George Michael: Brother can you spare a dime? (CD: Songs from the last century)

“Brother (o Buddy) can you spare a dime?”, es una bonita canción, que forma parte de las canciones compuestas en la época de la Gran Depresión iniciada en el año1929.

Interpretada con el sentimiento habitual en las baladas de George Michael. Ha sido objeto de muchas versiones. Desde artistas de jazz como Ike Quebec, Dave Brubeck o Abbey Lincoln, hasta artistas del pop como Tom Jones o Barbara Streisand, pasando por el incalificable genio de Tom Waits  

Brother can you spare a dime?

Once I built a railroad, made it run
Made it race against time
Once I built a rairoad, now it's done
Brother can you spare a dime?
Once I built a tower to the sun
Brick and rivet and lime
Once I built a tower, now it's done
Brother can you spare a dime?

Once in khaki suits
Gee, we looked swell
Full of that yankee Doodle De Dum
Half a million boots went slogging through hell
I was the kid with the drum
Say don't you remember, they called me Al
It was Al all the time
Say don't you remember, I'm your pal!
Buddy can you spare a dime?

Once I built a railroad, made it run
Made it race against time
Once I built a rairoad, now it's done
Brother can you spare a dime?
Once I built a tower to the sun
Brick and rivet and lime
Once I built a tower, now it's done
Brother can you spare a dime?

Once in khaki suits
Gee, we looked swell
Full of that yankee Doodle De Dum
Half a million boots went slogging through hell
I was the kid with the drum
Say don't you remember, they called me Al
It was Al all the time
Say don't you remember, I'm your pal!Buddy can you spare a dime?

TOM WAITS: Blue Valentines (CD: Blue Valentine)

Precioso tema melancólico nos trae a la memoria esas noches en solitario, marcadas por el alcohol.
De alguna forma es un previo a la banda sonora que Waits hizo para la película Corazonada.
Waits volverá a este blog en más de una ocasión.

Blue Valentines

She sends me blue valentines
all the way from philadelphia
to mark the anniversary
of someone that I used to be
and it feels just like there's
a warrant out for my arrest
got me checkin' in my rearview mirrror
and I'm always on the run
thats why I change my name
and I didn't think you'd ever find me here

to send me blue valentines
like half forgotten dreams
like a pebble in my shoe
as I walk these streets
and the ghost of your memory
is the thistle in the kiss
and the burgler that that can break a roses neck
it's the tattooed broken promise
that I hide beneath my sleeve
and I see you every time I turn my back

she sends me blue valentines
though I try to remain at large
they're insisting that our love
must have a culogy
why do I save all of this madness
in the nightstand drawer
there to haunt upon my shoulders
baby I know
I'd be luckier to walk around everywhere I go
with a blind and broken heart
that sleeps beneath my lapel

she sends me blue valentines
to remind me of my cardinal sin
I can never wash the guilt
or get these bloodstains off my hands
and it takes a lot of whiskey
to make these nightmares go away
and I cut my bleedin' heart out every nite
and I die a little more on each st. valentine day
remember that I promised I would
write you...
these blue valentines
blue valentines
blue valentines

MASSIVE ATTACK: Unfinished Sympathy (CD: Blue lines)

Interesante grupo de trip-hop. En esta ocasión colaboró con ellos la cantante inglesa Shara Nelson. Cuando se publicó este CD, fue un fracaso comercial. Este tema, Unfinished Sympathy es cautivador y envolvente.

Unfinished Sympathy

I know that I've imagined love before

And how it could be with you

Really hurt me baby, really cut me baby

How can you have a day without a night

You're the book that I have opened

And now I've got to know much more

The curiousness of your potential kiss

Has got my mind and body aching

Really hurt me baby, really cut me baby

How can you have a day without a night

You're the book that I have opened

And now I've got to know much more

Like a soul without a mind

And a body without a heart

I'm missing every part

Hey, hey, hey

I, I, I, I

NATALIE MERCHANT: Carnival (CD: Tigerlily)

Me gusta esta cantante,  compositora de  gran parte de sus éxitos. Este tema, Carnival , es algo especial. Su sonoridad, su ritmo percusivo, la guitarra y el órgano de fondo y sobre todos, la voz cautivadora de Natalie, doblada en ocasiones, produce un ambiente  melancólico y lleno de esperanza.
Si tenéis oportunidad, ver alguna de sus actuaciones en video.

Carnival

Well, I've walked these streets
A virtual stage, it seemed to me
Makeup on their faces
Actors took their places next to me
Well, I've walked these streets
In a carnival, of sights to see
All the cheap thrill seekers vendors and the dealers
They crowded around me
Have I been blind have I been lost
Inside myself and my own mind
Hypnotized, mesmerized by what my eyes have seen?
Well, I've walked these streets
In a spectacle of wealth and poverty
In the diamond markets the scarlet welcome carpet
That they just rolled out for me
And I've walked these streets
In the madhouse asylum they can be
Where a wild-eyed misfit prophet
On a traffic island stopped and he raved of saving me
(rpt 1)
Have I been blind, have I been lost
Have I been blind, have I been mean
Have I been strong
Hypnotized, mesmerized by what my eyes have seen
In that great street carnival, in that carnival?

STING: Roxanne (CD: All this time)

            Esta canción, “Roxanne”, fue compuesta por Sting, cuando formaba parte del grupo británico The Police.

        Fue lanzado como sencillo en 1978 y sin duda uno de los más famosos del grupo. Sting la ha seguido interpretando en multitud de ocasiones.

        Parece que está dedicada a una prostituta llamada Roxanne y según dicen, podría basarse en un  personaje del mismo nombre de la obra del dramaturgo francés Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac.

        Canción muy versionada, quizás una de las que más me gusta es la de George Michael de su disco Songs from the last century (1999).

Roxanne
you don't have to put on the red light
those days are over
you don't have to sell your body to the night
Roxanne
you don't have to wear that dress tonight
walk the streets for money
you don't care if it's wrong or if it's right
Roxanne
you don't have to put on the red light
I loved you since I knew you
I wouldn't talk down to you
I have to tell you just how I feel
I won't share you with another boy
I know my mind is made up
so put away your make up
told you once I won't tell you again
It's a bad way
Roxanne
you don't have to put on the red light
Roxanne
you don't have to put on the red light

LED ZEPPELIN. Stairway to heaven (CD: Led Zeppelin IV)

Compuesta por Jimmy Page y Robert Plant,  Stairway To Heaven es todo un icono de la música moderna. El álbum en el que se incluye, “Led Zeppelin IV”, es uno de los más vendidos de la historia, quizás porque  Stairway To Heaven no se editó en sencillo.

El solo de guitarra de Jimmy Page está considerado como uno de los 50 mejores solos de guitarra.

Es realmente fantástica.

Stairway to Heaven

There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for.
Ooh, ooh, and she's buying a stairway to heaven.

There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
'cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it makes me wonder.

There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who stand looking.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it really makes me wonder.

And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter.

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,
It's just a spring clean for the may queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on.
And it makes me wonder.

Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know,
The piper's calling you to join him,
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.

And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.
And she's buying a stairway to heaven

JAMES TAYLOR: You Can Close Your Eyes (CD: Sweet Baby James)

Me encanta este cantante-compositor. Son muchas las canciones suyas que pasarán por este blog. “You can close your eyes” es una preciosa muestra.
Es un grande entre los grandes. 

 

YOU CAN CLOSE YOUE EYES

Well the sun is surely sinking down, but the moon is slowly rising.

So this old world must still be spinning round and I still love you.

So close your eyes, you can close your eyes, it's all right.

I don't know no love songs and I can't sing the blues anymore.

But I can sing this song and you can sing this song when I'm gone.

It won't be long before another day, we gonna have a good time.

And no one's gonna take that time away. You can stay as long as you like.

So close your eyes, you can close your eyes, it's all right.

I don't know no love songs and I can't sing the blues anymore.

But I can sing this song and you can sing this song when I'm gone.

STEPHEN STILLS: Change Partners (CD: Stephen Stills 2)

Stephen Stills, este compositor, intérprete y fantástico guitarrista,  que perteneció a los míticos Buffalo Springfield y a de Crosby, Stills & Nash y con Neil Young (CSNY). Esta es una de las canciones más poéticas de este cantautor.

 

Change partners

All of the ladies attending the ball

are requested to gaze in the faces

found on the dance cards

please then remember

and don't get to close

to one special one

he will take your defenses and run.

So we change partners

time to change partners

you must change partners

again

This is how most of our ladies grew up

at the country club dances

they learned how to handle the boys

gently but firmly

they learned to say no

there were four more young men

who were waiting in the color and the noise.

So we change partners

time to change partners

you must change partners

again

All of the ladies attending the ball

are requested to gaze in the faces

found on the dance cards

please then remember

and follow your list

'cause the dear things get hurt

and the broken hearts make you feel.

So we change partners

time to change partners

you must change partners

again

RICKIE LEE JONES: Coolsville (CD: Naked Songs)

De nuevo Rickie Lee Jones nos hiela el corazón con esta canción.
Coolsville, está en la línea de canciones tristes, desgarradoras en las que Rickie, con esa voz que a algunos les parece estresante, nos vuelve a enamorar.
Aquí, en el disco, se acompaña con la guitarra.

Coolsville

I and Braggar, and Junior Lee,
well that's the way we always thought it would be
In the Winston lips of September, how we met
Decked out like aces, we'd beat anybody's bet

Cuz we was Coolsville...
cuz we was Coolsville

Well you stick it here;
you stick it over there;
it never fits

And now the hungry night wants more and more
and you're chippyin' your little kiss.
I jumped all his jokers,
but he trumped all my tricks

But I swear to God
I thought this one was smart enough to stick it into Coolsville...
and stick it into Coolsville...
Ooh, Daddy, stick it into Coolsville

So now it's J and B, and me,
That sounds close,
but it ain't the same
but that's okay
Hot City don't hurt that much
When everything feels the same
Well the real thing come and the real thing go...
Well the Real Thing is Back in Town...
Ask me if you wanna know The way to Coolsville...
I hear you wanna go back to Coolsville?
Then come on, I'll take you back... to Coolsville.

CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG: Deja Vu (CD: Deja Vu)

Qué decir de Crosby, Stills Nash & Young. Esta canción representó  junto a todo el LP, el pensamiento de toda una época  y un estado de ánimo juvenil muy especial.

        El inicio ya denota originalidad y su desarrollo que mezcla elementos acústicos y eléctricos es extraordinario.

Deja Vu

One Two Three Four
If I had ever been here before
I would probably know just what to do
Don't you?
If I had ever been here before on another time around the wheel
I would probably know just how to deal
With all of you
And I feel
Like I've been here before
Feel
Like I've been here before
And you know it makes me wonder
What's going on under the ground, hmmm
Do you know? Don't you wonder?
What's going on down under you
We have all been here before, we have all been here before
We have all been here before, we have all been here before
We have all been here before, we have all been here before

ELTON JOHN: Your Song (CD: Elton John)

Preciosa canción compuesta junto al letrista y poeta Bernie Taupin, colaborador de Elton John en más de 30 álbumes. Esa canción y el álbum que lo contenía fueron su primer éxito en  1970

Canción versionada por muchos artistas, pero quizás la mejor ha sido la realizada por Al Jarreau. No te la pierdas.

Your Song

It's a little bit funny this feeling inside

I'm not one of those who can easily hide

I don't have much money but boy if I did

I'd buy a big house where we both could live

If I was a sculptor, but then again, no

Or a man who makes potions in a travelling show

I know it's not much but it's the best I can do

My gift is my song and this one's for you

And you can tell everybody this is your song

It may be quite simple but now that it's done

I hope you don't mind

I hope you don't mind that I put down in words

How wonderful life is while you're in the world

I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss

Well a few of the verses well they've got me quite cross

But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song

It's for people like you that keep it turned on

So excuse me forgetting but these things I do

You see I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue

Anyway the thing is what I really mean

Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen

ISMAEL SERRANO; La Extraña Pareja (CD: Atrapados en Azul)

Esta canción rezuma tristeza a raudales a pesar de su ritmo rápido.

Ismael Serrano una vez más nos encoge el corazón con esta historia de amor y muerte.

La amistad está  también presente en esta canción de fracasos amorosos.

La Extraña Pareja

Eran conocidos en las calles del barrio,

conocidos en todos los bares y tabernas.

Él tan serio, tan alto, tan pálido y delgado,

ella morena y frágil, tan graciosa y pequeña.

Él rondaba, más o menos, los cincuenta,

y ella debía tener no más de veinticuatro.

Él daba clases, creo, en alguna academia,

y ella estudiaba, creo, un curso de italiano.

Bebían y se amaban, o eso parecía,

discutían a veces, a veces sonreían,

se besaban y odiaban, pero nadie es perfecto,

el amor es difícil y extraño en estos tiempos.

La noche debilita los corazones,

noches de funeral, de vino y rosas.

Brindemos por el amor y sus fracasos,

quizás podamos escoger nuestra derrota.

El sol limpia las calles, la memoria,

feroces pasiones atenúa.

Invéntate el final de cada historia,

que el amor es eterno mientras dura.

Él entró una noche en el bar de costumbre,

iba vestido todo de riguroso luto,

venía borracho y solo, traía el gesto serio,

y en las manos una corona de difuntos.

Ella le había dejado, nos explicó sereno,

y había decidido considerarla muerta,

y brindar por su olvido y su descanso eterno,

y celebrar su entierro de taberna en taberna.

Así que allá nos fuimos, y para qué contaros:

vasos, vinos y risas, alguna vomitona,

abrazos de amistad, eterna aquella noche.

Requiescat y brindemos por ella y su memoria.

La noche debilita los corazones,

noches de funeral, de vino y rosas.

Brindemos por el amor y sus fracasos,

quizás podamos escoger nuestra derrota.

El sol limpia las calles, la memoria,

feroces pasiones atenúa.

Invéntate el final de cada historia,

que el amor es eterno mientras dura.

Al salir de El Almendro ya iba muy borracho,

se cayó en el asfalto y me incliné a su lado.

Supe que estaba muriéndose de golpe,

dijo algo en mi oído, se deshizo en mis brazos.

Se lo llevó la ambulancia con su corona y todo,

y yo me fui a cumplir con su encargo maldito.

Llegué hasta el bar que él me había indicado

y busqué a la muchacha entre el humo y el ruido.

Por fin la vi, bailaba muy despacio,

refugiada en el cálido pecho de un muchacho.

Le conté, me escuchó, se abrazó a su pareja.

Yo no sé si lloró, no se veía apenas.

La noche debilita los corazones,

noches de funeral, de vino y rosas.

Brindemos por el amor y sus fracasos,

quizás podamos escoger nuestra derrota.

El sol limpia las calles, la memoria,

feroces pasiones atenúa.

Invéntate el final de cada historia,

que el amor es eterno mientras dura.

Portishead en FIB 2011

Desde 1991 este grupo nos ha emocionado como pocos. El tándem Beth Gibbons y Geoff Barrow  nos deja perlas musicales con cuentagotas (para la publicación de “Third” hemos esperado diez años).

Acaban de actuar en el Festival Internacional de Benicasim (FIB)  en su XVII edición y a la que han asistido cerca de 200.000 personas.

Han actuado y han barrido con su atmósfera y profesionalidad que ha caracterizado a esta banda en sus diez y ocho años de historia.  

Su intimismo, su imagen sobrecogedora agarrada al micrófono como si en ello le fuera la vida, aferrándose a algo material porque lo inmaterial, lo espiritual lo pone Beth con su voz.

Deseamos que vuelvan lo antes posible a España. ¿Se imaginan una actuación de Portishead en un local cerrado, con apenas luz solamente la imagen del grupo iluminada y una buena acústica como telón de fondo?

JACQUES BREL: Ne Me Quitte Pas (CD: Infiniment)

Jacques Brel, cantante belga fue el compositor, en 1959,  de esta canción de amor justo después de la separación de Zizou, aunque paradójicamente fue éste quien la dejó.
Versionada hasta la saciedad en diferentes idiomas y por todo tipo de artistas: Sting, Charles Aznavour, Nina Simone (una de las que más me gustan), Frank Sinatra, Marianne Faithfull, Shirley Horne, Dee Dee Bridgewater o Ray Charles entreoíros muchos.

            Triste, muy triste canción pero de gran belleza.

Ne Me Quitte Pas

Ne me quitte pas

Il faut oublier

Tout peut s'oublier

Qui s'enfuit déjà

Oublier le temps

Des malentendus

Et le temps perdu

A savoir comment

Oublier ces heures

Qui tuaient parfois

A coups de pourquoi

Le cœur du bonheur

Ne me quitte pas

Ne me quitte pas

Ne me quitte pas

Ne me quitte pas

Moi je t'offrirai

Des perles de pluie

Venues de pays

Où il ne pleut pas

Je creuserai la terre

Jusqu'après ma mort

Pour couvrir ton corps

D'or et de lumière

Je ferai un domaine

Où l'amour sera roi

Où l'amour sera loi

Où tu seras reine

Ne me quitte pas

Ne me quitte pas

Ne me quitte pas

Ne me quitte pas

Ne me quitte pas

Je t'inventerai

Des mots insensés

[Más Letras en http://es.mp3lyrics.org/ISVA]

Que tu comprendras

Je te parlerai

De ces amants-là

Qui ont vu deux fois

Leurs cœurs s'embraser

Je te raconterai

L'histoire de ce roi

Mort de n'avoir pas

Pu te rencontrer

Ne me quitte pas

Ne me quitte pas

Ne me quitte pas

Ne me quitte pas

On a vu souvent

Rejaillir le feu

D'un ancien volcan

Qu'on croyait trop vieux

Il est paraît-il

Des terres brûlées

Donnant plus de blé

Qu'un meilleur avril

Et quand vient le soir

Pour qu'un ciel flamboie

Le rouge et le noir

Ne s'épousent-ils pas

Ne me quitte pas

Ne me quitte pas

Ne me quitte pas

Ne me quitte pas

Ne me quitte pas

Je ne vais plus pleurer

Je ne vais plus parler

Je me cacherai là

A te regarder

Danser et sourire

Et à t'écouter

Chanter et puis rire

Laisse-moi devenir

L'ombre de ton ombre

L'ombre de ta main

L'ombre de ton chien

Ne me quitte pas

Ne me quitte pas

Ne me quitte pas

Ne me quitte

RICKIE LEE JONES: Living It Up (CD: Naked Songs)

Rickie Lee Jones es lo que se conoce por una artista de culto.
Su estilo es indefinible. Ha tocado muchos palos, R&B, Jazz, pop…
En sus canciones parece expresar un desgarro interior irreconciliable.
Esta canción es una muestra de ello.
Me encanta el piano, que por cierto interpreta ella.
Estuvo casada con Tom Waits. ¡Cuanta música emanaría de esa relación!.


http://au.mp3cherry.com/song/1021526-Rickie_Lee_Jones_-_Living_It_Up.html


Living It Up


Eddie's got one crazy eye
that turns him into a cartoon
wahen a pretty girl comes by
and there's nothin' here to do anymore
he sits on the stoop all day
like there's something he's waiting for
Cunt-finger Louie picks up Eddie in the alley
he's got all those guys with him
from that town where they all look like Frankie Valli
they speak fluently blonde
from her legs to her cigarette
and Louie told Eddie that he'd fix him up
but he ain't come back yet
well, you know

It's more trouble than it's worth
it's more trouble than it's worth
Oh Wild and the Only ones
Tell him where you are
Oh Wild and the Only ones
Tell him where you are
Tell him where you are

Zero quit school
and she lost her job again
and then her boyfriend beat her up
and now he won't let her in
so she's walking by his Joint
in a black and blue dress
she looks at Louie who elbows Eddie who says
"don't tell me, lemme guess."

It's more trouble than it's worth
he's more trouble than he's worth
Oh Wild and the Only ones
Tell him where you are –
Oh Wild and the Only ones
Tell him where you are

Well at first when it was this way
when they're the only ones
and you've got all these ideas
you never tell to anyone
there are always magnets
pulling each of you there
living every story you'd dare
to be the only ones
the only ones...

Oh, who are living it up
oh yeah, we're living it up
oh yeah, we'll be living it up
oh yeah, we're living it up
gotta be living it up
oh yeah, we're living it up
oh yeah, we're living it up
oh yeah, we're living it up
oh yeah, we're living it up
oh yeah, we're living it up

Louie and Eddie found a reason then and there
carried her over the bridges like fluttering pages they didn't care
in the terminal where dreams
let so many tickets through
when strangers look in faces
and see somebody there they knew
you might meet me tomorrow
as all the lights are blooming green
and you're feeling a little lonely,
a little sad, a little mean
remember a place
inside of that hotel
where you could do anything you want to do
you couldn't tell

If it's more trouble than it's worth
ah, this is more trouble than it's worth
Oh Wild and the Only ones
tell him where you are –
Oh Wild and the Only ones
I'm waiting you Could
tell him where you are –
Oh Wild and the Only ones
why don't you tell him where you are?

Portishead: Glory Box (CD:Dummy)

Portishead lleva el nombre de la ciudad natal del teclista Geoff Barrow, cofundador junto a Beth Gibbons en 1991 de este grupo enigmático. Geof Barrow antes de formar este grupo lo hizo en Massive Attack y con Tricky.

Beth Gibbons aporta a esta canción, una vez más, su voz rota, dramática creando una atmósfera extraordinaria.

No dejéis de ver el video Portishead in Roseland NYC, en 1997 interpretando Glory Box, grabado un día lluvioso y frío. Beth, pitillo en mano sujetando el micrófono… está fantástica.

Glory Box

I'm so tired of playing
Playing with this bow and arrow
Gonna give my heart away
Leave it to the other girls to play
For I've been a temptress too long

Just...

Give me a reason to love you
Give me a reason to be a woman
I just wanna be a woman

From this time, unchained
We're all looking at a different picture
Through this new frame of mind
A thousand flowers could bloom
Move over and give us some room

Give me a reason to love you
Give me a reason to be a woman
I just wanna be a woman

[INSTRUMENTAL]

So don't you stop being a man
Just take a little look from outside when you can
Show a little tenderness
No matter if you cry

Give me a reason to love you
Give me a reason to be a woman
It's all I wanna be is all woman

For this is the beginning of forever and ever

It's time to move over...

SADE: Like a Tatoo (CD: Love Deluxe)

Esta es la canción que estrena este blog. No es ni la que más me gusta de todas las que pasarán por él ni la más especial. Había que empezar con una y ésta ha sido la elegida.

Se encuentra dentro del CD Love Deluxe, que obtuvo el premio a la mejor grabación de R&B en 1994.

Como la mayoría de sus grabaciones es cálida, sensual y emana tristeza a raudales.

Es como todas sus grabaciones de una calidez y sensualidad extremas.

Por cierto, Sade ha publicado recientemente un doble CD titulado “The Ultmate Collection”

Like A Tattoo

He told me sweet lies of sweet love
Heavy with the burden of the truth
And he spoke of his dreams
Broken by the burden
Broken by the burden of his youth

Fourteen years he said
I couldn\'t look into the sun
She saw him laying at the end of my gun
Hungry for life
And thirsty for the distant river

I remember his hands
And the way the mountains looked
The light shot diamonds from his eyes
Hungry for life
And thirsty for the distant river

Like the scar of age
Written all over my face
The war is still raging inside of me
I still feel the chill
As I reveal my shame to you

I wear it like a tattoo
I wear it like a tattoo
I wear it like a tattoo