Mellon Collie e Melancholy

Allora i cd degli Smashing Pumpkins non li avevo ascoltati per intero; nessuno dei miei amici li aveva, di internet se ne sapeva a malapena l'esistenza, e comprarli a scatola chiusa era un po' un azzardo. Ma girava voce che Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness fosse bellissimo.

Per fortuna fra la radio e gli scambi di cassette qualche canzone circolava.

I due cd piu' importanti degli Smashing Pumpkins, il gia' citato Mellon Collie, e Siamese Dream, ho avuto modo di sentirli per la prima volta per intero soltanto pochi giorni fa, e non mi hanno impressionato. Forse troppe aspettative, forse il sapore di quegli anni e' lontano. Ma certi pezzi non li puoi scordare: Tonight, Tonight, dagli archi epici e commoventi, Disarm, acustica e bellissima, Bullet with Butterfly Wings, piena di rabbia, 1979, melodia pop e cuore rock.

The world is a vampire, sent to drain
Secret destroyers, hold you up to the flames
And what do I get, for my pain?
Betrayed desires, and a piece of the game

Even though I know - I suppose I'll show
All my cool and cold - like old job

Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage
Then someone will say what is lost can never be saved
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage

(Bullet with Butterfly Wings, da Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, 1995)

 

Disarm you with a smile
And cut you like you want me to
Cut that little child
Inside of me and such a part of you
Ooh, the years burn

I used to be a little boy
So old in my shoes
And what i choose is my choice
What's a boy supposed to do?
The killer in me is the killer in you
My love
I send this smile over to you

(Disarm, da Siamese Dream, 1993)

Time is never time at all
You can never ever leave without leaving a piece of youth
And our lives are forever changed
We will never be the same
The more you change the less you feel
Believe, believe in me, believe
That life can change, that you're not stuck in vain
We're not the same, we're different tonight
Tonight, so bright
Tonight [...]
Believe, believe in me, believe
In the resolute urgency of now
And if you believe there's not a chance tonight
Tonight, so bright
Tonight
We'll crucify the insincere tonight
We'll make things right, we'll feel it all tonight
We'll find a way to offer up the night tonight
The indescribable moments of your life tonight
The impossible is possible tonight
Believe in me as I believe in you, tonight

(Tonight, Tonight, da Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, 1995)

 

Dopo quei due cd gli Smashing Pumpkins hanno cambiato formazione, poi si sono sciolti, Bill Corgan ha formato gli Zwan, scioltisi dopo un solo cd. Adesso ha intrapreso la carriera solista.