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 После экспериментов с электроникой, не всегда удачных, группа вернулась к оригинальному саунду, построенному на контрасте между акустикой и электричеством, однако полновесного возвращения не вышло. Иэну Андерсону уже за 40, он превратился в мастера, способного дать сто очков вперед многим начинающим рокерам, но этот альбом явно не входит в число его достижений ни в музыкальном, ни в текстовом плане (лирика касается в основном любви, что тоже не очень хорошо с точки зрения разнообразия). Кроме того, Иэн явно оценил идею компакт-диска, поскольку альбом длится около часа, хотя половину песен можно было бы без зазрения совести убрать. Попробуем-ка разобрать это творение поподробнее. 1) «This Is Not Love». Отличный хард-рок с классным драйвом. Герой познакомился на морском курорте с какой-то женщиной, она ему нравится, но у нее на этот счет сомнения, из-за чего он спрашивает: «Как же ты уверена больше, чем я, что это не любовь?» 2) «Occasional Demons». Размеренный хард с перекличкой акустической и электрической гитары. Текст довольно смутный: «Мы – разные виды животных, иногда также и демоны». 3) «Roll Yer Own». Гитарный блюз, несколько несерьезный, что выражается даже в манере пения (например, растягивании звуков). Заканчивается диминуэндо, однако спустя несколько секунд вдруг возвращается крещендо, из-за чего выглядит ужасно длинным. Такое впечатление, что этот блюз можно было бы играть бесконечно. Лирика довольно глупая – вроде бы о желании покурить травки и расслабиться («Скрути себе сам»). 4) «Rocks on the Road». Отличный тяжелый фолк-блюз. Медленное гитарное начало под перкуссии. Лирические нотки в середине – флейта, фортепьяно, гитара. Описание одиночества вдали от дома, когда обращаешь внимание на разные мелочи, чтобы хоть как-то заполнить день: черная кошка на улице, два полицейских кого-то избивают, парни на машине спешат на разборку, из душа, словно издевательство, течет то горячая, то холодная вода. 5) «Sparrow on the Schoolyard Wall». Замечательная вещь, то лирическая, то энергичная; в конце отличное соло. Андерсон обращается к кому-то, кого называет «маленьким воробышком на стене школьного двора»: «Летай прежде чем падать». 6) «Thinking Round Corners». Снова несерьезный блюз. Вокал еще более прикольный. Что касается текста, то его понять трудновато. Возможно, он о желании повеселиться, а также о том, что нужно мыслить не стандартно. 7) «Still Loving You Tonight». Баллада на блюзовой основе, со скрипками, вызывающая в памяти… нет, не Scorpions, а Led Zeppelin и «Since I’ve Been Loving You», только гораздо более грустная и мало запоминающаяся. Герой говорит, что он будет с ней сегодня вечером, но потом он уйдет. 8) «Doctor to My Disease». Быстрый хард с запоминающейся гитарой, флейтой и перкуссиями и заразительным припевом: делай со мной все, что хочешь, но нечего пытаться меня лечить. 9) «Like a Tall Thin Girl». Снова не слишком серьезная вещь с неплохим тандемом флейты и мандолины. Стоит послушать только ради вокала: Андерсон выступает в роли этакого сатира, который не прочь повеселиться с какой-нибудь «высокой, худощавой девчонкой». 10) «White Innocence». Отличная баллада с перекличкой гитар, грустными клавишными и прекрасной оркестровкой в середине о встрече с невинной девушкой, которую герой подвез на машине. Грустное понимание того, что ты уже стареешь и такие вот юные создания, которые могут вызвать в тебе желание, уже не обращают на тебя никакого внимания. В целом весьма напоминает «Budapest» с альбома «Crest of a Knave». 11) «Sleeping with the Dog». Снова хард-блюз. Текст – о весьма непростых отношениях с женщиной: «Я просыпаюсь после сна рядом с собакой». 12) «Gold-Tipped Boots, Black Jacket & Tie». Веселенькое такое кантри. Юмористическое описание собственного состояния («Я разбит и помят») и внешнего вида («На мне туфли с позолоченными носками, черный пиджак и галстук»), с надеждой на то, что все еще образуется. 13) «When Jesus Came to Play». Еще один хард-фолк (с интересной игрой на флейте и маршевыми ударными) об одном парне-музыканте по имени Иисус, обещавшем сыграть нечто головокружительное, но оказавшемся посредственным (уж не намек ли это такой на Христа и его последователей?). Что ж, Андерсон назвал именно этот альбом лучшим (по крайней мере, на то время) в своей карьере, потому что, по его мнению, менять свой стиль музыкант может только к лучшему. Однако вот беда: то, что нравится создателю, не всегда нравится тем, для кого это создается. Альбом неплох, но и недостаточно хорош. Для такого большого релиза в нем слишком мало реально мощных треков, он слишком неоднородный, а несерьезность некоторых песен вообще не радует. На ранних альбомах тоже были задорные вещи (например, «Fat Man» на «Stand Up»), но там они были к месту. Что касается названия, то «catfish» в английском языке называется целый ряд рыб отряда сомовых, так что я не берусь сказать, что именно за рыба изображена на обложке. Пусть этим занимаются ихтиологи. Надеюсь, среди любителей хорошей рок-музыки есть и такие. |
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No, this is not love
Empty drugstore, postcards freeze
Sunburst images of summers gone
Think I see us in these promenade days
Before we learned october's song
Out on the headland, one gale whipped tree
Curious, head bent to see
And how come you know better than me
That this is not love?
No, this is not love
This is not love
Down to the sad south, smokey plumes
Mark that real world city home
Broken spells and silent gloom
Ooze from that concrete honeycomb
Puppy dog waves on a big moon sea
Snapped our heels half heartedly
And how come you know better than me
That this is not love?
No, this is not love
No, this is not love
This is not love
This is not love
Occasional demons
(Anderson)
Well, you got a big jib crane
Waiting to pick you up
You see those snakes that crawl
They're just dying to trip you up
Live out in sad shacks at the back of town
Hold your breath while we do you down
'Cause we're all kinds of animals coming here
Occasional demons too
We're all kinds of animals coming here
Occasional demons too
Well, you got a nice apartment
Here with appliances and CD
We're gonna leave your stereo
But we'll have your soul for tea
I'm not speaking of material things
Gonna chew you up, gonna suck you in
'Cause we're all kinds of animals coming here
Occasional demons too
We're all kinds of animals coming here
Occasional demons too
Smokestacks belching black
We're the have nots in your shade
Well, how about a slice of life?
How about some human trade?
Eat at the best table in town
No headwaiter going to turn us down
'Cause we're all kinds of animals coming here
Occasional demons too
We're all kinds of animals coming here
Occasional demons too
Roll yer own
(Anderson)
Roll yer own
Don't mean you got no money
Only that you got no opportunity
To shake it with that friend of mine
Roll yer own
If you can't buy readymade
If you won't be satisfied
When you feel the sudden need to unwind
You know what moves you in the wee hours
When there's nothing on the answerphone
And if you don't get enough of that electric love
Don't try to get by
Roll yer own
Roll it when there's no one listening
When those re runs play on the late night
Black and white TV
Roll yer own
Roll it when there's something missing
And those wild cats howl
Running in the moonshine
Roll yer own
If you can't buy readymade
If you won't be satisfied
When you feel the sudden need to unwind
You know what moves you in the wee hours
When there's nothing on the answerphone
And if you don't get enough of that electric love
Don't try to get by
Roll yer own
You got to hit that spot
Roll yer own
When your hands are hot
Roll yer own
Roll yer own
Rocks on the road
(Anderson)
There's a black cat down on the quayside
Ship's lights, green eyes glowing in the dark
Two young cops handing out a beating
Know how to hurt and leave no mark
Down in the half lit bar of the hotel
There's a call for the last round of the day
Push back the stool, take that elevator ride
Fall in bed and kick my shoes away
Kick my shoes away
Kick my shoes away
Rocks on the road
Can't sleep through the wild sound of the city
Hear a car full of young boys heading for a fight
Long distance telephone keeps ringing out engaged
Wonder who you're talking with tonight?
Talking with tonight
You talking with tonight
Rocks on the road
Tired plumbing wakes me in the morning
Shower runs hot, runs cold, playing with me
Well, I'm up for the down side, life's a bitch and all that stuff
So come and shake some apples from my tree
Have to pay for my minibar madness
Itemised phone bill overload
Well, now how about some heavy rolling?
Move these rocks on the road
On the road
Rocks on the road
Crumbs on the breakfast table
And a million other little things to spoil my day
Now how about a little light music?
To chase it all away
Chase it all away
Sparrow on the schoolyard wall
(Anderson)
You want to be a bookworm?
You wanna be aloof?
You wanna sit in judgement?
Looking down from the roof?
Try a wee sensation
But first you have to want to join in
You should be...
Should be raging down the freeway
With some friends from the mall
Don't stay forever in your limbo
Fly before you fall
Little sparrow on the schoolyard wall
Little sparrow on the wall
So dress a little dangerous
Yes, and modify your walk
There's nothing wrong with sparrows
But try to be a sparrow hawk
Hunting in the evening
And floating in the heat in the day
You might...
Might acquire some predatory instinct
Do the wolf pack crawl
Don't stay forever in your limbo
Fly before you fall
Little sparrow on the schoolyard wall
Little sparrow on the wall
Well, I don't wanna be your daddy
Don't wannna be your engineer of sin
And I don't wanna play the piper here
I'm only banging on a mandolin
And anyway, you're just a little sparrow
On the schoolyard wall
There's nothing wrong with learning
And nothing wrong with your books
So exercise some judgement
Too much broth can spoil the cook
Feel a little sensation
And know when it's time to join in
You should be...
Should be raging down the freeway
With some friends from the mall
Don't stay forever in your limbo
Fly before you fall
Before you fall
Little sparrow on the schoolyard, the schoolyard wall
Little sparrow on the schoolyard wall
Little sparrow on the schoolyard wall
Little sparrow on the schoolyard wall
Little sparrow on the schoolyard
Thinking round corners
(Anderson)
All of you sit up in bed
Don't think in straight lines ahead
Can't sleep? Head spin?
Don't think in circles, it'll do you in
Think back to the dream you had
No sense of being good or bad
Jump to the left, jump to the right
Think round corners into night
Let's go in wet corridors
Dive down drains
Draw strength from machinery
It's all the same
Thinking round corners
Think round corners, I say
Pretty girl with neon eyes
Best man between white thighs
Bridegroom didn't know a thing
Got his love in lights, she wears two rings
Think back to that dream you had
Blue boy sorry, pink girl sad
Yellow cow, big eyed moon
All coming round the corner soon
Let's stand in rapids
Cling to carnivals
Spit life from the maypole
In savage ceremony
Let's go in wet corridors
Dive down drains
Draw strength from machinery
It's all the same
Thinking round corners
Think round corners, I say
Paper cowboys, tin drums
Banging where the white man comes
Landowners with whips and chains
But soft in bed amidst warm rains
Thinking back to the dream they had
Jack and Jill, Jack the lad
Homestead, home free
How about leaving some for me?
Let's bathe in malt whisky
Covet gold finery
Through the eyes of a Jackdaw
Dressed to the nines
Let's go down wet corridors
Dive down drains
Draw strength from machinery
It's all the same
Thinking round corners
Think round corners, I say
Thinking round corners
Thinking round corners
Thinking round corners
Still loving you tonight
(Anderson)
It's a lonely life I live
And I live this life to go
And if I leave you with one thing
It's just that I want you to know
I'll still be loving you tonight
I left flowers on your table
Left the lock on your door
Staked a claim in your heartlands
Put grain in your store
I'll still be loving you tonight
Still loving you tonight
Got fingers on the button
Of that telephone dial
Call in and move your mountains
Fill your spaces while
I'm still loving you tonight
I'm still loving you tonight
You wanna know how I can leave you?
How can I move along this way?
Too much of a good thing can make you crazy
And it's a good thing that happened to me today
I'll still be loving you tonight
Still be loving you tonight
Doctor to my disease
(Anderson)
I've been treated for mild depression
And I've been treated for growing pains
I've been treated for hallucinations
Now I can see it all coming again
Well, you can wind me up
Yeah, you can slow me down
You can dig a little
And you can mess me around
But there's one thing I should tell you
To which you must agree
There's no use you playing doctor to my disease
Said it's no use you playing doctor to my disease
I've got no cure for this condition
That you've been causing me tonight
Well, you've put my heart in overdrive
Hand me the bullet, I must bite
Well, you can stir me up
And you can cut me down
You can probe a little
Push that knife around
But there's one thing I should tell you
To which you must agree
It's no use you playing doctor to my disease
No use you playing doctor to my disease
No use you playing doctor to my disease
Do you have to break my engine?
So you can fix it up again
Tuned to crazy imperfection
Just to score me out of ten
Well, you can wind me up
Yeah, you can slow me down
You can dig a little
Yeah, you can mess me around
But there's one thing I should tell you
To which you must agree
That it's no use you playing doctor to my disease
No use you playing doctor to my disease
No use you playing doctor to my disease
Like a tall thin girl
(Anderson)
Well, I don't care to eat out
In smart restaurants
I'd rather do a Vindaloo
Take away is what I want
I was down at the old Bengal
Having telephoned a treat
When I saw her framed in the kitchen door
She looked good enough to eat
And I mean eat!
She was a tall thin girl
She looked like a tall thin girl
She said: Whose is this carry out?
My face turned chilli red
Well, I don't know about carrying out
But you can carry me off to bed
And I mean bed!
She was a tall thin girl
She moved like a tall thin girl
Maybe I can fetch for it
And maybe I can stretch for it
I may not be a fat man
And I'm not exactly small
But when it all comes down, couldn't stand my ground
This girl was tall
And I mean tall!
She was a tall thin girl
Big boy Doane, he's a drummer
Don't play no tambourine
But he's Madras hot on the bongo trot
If you know just what I mean
Stands six foot three in his underwear
Going to get him down here and see
If this good lady's got a little sister
'Bout the same size as me
She was a tall thin girl
She looked like a tall thin girl
Well, can I fetch for it?
Well, maybe I can stretch for it?
Well, am I up for it?
Or do I have to go down for it?
White innocence
(Anderson)
She drifted from some minor festival
Didn't look like any summer of love
Just a thousand weekend warriors in a muddy field
She was the hand to fit my glove
Funny thing, the innocence of the lonely
Funny thing, the charm of the young
See how she moves just like two angels in white innocence
Yet one of them is on the run
The other's tapping at my car window
And I'm squinting through the sun
Trying to see if she's some child of the nineties
Or just another dangerous fantasy of mine
Yeah, white innocence
White innocence
White innocence
She was white innocence
A perfect hole was in her stocking
It made a perfect window to her heart
I could have moved among her waterfalls
Her misty curtains drawn apart
Did she see warm safety in my numbers?
To want to hitch a ride this way
Felt like I was taking her to market now
To be sold as the last lot of the day
Funny thing, the distance of the lonely
Funny thing, the charm of the young
White innocence
White innocence
White innocence
White innocence
She pressed the button, lowered the window
Let her hand trail in the slipstream of the night
A frost from nowhere seemed to lick her fingers
I could have warmed them but the moment wasn't right
Obvious, she was headed nowhere special
Yes, well, it was even obvious to me
I was doing some, some watching, some waiting
She'd been here before most definitely
There was the promise of early bedtime
There was the promise of heaven on earth
Think I was sending out low voltage electricity
Played it right down for what it was worth
She turned and looked at me in white innocence
And with the clearest eyes of forever grey
She rested one small hand for a second on my knee
I stopped the car, she walked away
Funny thing, the wisdom of the lonely
Funny thing, the charm of the young
Away you go now
White innocence
White innocence
White innocence
Sleeping with the dog
(Anderson)
Her love is like a candle
You light it up at night
Her heart is like a pack of cards
One chance to guess it right
Sometimes I do
She got a tongue like a viper
But she can whisper like a dove
Soft touch like brushed velvet
'Till she hits you from above
And sometimes she does
She leaves me breathing
Down like a fallen log
Just when I feel like dancing
I wake up sleeping with the dog
And it goes...
Sleeping with the dog
Sleeping with the dog
Sleeping with the dog
I have to guess at the mysteries
Of her unfathomable soul
Guess when the time seems right
To make a broken spirit whole
And that time is due
She leaves me breathing
Down like a fallen log
And just when I feel like dancing
I wake up sleeping with the dog
And it goes...
Sleeping with the dog
I'm sleeping with the dog
Sleeping with the dog
Gold-tipped boots, black jacket and tie
(Anderson)
I'm battered and bruised
I've got lines I can't use
My head won't deliver
Well, I'm sold down the river
But I'm turning again
Yes, and I'm turning again
Well, I'm turning again
And I'm turning again
Wearing gold-tipped boots, black jacket and tie
Black jacket and tie
Well, I've been second to none
This horse was ready to run
Now I'm has been and used
Disarmed and defused
But I'm turning again
And I'm turning again
Yes, and I'm turning again
I'm turning again
Wearing gold-tipped boots, black jacket and tie
Black jacket and tie
Black jacket and tie
Black jacket and tie
I'm egg over easy
And I'm washing up squeezy
Appliance for sale
Fat wind in my sail
And I'm turning again
Yes, and I'm turning again
Well, I'm turning again
Yes, and I'm turning again
Wearing gold-tipped boots, black jacket and tie
Black jacket and tie
Black jacket and tie
Black jacket and tie
I'm turning again
When Jesus came to play
(Anderson)
I was in my watering hole
With some ugly friends of mine
When he door came off its hinges
Like a cork from fizzy wine
He said: My name is Jesus
I'm the leader of the band
Gotta set up my equipment
If you boys can lend a hand
When Jesus came to play
When Jesus came to play
He set that bandstand jumping
And he cranked it up so loud
And he moved up to the microphone
Had the attention of the crowd
He said: My name is Jesus
Gonna turn your head around
I'm going to make this easy
Got no time to mess around
When Jesus came to play
When Jesus came to play
When Jesus came to play
I got no twelve disciples
And I got no cross to bear
If you thought they had me crucified
I guess you weren't there
When Jesus came to play
When Jesus came
He sang about three or four numbers
But we'd heard it all before
We boys were getting restless
No girls were moving on the floor
Those parables, they were merciless
And the tables overturned
And there were no minor miracles
But false prophets, they were burned
Well, maybe he was Jesus
But his hair could have used a comb
Long before he hit the last notes
We boys had all gone home
When Jesus came to play
When Jesus came to play
When Jesus came to play
Oh, Jesus, is it really you?
Yeah, Jesus, is it really you?