• Voto:
Partiro' dalle conclusioni...
Chi potrebbe essere interessato a questa raccolta? I Fans? Naaa! Un EWF che si rispetti ha gia' acquisito tutto il materiale che questo (corposo) cofanetto propone.
Un non Fan? Naa! a parte il prezzo proibitivo, anche se il packaging e' veramente bello, a un non estimatore sinceramente consiglierei di procurarsi in ordine cronologico i vari album creati dalla Cornflake Girl negli anni '90 (anche il discusso "To Venus and Back" del '99) per entrare gradualmente nel meraviglioso ma spesso criptico mondo della rossa cantautrice americana che i suoi fans chiamano addirittura "Dea del Rock" !
E allora perche' 5 stelle?
Ritrovo l'inizio or dunque, quando qualche tempo fa usci' questo cofanetto io promisi a me stesso: "No! non lo comprerai! Ho detto no!" ed effettivamente per qualche tempo trovai la forza interiore di evitar la tentazione... poi successe l'inevitabile, l'ascolto forzato in auto di un mio amico di "Flying Dutchman" traccia presente nel primo dei 5 cd del set in una versione piratata, non ressi l'urto che anche Myra Ellen dovesse subire l'onta della pirateria e il giorno dopo mi trovai con 60 Euri in meno nella mia vita. I giorni successivi vennero impiegati a sbollire il mio fanatismo!
Cinque giorni per il primo cd, una versione "Director's cut " (so che e' un termine cinematografico ma non ne ho trovato uno migliore) del primo album "Little Earthquakes" con molte canzoni riproposte in un mix alternativo ma dell' epoca (1992) e l'aggiunta di quattro songs escluse allora dall' originale e messe come B-side in vari singoli, tra cui le bellissime "Upside Down" e "Take to the Sky". Tre giorni per il secondo, un'antologia di mix alternativi (sempre dell' epoca) e altre B-side (in cui spicca la commovente "Honey") dai due successivi album: "Under the Pink" del '94 e "Boys for Pele" del '96, una settimana per il difficile terzo dischetto: florilegio, secondo i parametri dei primi due cd, ancora del secondo e terzo album ma anche del quinto "To Venus and Back" e qui per la verita' purtroppo e' stato inserito il bruttissimo remix per discoteca di "Professional Widow" compensato pero' dalla presenza di della versione live di "Waitress".
Al quarto disco dedicai piu' o meno cinque giorni soprattutto per le canzoni riprese da "From the Choirgirl Hotel" del '98 che non per quelle di "Scarlet's Walk" (2002) e "The Beekeeper" (2005) che sono i suoi album piu' deboli. Qui ad esaltarsi c'e' la bellisima versione alternativa di "Playboy Mommy", veramente incantevole... Il quinto essendo una raccolta di sole B-side varie non mi prese piu' di un giorno, notevole comunque la presenza di "Sister Janet".
Dopo tre settimane dunque potei dare un giudizio sereno sul prodotto e sinceramente la mia impressione fu che tutto sommato il cofanetto non incideva piu' di tanto nellla storia della Amos, che da fan accanito mi sarei aspettato qualcosa di piu', che le B-side le avevo gia' tutte e che pochissime delle versioni alternative (tutte d'epoca) aggiungevano qualcosa di nuovo rispetto alle originali (quelle di "Crucify" e "Mother" per esempio).
E allora perche' il massimo dei voti? Semplice, perche' anche quando non e' in forma questa splendida creatura, che per citare "Il Mucchio Selvaggio" fu per la generazione Lollapalooza quello che la Mitchell fu per quella Woodstock, riesce sempre a "corrompermi", la sua voce versatile e mai prevedibile, quel suo modo di arrangiare mai banale e spesso minimalista, l'incredibile varieta' di stili che ha proposto (dal Pop d'autore al cantautorato elettronico, passando per citazioni barocche e furibonde ballate per pianoforte) mi portano a non esser sempre obiettivo e valutare questo prodotto, che comunque va molto aldila' della mera speculazione commerciale, con l'ingenuita' del bambino che non si stanca mai della stessa filastrocca...
Lei e' la donna che cercava un Salvatore sotto delle lenzuola sporche, che si masturbava ascoltando la voce di Robert Plant, lei e' la donna che mi ha raccontato di ragazze che ti buttano ai pescicane e di altre che sono veloci dalla padella alla brace, lei non ha avuto la paura di listare a lutto le sue canzoni senza farle apparire grottesche, mi ha parlato di Dio al femminile prima che diventasse un cliche' e di brezze primaverili...
Ogni giorno vorrei qualcosa di nuovo di suo, per ora mi accontentero' dei suoi ricordi anche se di seconda mano.
Elenco tracce e testi
03 Silent All These Years (04:12)
Excuse me but can I be you for awhile?
My dog won't bite if you sit real still
I got the anti-Christ in the kitchen yellin' at me again
Yeah I can hear that
Been saved again by the garbage truck
I got something to say you know but nothing comes
Yes I know what you think of me--you never shut up
Yeah I can hear that
But what if I'm a mermaid
In these jeans of his with her name still on it
Hey, but I don't care 'cause sometimes
I said sometimes I hear my voice and it's been
Here... silent all these years
So you found a girl who thinks really deep thoughts
What's so amazing about really deep thoughts?
Boy you best pray that I bleed real soon
How's that thought for you?
My scream got lost in a paper cup
I think there's a heaven where the screams have gone
I got 25 bucks and a cracker, do you think it's enough
To get us there 'cause...
What if I'm a mermaid
In these jeans of his with her name still on it
Hey, but I don't care, 'cause sometimes
I said sometimes I hear my voice, and it's been
Here... silent all these years
Years go by, will I still be waiting
For somebody else to understand
Years go by, if I'm stripped of my beauty
And the orange clouds raining in my hand
Years go by, will I choke on my tears
'Till finally there is nothing left
One more casualty you know we're too easy, easy, easy
Well I love the way we communicate
Your eyes focus on my funny lip shape
Let's hear what you think of me now, but baby don't look up
The sky is falling
Your mother shows up in a nasty dress
And it's your turn now to stand where I stand
Everybody lookin' at you
Here, take hold of my hand
Yeah I can hear them...
But what if I'm a mermaid
In these jeans of yours with her name still on it
Hey, but I don't care 'cause sometimes
I said sometimes, I hear my voice
I hear my voice
I hear my voice
And it's been here... silent all these years
I've been here... silent all these years
Silent
All these
Silent all these years
04 Upside Down (04:22)
god I love to turn my
little blue world upside down
god I love to turn my little
blue world upside down
inside my head the noise
chatter chatter chatter
chatter chatter
you see I'm afraid I'll always be
still comin out of my mother
upside down
don't you lovee to turn this
little blue girl upside down
I know you love to turn this
little blue girl baby upside down
but my heart it says
you've been shatter shatter shatter
shatter shattered
and I know you're still a boy
still comin out of your mother
but when you gonna stand on your own
I say the world is sick you say
tell me what makes us darlin
You see you always find my faults
faster than you find you're own
you say the world is getting rid
of her demons I say
baby what have you been
smokin well I dreamed
I dreamed I Dreamed
I loved a black boy
my daddy would scream
don't you love to turn this
little Blue girl upside down
any kind of touch I think is
better than none even upside down
but you see I'm tangled up
got a kitten in my hair
Cincinnati - I like the word
it's the only thing we can't seem
to turn upside down
well I found the secret to life
I found the secret to life
I'm O.K. when everything is not O.K.
Don't we love to turn our
little Blue world upside down
don't we love to turn our little Blue world baby upside down
inside my head a voice
chatter chatter chatter chatter
chatter and it says Girl
you're all the same
Still comin out of your mothers
Still comin out of your mothers
upside down
06 Happy Phantom (03:15)
And if I die today I'll be the happy phantom
and I'll go chasin' the nuns out in the yard
and I'll run naked through the streets without my mask on
and I will never need umbrellas in the rain
I'll wake up in strawberry fields everyday
and the atrocities of school I can forgive
The happy phantom has no right to bitch
Oo who- The time is getting closer
Oo who- Time to be a ghost
Oo who- Everyday we're getting closer
The sun is getting dim
Will we pay for who we've been
So if I die today I'll be the happy phantom
And I'll go wearin' my naughties like a jewel
They'll be my ticket to the universal opera
There's Judy Garland taking Buddha by the hand
and then these seven little men get up to dance
They say Confucius does his crossword with a pen
I'm still the angel to the girl who hates to sin
Oo whoo- The time is gettin closer
Oo who- The time to be a ghost
Oo who- Everyday we're getting closer
The sun is getting dim
Will I pay for who I've been
Or will I see you dear and wish I could come back
You found a girl that you could truly love again
Will you still call for me when she falls asleep
or do we soon forget the things we cannot see
Oo who- The time is getting closer
Oo who- The time to be a ghost
Oo who- Everyday we're getting closer
The sun is getting dim
Will I pay for who I been
And if I die today
And if I die today
And if I die today
Chasin' nuns out in the yard
07 Me and a Gun (03:43)
5am friday morning, thursday night, far from sleep
I'm still up and driving, can't go home obviously
So I'll just change direction cause they'll soon know where I live
And I wanna live
Got a full tank and some chips
It was me and a gun and a man on my back
And I sang "holy holy" as he buttoned down his pants
You can laugh, It's kind of funny the things you think times like these
like I haven't seen Barbados so I must get out of this
Yes I wore a slinky red thing, does that mean I should spred
for you, your friends, your father, Mr. Ed
It was me and a gun and a man on my back
but I haven't seen Barbados so I must get out of this
And I know what this means, me and Jesus a few years back
Used to hang and he said "It's your choice babe, just remember
I don't think that you'll be back in 3 days time so you choose well"
Tell me what's right, Is it my right to be on my stomach of Fred's Seville
It was me and a gun and a man on my back
But I haven't seen Barbados so I must get out of this
And do you know Carolina where the biscuits are soft and sweet
These things go through you head when there's a man on your back
and you're pushed flat on your stomach, it's not a classic cadillac
Me and a gun and a man on my back
But I haven't seen Barbados so I must get out of this
I haven't seen Barbados so I must get out of this
10 Winter (05:43)
Snow can wait, I forgot my mittens
Wipe my nose, get my new boots on
I get a little warm in my heart when I think of winter
I put my hand in my father's glove
I run off where the drifts get deeper
Sleeping beauty trips me with a frown
I hear a voice "You must learn to stand up for yourself
cause I can't always be around"
He says when you gonna make up your mind
When you gonna love you as much as I do
When you gonna make up your mind
Cause things are gonna change so fast
All the white horses are still in bed
I tell you that I'll always want you near
You say that things change my dear
Boys get discovered as winter melts
Flowers competing for the sun
Years go by and I'm here still waiting
Withering where some snowman was
Mirror mirror where's the crystal palace
but I only can see myself
Skating around the truth who I am
but I know, dad, the ice is getting thin
When you gonna make up your mind
When you gonna love you as much as I do
When you gonna make up your mind
Cause things are gonna change so fast
All the white horses are still in bed
I tell you that I'll always want you near
You say that things change my dear
Hair is grey and the fires are burning
So many dreams on the shelf
You say I wanted you to be proud
I always wanted that myself
When you gonna make up your mind
When you gonna love you as much as I do
When you gonna make up your mind
Cause things are gonna change so fast
All the white horses have gone ahead
I tell you that I'll always want you near
You say that things change my dear
Never change
All the white horses
12 Tear in Your Hand (04:42)
All the world just stopped now
So you say you don't wanna stay together any more
Let me take a deep breath babe
If you need me, me and Neil'll be hangin' out with the Dream King
Neil says hi by the way
I don't believe you're leaving cause
me and Charles Manson like the same ice cream
I think it's that girl
and I think there're pieces of me you've never seen
Maybe she's just pieces of me you've never seen well
All the world is
All I am
The black of the the blackest ocean
and that tear in your hand
All the world is danglin' danglin' danglin' for me darlin
You don't know the power that you have with that
tear in your hand
that tear in your hand
Maybe I ain't used to
Maybes smashing in a cold room
Cutting my hands up
Everytime I touch you
Maybe it's time to wave goodbye now
Time to wave goodbye now
Caught a ride with the moon
I know I know you well
Well better than I used to
Haze all clouded up my mind
In the dazeof the why it could've never been
So you say and I say you know you're full of wish
and your "baby baby baby babies"
I tell you there's peices of me you've never seen
Maybe she's just pieces of me you've never seen well
All the world is
All I am
The black of the blackest ocean
and that tear in your hand
All the world is danglin' danglin' danglin' for me darlin'
You don't know the power that you have with that
tear in your hand
that tear in your hand
13 China (04:59)
China all the way to New York
I can feel the distance getting close
You're right next to me
but I need an airplane
I can feel the distance as you breathe
Sometimes I think you want me to touch you
How can I when you build the Great Wall around you
In your eyes I saw a future together
But you just look away in the distance
China decorates our table
Funny how the cracks don't seem to show
Pour the wine dear
You say we'll take a holiday
But we never can agree on where to go
Sometimes I think you want to me to touch you
But how can I when you build the Great Wall around you
In your eyes I saw a future together
But you just look away in the distance
China all the way to New York
Maybe you got lost in Mexico
You're right next to me
I think that you can hear me
Funny how the distance learns to grow
Sometimes I think you want me to touch you
But how can I when you build the Great Wall around you
I can feel the distance getting close
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