(pt.3)
It is a deep anguish the one that can be heard in the first notes in 'Mina Loy': it is not
hard to imagine the that music as the soundtrack for a particularly anxious scene in a thriller
movie, a scene in which the public already knows that the killer is there, hiding, ready to kill…
Later the music changes, the killer's knife hammers repeatedly in the belly of the victim who
lays down dripping blood.
Found a diamond in the gutter
On an early morning freeze
In your mouth it turns to water
Onyx eyes swallow me
I don't care what it takes
All he wants is you to love him
Without shame, without shame
Without shame, without shame
Without shame
Found a diamond in the gutter
On an early morning freeze
In your mouth it turns to water
Onyx eyes swallow me
I don't care what it takes
All she wants is you to love her
Without shame, without shame
Without shame, without shame
Without shame, without shame
Without shame, without shame
Without shame, without shame
Without shame, without shame
Mina Loy was a versatile artist (see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mina_Loy), and also the
title of a Billy Corgan's song, in his solo album 'TheFutureEmbrace'. There's a verse,
in Corgan's lyric, which sounds very appropriate to me:
Can I give my old heart to you?
Can I give my old heart to you?
'Cause when this feeling starts
That's when I blow it all away
Here we are: a man and a woman who'd like to love each other without shame (Thurston
repeat it like a mantra). A knife planted against Kim, Sonic Youth and Thurston himself. The
drums appearing in the second strophe beats a cardiac rhythm, Thurston's voice is just
a whisper: he's completely overpowered by the feelings he has for this woman.
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In 'Space' the music lulls us in a sweet waving into space-time. Concentrated in few seconds
(forty in a more than 6 minutes song) we can find these words
I used to have all the time in the world
Cruising galaxies in search of gold
Another planet with no one home
It was only a matter of time before
The space police discovered my crime
Forbidden visions etched in stone
It makes no difference to my death wish ray
Hearts get broken every day
Your undying lover is here and gone
One could think that the theme of this song is completely separated from the rest of the
album, but the last sentence gives us the correct key for interpretation: his secret love has
been discovered and he has nothing else to do except to be drag by the occurrences. Also
the listener, who is now in total empathy with the author, is suspended in a long musical
moment...
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Finally 'January', the calm before the storm.
He sees her sleeping on the grass
I think I heard a distant splash
In July she came to play
By January he learns to pray.
Your shoes at the door
Waves come crashing to the floor
He sees your swimsuit on the grass
I thought I heard a distant..
His fears ("by january he learns to pray") just outlined, still suspended, like he didn't
want to recognize them as they are: the incomplete crescendo of the ending leaves us
waiting for the blow that, inevitably, now we know it, will come.
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Ok. I'd have anything of this in mind without knowing about the divorce. Maybe this album
could not be understood when it was released because we all had blinkers: it's too much time
that Thurston and Kim are seen like a one almost supernatural being. But (of course!) this
is a false myth. It is worthwhile now to recall that the title of the album comes from far away,
youth memories appearing today with vehemence in author's mind:
It's time for them to realize
I'm more than what meets their eyes
I'm ripping away from their hypocrisy
Gonna make them stop make them see
I may be idle but I'm far from stagnant
The thoughts in my head have begun to fragment
I know what I want and I take what I need
I'm gonna make their society bleed
I confront what crosses my path
Demolished thoughts in the aftermath
I don't look back to see the remains
It's just another one of their games
(``It's Time'' - The Faith, 1982)
And maybe yes, we now realized it.
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For those who understand italian, you can find the original writing (which I think is more readable) here:
http://sonicyouth.forumfree.it/?t=59159249
maybe you can help improving the translation...