American Music Club - Love Songs For Patriots (Merge 2004)
American Music Club "Patriot's Heart"
If you wanna see something patriotic, there’s a stripper He don’t look that good, but he’s got an all-American smile that fills his underwear with all the lonely dollars from all the lonely men who no one suffers who wait around this bar and spend all their lonely hours they’re already gone - no one’s running for cover the farther you run away, the more you have to hide in the dark white as the worm that crawls in the patriot’s heart
It is so red, white and blue the way he works the bar selling his embraces like Mr. President or a fallen star he don’t care babe if you’re worldly or wise he’s just looking for men with sins in their eyes and he always says the same thing, he says, “So, how you doin’, baby? I’m your rod and your staff and for a tip, you can touch me. And after a few tequilas, I become something holy. And this crappy little bar with its sweating mirrors and its mildewed ceiling are more full of love, yeah, then even natural selection. And dollar for dollar, babe, it’s a better bargain. The more you pay, the more I can break you all apart.” And dollars pour like ashes from the patriot’s heart.
Now he knows that your good time will kill him, but the thought of getting old, no it does not thrill him He says, “Give me all your money and don’t tell me what you’re thinking. I’m the past you wasted, I’m the future you’re obliterating.” Oh, come on grandpa! Remind me what we’re celebrating - that your heart finally dried up or that it finally stopped working? And how you make a dead man cum? You learned the undertaker’s art and make ‘em shine like the alcohol that preserves the patriot’s heart.
We all want a patriot’s heart Give me your patriot’s heart
You can see him fade with the dawn in a pile of Washingtons His head is in a spin, he’s happy to pass out again He would rather fade into the static than hear the violins that whine like old lovers who whine that they loved him He would rather laugh alone in the dark with the soft hands of heaven because they leave him alone with his entertainment system He does it for the money but he gives more than he’s given He does it for the money but he gives more than he’s given and it’s only when he’s naked that he feels his heart in the whorehouse desert of the patriot’s heart.
We all want a patriot’s heart We all want a patriot’s heart
Procol Harum - Salty dog (live 1971)
"All hands on deck! We've run afloat!" I heard the captain cry "Explore the ship! Replace the cook! Let no one leave alive!" Across the straits, around the horn How far can sailors fly? A twisted path, our tortured course And no one left alive
We sailed for parts unknown to man Where ships come home to die No lofty peak, nor fortress bold Could match our captain's eye Upon the seventh sea-sick day We made our port of call A sand so white, and sea so blue No mortal place at all
We fired the guns and burned the mast And rowed from ship to shore The captain cried, we sailors wept Our tears were tears of joy Now many moons and many Junes Have passed since we made land Salty Dog, the seaman's log Your witness in my own hand
Esta vez traigo unas portadas entre las que probablemente no haya habido copia de ideas, pero que nada más ver una de ellas me ha recordado inmediatamente a la otra más reciente. Me explico:
en un principio la portada no me llamó la atención. La sorpresa llegó cuando descubrí la imagen de la parte trasera del disco:
Automáticamente acudió a mi mente la imagen de uno de mis discos preferidos hace años, obra de un diseñador excepcional:
Efectivamente, se trata del disco de Ana D "Satélite 99" (Elefant 1997), con un retrato a carboncillo de Ana, dibujado por el genial e influyente Javier Aramburu.
Esta vez nos adelantamos a la puiblicación del disco. Ya se ha difundido por distintos medios la portada del nuevo álbum de Morrissey: "Years Of Refusal" (está prevista su edición para febrero-2009), y nada más verla me ha recordado a la del EP de 7 canciones "Reservations" que sacaron este año los hermanos Caleb y Ashton Bird, conocidos como Tweak Bird.
Personalmente la de Morrissey me parece "penosa", con claras intenciones de buscar la polémica fácil. Yo la incluiría (antes de salir... si estos se las saben todas) en la lista de "peores portadas de discos". Juzguen ustedes mismos.
Tweak Bird interpretando el tema "Spaceships" en el programa de TV 'The Daily Habit'
Otro caso de plagio intencionado. En esta ocasión Ween (Aaron Freeman y Mickey Melchiondo, alias Gene Ween y Dean Ween) haciendo gala de su ironía, surrealismo y fascinación por la deconstrucción, se han apoderado de la portada del "The Best Of" de Leonard Cohen (1975) para, con muy ligeras variaciones (diferente cara con una especie de máscara antigás), ilustrar su segundo disco de estudio "The Pod" (1991). La intención o relación entre ambos discos no he lgrado encontrarla por ningún lado, si alguien tiene alguna idea se agradece la información.
Ween - Sorry Charlie (4º tema del disco "The Pod" en una versión en directo del 2000, bastante menos amateur y Lo-Fi que la original)
Things didn't work out the way you had planned it
Things fell apart at the seams
What's yours is what you took with you
And what you have has shattered their dreams
And now you're cold and sleepy
Christ, how did it come to this
Hold on to those you thought were your loved ones
They'll be the ones you miss
And now you're standing at the station
Tryin' to take what I ain't got to give
Oh and I'm so sorry Charlie
I've got my own life to live
So you just call your friends at college
Wonder why you didn't stay
And my boss is coming down soon Chuck
He's drunk so you can't stay
No, you can't stay
You did nothing to deserve this
God didn't treat you square
Oh it all slipped through your fingers
And it all seems so unfair
And your girlfriend, she's in high school
She says she loves you a lot
Lord knows she can't support you
So you better sell more pot
And now you're standing at the station
Tryin' to take what I ain't got to give
Oh and I'm so sorry Charlie
I've got my own life to live
So you just call your friends at college
Wonder why you didn't stay
And my boss is coming down soon Chuck
He's drunk and you can't stay
No, you can't stay
Este caso ya ha sido muy comentado en otras páginas. Se trata de la utilización de la misma imagen (“Taxi, New York at Night” -1947-, del fotógrafo Ted Croner), al parecer por desconocimiento del diseñador del álbum de Bob Dylan "Modern Times" (2006, Sony) de que ya había sido usada anteriormente en el single de Luna "Hedgehog / 23 Minutes In Brussels" (1995, Beggar's Banquet)
Luna - 23 Minutes In Brussels (final y créditos del DVD "Tell Me Do You Miss Me", documental sobre el último tour de la banda)
Left my hotel in the city
everything was clear and set
you were on your way and sittin' pretty
that was just a bait and switch
Say a prayer
for you and me
say a prayer
tell me do you miss me
23 minutes in brussels
why can't they just leave us alone
are we gonna to get into a tussel
cannot take an airplane home
Say a prayer
for you and me
say a prayer
tell me do you miss me
Últimamente sólo actualizo para poner portadas parecidas. Reconozco que es lo más fácil, pero me atrae y me estoy planteando tomarme este apartado más en serio y dejarlo como motivo principal para seguir actualizando. Por el momento no he podido resistir la tentación al ver esta curiosa similitud ¿Parecido casual?:
Se trata del último disco de Coldplay - Viva la vida (Capitol, 2008), y el disco de igual título (y estilo de letra muy cercano) de Palito Ortega - Viva la vida (RCA-Victor 1969).
En esta ocasión no ha sido descubrimiento mío, lo he sacado de la interesante página "Viejitos Chotos", dedicada a rescatar con orgullo esos discos y canciones que forman parte del bagaje musical colectivo y de los que muchas veces renegamos por prejuicios, vergüenza o cobardía.
Como por ejemplo, y ya que viene a colación, "La Chevecha", de la película interpretada por Palito Ortega "Los muchachos de mi barrio" (1970). He aquí unas imágenes políticamente incorrectas en los tiempos que corren
"que chabocha la chevecha
que che chube a la cabecha
anda chava chube y chirve
otro vacho de chevecha"
Aunque como podrán ver a continuación Palito no necesita alcohol para saltarse las normas de tráfico, los efectos del amor al volante son para él más devastadores que una mezcla de ácido y speed.
En este caso no cabe hablar tampoco de parecido casual. Cuando se elige un grupo admirado y se imita una portada suya, nos adentramos en el terreno del homenaje.
Las tres componentes de Sleater-Kinney, ( Carrie Brownstein y Corin Tucker a las guitarras y voces, y Janet Weiss a la batería), amantes del punk-rock con actitud e ideología, han optado en la portada para su tercer disco "Dig me out" (1997), homenajear al grupo The Kinks y su disco "Kontroversy" (1965)
Sleater-Kinney - One more hour (2ª canción del disco "Dig me out")
In one more hour I will be gone
In one more hour I'll leave this room
One dress you wore, one pretty shoes
Are things I left behind for you
Oh, you've got the darkest eyes
Oh, you've got the darkest eyes
I needed it
(I know, I know, I know)
Oh, I needed it
(It's so hard for you to let it go)
Needed it
(I know, I know, I know)
Oh, I needed it
(Never want to let it, let it go)
If you could talk what would you say?
For you things were just night and day
Take off the dress, take off the face
I'll hold you close before I leave
Oh, you've got the darkest eyes
Oh, you've got the darkest eyes
I needed it
(I know, I know, I know)
Oh, I needed it
(It's so hard for you to let it go)
Needed it
(I know, I know, I know)
Oh, I needed it
(It's so hard for you to let it go)
I needed it
(I know, I know, I know)
Oh, I needed it
(It's so hard for you to say goodbye)
Needed it
(I know, I know, I know)
Oh, I needed it
(Need a little bit with a little more time)
Don't say another word about the other girl
Don't say another word about the other girl
I needed it
(I know, I know, I know)
Oh, I needed it
(It's so hard for you to let it go)
Needed it
(I know, I know, I know)
Oh, I needed it
(Never want to let it, let it go)
En este caso creo que es demasiado evidente que no se trata tan sólo de pura casualidad el parecido entre la portada del disco "Gabinetissimo" de Gabinete Caligari (1995) y la del disco "Butts Band" del grupo The Butts Band (1974), formado por los miembros de la banda The Doors, dos años después de la muerte de Jim Morrison, el excelente giuitarrista Robby Krieger (autor asimismo de algunas de las más emblemáticas canciones del grupo The Doors) y el bateria John Densmore.
