a Yellow Lawn, Getting Ready For
Garage sale Sunday In..I Don't Know Where I'm
Anymore..

Chorus

Lightning Bolt - Bizzarro Bike

Artist: Lightning Bolt

Song: Bizzarro Bike

Album: Hypermagic Mountain (2005)

The Lightning Bolt, a noise rock duo from Providence, Rhode Island; their "Bizzarro Bike", rather, the only piece that I heard of their Bizzarro Bike, drills our ears with a special power: heavy drumming and a marginally impressive guitar solo: be careful!

Amped madmen Brian Chippendale (speed drums & vox) and Brian Gibson (bass and pedal pile) out of Providence, RI, pushed Hypermagic Mountain far beyond DIY, garage, grunge or punk into something rather unique: completely unintelligible loud noise banged out on the trashiest of equipment. Lyrics, when there are any, come from a half swallowed telephone transmitter pumped up past annoying feedback into ear splitting garble, while bass and drums at 3800 raw watts race through hypnotic trance beats. It’s an anarchic departure, anti-intellectual, no need to explain, something with which to rattle, rave and roll. Their live performance video, Power of (Sound) Salad & Milkshakes shows Fort Thunder base loft thick with BMXs and fixies, Olneyville’s bike lanes into downtown, confirmed in conversation as inspiration for this instrumental. Title “Magic Mountain” shows loudly they are onto something it will leave you deaf, stop your heart, or vibrate your it’ll get you evicted, just like they have everywhere they or showed up and plopped right down in middle of a audience to participate and play with the spontaneity impromptu party without barriers of seats or stage. (Bike and Chain)

instrumental

review

Mogwai - Superheroes of BMX

Artist: Mogwai

Song: Superheroes of BMX

Album: 4 Satin (EP, 1997)

One of the best Mogwai tracks, that guitar plucking when it starts up like halfway through is perfect spaciousness.

The song begins with the sound of a phone call (which can be heard throughout most of the song) between Stuart Braithwaite and friend David Jack, whilst an electronic drumbeat plays. At (0:18), they are joined by the sound of a Bontempi Organ playing an A♯ major chord, followed by a D minor chord, which is repeated all throughout the song. Layers of synth and a guitar riff play over the chords. A whooshing noise can be heard at various points. At (1:56), acoustic drums can be heard playing the drumbeat, until (2:30), when it goes back to electronic drums. At (3:53), distorted guitars begin playing along and feedbacking with the chords in the background. This guitar noise and feedback continues, fading in and out gradually for the next few minutes, until it becomes almost overbearing, at which point the song ends abruptly.

Before deciding on the name Bloc Party, Bloc Party were briefly known as Superheroes Of BMX.

music

video

the following lyrics are taken from what sounds like a telephone conversation, probably between martin and the band's manager (although this is not confirmed!).

how're you doing? (martin's voice?)
(~~~~~~?)
yeah 'bout the phone or something.
alright
really, how you doing? ok?
not bad and you?
aye, pretty good like, what you been up to?
ah this and that you know (~~~~~~~~?)
what's that? i'm a wee bit better.
aye!
aye! i had a pretty good night that night.

... vocals are then drowned out by music

Leo Kottke - Busted Bicycle

Artist: Leo Kottke

Song: Busted Bicycle

Album: Six & Twelve Strings Guitar (1972)

Curious cover notes, written by Kottke in person, where there is only one word to describe the mood for this Busted Bicycle: reluctance, which is somewhat 'state of mind of those who are like me faced with a mechanical failure…

review

music

video

The Dukes Of The Stratosphear - Bike Ride To The Moon

Artist: The Dukes Of The Stratosphear

Song: Bike Ride To The Moon

Album: 25 O’Clock (1985)

25 O'Clock is a mini-album which was the first release of The Dukes of Stratosphear (a side project of the members of XTC), and was also the title song from that release. Joined by XTC member Dave Gregory's brother Ian on drums, the Dukes indulged in the stylistic tropes of 1960s psychedelia, particularly the British variety.

Released on April Fools Day, 1985, the mini-album was a tongue in cheek homage to the heyday of psychedelic rock. Several of the tracks were made to sound like individual bands (like the Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd sound of "Bike Ride to the Moon"). Others were simply a pastiche of the styles of the period as a whole. The songs were recorded on a 4-track machine using overdubs in order to replicate production techniques used in the mid-to-late 1960s and was also notable for its cover art (drawn by Partridge) which resembled the cover on the 1967 LP Disraeli Gears by Cream.

Bike Ride to the Moon is one of the most striking evidence of this rock’n’bike review and the song, is a real explosion of colors.

“Bike Ride to the Moon" is demented enough to have appeared on Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn.

video

Push me off to start the fun
On a bike ride to the moon
Lots of room for everyone
On a bike ride to the moon
And we'll bring back cheese for my Auntie Jane
And some magic moon dust that'll stop the rain
On my poor Uncle Alfred's head,

even though he stays in bed (silly Alfred)
Why not bring a pot of tea
On a bike ride to the moon
Angel cake for you and me
On a bike ride to the moon
And we'll pack a tent 'case it's cold at night
And I'll share your sleeping bag if I might
And might be a positive boon
To protect you from the man in the moon
(Who happens to be me, look out!)
Racing forward can't look back
On a bike ride to the moon
What did I omit to pack
On a bike ride to the moon?
With the stars all glinting in the shiny Chrome
Then I suddenly remembered what I left at home
Now I shan't be peddling any higher
'Cos a sharp sputnik has given me a cosmic flat tyre

Suede - To The Birds

Artist: Suede

Song: To The Birds

Album: Sci-fi Lullabies, 1997

Sci-Fi Lullabies is an excellent summary for fans who have charted their career, and an immersive experience that will turn the uninitiated listener into an addict craving more. --Alan E. Rapp

Music

review

Don't take your life cos your bicycle won't fly
You may be going to heaven tonight
Don't spoil the show for the love of some albino
You won't be going to heaven alone
I see her by the window waiting every night
So I wouldn't give a shit if your bicycle's in bits
I think I'm going to heaven on it
I see her by the window pour the poison from you
I'll go there through the window in my sixteen hole boots

And I'll sing to the birds here at my side
And I'll sing to the birds that will save my life...

Don't take your life cos your bicycle won't fly
You may be going to heaven tonight
I wouldn't give a shit if your bicycle's in bits
I think I'm going to heaven on it

I see her by the window and I see there's a day
We'll walk out through the traffic and pour the poison away

So I'll sing to the birds there at my side
And I'll sing to the birds who will save my life

na na na na na na na

...I will lie down for her

R.E.M. - The Wrong Child

Artist: R.E.M.

Song: The Wrong Child

Album: Green, 1988

Moving song, in which the bike appears as one of the wonders of each boy. Published in the wonderful album "Green", has a great video that leaves open many interpretations on the wrong child, but among the many, this is what Michael Stipe says ...

“I’m fine with any and all interpretations that aren’t manifested in real life as harmful, hateful or violent. The wrong child was not written about the boy in the bubble or a gay kid, but was instead the influence of HUGO LARGO [who I was working with at the time], particularly Mimi Goese, and her particular and brilliant flair of singing and writing [the double tracked lead vocal was at one point going to be Mimi or Mike]. I just wrote it about a kid who is physically handicapped, and left it purposely undefined.”

Review

I’ve watched the children come and go
A late long march into spring
I sit and watch those children
Jump in the tall grass
Leap the sprinkler
Walk in the ground
Bicycle clothespin spokes
The sound the smell of swingset hands

I will try to sing a happy song
Ill try and make a happy game to play

Come play with me I whispered to my new found friend
Tell me what its like to go outside
Ive never been
Tell me what its like to just go outside
Ive never been
And I never will

Im not supposed to be like this
Im not supposed to be like this
But its okay

Hey those kids are looking at me
I told my friend myself
Those kids are looking at me
Theyre laughing and theyre running over here
Theyre laughing and theyre running over here
What do I do?
What can I do?
What should I do?
What do I say?
What can I say?

I said Im not supposed to be like this
Lets try to find a happy game to play
Lets try to find a happy game to play
Im not supposed to be like this
But its okay...okay

SNFU - Drunk On A Bike

Artist: SNFU

Song: Drunk On A Bike

Album: The One Voted Most Likely To (1995)

The SNFU with their fast rhythms remind us of how dangerous cycling drunk: "Drunk on a Bike" is a carry over from The Wangs, a group that Mr. Chi Pig formed when SNFU thought SNFU had broken up. Then they got back together. Their lyrics border on the ridiculous, and the album has a bit of a rushed feel to it. The music leans more toward straight hardcore.

music
review

It happened so fast
He didn't have time to think
Or maybe he had too much
a bit too much to drink
When he went riding off
into the bright sunshine
It turned out to be
the lights of a car
Can somebody help me please
Scrape this man up off the road
Can somebody help me please
I cannot do it on my own
As the police
were scarping him off the fender
A friend of his said
that he had been on a bender
and that he had a huge fight
Yeah, he had a fight with his wife
Then he got pissed off
Then rode off on his bike
He was drunk,
He was drunk on a bike

Bugz in the Attic/Nutmeg - Bicycle Kick

Artist: Bugz in the Attic - Nutmeg

Song: Bicycle Kick

Album: Fabriclive 12 (2003)

Review

Bugz in the Attic is an all-star broken beat crew of DJs and producers based in West London…

“Bicycle Kick”? it’s an instrumental by Nutmeg and also:

1 - Standard Pete Townshend stage effect. Basically, you jump, kick your legs out in opposite directions, and wail really hard on your guitar. I don't recommend trying it unless you are quite agile. Ankle breakage seems like a very great threat. Well, then there's the fact that I'm not very agile or a good guitar player. I guess if you can't play like Pete, you shouldn't jump like Pete. Course you can swing your microphone like Roger.

Pete Townshend is legendary for his intense guitar playing. But in August 1989, Pete's ax fought back with a vengeance. During a stop in Tacoma, Wash., Pete impaled his right hand on its whammy bar while performing his famous windmill move. This wasn't the only time the Who guitarist has hurt his hand. Back in 1981, Townshend punched a wall backstage during a tour, breaking several bones. Ten years later, he shattered his wrist into a dozen fragments in a bike accident that threatened to end his career.

when a bicycle accident can damage a great guitarist

2 - An interesting way to score a goal in soccer. You first kick one leg high in the air, then bring it down sharply, throwing the other up in the air, which strikes the ball above your head sending it back behind you into the net. You end up falling down on your back, but it still looks cool.

Motorpsycho - Dr. Hoffman's Bicycle

Artist: Motorpsycho

Song: Dr. Hoffman’s Bicycle

Album: Barracuda, EP 2001

It's a long psychedelic ride, more than seven minutes: "Dr. Hoffman's Bicycle "(do not forget who's mr. Hoffman, aka mr. LSD) written by Norwegian Motorpsycho and inserted at the end of valuable mini album “Barracuda”, A.D. 2001. It’s a very effective rock song directly from 70s, between Spirit and Led Zeppelin, and a little of lysergic acid that dr. Hoffman knew very well. His magical bicycle-ride while experiencing the world's first acid-trip is immortalized here.

There is a cool article about Hoffman turning 100 in the Seattle Post Intelligencer (see below). We will have to thank Rolf Klausen for finding the link & posting it to g35 (as Rolf puts it: "Yes, the bicycle is mentioned.") -- thank you, I very much enjoyed reading it!

more

review

He put his answer there in front of us, her and him

took the blue lane down the road and invited us in

took the 9th to the 7th heaven for a peak

and wanted us to stay there for a week and ride

and ride dr. Hoffmann's bicycle

ride dr. Hoffmann's bicycle

I had everything I wanted there and then

didn't ever wanna go back home again

it was blowing all the cobwebs from my mind

now there's a new day rising for all of us and it's time to ride

and ride dr, Hoffmann's bicycle

ride dr, Hoffmann's bicycle

dirt roads became interstates overnight

and the signs along the way were flashing bright

some just lost direction for a while

but the stragglers huddling cold soon lost their smiles

and plain refused to

ride dr, Hoffmann's bicycle

ride dr, Hoffmann's bicycle

ride ride ride..

truckstops became junkyards behind their eyes

anxiously wearing tie-dyed ties

there are two ways on every road you know my friend:

and the best minds choose the crooked one

again and again and again and again and again...

Paolo Conte - Un'Altra Vita

Artist: Paolo Conte

Song: Un’altra vita

Album: Paris Milonga, 1981

review

music

Un’ altra vita per noi

oltre il basilico e le fragranza
e la sua barbarica baldanza,
un’ altra vita per noi
oltre il dialetto che hanno i santi,
arcano come certi amanti…
un’ altra vita verrà, e un’ altra vita sarà
oltre le lune e gli uragani e le tue mani
sopra le mie mani…

Quando il leone sarà
ad aspettarti sulla tua strada
e mezzogiorno, ti guardi intorno…
neanche il Signore non c’è…
è seduto a pranzo con i suoi amici
e la sua bici non ti presterà…
ma un’ altra vita verrà,
e un’ altra vita sarà
oltre le lune e gli uragani e le tue mani
sopra le mie mani…

Vinicio Capossela - Dalla Parte Di Spessotto

Artist: Vinicio Capossela

Song: Dalla Parte Di Spessotto

Album: Ovunque Proteggi, 2006

"Dalla parte di Spessotto" è un inno all'infanzia vissuta da "loser". Titolo bizzarro per un singolo che rinnova il motteggiare farsesco di "Canzoni a manovella", con un testo - tanto per cambiare - esilarante: si discetta "dell'acqua riusata nella vaschetta", di quelli "appena nati dalla parte di sotto... col grembiule senza il fiocco" e di quando si può restare "abbagliati dalla balena nella pancia della falena"... Capossela gigioneggia da par suo tra ritmi saltellanti e divertissement vari (e con più di un ammiccamento al Waits di "Singapore"). Sembra quasi un'altra "canzone a manovella", ma affiorano anche i primi foschi presagi ("L'oscurità/ come un gendarme già/mi afferra l'anima") di ciò che seguirà. All'euforico affresco futurista di inizio Novecento delle "Canzoni a manovella", succede infatti un viaggio oscuro e minaccioso, tra incubi e intemperie. "Gioia, salmi, naufragi, meduse e minotauri" - come recita il sito ufficiale - si succedono in un disco straripante, che si snoda come un rosario, attraverso le sue grottesche vicissitudini, fino alla invocazione finale della title track.

Review

Siamo dalla parte di Spessotto, da appena nati dalla parte di sotto,
senza colletto, senza lacrima, senza il riguardo delle bambine.
Dalla parte di Spessotto il tè di ieri riscaldato alle otto,
i compiti fatti in cucina nella luce bassa della sera prima.
Dalla parte di Spessotto con la palla dentro il canotto,
col doppiofondo nella giacchetta, col grembiule senza il fiocco.
Timorati del domani, timorati dello sbocco,
siamo dalla parte di Spessotto.
Siamo la stirpe di Zoquastro, i perenni votati all'impiastro,
sulla stufa asciuga l'inchiostro dei fogli caduti nel fosso salmastro.
Dalla parte della colletta, dell'acqua riusata nella vaschetta,
il telefono col lucchetto e per Natale niente bicicletta.
Dalla parte di Spessotto e se non funziona vuol dire che è rotto,
dalla parte del porcavacca e se nn lo capisci allora lo spacchi.

L'oscurità come un gendarme già mi afferra l'anima,
attardàti qui in mezzo alla via,
non siamo per Davide, siamo per Golia.

Non per Davide e la sua scriva,
non per i primi anche alla dottrina,
con il tarlo dentro all'orecchio
laflanellusi (?) che ci mangia il letto,
con i peccati da regolare le penitenze da sistemare,
sei anni e sei già perduto
e quando t'interrogano rimani muto, muto.
Dalla parte di Spessotto,
che non la dicono non chiara che non la dico non vera
che non la dico non sincera, tieniti i guai nei salvadanai,
se resti zitto mai mentirai.
Adamo nobile, Carmine equivoco,
Rocco Crocco e la banda Spessotto,
imboscati in fondo alla stiva,
negli ultimi banchi della fila,
abbagliati dalla balena, nella pancia della falena,
clandestini sopra alla schiena,
gettati al mare delle anime in pena,
evasi dal compito, evasi dall'ordine,
imbrandati sotto a un trastino,
a giocarcela a nascondino di soppiatto allo sguardo divino.

E il paradiso nostro è questo qua,
fuori dalla grazia, fuori dal giardino.
Va la notte che verrà non siamo più figli del ciel,
figli del ciel, figli del cielo,
ma di quei farabutti di Adamo e di Eva.

L'oscurità come un gendarme già mi afferra l'anima,
ha tardato qui in mezzo alla via, già mi prende e mi porta

Dalla parte di Spessotto, dalla parte finita di sotto,
ma siamo tutti finiti per terra, tutti a reggerci le budella,
gli ubriachi, brutti dannati, ma pure i sobri, belli fortunati.
E quando verrà il giorno che avrò il giudizio,
dirò da che parte è intricato il mio vizio,
per che pena pagherò il dazio, in che risma sono dall'inizio.

Da che giorno ho levato il mio canto
da che pietra dato fuoco al pianto
perchè cielo ho sparso il mio botto
non da Davide solo da Spessotto..

E il paradiso nostro è questo quà fino alla notte che verrà
non siamo più figli del ciel, figli del cielo non da Davide
solo da Spessotto!