LA CANZONE DEL GIORNO: MR. NOVEMBER/THE NATIONAL

This is nothing like it was in my room
In my best clothes
Trying to think of you
This is nothing like it was in my room
In my best clothes
The english are waiting
And I don't know what to do
In my best clothes
This is when I need you
The english are waiting
And I don't know what to do
In my best clothes
I'm the new blue blood
I'm the great white hope
I'm the new blue blood

I won't fuck us over
I'm Mr. November
I'm Mr. November
I won't fuck us over
I won't fuck us over
I'm Mr. November
I'm Mr. November
I won't fuck us over

I wish that I believed in fate
I wish I didn't sleep so late
I used to be carried in the arms of cheerleaders
I used to be carried in the arms of cheerleaders
I used to be carried in the arms of cheerleaders
I'm the new blue blood
I'm the great white hope
I'm the new blue blood

I won't fuck us over
I'm Mr. November
I'm Mr. November
I won't fuck us over
I won't fuck us over
I'm Mr. November
I'm Mr. November
I won't fuck us over
I won't fuck us over
I won't fuck us over
I won't fuck us over
I'm Mr. November

I wish that I believed in fate
I wish I didn't sleep so late
I used to be carried in the arms of cheerleaders
I used to be carried in the arms of cheerleaders
I used to be carried in the arms of cheerleaders

I'm the new blue blood
I'm the great white hope
I'm the new blue blood

I won't fuck us over
I'm Mr. November
I'm Mr. November
I won't fuck us over

ALBUM: ALLIGATOR (2005)

CONCERTI: THE NATIONAL/INTERPOL

Una due giorni milanese straordinaria, probabilmente irripetibile: due concerti eccezionali in appena 24 ore.




1° GIORNO/THE NATIONAL

Quando arriviamo all'Alcatraz la fila per entrare arriva quasi all'angolo dell'isolato, ma è veloce ed ordinata. C'è il tutto esaurito, e questo fa capire come i National, giunti ormai al quinto album, siano passati definitivamente da formazione di nicchia allo status di band mainstream. Il gruppo di supporto, i Phosporescent, stanno già suonando. All'incirca verso le 22:00, Scott Devendorf e compagni salgono sul palco: si inizia sottovoce, con Runaway, poi la splendida Anyone's Ghost. L'ultimo, strepitoso disco, High Violet, viene suonato quasi per intero, ma non mancano riferimenti alla produzione precedente, come Mistaken For Strangers, Apartment Story, Fake Empire. La voce di Matt Berninger è incredibile, profonda, avvolgente; la batteria di Bryan Devendorf sempre prepotentemente in primo piano. Ad essere pignoli, è un peccato che un eccesso di divertissement interrompa l'esecuzione di Conversation 16, uno dei pezzi migliori del repertorio. E proprio quando il concerto si avvia alla conclusione, il colpo di scena che non ti aspetti: Matt Berninger, fin lì estremamente composto, scende in platea percorrendo tutta la sala dell'Alcatraz, letteralemente tutta, ripetendo la linea finale di Terrible Love, "It takes an ocean not to break" come in un mantra, tra il pubblico esterrefatto, compreso il sottoscritto che ad un certo punto se lo ritrova esattamente di fronte. Come dire che aver ascoltato i National è un po' come averli conosciuti, sul serio, personalmente: si fanno ottimi incontri, a Milano.


THE NATIONAL/ALCATRAZ/MILANO, 16 NOVEMBRE 2010

01. RUNAWAY
02. ANYONE'S GHOST
03. MISTAKEN FOR STRANGERS
04. BLOODBUZZ OHIO
05. SLOW SHOW
06. SQUALOR VICTORIA
07. AFRAID OF EVERYONE
08. AVAILABLE/CARDINAL SONG
09. CONVERSATION 16
10. SORROW
11. APARTMENT STORY
12. ABEL
13. DAUGHTERS OF THE SOHO RIOTS
14. ENGLAND
15. FAKE EMPIRE
16. ABOUT TODAY

17. LUCKY YOU
18. MR. NOVEMBER
19. TERRIBLE LOVE




2° GIORNO/INTERPOL

All'ingresso del PalaSharp l'atmosfera che si respira è coinvolgente, quasi rituale, un po' come accade ai concerti dei Cure, dei quali gli Interpol per certi versi sono una sorta di eredi. Il gruppo di supporto, i Surfer Blood, ha in comune con i Phosporescent, gli special guest dei National, le camicie a quadri e la sensazione di non incidere molto, nel bene o nel male. Alle 21:30 in punto si spengolo le luci e, quasi in sordina, la band di New York attacca con Success, traccia che apre anche l'ultimo disco, in modo atipico (non è certo un brano con un intro particolare) ma efficace. Giusto il tempo di acclimatarsi, quindi, che si decolla con Say Hello To The Angels. La scaletta alterna in modo eterogeneo la discografia del gruppo, passando con disinvoltura da un album all'altro: Narc, Summer Well, Rest My Chemistry, Slow Hands, NYC, una splendida esecuzione di Take You On A Cruise, fino a Memory Serves, uno dei pezzi più belli dell'ultimo lavoro, del quale viene proposta per intero la prima parte (sicuramente la migliore). La classe di Paul Banks è immutata, la chitarra di Daniel Kessler sempre graffiante, mentre David Pajo al basso fa il suo onestamente. Particolarmente intenso il bis: dopo una suggestiva versione di The Lighthouse, si chiude in crescendo con le taglienti Evil e The Heinrich Manuveur. Precisi ma emozionanti, elegantemente distanti ma incredibilmente coinvolgenti allo stesso tempo, gli Interpol dal vivo sono una macchina perfetta, un'esperienza assolutamente imperdibile.


INTERPOL/PALASHARP/MILANO, 17 NOVEMBRE 2010

01. SUCCESS
02. SAY HELLO TO THE ANGELS
03. NARC
04. LENGHT OF LOVE
05. SUMMER WELL
06. REST MY CHEMISTRY
07. SLOW HANDS
08. C'MERE
09. NYC
10. BARRICADE
11. TAKE YOU ON A CRUISE
12. LIGHTS
13. PDA
14. MEMORY SERVES
15. NOT EVEN JAIL

16. THE LIGHTHOUSE
17. EVIL
18. THE HEINRICH MANUVEUR

LA CANZONE DEL GIORNO: EVIL/INTERPOL

17/11/10 Palasharp/Milano
Video girato da MICRO

Rosemary
Heaven restores you in life
You're coming with me
Through the aging, the fearing, the strife
It's the smiling on the package
It's the faces in the sand
It's the thought that moves you upwards
Embracing me with two hands
Right will take you places
Yeah maybe to the beach
When your friends they do come crying
Tell them now your pleasure's set upon slow-release

Hey wait
Great smile
Sensitive to fate not
Denial
But hey who's on trial?

It took a life spent with no cellmate
The long way back
Saying, "why can't we look the other way?"

We speaks about travel
Yeah, we think about the land
We smart like all peoples
Feeling real tan
I could take you places
Do you need a new man?
Wipe the pollen from the faces
Make revision to a dream while you wait in the van

Hey wait
Great smile
Sensitive to fate not
Denial
But hey who's on trial?

It took a life spent with no cellmate
To find the long way back
Saying, "why can't we look the other way?"
You're weightless, you are exotic
You need something for which to care
Saying, "why can't we look the other way?"

Leave some shards under the belly
Lay some grease inside my hand
It's a sentimental jury
And the makings of a good plan
You've come to love me lightly
Yeah you've come to hold me tight
Is this motion everlasting
Or do shutters pass in the night?

Rosemary
Oh heaven restores you in life
I spent a lifespan with no cellmate
The long way back
Saying, "why can't we look the other way?"
You're weightless, semi-erotic
You need someone to take you there
Saying, "why can't we look the other way?"
Why can't we just play the other game?
Why can't we just look the other way?

ALBUM: ANTICS (2004)

LA CANZONE DEL GIORNO: OBSTACLE 1/INTERPOL

I wish I could eat the salt off your last faded lips
We can cap the old times
Make playing only logical harm
We can cop the old lines
Clay-making that nothing else will change
But she can read, she can read, she can read, she can read, she's bad
But she can read, she can read, she can read, she can read, she's bad
She's bad

And it's different now that I'm poor and aging
I'll never see this face again
You go stabbing yourself in the neck

We can find new ways of living
Make playing only logical harm
And we can top the old times
Clay-making that nothing else will change
But she can read, she can read, she can read, she can read, she's bad
But she can read, she can read, she can read, she can read, she's bad
She's bad

And it's different now that I'm poor and aging
I'll never see this place again
You go stabbing yourself in the neck
But it's different now that I'm poor and aging
I'll never see this place again
You go stabbing yourself in the neck

It's in the way that she posed
It's in the things that she puts in my head
Her stories are boring and stuff
She's always calling my bluff
She puts, she puts the weights into my little heart
And she gets in my room and she takes it apart
She puts the weights into my little heart
I said she puts the weights into my little heart
She packs it away
She packs it away
She packs it away
She packs it away
She packs it away
She packs it away
She packs it away

It's in the way that she walks
Her heaven is never enough
She puts the weights in my heart
She puts, she puts the weights into my little heart

ALBUM: TURN ON THE BRIGHT LIGHTS (2002)

LA CANZONE DEL GIORNO: AFRAID OF EVERYONE/THE NATIONAL

Venom radio and venom television
I'm afraid of everyone
I'm afraid of everyone
Lay the young blue bodies
With the old red violets
I'm afraid of everyone
I'm afraid of everyone
With my kid on my shoulders I try
Not to hurt anybody I like
But I don't have the drugs to sort
I don't have the drugs to sort it out
Sort it out

I defend my family
With my orange umbrella
I'm afraid of everyone
I'm afraid of everyone
With my shiny new starspangled tennis shoes on
I'm afraid of everyone
I'm afraid of everyone
With my kid on my shoulders I try
Not to hurt anybody I like
But I don't have the drugs to sort
I don't have the drugs to sort it out
Sort it out
I don't have the drugs to sort it out
Sort it out

Your voice is swallowing my soul
Your voice is swallowing my soul
Your voice is swallowing my soul
Your voice is swallowing my soul

ALBUM: HIGH VIOLET (2010)

LA CANZONE DEL GIORNO: PDA/INTERPOL

Yours is the only version of my desertion
That I could ever subscribe to
That is all that I can do
You are a past dinner, the last winner
I'm raping all around me
Until the last drop is behind you
But you're so cute when you're frustrated, dear
You're so cute when you're sedated, dear

Sleep tight, grim rite
We have two hundred couches where you can
Sleep tight, grim rite
We have two hundred couches where you can
Sleep tight, grim rite
We have two hundred couches where you can
Sleep tonight
Sleep tonight
Sleep tonight
Sleep tonight

You are the only person who's completely certain
There's nothing here to be into
That is all that you can do
You are a past sinner, the last winner
And everything we've come to makes you
You
But you cannot safely say that while I will be away
You will not consider sadly
How you helped me to stray
And you will not reach me
I am resenting a position that's past resentment
And now I can't consider
And now there is this distance, so

Sleep tight, grim rite
We have two hundred couches where you can
Sleep tight, grim rite
We have two hundred couches where you can
Sleep tight, grim rite
We have two hundred couches where you can
Sleep tonight
Sleep tonight
Sleep tonight
Sleep tonight

(PDA)

ALBUM: TURN ON THE BRIGHT LIGHTS (2002)

LA CANZONE DEL GIORNO: LAST CHANCE ON THE STAIRWAY/DURAN DURAN

I don't remember quite how I met you, wasn't long ago
Just get a picture of sun, in your eyes
The waves in your hair
Maybe it's something said in a movie or you could've said last night
Just took me out on a limb
And I don't really know what I'm doing here

And sometimes I'm caught in a landslide
My beat's so in time, can you look at me
I'm out of reach, I'll talk if it feels right
I've had my last chance on the stairway

Funny it's just like a scene out of Voltaire, twisting out of sight
'Cause when all the curtains are pulled back
We'll turn and see the circles we traced?
Ain't no game
When you're playing with fire
It doesn't seem right that we fight
So the party runs on all night

And sometimes I'm caught in a landslide
My beat's so in time can you look at me
I'm out of reach I'll talk if it feels right
So nervous to say, tell me can't you see
If you want I'll fall out forever
I can't say no more, babe dance with me
And please don't say leave till later
I've had my last chance on the stairway

Wonder why
What makes me rise so high
Maybe it's something they put in your perfume
Or the look in your eyes
It could be the atmosphere sinking
I don't even know what you're thinking
Don't even know what you're drinking
But it keep this heaven alive

And sometimes I'm caught in a landslide
My beat's so in time can you look at me
I'm out of reach I'll talk if it feels right
So nervous to say, tell me can't you see
If you want I'll fall out forever
I can't say no more, babe dance with me
And please don't say leave till later
I've had my last chance on the stairway

ALBUM: RIO (1982)

LA CANZONE DEL GIORNO: HELICOPTER/DEERHUNTER

Take my hand and pray with me
My final days in company
The devil now has come for me
And helicopters circling the scene

And I pray for rest
Could you pray for us
We know he loves you the best
We know he loves you the best

The lights inside my cave
I’m tired of my ‘cades

These drugs they played on me
These terrible ways
They don’t pay like they used to pay
I used to make it day-to-day

No one cares for me
I keep no company
I have minimal needs
And now they are through with me

Now they are through with me
Now they are through with me
Now they are through with me
Now they are through with me
Now they are through with me
Now they are through with me
Now they are through with me
Now they are through with me

ALBUM: HALCYON DIGEST (2010)

LA CANZONE DEL GIORNO: RUN ME THORUGH/THE PINEAPPLE THIEF

It's warm in here
I see you
Come over here
And run me through

You're so near
But so long
I won't fear
'Cause you're gone
Gone

You are too real
Won't you stay
I can almost feel
Your sharpened blade

You're so near
But so long
I won't fear
When you're gone
Gone

ALBUM: VARIATIONS ON A DREAM (2004)

LA CANZONE DEL GIORNO: PLAY DEAD/BJÖRK

Darling stop confusing me
With your wishful thinking
Hopeful embraces
Don't you understand?
I have to go through this
I belong to here
Where no-one cares and no-one loves
No light, no air to live in
A place called hate
The city of fear

I play dead
It stops the hurting
I play dead
And the hurting stops
It's sometimes just like sleeping
Curling up inside my private tortures
I nestle into pain
Hug suffering
Caress every ache
I play dead
It stops the hurting

ALBUM: DEBUT (1993)

LA CANZONE DEL GIORNO: GOING INSIDE/JOHN FRUSCIANTE

You don't throw your life away
Going inside
You get to know who's watching you
And who besides you resides
In your body
Where you're slow
Where you go doesn't matter
'Cause there will come a time
When time goes out the window
And you'll learn to drive out of focus of you
And if anything unfolds
It's supposed to

You don't throw your time away sitting still
I'm in a chain of memories
It's my will
And I had to consult some figures of the past
And I know someone after me
Will go right back
I'm not telling a view
I've got this night to unglue
I moved this fight away
By doing things there's no reason to do

ALBUM: TO RECORD ONLY WATER FOR TEN DAYS (2001)

LA CANZONE DEL GIORNO: SIRENSONG/THE CURE

It could’ve been her golden hair
That turned my head
I didn’t want to stare
Like I was hypnotized
But I was fixed
Without a name or memory
I waited there
Too scared to even breathe
And I was tricked

It could’ve been her silver skin
That drew me on
I didn’t want to spin
Like I was mesmerised
But I was rapt
Without a name or memory
I waited there
Too scared to even breathe
She sang, she sang

Tell me you love me
And beg me to stay
Tell me you love me
Before it’s too late
Give me your life
Or I must fly away
And you will never hear this song again

It could’ve been her crystal eyes
That made me stop
I didn’t want to sigh
Like I was stupefied
But I was thrown
Without a name or memory
I waited there
Too scared to even breathe
Or mine alone
She sang, she sang

Tell me you love me
And beg me to stay
Tell me you love me
Before it’s too late
Give me your life
Or I must fly away
And you will never hear this song

ALNUM: 4:13 DREAM (2008)