Sono a Milano aspettando di far foto a Tom Waits per la prima delle sue tre date al Teatro Arcimboldi. Sto aspettando che Tom Waits salga sul palco, per fotografarlo. Sto aspettando Tom Waits, I am waiting for Waits. Continuo a ripetermelo perché non mi sembra vero. Poter fermare per un istante le smorfie del suo viso, i gesti delle sue mani contorte che danzano a scatti intorno alla sua figura, fatta di siducia eleganza. Entra Roberto Benigni con la moglie e il boato del pubblico mi desta da uno stato di trance. C’è anche Mike Mills dei REM ma chissenefotte: sto aspettando Tom Waits. Quando entra Vinicio Copiassella colgo l’occasione per gridargli: “mi raccomando prendi appunti!” Sicuro al suo prossimo tour il palco sarà allestito allo stesso modo di quello di stasera: una decina di megafoni sospesi in aria, un piedistallo tondo a metà tra un pezzo di circo e una gran cassa di batteria rovesciata, con sopra campane e pedane (che Waits andrà a sbattere coi suoi scarponi chilometrici). Sono le 9.45pm, ancora lui non si vede e il cameraman che lo segue nel  Glitter & Doom Tour mi spiega il perché mentre sta appeso alla radiolina con cui comunica col backstage: “Sta di nuovo cambiando la scaletta”. Poi mi sorride e guarda con il volto stralunato verso l'alto come per dire: "fosse la prima volta!"

Si spengono le luci, inizia lo show. Cazzo è finita una attesa durata mesi. Attacca con Lucinda ma è una versione storpiata, la riconosco solo dal testo ed è alternata con Ain’t Going Down to the Well. Fa avanti e indietro tra una canzone e l’altra, come se non sapendo decidersi con quale delle due iniziare avesse optato per un medley. Il solito cappello marrone è stato sostituito da un bombetta, la polvere che lui sbatte sotto i piedi, una volta nera (nel tour di Mule Variations), ora è diventata bianca. Al posto della chitarra di Marc Ribot, impegnato col suo nuovo album, c’è quella di Omar Torrez. Lui, che è stato definito a metà tra un re zigano e Hendrix, ha portato alla band uno splendido sound spagnolo (come nell’intro di All the World is Green) per poi condirlo con free jazz e blues rock. Usa pure la stessa chitarra di Ribot e a tratti sembra quasi gli rifaccia il verso.

“Boom boom cha!” – dice Tom mentre il pubblico cerca di capire quale brano si appresta a suonare, poi aggiunge “siamo onesti, questo potrebbe essere l’inizio di almeno un centinaio di mie canzoni!”. Era Way Down in the Whole. Molto più semplice è stato prevedere Eyeball Kid con lui che finge di staccarsi un occhio e sbatterlo da una parte all’altra mentre la band accompagna questo breve e surreale film muto. Poi si siede al piano, "that's a good one" borbotta prima di attaccare Tom Traumbert’s Blues. Così accontenta anche i fans legati alla prima fase della sua carriera, quella fatta di ballate in cui solo lui riesce ad alternare così bene dissonanze ed assonanze per poi risolvere in melodie che ti strizzano le budella sfiorandoti il pancreas dopo un ping pong con l’ippocampo. On the Nickel è eseguita in religioso silenzio del pubblico che poi si sfoga cantando (o nel mio caso urlando) Innocent When you Dream a unisono. Poi Tom torna sul suo strano piedistallo e ci porta dentro l’inferno di Misery is the River of the World. Lui da solo con la band è più teatrale della versione della stessa canzone nel musical di Robert Wilson. Mi fa male la gola solo a sentire quanto raschia con la voce, come sale e scende, fa un incidente mortale nell’esofago e si rianima con un grugnito. Stellare la versione di Hoist That Rag con il figlio Sullivan al timpano e così cubana che non si può far meno di storcersi e spalmarsi sui sedili del teatro, scalciando al ritmo delle maracas di Waits. Alle percussioni e batteria c’è l’altro suo figlio, Casey; raccomandato direte voi? Eppure è una macchina che non sbaglia un colpo, su Make it Rain nel ritornello spacca il tempo in terzine  per poi concludere accellerando alla perfezione come se si fosse ingoiato un metronomo a colazione. Comunque fa piacere sapere che gente come Waits si riproduca. Uno alla batteria e l'altro al clarinetto accompagnano il padre che canta: “We’re all gonna be just dirt in the ground” , come fosse la morale di una favola dark che gli racconta prima di andare a letto.

Le scalette di giovedì e sabato sono state abbastanza simili se non fosse che l'ultima sera ha aggiunto una fantastica Rain Dogs e una Chocolate Jesus con tanto di megafono. La compattezza della band è scandita anche dal sax di Vincent Henry (che si divideva gli assoli con la chitarra), il contrabbasso di Larry Taylor e le tastiere di Patrick Warren. 

Poi ci sono stati i suoi immancabili discorsi assurdi. Sabato blaterava di un “Lost Buggage Center” dove puoi acquistare “all sort of shit” che non serve a nulla e che per questo desideri ancora di più… solo che poi a tua volta perdi la valigia piena delle cazzate che hai appena comprato e tutto ricomincia dal principio. Basta, la recensione si chiude qui perché sto perdendo colpi, sono in stato confusionale indotto da totale mancanza di sonno e mi sento ancora questo senso di vuoto, questa depressione post parto che non mi si scrolla di dosso. Vedere due volte Tom in prima fila nel giro di tre giorni è stato troppo, devo riprendermi. E devo pure caricare le foto sul sito presto, intanto eccone una qui sopra giusto per gradire (e vederlo per una volta senza cappello). Insomma, se c’eravate anche voi, vi prego di sbrodolarmi addosso i vostri pensieri, sensazioni e le conseguenti ripercussioni psicosomatiche, psicofisiche, psicotiche e psic'ho detto?

1. Tenía ganas de ver a Bruce desde hacía meses, desde que escuché Magic y me gustó sobremanera, mucho más de lo esperado. Así que no dudé en comprar entradas para los dos dias en cuanto se pusieron a la venta. Y a medida que iba leyendo comentarios sobre cómo avanzaba la gira, la duración XL de los conciertos y los cambios tan drásticos de setlist, la boca se me hacía agua. Esperaba este julio como un regalo de los dioses: Iron Maiden, Tom Waits y Springsteen, todo en menos de quince días.

2. Conocí la música de Springsteen en 1985, cuando Jordi Tardà organizó una expedición en autocar para ver al Boss en Montpellier (a la que por supuesto no pude ir, por cuestiones de edad). Y entré a fondo aquel verano. Como anécdota recuerdo que estuve un mes en UK, aquel famoso julio del Live Aid, en uno de esos intercambios escolares al uso. En la casa donde me acogieron había un francés y un mejicano (parece un chiste, ¿verdad?), y aprendí poco inglés aquel verano, lo confieso. El francés, un tipo alto y simpático, y de unos 19 años, y que tenia una novia guapísima que me volvía loco (esto no venía a cuento, pero lo cuento), tarareaba constantamente una melodía que a mi me sonaba a un tema de Bertín Osborne: Necesito una amiga. ¡Pues no: era el Dancing in the dark!. Echa un vistazo al video. Las notas sobre las que Bertín canta Necesito una amiga son las mismas que cuando el Boss canta I get up in the evening:

3. Volver al Nou Camp, al que sólo debo volver para conciertos, me traía recuerdos. El concierto de agosto del 88 de Springsteen fue mi bautismo en un concierto internacional. Aquello me convirtió a la fe Springsteen para siempre, al menos en lo que a directos se refiere, y ahí entendí que el rockandrolll se defiende sobre un escenario. Eso sí, en formato acústico no me convence, así que siempre que lo he visto ha sido con banda.

4. Del posible setlist, esperaba ansioso escuchar No Surrender, Downbound Train, Dancing in the dark, Janey don't you lose heart, Prove it all night... y otras tantas. Pero especialmente, muchas de Born in the USA, y más sabiendo que ha llegado a interpretar ¡hasta 6 temas! de ese disco en un mismo concierto en alguna ciudad de la gira. El año que viene se cumple el 25º aniversario de su edición y espero que se acuerden de editar una caja remasterizada, expandida, con DVDs y todo lo que se les ocurra. Este disco es grandísimo, tremendo, descomunal, un compendio perfecto de rock comercial y de tremenda calidad (¿recuerdas Reckless the Bryan Adams?) lastrado por una producción floja, muy 80's, y que parece que queda mal reivindicar. O lo parecía, pues vistos los dos shows del otro dia, el público -todo- coreabamos esos temas como si nos fuese la vida. Especialmente, la gran sorpresa del segundo dia, I'm Goin' Down (tienes 2 versiones de la canción, la mía desde las primeras filas y la de Stone Pony desde pantalla].

5. Clarence Clemons tiene muy mala pinta. Parece estar más enfermo que Mick Mars de los Motley Crüe, y se mueve como si tuviese un palo en el culo,el pobre. Pero dicho lo cual, y con el debido respeto, sigo sin entender la veneración que se le profesa. Cuando Bruce presenta a la banda, CC resulta el más aplaudido, ovacionado, diría yo. Sólo veo tal admiración por Keith Richards... pero es que estamos hablando de un Stone y de uno de los creadores de varios de los himnos inmortales del rock!! Pero Clemons... No toco el saxo, pero creo que Clemons no es ningún hacha. Tiene feeling, eso sí, y mete notas certeras las más de las veces, muy resultón. Pero sopla cuatro notas y se lleva una ovación. Desmesurado. En cambio, Max Weinberg, ¡cómo toca, el hombre! Como Charlie Watts pero a lo bestia. Es un metrónomo humano, que en sus ratos libres, entre gira y gira, y desde 1993 conduce la banda del late night de Connan O'Brien, la Max Weinberg 7.

6. Hablo de Bruce, y de Clarence y de Max... pero falta Steve Van Zandt, también conocido en otros tiempos como Miami Steve o Little Steven. Junto al Boss, puso en la línia de salida a Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes en su Jersey natal y compuso casi todos los grandes temas de los dos magníficos primeros discos de Southside. Aunque ahora está gordete y bastante cascado, en los 70's dio brillo a Springsteen y sin su concurso tal vez la E.Street Band no hubiese despegado como lo hizo. En los 80's impulsó una cruzada contra el apartheid sudafricano bajo el nombre Artist United Against Apartheid que popularizó la canción Sun City (dedicada al lugar de residencia de los blancos segregacionistas) y desde hace más de una década, se dedica a promocionar a nuevos grupos de rock undergrund via programas de radio, festivales, etc. Y como sabes, interpreta a Silvio Dante en los Soprano, una de las series definitivas de la historia de la televisión.

7. Algunas impresiones de los 2 setlists:

1) si empiezas con No surrender, me tienes ganado. Me emociona, tanto en eléctrico como en la versión acústica que se editó en la caja Live 75-85; letra, ritmo y melodía son perfectos. 2) Radio Nowhere es ya un nuevo himno y en directo funciona aún mejor que en disco. El inicio del dia 19, con Hungry Heart por ahí en medio, y el rush final del primer dia, con Born to run, Bobby Jean, Dancing in the dark y Glory Days antes del Twist & Shout, fue todo un festival, una gozada. 3) Por cierto, que las versiones del Twist & Shout, el Rocknroll Medley y el Summertime Blues fueron lo más flojo de ambas noches. 4) La primera noche fue para todos los públicos y la segunda algo más para fans. Empezar con Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out es toda una declaración de principios.

5) En los momentos más guitarreros (Because the night, Murder incorporated) Nils Lofgren se lució, con más energía que pericia -como dice un colega-, y llevó esos temas a un clímax indescriptible. 6) Badlands y Born to run se demuestran nuevamente como los momentos más disfrutables de cualquier show del Boss y no pasan los años por esos temas; 7) Entre las rarezas de ambos setlist, y además de la ya mencionada I'm Going Down, la recuperación de Light of Day y especialmente Spirit in the night fue algo mágico: por momentos me transporté a las imágenes y al sonido de aquellos conciertos de los 70's que tantas veces hemos disfrutado en casa. 8 ) De los temas más recientes, los de Magic y The Rising, me quedo con Mary's place, que recupera al Bruce los 70's; Long walk home, Last to Die, Livin' in the future y Waiting on a Sunny Day no me dicen mucho -en cambio se cayó la estupenda Girls in the Summer Clothes las dos noches-; The Rising no está mal y Lonesome day me gustó mucho, pero todas palidecen al lado de su material de los 70's y los 80's. 9) Brilliant Disguise y, sobre todo, Tougher than the Rest me recordaron el mítico concierto del 88, gira Tunnel of Love: ambos temas son en mi opinión de lo mejor de su discografía y ese disco es de los que sin duda ha ido ganando con el paso de los años.

10) Lo de los cartelitos con petición de temas resulto emocionante: era como la lotería, esperando que salga la bola del bombo a ver si hay suerte. Bruce improvisó muy bien y personalmente, me sentí como si me hubiese tocado el Gordo... bueno, excepto porque entre los carteles no recogió el de Downbound Train. En la página oficial del Boss, seccion setlists, se puede comparar el setlist originalmente planeado y el resultado final: se cayeron Cover Me, Downbound Train y You can't look, entre otras, y en cambio improvisó Prove it all night y Working on the highway, por ejemplo.

8. Sobre los carteles, en la web de Bruce, leo esto: "All of us have been enjoying the signs and banners with song requests. And we appreciate that the U.S. stadium shows may loom epic in your imaginations, inspiring grand and vibrant art. Please show respect for those in the crowd whose views of the stage may be blocked by your signs by keeping them to a reasonable size and displaying them for only short periods of time".

Wired's Scott Thill posted on Monday about the full-album concerts he'd like to see were mortality and inter-band hatred not a problem. His list is as follows:

From Listening Post at Wired:

Top Five Full-Album Wish List That Will Never Come True

* The Beatles, The White Album
* Jimi Hendrix, Electric Ladyland
* Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin
* Charles Mingus, Mingus Ah Um
* The Doors, The Doors

Top Five Full-Album Wish List That Could Come True (Given Enough Cash and Hype)

* Pixies, Surfer Rosa
* My Bloody Valentine, Loveless
* Tom Waits, Rain Dogs
* De La Soul, De La Soul is Dead
* Three Mile Pilot, Chief Assassin to the Sinister

I've attended a number of the Don't Look Back series events in the past and pretty solidly enjoyed them all. Sonic Youth doing Daydream Nation was a highlight but Sebadoh's Bubble & Scrape was pretty spectacular. I'm not going to criticise either list because, barring Three Mile Pilot on the reason of ignorance to their music, I would likely consider purchasing tickets for all of the above. Most fervently, I'd push my grandmother into a moderately deep but soft-bottomed well to see Tom Waits do Rain Dogs.

So here's an alternative list of five I would love to have seen happen but won't, eight that totally could with some charm and finesse on the part of promoters, and five uber-speculative hopes that could, maybe, one-in-a-million odds, happen. Note: All are deliberatly not overlapping with the above as otherwise Waits, Pixies and MBV would be here.

Five that could never happen

• The Replacements - Let It Be (they are mostly alive but it wouldn't be the same without Bob)
• Curtis Mayfield - Superfly
• Elliott Smith - Either/Or
• Otis Redding - Otis Blue
• Nirvana - In Utero

Eight that could happen with finesse and/or money

• Fugazi - Repeater
• Neutral Milk Hotel - In An Aeroplane Over The Sea
• Red House Painters - Red House Painters (Rollercoaster cover)
• The Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy
• Weezer - Pinkerton
• Eels - Electro-Shock Blues
• Sufjan Stevens - Illinoise
• American Music Club - California

Five uber-speculations

• Stevie Wonder - Innervisions
• REM - Automatic for the People
• Radiohead - The Bends
• Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti (Yes, no Bonham. But they tore up the O2 and could still cut it)
• Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers (In a small or at least mid-size venue without the pyrotechnics)

Waits foi experimentando estilos, instrumentos e mudando o tom da voz, que ficou praticamente gutural a medida que os anos passavam. Em 1982 compôs toda a trilha do filme One From the Heart, de Francis Ford Coppola, que lhe rendeu uma indicação de melhor trilha original na Acadêmia.

Como ator, Waits atuou em Cotton Club, Brincando nos Campos do Senhor de Hector Babenco, Dracula de Bram Stocker, Short Cuts (Robert Altman) e Coffee and Cigarretes de Jim Jarmusch, e mais recentemente interpretou o diabo no inédito O Imaginário Doutor Parnassus, de Terry Gillian, o último filme em que Heath Ledger trabalhou.

Confira abaixo o clip de Downtown Train, do álbum Rain Dogs de 1985. Tom Waits é a noite, o canto, o cigarro, a bebida, o asfalto e a solidão.

Wristcutters: A Love Story.

No filme estrelado por Patrick Fugit, o garoto quase famoso do filme Almost Famous, há um lugar reservado para os suicidas, não se tratando nem do céu, nem do inferno, e sim de uma espécie de limbo, incrivelmente parecido com o mundo anterior à morte, porém ainda mais triste, com menos cores, sem sorrisos e sem estrelas.

Zia (Patrick Fugit) corta os pulsos depois que sua namorada termina com ele, passando então a viver naquele purgatório, dividindo o apartamento com um cara ainda mais mal humorado e trabalhando em uma pizzaria.  Sua vida sofre uma reviravolta ao saber que o seu antigo amor também cometeu suicídio um tempo depois, estando, portanto, naquela cidade reservada aos suicidas. Zia, com seu amigo russo, segue em uma viagem de carro, as famosas roadtrips americanas, procurando seu amor. No caminho, encontra uma garota (Shannyn Sossamon) que está pedindo carona e em busca das pessoas no comando, people in charge, pois ela acredita que está naquele lugar em razão de um terrível engano. Assim começa a jornada dessa família improvisada, que entre diálogos nonsense e outros significativos, nos fazem refletir sobre a vida, seu valor, seu significado, afinal, what’s the meaning of life after all?

O filme desfila inúmeros elementos indies e sem dúvida pode ser colocado na mesma categoria de Miss Sunshine e Juno (Sim, claro, Juno é infinitamente mais fofo e adorável, mas, esse não fica muito para trás não, you know what I mean...). Para começar, temos um diretor com nome esquisito: Goran Dukic; o amigo russo de Zia é interpretado por Shea Whigham, que faz o papel de Eugene, baseado em Eugene Hutz, vocalista dos Gogol Bordello que cedem várias musicas o filme. E, o que seria mais indie do que uma banda que faz um estilo de música chamado de punk-cigano? E que além do ucraniano Eugene Hütz é formada pelos integrantes russos Yury Lemeshev (acordeão) e Sergey Ryabtsev (violino), o israelense Oren Kaplan (guitarra), o etíope Thomas Gobena (baixo), o norte-americano Eliot Ferguson (bateria), a tailandesa-americana Pamela Racine e a sino-escocesa Elizabeth Sun (percussão e dança)? Vale lembrar que esta banda vai se apresentar no Tim Festival desse ano, e  no último Coachella, eles já roubaram a cena, fazendo com que muita gente desistisse de ver o show da chatinha da Björk para ir à tenda alternativa onde rolava o som dos caras. Ah sim, no caminho eles esbarram também em Kneller, um cara bizarro que está tirando uma soneca no meio da estrada, interpretado por ninguém menos que Tom Waits, sim, aquele mesmo a quem Scarlett Johansson dedica seu primeiro CD, fazendo 10 versões de suas canções (foram 10 mesmo?) no seu álbum anywhere I lay my head. O cara além de nos presentear com sua atuação, também cede algumas músicas para a trilha sonora, so cool... ;)

Eu não sei exatamente o porquê de eu ter gostado tanto assim do filme, eu li algumas críticas na Internet e ninguém estava extremamente empolgado. Apesar de eu ter encontrado várias críticas boas, é verdade. No entanto, eu achei o filme extremamente fiel, a roadtrip simboliza, na verdade,  uma busca interior por sentido, razão. Às vezes, quando menos esperamos, mais as coisas acontecem. Além disso, o mundo pós-suicídio é muito bem expressado, uma pessoa realmente capaz de cometer tal ato enxerga o mundo da forma como ele é refletido, sem sorrisos e sem estrelas. A cena o trio central tentando sorrir é emblemática. É assim que as pessoas depressivas e melancólicas precisam fazer todos os dias para se adaptar melhor ao mundo real.

Talvez se você não tenha tendências suicidas, não curta Tom Waits ou Gogol Bordello, não tenha adorado o filme Almost Famous e o então garotinho Patrick Fugit, não seja dotado de sensibilidade e capacidade de reflexão, você vá achar o filme um tédio.... mas eu já vou adiantando, o tédio deve estar todo em você.

J

De fet, a principis de setmana, a ningú hagués estranyat que hom anés als concerts de Tom Waits amb un notari que en donés fe.

Tot plegat, anar als concerts potser és tan senzill com això: hi vas a donar fe.

Artist: Pink Floyd

Collection: A Collection Of Great Dance Songs

Problem: The Floyd's albums are conceptual puzzles that are meant to be enjoyed whole, and not on some choc-a-bloc collection with an unfortunately ironic name.

Artist: Funkadelic/Parliament

Collection: Tear The Roof Off: 1974-1980

Problem: George Cllinton's twin funk powerhouses cranked out more than a dozen albums from 1976 to 1980 alone. No one compilation could possibly capture even a fraction of the best stuff, and the collections out there tend to stress the well-known material at the expense of some red-hot, but lesser-known jams.

Artist: Radiohead

Collection: The Best Of

Problem: Radiohead's albums are all stylistically individual, so the idea of mixing their "hits" together into a big stew is kind of sonically nauseating. The fact that this compilation was released against the band's wishes might also make you a little queasy.

Artist: Miles Davis

Collection: Take your pick.

Problem: Miles Davis made artistic strokes so bold and large that they took several albums to flesh out - witness the second quintet albums of the mid-60's or the fusion gems of the late 60's/early 70's. The idea of encapsulating his career in one collection is madness - every song he made was a greatest hit.

Artist: Public Enemy

Collection: Greatest Misses

Problem: An uninspired collection of oddball non-hits and not-so-great re-mixes. Any of PE's best albums (Fear Of A Black Planet, Nation Of Millions, and Apocalypse 91) lay claim to more great songs that this.

Artist: Grateful Dead

Collection: Skeletons From The Closet

Problem: The Dead just aren't this kind of band. Their studio albums are barely relevant to what makes them great, let alone some patchwork best of. This is the kind of collection that non-Dead fans point to and say "See?".

Artist: Tom Waits

Collection: Beautiful Maladies: The Island Years

Problem: Waits combines all the elements that make for a poor best-of: his albums are best consumed in full, he's changed his sound wildly from one album to the next, and he hasn't had any actual 'hits' to speak of. Naturally, his best collection isn't Beautiful Maladies, but 2006's Orphans, a scrapbook of B-sides and oddities.

Artist: Jimi Hendrix

Collection: The Essential Hendrix, Volumes I & II

Problem: These aren't bad collections in and of themselves, but the fact that Jimi made just three studio albums in his abbreviated career makes any best-of seem superfluous.

Artist: Led Zeppelin

Collection: Mothership

Problem: Wait, isn't that George Clinton's thing? Zeppelin has several inadequate best-ofs on the market - Mothership just happens to be the latest and not-so-greatest. Do yourself a favor and get the studio albums - all of them are worth your time.

Artist: Bob Dylan

Collection: Greatest Hits, Volumes I, II, & III

Problem: With so many great albums in the discography, why would anyone tread here? Blood On The Tracks, Highway 61 Revisited, Bringing It All Back Home Again, Time Out Of Mind - any of them are a better place to wade into the myth of Bob Dylan than his Greatest Hits.

Artist: The Rolling Stones

Collection: Hot Rocks

Problem: The best bits of the Stones' catalogue go well beyond their established hits. In fact, many of their finest songs ('Can't You Hear Me Knockin' 'Monkey Man' and 'Jigsaw Puzzle' to name but three) are tucked away in places where only the true fans can find and enjoy them.

Artist: KISS

Collection: Smashes, Thrashes, and Hits

Problem: KISS is larger than life, and this collection is not. 'Let's Put The X In Sex' is just plain bad, and shows that the group had run out of musical ideas by the early 80's. Good thing they're so on top of merchandising...

So we've been hearing around the block that your Glitter and Doom shows are your best ever. That must be nice for you. Of course we Ladies are still waiting for those VIP tickets you promised us in exchange for stealing our name. Just wanted you to know that if it's too late to get on the list for Prague, we'll take backstage passes to your final shows in Dublin. That plus airfare should square the deal.

Hope all is well with you.

Best,

Your obsessive fans Nile, Cass and Lisa

A atriz Scarlett Johansson, que estreou como cantora no último dia 20 de maio com "Anywhere I Lay My Head", acaba de lançar um EP exclusivo para o iTunes.

No disco, além de versões de músicas de Tom Waits que aparecem no CD debut da atriz, Johansson também faz um cover da clássica "Boys Don't Cry", música imortalizada na voz de Robert Smith, líder do The Cure.

Entre as músicas, que foram gravadas em uma sessão ao vivo, está ainda "Innocent When You Dream", música do disco "Franks Wild Years", de Waits, que não entrou em "Anywhere I Lay My Head".

Leia mais clicando aqui.

Av någon anledning påminde den mig om "Svart katt, vit katt", trots att de inte hade någonting gemensamt, hehe... kanske var det musiken.

Båda rekommenderas! Och det gör även en annan film, "Wristcutters: A Love Story", som jag såg för någon vecka sen. En underbar berättelse om efterlivet för folk som begår självmord. Tom Waits är med oxå!

Dacă Leonard Cohen reprezintă cumva poetul tenebros, suferind de o melancolie incurabilă, Tom Waits este vagabondul cinic, rătăcind de pe trei cărări cu pălăria dată pe ceafă şi cu hainele puse pe el cu furca. Sau, aşa cum se descrie singur, „I’m all alone/I smoke my friends down to the filter/But I feel much cleaner after it’s rain” (1).

Este cel care şi-a pierdut credinţele din buzunarele lui prea deformate de sticlele cu vin şi care constată cu resemnare, dibuind după vreo ultimă ţigară şifonată: „It’s hard to win when you allways lose”, estimându-şi şansele păguboase: „Two dead ends and I still got to choose” (2)

Ca toţi beţivii, va mistifica tot şi, într-un moment de luciditate te va preveni: „I’l tell you all my secrets but I’ll lie about my past” (3). Alteori nu va recunoaşte nici mort că e beat, dând vina pe lumea înconjurătoare care a luat-o razna.

„The piano has been drinking
my necktie is asleep
and the combo went back to New York
the jukebox has to take a leak
and the carpet needs a haircut
and the spotlight looks like a prison break
cause the telephone's out of cigarettes
and the balcony's on the make

Până la indicarea vinovatului final: „the piano has been drinking, not me” (4)

Waits va spune despre o femeie “she’s made of smoke” (5) sau va vorbi despre râsul ei ca şampania şi o va vrăji cu texte de genul: „Last night I dreamed that I was dreaming of you” (6). Dacă ea îl părăseşte, el va suferi ca un câine: "Without your love/Without your kiss/Hell can't burn me/More than this" (7), pentru că, fără ea, se simte "Just another sad guest on this dark earth". O va hipnotiza cu cadenţa melancolică a muzicii sale şi cu vocea hârâită şi va dori în schimb ce? nimica toată: să fie iubit dincolo de limite.

„Lay your head where my heart used to be
Hold the earth above me
Lay down in the green grass
Remember when you loved me
Come closer don't be shy
Stand beneath a rainy sky
The moon is over the rise
Think of me as a train goes by” 8

Nu că problema mântuirii sufletului lui nu ar fi rezolvată, sigur, în felul lui Tom: I'm close to heaven - crushed at the gate”(7)

Da mă rog, asta este, după Tom, soarta celor mai mulţi dintre noi, pentru că: „I’ll tell you what’s to know about mankind: there’s nothing kind about man” (9), ceea ce se explică simplu: The Devil made the world when God was sleeping.(1)

Iată şi nişte link-uri da nu vă aşteptaţi la cine ştie ce videoclipuri, că pe Tom nu îl interesează aspectele astea:

Little drop of poison

Tango till they sore

Fumbling with the blues

The piano has been drinking

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 Little Drop of Poison

2 Fumbling with The Blues

3 Tango Till They Sore

4 The Piano Has Been Drinking

5 Temptation

6 Watch Her Disappear

7 Make It Rain

8 Green Grass

9. Misery is The River of the World

Batman.  I get the sense that Batman would have a pretty extensive collection of Dark tunes.  I mean, he's not the most easy going guy.  His playlist would probably look something like this:

1. Godspeed You Black Emperor! - "Static" 

You want eerie and dark orchestral stuff, I think these are the guys to talk to.  At over 20 minutes, there's enough of the song to go around. 

2. Earth - "Raiford"

If you haven't heard these guys, it's essentially the darkest and slowest metal imaginable.

3. Nine Inch Nails- "Eraser"

 For some reason, I feel like Bruce would have a dark song by Trent blasting in the batmobile.

4. Sigur Ros - "Flugufrelsarinn" 

Just slow powerful post rock, perfect for a scary superhero.

5. Sonic Youth - "Tom Violence"

Dark, has violence in the title, what more could you ask for?

The Joker.  Now the Joker would have to listen to music that combines his insane and dangerous wackiness with utter darkness.  I've got just the thing:

1. Battles - "Atlas"

Could get you pumped up, but also has high pitched munchkin vocals.  I think I've made my point.

2. Tom Waits - "Hoist that Rag"
The most wacked out and angry Tom Waits gets, which says a lot about how wacked out it is.

3. Liars - Anything off of Drum's Not Dead

4. Hella - Anything off of Hold Your Horse Is

Explosive hyperspeed guitars and drums.

5. Can - "Augmn"

Basically the freakiest music I have ever heard.  I could see the Joker liking it.

*Lists: 25 Things You May Not Know About Tom Waits - "His favourite contemporary artist is Missy Elliot." [largehearted boy]

*Politics: Barack Obama to appear at this year's Lollapalooza?

*Videogames: Rock Band will offer more than 500 songs by the end of the year.

*Videogames: Carriers prepare to roll out cellphone versions of Guitar Hero. [textually]

*Social: Last.fm gets a makeover. Forgive me; it has been almost a year since I last scrobbled.

*Journey: The Las Vegas Review-Journal profiles listenerd obsession Arnel Pineda. Yes, I am verifiably insane.

*Off topic: What are the 10 greatest misspelled tattoos? "Only God will Juge Me." [mefi]

*Gone: I am going into the Northwoods, to the land of the Watersmeet Nimrods, where blogs dare not go. I will return at a later date, filled with beer and cheese, and wearing camouflage.

I was thinking of Neko Case this evening, and I chose this song whilst alone and chilling out. When I wanted to use this song for the blog, I immediately thought that it would be inappropriate. So I nixed the idea. Then the writer in me knew that to be anything but real would be wrong. So here we go…

I own a lot of depressing and dark music, and this may be is the saddest song of them all. The main character in this song is writing to a guy named Charlie about her past, present and future. She used to be a drug addict, alcoholic, and her profession suggests a sordid past. But she has the proverbial heart of gold, and talks about all of the things that she's learned along the way through a hard life. So far, so good.

Then in a moment of desperation, the truth spills out: it's all a lie. She doesn't have it all together, just the opposite.

I'm just like the hooker. I've made more than my fair share of mistakes, and even learned from some of them. But deep inside, my exterior is a mask hiding a very flawed person. I completely relate. On some level don't we all? It's nice to know Jesus made a habit of hanging out with people like her. It's even nicer knowing that he died for the worst of the worst. Even people like me or you.

The quintessential Sailing Song with Hard Tack (SSwHT)...

Whether you like him or loathe him, I bet you know at the very least the chorus of the modern boating national anthem.  Buffett is a master of the story lyric and his boating theme songs are rich and often more emotional then the blender tune.

A Pirate Looks at 40 is a a miracle of self awareness and and yearning.  The opening stanzas capture the universal draw that most boating types feel for the sea.   The lazy lingering melody rock the listener into the same lazy comfortable zone as the main protagonist of the song.  It truly is a brilliant song.

Son Of A Son Of A Sailor, plays with themes of freedom through the adventure and hard work of sailing.  Exotic sites of far off lands make the hard work mentioned in the chorus worth the toil.  This tune really follows the tenants of sea chanties closely yet within it's structure you see youth and generations of tradition all at the same time.

Lastly, Sea Chanties traditionally have a call and response format.  The Chanter calls and the sailors respond.  FINS, follows this format closely and it is a blast when you are sitting in an arena and everyone is to the left and to the right.

Jimmy Buffett isn't the only modern musician who has created SSwHT.  Although, this duo is included mostly in the Yacht Rock group, Loggins and Messina's Vahevala is too rocking and recorded too soon to be labeled as such.

Switching Gears...The Beach Boys on Pet Sounds offered the ironic sailing song with Sloop John B.  The original song; the Wreck of the Sloop John B follows the tradition of telling tales of the demise of mighty vessels.

Wilson added the harmonic complexity to the melody that removes the traditional folk three chord structure.  In addition, Wilson added the voyagers perspective with modern lingo "I feel so broke up" & "this is the worst trip I've ever been on."

Tom Waits can be an acquired taste.  His Shiver Me Timbers though is worth leaving your perceptions by the wayside.  It is full of angst and longing in a true folkloric fashion.

Randy Newman hardly needs an introduction. Sail Away is a searing take on american salesmanship. The songs protagonist is a salesman selling the dream of America to would be slaves on the shores of Africa.  Newman, is blunt with his lyrics but he calls 'em like he sees 'em because he loves this country.

The Irish punk band, The Pogues offers a fairly traditional take on Navigator.

Lastly, CSN's Southern Cross, plays with the imagery of finding your way by the stars.  Lost love, navigation and hope are front and center in this sweet sweet melody.

There are many many more songs, such as Toots and the Maytals "Sailing On", or Louis Prima's "BarnacleBill" that I wish I could have included here, but time and youtube prevent me.

Can you provide any that I have not named?

ETA: KARMARDAV you are so right.  Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" Is the essence of a Sailing Song with Hard Tack!

Antes versionó a Tom Waits en su disco debut Anywhere I Lay My Head; ahora, Scarlett Johansson se atreve con The Cure y su celebérrimo tema Boys Don’t Cry. La musa de Woody Allen interpretó esta canción para Live Session, un EP que sólo se puede conseguir de momento a través de la tienda iTunes estadounidense.

Grabado en directo, Live Session cuenta con siete temas, entre los que aparecen cinco del álbum debut de Scarlett y otra nueva versión de Waits (Innocent When You Dream). 

Lista de temas de Live Session de Scarlett Johansson:

1. Anywhere I Lay My Head
2. Innocent When You Dream
3. Falling Down
4. I Wish I Was in New Orleans
5. Green Grass
6. Who Are You?
7. Boys Don´t Cry

Y como postre, el vídeo de Falling Down, tema incluido en Anywhere I Lay My Head, uno de los dos cortes que interpreta en su ópera prima junto con David Bowie (la otra es Fanning’ Street). El suertudo que la besa en el cuello es el escritor Salman Rushdie (Los versos satánicos)

Está claro que Scarlett se lo ha montado muy bien para entrar con buen pie en la música, al rodearse, de distintas formas, de nombres ilustres en el mundo de la cultura: Waits, Bowie, The Cure y Rushdie. Un gran efecto llamada el ampararse en los mejores, lo que se une al buen momento por el que pasa la actriz y a su fama, merecida, de sex symbol. ¿Quién dijo que las rubias son tontas?

The early bird doesn't actually ever get the worm, because Tom Waits always gets to it first with his nightcap of tequila.

I was reading Marcy's excellent Lost in Your Inbox today and happened across a post of hers that gave me pause for thought, and just a little wistful remembering.

The last few years of my life have been relatively stable. I have been in Edinburgh for about three years, and was in London for three and a half before that, but I haven't always been so sedentary. In the years preceding London, in reverse order, I managed the following: Cambridge - 18 months, Manchester - 6 months, Montreal - three months, Cape Cod - a year, Glasgow - ten months, Cape Cod - four months, Grongingen - ten months, Glasgow - three years, Manchester - one year, Vienna - three years, Singapore - three years. In other words, over the course of about fifteen years I upped sticks and vanished about fifteen times.

It wasn't quite as crazy as that, but it was quite hectic, and most of the time it involved abandoning pretty much my entire life and all my friends and disappearing off with no more than a couple of suitcases to my name. Because of growing up in international schools where people changed countries, and hence schools, on a regular basis, I have seen so many disrupted friendships dwindle as well-intentioned letter-writing slowly tailed off. Consequently since high school, whenever I move country I tend to just cut the cord and go.

It's very, very rare that I stay in touch with anyone from my past actually. Once gone, I tend to just look forward and try and make a life wherever it is that I have ended up and reading Marcy's words I was reminded of just how many people I have ended up just abandoning to the swirling mists of my past - how many good friendships have been aborted, how many shared things have been forgotten, how much human kindness has gone unremembered.

It's sad, I suppose, but it's not a bad thing, I don't think. There's little point in stringing these things out beyond their natural lifespan. Most friendships are surprisingly context-dependent and there have been quite a few times when I have known them to have an uneccessary cloud cast over them by ill-advised and utlimately fruitless attempts to keep them going once the environment in which they first grew has ceased to exist. Nowadays I tend to just wrap them up in my history as good, complete entities and let them rest there. Some day a song or a coincidence or a conversation will remind me of them and there will be one of those warm, nostalgic moments where you relive that time for a little while, before setting it carefully back in place and returning to the present.

So it is sad I suppose. Or melancholy. But there's a warm, happy core to the sadness too, so I still think it's a good thing in most ways. Ironic, too, that I ended up marrying a girl I knew from high school and hadn't seen for the best part of ten years by the time we met up again.

Tom Waits - Anywhere I Lay My Head[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/TomWaits-AnywhereILayMyHead.mp3]
Michelle Shocked - Anchorage[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/MichelleShocked-Anchorage.mp3]
Gene - I Can't Decide If She Really Loves Me[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/Gene-ICantDecideIfSheReallyLovesMe.mp3]
Supergrass - Moving[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/Supergrass-Moving.mp3]
Tom Waits - Shiver Me Timbers[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/TomWaits-ShiverMeTimbers.mp3]

El lunes estuve en concierto de Tom Waits y por fin estoy en condiciones de contaros quién es.

Tom Waits es un predicador borracho y un demonio. Tiene voz de fiera salvaje y se mueve como un demente. Su garganta tiene dieciocho millones de estratos y su voz está llena de grietas, resquicios y recovecos.

El lunes me pasó por encima la apisonadora de Tom. Sus estrofas eran como latigazos en mi alma. Su siseos de serpiente, su mirada hipnótica de ofidio, en fin más bestial que humano levantando polvaredas con los pisotones de sus enormes botas viejas.

Entre gruñidos le oí decir que se iba a sentar a la mesa con una cuchara en la mano y el mundo en el plato. ¿No será Tom la encarnación del eterno adversario? Moviéndose por el escenario con pasos de momia, de Frankenstein desencadenado, bailaba como un sátiro deforme y ebrio.

Al piano regaló con desgana sus notas más hermosas. Enterrado en cada canción como poseído de un ataque de furia, parecía que en cualquier momento se iba a poner a arder.

Anoche descubrí que Tom lleva sombrero para que no se le vean los cuernos. Es una rata gigante y desvergonzada de las cloacas de la gran ciudad. Tiene la mirada de un ángel y un parásito embustero en la garganta

La experiencia musical más increíble de mi vida y tuve la suerte de compartirla con K., Brad y Jara. (Gracias chicos!)

It had to be the early '80s.  I remember this because the next day after seeing Tom's performance of this song, I went out and bought the Heart Attack and Vine album  and the Swordfishtrombones album (yes as in vinyl; the CD sensation was not upon us yet, and little did we know even that would be short lived).

Tom sang two songs that night and talked to Dave in between the two songs. The other song he sang that night was Frank's Wild Years from Swordfishtrombones. When was the last time you saw something in late night or prime time break the cookie cutter, mainstream television format mold like that? 

 As Tom sang On the Nickle that night, his voice cigarette raw, and dressed as you'd imagine some of the characters that populated the gritty, unforgiving landscape of this song to be dressed, the music was stripped down to the bare essentials like most of his songs are, no unnecessary, obtrusive accompaniment.  Just Tom behind the piano singing and playing keys that fit perfectly with the musical narrative, a hobo's lullaby, as he referred to it, sounding like a lounge singer channeling the spirit of John Steinbeck and shedding light on a segment of the population that has and will always be there, but often goes unnoticed by those who have been granted good luck or fortune to have the basic necessities in life.  The emotional sincerity of Tom's performance gave me the impression, that he was empathetic, if not directly familiar with the plight of the characters in this song. You could almost imagine Tom himself having had to resort to a newspaper sleeping bag  In the Neighborhood for warmth or shelter from the rain at some point in his life.

 -B

  -and if you chew tobacco, and wish upon a star, well you'll find out where
the scarecrows sit, just like punchlines between the cars, and i know a place
where a royal flush, can never beat a pair, and even thomas jefferson, is on
the nickel over there.

so ring around the rosie, you're sleepin' in the rain, and you're always
late for supper, and man you let me down again, i thought i heard a
mockingbird, roosevelt knows where, you can skip the light, with grady tuck,
on the nickel over there.

so what becomes of all the little boys, who run away from home, well the
world just keeps gettin' bigger, once you get out on your own, so here's to
all the little boys, the sandman takes you where, you'll be sleepin' with a
pillowman, on the nickel over there.
  
    -Tom Waits,  On the Nickel

Te puede pasar que una vez vestido de blanco y rojo vayas caminando hacia el centro de la ciudad y tengas que atravesar a oscuras un bosquecillo tenbroso.

Te puede pasar que a pesar de todo llegues sano y salvo y comience una juerga monumental de más de cinco horas bailando, bebiendo y riendo sin parar.

Te puede pasar que cuando llegues a casa un poco pedo tus padres esten despiertos y muy contentos de verte.

Te puede pasar que cuando por fin te despiertes a eso del medidía hayan preparado tu comida favorita

Te puede pasar que vuelvas a salir tanto el sabado como el domingo y te rencuentres con tus amigos de toda la vida y haya abrazos y más risas y más bailes.

Te puede pasar que todo salga increíblemente bien, que disfrutes muchisimo, que te de pena que se acabe y que te hagas el firme proposito de volver el año que viene a por más.

Y cuando volví el lunes fuí al concierto de Tom Waits