Subterranean Homesick Alien
The breath of the morning
i keep forgetting.
The smell of the warm summer air.
I live in a town
where you can't smell a thing,
you watch your feet
for cracks in the pavement.
Up above aliens hover
making home movies
for the folks back home,
of all these weird creatures
who lock up their spirits,
drill holes in themselves
and live for their secrets.
They're all up-tight.
I wish that they'd swoop down
in a country lane,
late at night when im driving.
Take me on board
their beautiful ship,
show me the world
as I'd love to see it.
I'd tell all my friends
but they'd never believe me,
they'd think that I'd
finally lost it completely.
I'd show them the stars
and the meaning of life.
They'd shut me away.
But I'd be alright.
I'm just up-tight.
remix
x, inédit
remix par DJ Shadow
?
Un vieux titre déjà écrit au moment de la
sortie de The Bends en mars
1995, beaucoup joué depuis. En live, Thom joue du Rhodes. Enregistré
à Oxford, dans leur studio Canned Applause. Le groupe essayait
de reproduire un effet de Miles Davies dans Bitches Brew avec un son
sub-aquatique de synthé et guitare acoustique. C'était... surprenant.
Thom
Ah, this is us desperate to be Miles David on Bitches
Brew. It's got a groove. And it used to be called Uptight. That's
it, really.
Select, juillet 1997
Thom
I want to call it Subterranean Homesick Alien,
and Jonny wants to call it Uptight, you'll see why...
Je veux l'appeler Subterranean Homesick Alien,
et Jonny veut l'appeler Uptight, vous allez voir pourquoi...
avant de la jouer pour une radio
Colin
When we were doing The Bends, John Leckie
told us about this hollow earth theory that John Power of Cast has. Apparently,
there's a sun revolving in the centre of the Earth and there are holes in the
north and south poles that aliens fly into. We, er, weren't completely sold
on it to be honest, John.
Yeah, apparently there is now neurological evidence to prove the existence of
the human soul. They've had big meetings in the Vatican, because obviously the
Roman Catholic church are very keen to control it. Er, I sound like John Power
now, don't I?
dxoigmn**subterranean homesick alien/.
The breath of the morning i keep forgetting. The smell of the warm summer air. I live
in a town where you can't smell a thing, you watch your feet for cracks in the pavement.
Up above aliens hover making home movies for the folks back home, of all these wierd
creatures who lock up their spirits, drill holes in themselves and live for their secrets.
They're all up-tight.
I wish that they'd swoop down in a country lane, late at night when im driving. Take me
on board their beautiful ship, show me the world as id love to see it. I'd tell all my friends but
they'd never believe, they'd think that i'd finally lost it completely.I'd show them the stars and
the meaning of life. Theyd shut me away.
But i'd be alright. i'm just up-tight.
Thom
The first essay I ever wrote in school was, 'you
are an alien from another planet. You have landed, and you are standing in the
middle of Oxford, and write an essay about what you see if you're an alien form
another planet, how would you see these people?' and that's where alot of it
came from, really.
Thom
I had a very proud theory when I was a child that
angels and aliens were the same people. I just loved the idea of someone observing
how we live from the outside and running home with home movies to show their
friends at parties and sitting there pissing themselves laughing at how humans
go about their daily business.
-
Hey, Mr. Spaceman
Won't you please take me along
I won't do anything wrong
Hey, Mr. Spaceman
Won't you please take me along for a ride
[...]
Must be those strangers that come every night
Those saucer shaped lights put people uptight
Leave blue green footprints that glow in the dark
I hope they get home alright
Le titre est évidemment un hommage à Bob Dylan,
mais à l'écoute du morceau, on ne voit pas pourquoi. Un lien
plus ténu cependant :
Roger McGuinn écrivait pour les Byrds, qui
ont repris beaucoup de chansons de Dylan. La chanson Mr. Spaceman
parle de visiteurs extraterrestres et du désir de l'observateur d'être
emporté à bord d'un vaisseau. Là aussi, les gens sont
qualifiés d'uptight.
Remarquez aussi l'utilisation d'alright à la
fin...
Alors, convaincu ?
subterranean
souterrain
homesick
qui a le mal du pays
alien
extraterrestre ou étranger
La démo pour Rare on the Air 4 ne comprend que Thom,
Jon et leurs guitares acoustiques. Les deux couplets sont joués l'un
après l'autre, et la chanson se termine sur le refrain. Superbe.
liste
menu
enregistrement
Canned Applause
équipement mobile
production
Nigel Godrich
ingénieur
Nigel Godrich
mixage
Mayfair, Abbey Road, Air Lyndhurst, Courtyard
and the church using the wonders of a digital and analog age
master
Chris Blair
Abbey Road