Un bellissimo singolo del 1981.

Incredibilmente mai pubblicata in un album, è sicuramente un pezzo memorabile. I Clash riescono magnificamente a incorporare influenze dub, hip hop, e addirittura disco senza snaturare il loro sound.

La linea di basso è - per stessa ammissione di Strummer - "ispirata" da Another One Bites the Dust - il grande successo dei Queen pubblicato l'anno precedente.

Per quanto riguarda il testo siamo però completamente in territorio Clash - l'appello di una Radio Pirata per la lotta e per la libertà.

[1996]
Testo e musica di Fabrizio De André e Ivano Fossati
Lyrics and music by Fabrizio De André and Ivano Fossati
Album: "Anime salve"

L'ultima canzone dell'ultimo disco di Fabrizio De André, Anime Salve (1996). Smisurata preghiera (ispirata dal "Gabbiere" di Alvaro Mutis) è invece secondo me non solo la somma dei percorsi del disco, ma anche di quelli della vita poetica di De Andrè. Fortissima la presenza di Mutis qui ripreso sia per la "Preghiera" di Maqroll, che al contrario recita "Ricorda Signore che il tuo servo ha osservato pazientemente le leggi del branco. Non dimenticare il suo volto", sia in più punti, a partire da quel "gli elementi del disastro" che ricorda appunto una delle raccolte più note del poeta. Ma De Andrè attraverso la poesia stavolta ci offre un vero, grande affresco a tinte forte della solitudine libera e scelta, presupposto necessario per "consegnare alla morte... (continua)

Canzone legata alla vicenda di Sacco e Vanzetti, segnalataci dall'instancabile Alessandro, che la ricorda cantata dalla sua nonna paterna. Sembra che il testo non sia completo e manca il titolo (scegliamo quindi, secondo l'uso corrente, di utilizzare come titolo il primo verso).

Della canzone si parla in un articolo di Lele Odiardo su "Umanità Nova" (n. 28 dell'8 settembre 2002):

Nonostante il fascismo, le vicende di Sacco e Vanzetti entrano nell'immaginario popolare e suscitano una spontanea solidarietà ...

In quegli anni le notizie arrivavano, ancor prima che attraverso i giornali, con i cantastorie che si esibivano nelle piazze i giorni di festa e di mercato. L'indimenticato Tavio Cosio in un suo scritto riporta il testo di una canzone diffusa all'epoca.

Ricorda ancora il farmacista villafallettese: "La canzone in questione non ricordo se sia stata scritta nel 1927 o nel 1928, ma... (continua)

Louis Aragon / Gérard-André Gaillard

[January 2003]
Lyrics and music by David Rovics
From the album, or song collection, "For the moment"
David Rovics' Official Website

"The way things could be, and hopefully will be soon, as soon as we get it together. We have a world to lose or a world to gain. Originally recorded on Return." -David Rovics.

April, 2005

I had a great show a while back in Olympia, Washington and met Pat Maley there. I was recording a few new songs at his studio to put on the web, and at some point he suggested that I put out my next CD on his label, Yoyo Records. Thinking that to be a great idea, I went about figuring out what I wanted to do about that, and this is the end result.

Four cities were involved in this decisively non-Luddite production. I recorded vocal and guitar tracks in Houston, and Kristine Pettersen (Thistle) did harmony vocals later in the same place, Sugar Hill Studios with John Griffin... (continua)

[June 2003]
Lyrics and music by David Rovics
From the album, or song collection, "For the moment"
David Rovics' Official Website

"A very succinct summary of the problem and the solution for Palestine, as expressed by many refugees. Originally recorded on Songs for Mahmud." - David Rovics.

April, 2005

I had a great show a while back in Olympia, Washington and met Pat Maley there. I was recording a few new songs at his studio to put on the web, and at some point he suggested that I put out my next CD on his label, Yoyo Records. Thinking that to be a great idea, I went about figuring out what I wanted to do about that, and this is the end result.

Four cities were involved in this decisively non-Luddite production. I recorded vocal and guitar tracks in Houston, and Kristine Pettersen (Thistle) did harmony vocals later in the same place, Sugar Hill Studios with John Griffin engineering.... (continua)

[April 2004]
Lyrics and music by David Rovics
From the album, or song collection, "For the moment"
David Rovics' Official Website


"For a beautiful Salvadoran woman I saw in a photo on the cover of the New York Times. I was sitting in a café in Seattle in November, 1989, while she was trying to overthrow the US-backed fascists in El Salvador. Standing majestically on a rooftop in San Salvador, dressed in fatigues and an AK. Too bad those SAM's got intercepted en route from Nicaragua." -David Rovics.

April, 2005

I had a great show a while back in Olympia, Washington and met Pat Maley there. I was recording a few new songs at his studio to put on the web, and at some point he suggested that I put out my next CD on his label, Yoyo Records. Thinking that to be a great idea, I went about figuring out what I wanted to do about that, and this is the end result.

Four cities were involved... (continua)

[February, 2004]
Lyrics and music by David Rovics
From the album, or song collection, "For the moment"
http://David Rovics' Official Website

"For the apartheid wall in Occupied Palestine. Originally recorded in the spring of 2004 for Songs for Mahmud." -David Rovics.

April, 2005

I had a great show a while back in Olympia, Washington and met Pat Maley there. I was recording a few new songs at his studio to put on the web, and at some point he suggested that I put out my next CD on his label, Yoyo Records. Thinking that to be a great idea, I went about figuring out what I wanted to do about that, and this is the end result.

Four cities were involved in this decisively non-Luddite production. I recorded vocal and guitar tracks in Houston, and Kristine Pettersen (Thistle) did harmony vocals later in the same place, Sugar Hill Studios with John Griffin engineering. I sent the sound files... (continua)

[April 2004]
Lyrics and music by David Rovics
From the album, or song collection, "For the moment"
http://www.davidrovics.com

April, 2005

I had a great show a while back in Olympia, Washington and met Pat Maley there. I was recording a few new songs at his studio to put on the web, and at some point he suggested that I put out my next CD on his label, Yoyo Records. Thinking that to be a great idea, I went about figuring out what I wanted to do about that, and this is the end result.

Four cities were involved in this decisively non-Luddite production. I recorded vocal and guitar tracks in Houston, and Kristine Pettersen (Thistle) did harmony vocals later in the same place, Sugar Hill Studios with John Griffin engineering. I sent the sound files up to Boston and in Tenitus Studios my friend Sean Staples laid down bass, mandolin, bouzouki, electric guitar, dobro and nylon string guitar... (continua)

[September 2004]
Lyrics and music by David Rovics
From the album, or song collection, "For the moments"
David Rovics' Official Website

April, 2005

I had a great show a while back in Olympia, Washington and met Pat Maley there. I was recording a few new songs at his studio to put on the web, and at some point he suggested that I put out my next CD on his label, Yoyo Records. Thinking that to be a great idea, I went about figuring out what I wanted to do about that, and this is the end result.

Four cities were involved in this decisively non-Luddite production. I recorded vocal and guitar tracks in Houston, and Kristine Pettersen (Thistle) did harmony vocals later in the same place, Sugar Hill Studios with John Griffin engineering. I sent the sound files up to Boston and in Tenitus Studios my friend Sean Staples laid down bass, mandolin, bouzouki, electric guitar, dobro and nylon string... (continua)

Music by Mark D. Williams
Lyrics by David Hamilton

An original Rock Opera by
David Hamilton and Mark D. Williams
Adapted from Aristophanes’ Lysistrata

Official Website

Libretto

Aristophanes' anti-war comedy Lysistrata, written in 411 BC, has female characters, led by the eponymous Lysistrata, barricading the public funds building and withholding consensual sex from their husbands to secure peace and end the Peloponnesian War. In doing so, Lysistrata engages the support of women from Sparta, Boeotia, and Corinth. All of them are at first aghast at the suggestion of withholding sex, but they finally agree and swear an oath to support each other. The woman from Sparta, Lampito, returns home to spread the word there.

The play also addresses the contribution that women could make to society and to policy making, but cannot because their views are ignored: All such questions are considered... (continua)

"So this song is my first anti-war song. This song is basically about the war and how it sucks and all that kind of stuff, but it's also about keeping a good attitude about how we have to change things and basically, kind of, rebuild our entire country from the ground up. From square one. And trying to keep a good attitude about it, 'cause there's a lot of work to do. But if we stay in a good mood and have a good time doing it then we have a better chance of pulling it off."
(Lisa Rein)

[2005]
Halliburton Boardroom Massacre

Here are fifteen songs I wrote between January and July,
2005. I recorded them at Sugar Hill in Houston with John Griffin on the board on the afternoon of July 28th. I guess there's another bunch of songs here which are continuing the ecological theme that was heavily represented in Beyond the Mall (and to one degree or another in all of my other recordings). Some of the songs are definitely inspired by the musical sensibilies of TV Smith ("Crashing Down," "Boardroom," "Before the Oil Wells Run Dry," "Waiting For The Fall"). I don't know if any of these songs approach TV's brilliance at writing stuff with great universality to it, nor whether the melodies are as catchy as his, but in any case, his music has been a focus for my own songwriting over the past couple months.

*

"Riffing off of a Robb Johnson song (and a Pete Seeger song)."

David Rovics.
http://www.davidrovics.com

[2005]
Halliburton Boardroom Massacre

Here are fifteen songs I wrote between January and July,
2005. I recorded them at Sugar Hill in Houston with John Griffin on the board on the afternoon of July 28th. I guess there's another bunch of songs here which are continuing the ecological theme that was heavily represented in Beyond the Mall (and to one degree or another in all of my other recordings). Some of the songs are definitely inspired by the musical sensibilies of TV Smith ("Crashing Down," "Boardroom," "Before the Oil Wells Run Dry," "Waiting For The Fall"). I don't know if any of these songs approach TV's brilliance at writing stuff with great universality to it, nor whether the melodies are as catchy as his, but in any case, his music has been a focus for my own songwriting over the past couple months.

Oh, this is a web-only release and can be found in it's entirely in the "MP3... (continua)

[2005]
Here are fifteen songs I wrote between January and July,
2005. I recorded them at Sugar Hill in Houston with John Griffin on the board on the afternoon of July 28th. I guess there's another bunch of songs here which are continuing the ecological theme that was heavily represented in Beyond the Mall (and to one degree or another in all of my other recordings). Some of the songs are definitely inspired by the musical sensibilies of TV Smith ("Crashing Down," "Boardroom," "Before the Oil Wells Run Dry," "Waiting For The Fall"). I don't know if any of these songs approach TV's brilliance at writing stuff with great universality to it, nor whether the melodies are as catchy as his, but in any case, his music has been a focus for my own songwriting over the past couple months.

Oh, this is a web-only release and can be found in it's entirely in the "MP3 music" section of http://this Website. Click on the song titles below to check out the lyrics to each song.

David Rovics.
http://www.davidrovics.com