Amused To Death-spór!

[Machidiel]

Kochani na płycie Rogera Watersa "Amused To Death" jest taki kawałek pt. "Too Much Rope" [dla niewtajemniczonych nr. 8], w którym jadą koniki, brzeczą dzwoneczki...i jest coś jeszcze. Jest "rąbanie". I moje pytanie dotyczy tego, czy wg Was jest to rąbanie drewna [ja tak jeodbieram, jako rąbanie zmrazniętego drewna na zewnątrz], czy też jest to, jak sądzi mój kolega, rąbanie lodu. A może macie inne "propozycje"?

Miłego dnia

[misio1973]

Najpierw myślałem że to jest rąbanie lodu Puźniej kolega wmówił mi że to jest rąbanie drewna. SPróbuje na zestawie słuchawkowym zestawie się wsłuchać.

[Machidiel]

Dodam jeszcze więcej: wg mnie to rąbanie zmarzniętego, twardego drewna np. buku. Sosna, czy świerk z reguły daje się rozpłatać na dwa uderzenia. Wiem, bo trochę w tym siedziałem. Więc ja stawiam na drewno, twarde drewno: buk, topola, może brzoza. Lód by się "rozpryskował" i Waters na pewno by tego typu smaczek pokazał na płycie.

Pozdrawiam

[Jakew]

a siekierka z jakiego metalu?:)

 

(jestem pod wrażeniem analizy rodzaju drewna - źródła dźwięku)

[Machidiel]

To nie była siekierka, on rąbał własną dłonią :-)

A tak na serio, uwielbiam las i palenie w kominku, resztę dołóż sobie sam. No więc, lód czy drewno?

Pozdr

[soso]

Moim zdaniem cala ta plyta jest przerabana - vide 'Opinie'

 

pzdrw

 

soso

[MusicFinder]

A pies???

Piesek w kawałku nr.1 gdzie wam szczeka?? :) - u mnie prawa strona na początku blisko a później daaallleeekoooo..... W obecnej chwili jestem na zakupie kabli głośnikowych i właśnie utwór nr.1 pokazuje mi czy mam przestrzeń po boczkach czy nie... Efekty są w wielu przypadkach zadziwiające....

[jasio]

to Chuck Norris ręką rąbie skały

:-D

[Machidiel]

Ludzie!!!! Nie wykręcać mi tu psa ogonem!!!! Co on rąbie waszym zdaniem???? Takie było pytanie. O psie pogadamy potem, o wrażenia nie pytam, nie obchodzą mnie w tym wątku.

CO ON RĄBIE WASZYM ZDANIEM?

[Papamek]

Rąbie drewno.

A krowę "wysłyszałeś"?

Papamek

[Machidiel]

Tak, słyszałem Mućkę. I rżenie kobyłki, jak juz zaczyna Roger śpiewać/mówić. Ale widzę, że zgadzasz się, że rąbie drewno.

[Papamek]

A w którym utworze wysłuchałeś "mućkę"? Pytam poważnie.

[Machidiel]

Jak sie nie mylę to jest to na "Late Home Tonight Part I". Zaczyna kapać woda [ i to jak kapać], a potem krówka się odzywa. Czemu o to pytasz?

[Machidiel]

>Papamek

Na chwilkę zmienię temat, dlaczego Badrocka się pozbyłeś? Pytam bo sam szukam kabla i biorę go pod uwagę.

[Papamek]

Tytuł dobrze :) Utwór 6, czas 0:23-0:25. Ale tam ptaszki ćwierkają, a nie woda kapie :)

Bedrocka sprzedałem, gdyż nie był idealnym połączeniem w Dynaudio Contour 1.8mkII. Poza tym ideowo przesiadałem się na Fadele :)

[Machidiel]

Na samym początku nie kapie woda?????????????? Nie, jestem w pracy, nie mam możliwości sprawdzenia, ale na początku kapie woda :-). Wiem, bo wzywałem hydraulika...

[kamil]

A witam

To jest ewidentnie drewno, nie ma opcji:) w dodatku po kilku rąbnięciach jegomość przesuwa się odrobinkę w prawo i ciałem swoim zasłania mikrofon. Stąd słychać ze dwa-trzy rąbnięcia z innej strony.

A kropelka kapie, tylko jest nienaturalnie drewniana...moim zdaniem

Co do piesa to szczeka, najpierw za sciana u sasiada, a potem kilka domów dalej u sołtysa:D

Pozdrawiam

[Machidiel]

Panowie, panowie, otrzymałem telefon od kolegi, który stanowczo twierdzi co następuje: " Czytałem w pewnym wydaniu gazety audio, wywiad z inżynierem dźwięku, który brał udział w realizacji powyższej płyty. Ów jegomość twierdzi, że to ma być...rąbanie lodu". Poprosiłem kolegę o odszukanie tegoż wywiadu. Jak go znajdzie, a on ma zacięcie, napiszę co i jak.

Ale ładnie to drewno sobie rąbie...

[soso]

Ten chlop twierdzi, ze to rabanie drzewa (wood chopping)

 

:::::::::::::

 

POSITIVE FEEDBACK ONLINE - ISSUE 18

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guilty Treasures: Roger Waters - Amused to Death

by Greg Weaver

 

 

 

 

 

Any discussion of music, much like discussions dealing with religion or politics (both of which this recording touches on, by the way), has the potential to be volatile and raise strong differences of opinion. While some of the cynical viewpoints presented by Amused to Death may run contrary to your own (they do mine), the differences between discussions on such charged issues are greater than the similarities. I would suggest that even should you find the rather bleak outlook expressed on this remarkable creation to be bothersome or disagreeable, you can still discover and revel in its utter musical enchantment. After all, liberals and conservatives alike enjoy Beethoven; atheist or pontiff might equally enjoy either Monk or Coltrane. You see, to enjoy music, as with most art, one need not necessarily share the viewpoint or the agenda of the artist.

 

With that understanding, I want to touch on the nature of what I call a Guilty Treasure. While many make excuses for what they listen to by applying the term "guilty pleasure," I revel in my love of music. I make no excuses for what I like… well, most of the time. To me, there is no guilt, shame, or embarrassment in listening to anything that in some way brings you some degree of enjoyment, release or healing.

 

You see for me, that is music's purpose. Since my youth, and I mean like five or six, music has been my anchor. Regardless of what happened to or around me, I could always count on music. It was always there for me, even when nothing or no one could be depended upon. In my case, the term "guilty" indicates simply that the recording falls outside the accepted context of "serious" music, whatever that may be. Substituting "treasure" for the word pleasure is indicative of the degree or caliber of the musical event; it denotes that this experience is elevated past being just pleasant. It is truly a treasure, in the literal sense of the word, making it worthy of being termed precious and sought after, not just delightful. With that modest explanation, here we go…

 

Haughty Beginnings

 

The stage name Pink Floyd was fashioned by combining the first names of two bluesmen, Pink Anderson (1900-1974) and Floyd "Dipper Boy" Council (1911-1976), whose records had an enormous influence on the band's founders. While it is unquestionable that the American Blues fuelled the British Invasion of the 1960's, it is doubtful that many will recall either of these two artists today. It seems equally likely that the impact that a 1960's band originally known as "The Pink Floyd Sound" had on popular music was considerable and far-reaching.

 

George Roger Waters was born September 6, 1943 in Great Bookham, Cambridge, England. His mother, a schoolteacher, raised him after losing his father when Waters was just three months old. Eric Fletcher Waters, to whom the 1983 Pink Floyd album The Final Cut is dedicated, was killed during the British invasion of Anzio, Italy, in early 1944.

 

Waters and Roger "Syd" Barrett reputedly first met at a Saturday art class they both attended during their school years. It was not until Waters moved to London, where he intended to study architecture at the Regent Street Polytechnic, that he first met Nick Mason, a drummer, and Rick Wright, a keyboard player. That group of students soon formed a band in which Waters played bass and handled lead vocals. It wasn't long before "Syd" joined the boys, and in 1965, Pink Floyd was born.

 

"Syd," who left the group in early 1968 after exhibiting progressively more alarming signals of mental instability, had been the original creative force of the group. Their first album, released in 1967, Piper at the Gates of Dawn, was primarily his baby. However, even at this early stage, Waters had written or co-written three tacks on Piper, including his exclusive effort "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk."

 

Whether "Syd" left of his own accord or was asked to depart because of his self-absorption and drug abuse is still subject to some debate, but 1975's Wish You Were Here is both about and dedicated to him. After Barrett's departure, Waters assumed the creative reins of the group, both musically and lyrically, starting with 1968's A Saucer Full of Secrets, and running through 1983's The Final Cut. That was the last Pink Floyd work with which he was associated.

 

Finding His Way

 

Waters' solo career has had its vicissitudes, no question. Yet with his first truly solo offering, 1984's The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking, the alert went out as to the possibilities of his work, which clearly demonstrated his love of the studio process and production. His next effort, Radio KAOS, was vastly underwhelming, to my thinking at least, but was still strong enough to keep the glimmer of a promise of a masterpiece-yet-to-come alive, considering the entire body of his work. 1987's When the Wind Blows found Waters playing composer for his second film soundtrack (the first, The Body, was coauthored in 1970 with Ron Geesin), which was finished immediately prior to the release of Radio KAOS. Waters is credited with ten of the fifteen tracks on that record, eight of them instrumental.

 

He managed to avoid a studio release for the next five years; five years that saw the fall of the Berlin Wall (November 1989) and the first Iraq war, Operation Desert Storm (January 1991). Though he mounted a live effort, with all-star guest performances, of The Wall in Berlin on July 21, 1990, resulting in the album The Wall - Live in Berlin, he released no studio work. Yet it is certain that those two major historical events, as well as the Tripoli bombing in 1986 and the Chinese government massacre of students during the democracy protest in Tiananmen Square in 1989, greatly contributed to the fashioning of ATD.

 

Motivation

 

The project that grew to be ATD was started in the fall of 1987 at Compass Point Studios in Nassau in the Bahamas. The venture was shelved for some time due to the Berlin The Wall concert, deemed timelier, and to Waters' general dissatisfaction with its progress. After even more work in London during 1988 and '89 made it apparent that it was still not ready for the light of day, at Waters' urging EMI announced that the project was being shelved indefinitely. After eighteen months of work in some 10 different studios, the project was near fruition. After repeated track order shuffling to organize the most cohesive flow and a fleeting plan to change the title because it was, in Waters' mind, "too final," it was finally realized. Amused to Death appeared in the United States September 1, 1992, and I found it just 24 days later on my thirty-seventh birthday.

 

This forceful and dark composition is, in my view, the strongest, most articulate work from Roger Waters; indeed, it is his magnum opus. Central to its theme, not unlike so many of his earlier works (including The Wall, maturing somewhat with The Final Cut, and even a tad in his 1987 solo work from When the Wind Blows), is the absurdity and tragedy found in war. Combined here for the first time we see the influence of Neil Postman's 1985 book, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. With ATD, he updates his now familiar anti-war theme, permeating it with his perceptions on the dangers of greed, his dread of ‘Big Brother" government, all woven together with the non-stop barrage of today's media, television in particular, masquerading entertainment as news. It is clear that Waters sees television as a double-edged sword that can both inform and manipulate at the same time.

 

The TV theme and its symbolism are certainly not new to Waters. In a 1983 interview with Jim Ladd about The Final Cut album, he says, "I keep harping back to this theory about TV. In the 17th, 18th, 19th, and early twentieth century... the only contact you had with your leaders was by reading about them in newspapers... It's only recently that we, the ordinary folk, have had a chance to observe them at reasonably close quarters."

 

While ATD does not paint a particularly optimistic picture (it takes little effort to glean the conclusion he comes to given the title), it is a vivid, engaging and absorbing one. It is a rather austere statement on contemporary life, tackling war, religion, consumerism, globalization, politics, the media, and the social condition. Lyrically, it is a densely woven tapestry of social commentary rife with political irony. ATD is one of those recordings that cannot be fully realized in just one listen. It will disclose more of its message and musical magic, all carefully constructed and subtlety layered, with each visit.

 

I have read that the only material to make it to the final release from the original 1987 Nassau sessions was the drum track heard in "Perfect Sense." "The Bravery of Being Out Of Range" was one of the first tracks written, and was actually performed acoustically during the Berlin Wall rehearsals. Two verses of what were to become the title track were quoted in a September 1988 Penthouse interview with Waters. Apparently, the third verse was changed to make it more timely, modifying the original references to Berlin to reflect instead the then current Gulf War. Interestingly, the haunting "Three Wishes" was another of the very early tracks written. "It's A Miracle" was reputed to be the last track recorded, replacing an earlier, livelier version that had included Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

 

I must say that I cannot find ATD to be a shamefaced indulgence in the least. I could easily make a case that it is the inevitable and definitive culmination of Waters' work, honed to near perfection, after many previous outings. It is, in my mind, a modern masterpiece. Though some will see it as an overly self-indulgent work (and I'd be forced to agree to some extent), it is nonetheless a milestone in popular music, a significant social statement and a sonic marvel! There is, in my estimation, only one other recording that utilizes Q-Sound to any arguably better effect. Oddly enough, it is a work by Pink Floyd, their 3 record/2 CD chronicle of the Division Bell tour, Pulse, released in 1995. Besides being an exhilarating listen and an unquestioned audio experience, ATD will also tell you in seconds if your listening room set up is average, good, or exceptional.

 

If you have boundary proximity issues, your speakers have phase or coherence shortcomings, or your speakers and listening position are even slightly asymmetrically arranged, you will experience only half of this recording's extraordinary message. Though the Q-Sound effects require great attention to system set up, the results of spending the time and energy to optimize that alignment are overwhelming. Sounds will be all around you with this recording using just two speakers. There are dripping faucets behind you to the left, dogs barking off your right shoulder, thunder rolling around the room, horse drawn sleighs crossing your listening room—well in front of the plane of the speakers—and even a Genie's voice that surrounds you and fills the entire room. The recording is loaded with myriad of sounds, too many to inventory, with many outside the boundaries of your listening environment!

 

Though it is not perfect (it is a pop recording, multi mic'ed and recorded in nearly a dozen locations over almost 5 years, after all), this disc has earned a permanent place in my sonic toolbox for its ability to help me dial in a room rapidly and optimally. If you have questions about how to achieve the proper set up, look at the wonderful instructions found at the audio physic web sit and my recent article dealing with simple, fast, and affordable ways to achieve the most effective results. If you continue to have difficulty realizing the effects highlighted in the track-by-track explanations offered below, even after you have done some detailed alignment, try experimenting with speaker toe-in angle. With determined experimentation, you will find a point, and it varies from speaker to speaker and room to room, where the toe-in locks the disembodied voices and effects in space. It is worth making the effort, as this will also be the best toe-in for your speakers in any circumstance. Setting up your room to maximize the effects of this recording specifically, and Q-Sound in general, will be the equivalent of maximizing the overall performance of your system with all recordings.

 

I wanted to initiate what I plan as an ongoing series with a work that was outstanding both musically and sonically, and ATD was my logical first choice. It is an album that I find myself reaching for and listening to, start to finish, over and over. The crafty lyrics, the wonderfully captivating and arching music and the cornucopia of sounds and effects, coming from nearly every direction in a two-channel set up, deliver the musical goods, time after time. For me, music like this fuels my imagination and recharges my spirit.

 

Amused To Death

 

Written by Roger Waters

Produced by Patrick Leonard and Roger Waters

Mixed by James Guthrie

 

Recorded in Q-Sound.

 

Engineers: Hayden Bendall, Jerry Jordan, Stephen McLaughlan

 

Mastered by Doug Sax & Ron Lewter at The Mastering Lab, Los Angeles.

 

Dedicated to Private William Hubbard (1888-1917), Eighth Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, City Of London Regiment.

 

Track 1. The Ballad of Bill Hubbard - 4:19

 

Listen for the dogs barking WAY off your right shoulder—outside your wall, typically—and a home shopping network type broadcast off to the left. The track then moves into a narration provided by the genuine Alf Razzell, of the British Royal Fusiliers, as he describes his inability to save his colleague, Private William Hubbard (to whom ATD is dedicated), from death and possibly never being found in the trenches during the battle of the Somme in France during World War One. Jeff Beck's creamy, haunting guitar sets the stage while Patrick Leonard's keyboards and Luis Conte's percussion weave an opening track that deftly foreshadow the fantastic aural play about to unfold. If you don't have speakers capable of recreating the bottom-most octave (20-40 Hz), you'd better hook up a subwoofer. You'll need it to appreciate most of the bass work and to recreate the full spatial effects from this recording.

 

Track 2. What God Wants, Part I - 6:00

 

With the young girl speaking off to the extreme left and the menagerie of animal noises sprinkled throughout the stage, Graham Broad's somber bass drum pulse eases you into the track before it picks up its tempo. Guitar rock? Yesiree! Jeff Beck, Geoff Whitehorn, Tim Pierce, and Andy Fairweather Low blend their individual guitar work here to exquisite effect and Graham Broad's timekeeping propels the composition along like soldiers marching in lock step.

 

There were some outcries from some religious groups about the lyrics when first released. Listen for yourself. If you are inclined to be offended, it is important to understand that Waters is not condemnatory of "God"; he is instead satirizing those who declare "God" to be in support of whatever it is they are "selling." As Waters explains, this song "was written as an irritable response to the idea that God can be on somebody's side and not on somebody else's side." And, in my opinion, it is VERY effective here, especially with the combined voices of the London Welch Chorale

 

Track 3. Perfect Sense, Part I - 4:16

 

Ok, so close your eyes and just go with this one. There is a bizarre voice off your left shoulder, actually a backward masked message. Fan web sites speculate as to what the rising pitched rant and following message may be, and Stanley Kubrick is at the center of all the speculation.

 

The cover of ATD shows an ape intently watching television. The Stanley Kubrick connection, through his film 2001: A Space Odyssey, will be obvious to most. From the massed ape vocalizations early on, to lyrics like "The monkey sat on a pile of stone… And he stared at the broken bone in his hand," the symbolism and references seem clear enough. During the opening sequences of 2001, we see the "evolution" of apes, as they progress from passive and timid to aggressive and war-like as they learn how to "master" a tool, an animal bone used as a bludgeon. Here, the tool is television, but used, in Waters vision, in the same fashion.

 

Be sure to pay attention to the clap of thunder which starts, just after the backward masked message, off your right shoulder then rolls forward, continuing across the front of the stage, then slides up the left completing a clearly defined, semi-circular pattern! A bit later, we are treated to a solo piano followed shortly by a solo violin hanging in space off to the extreme right.

 

Waters lyrics here are ironic and clever, but the strings, bass and Patricia (P.P.) Arnold's voice are the stars. We're definitely headed somewhere.

 

Track 4. Perfect Sense, Part II - 2:50

 

Waters' voice opens, leading into another guitar driven cut. Rick DiFonzo's low grunting guitar is deep, articulate, and powerful. Here the irony kicks into high gear with a battle televised as a sporting event, complete with Marv Albert doing the battle play-by-play.

 

Track 5. The Bravery of Being Out of Range - 4:42

 

Here, the energy kicks up again with solid, detailed bass guitar runs. Denny Fongheiser's drum work, Patrick Leonard's Hammond and synth efforts, and Tim Pierce's guitar work are the stars here. Natalie Jackson and Lyn Fiddmont-Linsey's backing vocals are vaguely reminiscent of the "Great Gig in the Sky," from Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. No super effects here, but this song is definitely rock ‘n' roll. The sarcasm here is scathing; the underlying message perhaps too close to home to be funny.

 

Track 6. Late Home Tonight, Part 1 - 4:01

 

Ok, be prepared to snap your head over you left shoulder to locate the dripping faucet. This sound effect seems to originate from well behind you on the left side of the room. True to the Q-Sound effect, as soon as you turn your head to localize it, it seems "connected" to the front left speaker. Return your head to the front and center position, and it is again well behind you on the left side of the room.

 

The tempo slows down again here, and we are back to remarkable sound effects used to heighten the story telling. Fighter cockpit and tower controller conversations, as well as other flight sounds, are all around you. Luis Conti's percussion throughout this track is vividly detailed and varies widely, from rock riffs to tribal rhythms.

 

At the very end of the cut, listen for the fighter to release its missile and the resultant detonation. That very dynamic explosion (watch the volume here!) literally rolls through the room, starting well behind the speakers then rushing past your chair on its way toward the back wall like a wave!

 

Track 7. Late Home Tonight, Part II - 2:13

 

The military dirge-like coronet by Steve Sidwell sets the somber tone. Sounds here include aircraft and felines.

 

Track 8. Too Much Rope - 5:47

 

Effects out the wazoo here, and what a blast, ranging from TV shows to chopping wood. From a horse drawn sleigh crossing the stage, considerably forward of the plane of the speakers, from left to right, to a Ferrari later re-crossing from right to left, this cut is quite an extravaganza.

 

James Johnson's bass runs are DEEP, articulate and defined. As I've indicated, you really need full range speakers (or a good sub?) to appreciate the power of this cut in particular, and this work in general. The beautiful blend of guitar tones from Steve Lukather and Geoff Whitehorn, combined with Andy Fairweather Low's feather strummed 12-string Rickenbacker, yield a delicious sound. We even get to hear Patrick Leonard's children (Jessica and Jordan) screaming near the end of the track before fading into the sound of a warm summer evening with its cricket refrain.

 

Track 9. What God Wants, Part II - 3:41

 

Opening with a televangelist speaking off to your left, the choir is back, and this time the theme is more driving; more negative and ironic too. Once more, guitars rule. More crickets, night sounds, and a final train whistle off in the distance—way out behind the front wall and encompassing the room—to close the track. You are surrounded by the sounds of a summer night.

 

Track 10. What God Wants, Part III - 4:08

 

Dogs again, go figure, with voices off left during the lead in. Graham Broad's cymbals reveal their lush flavor (listen to the bronzy bite of the ride) and Jeff Beck's weeping, pleading solo guitar is magnificent. And while you may not always care for Waters' voice, here he totally nails the emotion.

 

Track 11. Watching TV - 6:07

 

This is the beginning of the real ride. The last quartet of songs is the pièce de résistance of this work. Taken together by themselves, they are so strong that he could have just recorded these four songs and released a killer EP. Effects here include rampant TV channel switching off left and an eerie set of wind chimes. While the lyrics may not be the most inspired, they are certainly clever and Don Henley offers doubled vocals. The tone is set for the beginning of the finale.

 

Track 12. Three Wishes - 6:50

 

Wow. The woman's voice, discussing the murder of her children and her own attempted suicide, is way off left. As the track picks up momentum, the disconnected voice of a Genie fills the room—behind you, left, right, behind the front wall. Chills—Goosebumps. The power of that disembodied Genie's voice rattles doors in their frames—down the hall, and closed!

 

Listen to the cymbal attack and trail. Jeff Beck's solo soars in the middle of the track, but Tim Pierce (Chorus Lesliy) and Andy Fairweather Low (again with that feather strummed 12-string) are haunting as well. James Johnson's bass work is highlighted along with Patrick Leonard's keys and John Rabbit Brundrick's Hammond organ.

 

Track 13. It's a Miracle - 8:30

 

The composition here, with the rising synth, the deep background vocals (London Welsh Chorale) and children's voices, the lilting piano solo near the opening, and the chanting "Never more", is ever so slightly reminiscent of the Alan Parsons Project, Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Regardless, the effect is powerful and engaging. In a rare track, Waters picks up the bass…

 

This track reminds us just why Jeff Porcaro was asked to sit in on so many sessions over his all too brief life. His understated mastery of the drum kit (listen to him switch between sticks and brushes) is enthusiastically displayed, with tom rolls, focused head locations, vital skin tone and pitch. And the application of Q-Sound to the echoed voices and drum strikes have them reverberating all around the room.

 

Track 14. Amused to Death - 9:07

 

Starting slowly and building in energy not tempo, Beck, Whitehorn, and Waters on guitar soar with Leonard's keyboards, all the while allowing James Johnson's bass to strut. As with most of his works, Waters makes his closing cut a masterpiece. Rita Coolidge doubles his vocals here, while Katie Kissoon and Doreen Chanter offer superb backing vocals. Final questions asked, and answered.

 

And when they found our shadows

Grouped around the TV sets

They ran down every lead

They repeated every test

They checked out all the data on their lists

And then the alien anthropologists

Admitted they were still perplexed

But on eliminating every other reason

For our sad demise

They logged the only explanation left

This species has amused itself to death

No tears to cry

No feelings left

This species has amused itself to death

Amused itself to death

Amused itself to death

 

In Waters characteristic bookend style, the last words we hear are again from Alf Razzell. In closing this work, and in providing closure for himself, Alf describes how he discovered his fallen comrade's name on the memorial to the missing at Arras some forty years later. As the track closes on this remarkable work, the TV switches off and the sounds of crickets take us to fade out…

 

Discography

 

I have omitted all 12" and 7" singles, focusing only on the album releases. Italics indicate my preferred recordings.

 

On Vinyl:

 

Holland: Columbia 01-468761-20 - limited edition 2LP with lyric booklet

Holland: Columbia 01-468761-20 - 2LP without booklet

Spain: CBS/Sony 12-468761-20 - 2LP

 

On polycarbonate:

 

UK: Columbia CK 47127

SC: Columbia COL 468761 2

USA: Columbia CK 47127

USA: Sony/Columbia CK53196) limited edition gold master CD. Comes in longbox sized white cloth and plastic case with cover sticker and gold picture CD

USA: Columbia CK 53196 - limited edition mastersound recording with white plastic longbox and gold picture CD

USA: Columbia CK 64426 - limited edition mastersound recording white cardboard box and gold picture CDJapan - SRCS 6766 - Gold Master

Canada - MCK 53196 - Gold Master

 

My initial purchase of ATD was the original Columbia CK 47127 compact disc. I had always felt, knowing that Waters was a huge believer in the values of production, that this release seemed darker overall and didn't open up as much as I would have expected. Those suspicions, and a few others, were confirmed when I was able to find the deluxe 2 disc vinyl set pressed in Holland, Columbia 01-468761-20. I actually gave that original aluminum CD to one of the Southern Maryland Irregulars (who now refer to themselves as the backwoods Audio Society, or bAS) when I discovered the virtues of the Gold Columbia CK 64426 mastersound recording, employing Sony's Super Bit Mapping. While the gold CD is not as spacious, as open, or as natural sounding as the Holland pressing, it is VASTLY superior to the original CD release. Bass integrity and special cues seem best recreated with polarity set to 180.

 

Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

POSITIVE FEEDBACK ONLINE © 2005 - HOME

BACK TO TOP

[soso]

Ten chlop twierdzi, ze to rabanie drzewa (wood chopping)

 

:::::::::::::

 

POSITIVE FEEDBACK ONLINE - ISSUE 18

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guilty Treasures: Roger Waters - Amused to Death

by Greg Weaver

 

 

 

 

 

Any discussion of music, much like discussions dealing with religion or politics (both of which this recording touches on, by the way), has the potential to be volatile and raise strong differences of opinion. While some of the cynical viewpoints presented by Amused to Death may run contrary to your own (they do mine), the differences between discussions on such charged issues are greater than the similarities. I would suggest that even should you find the rather bleak outlook expressed on this remarkable creation to be bothersome or disagreeable, you can still discover and revel in its utter musical enchantment. After all, liberals and conservatives alike enjoy Beethoven; atheist or pontiff might equally enjoy either Monk or Coltrane. You see, to enjoy music, as with most art, one need not necessarily share the viewpoint or the agenda of the artist.

 

With that understanding, I want to touch on the nature of what I call a Guilty Treasure. While many make excuses for what they listen to by applying the term "guilty pleasure," I revel in my love of music. I make no excuses for what I like… well, most of the time. To me, there is no guilt, shame, or embarrassment in listening to anything that in some way brings you some degree of enjoyment, release or healing.

 

You see for me, that is music's purpose. Since my youth, and I mean like five or six, music has been my anchor. Regardless of what happened to or around me, I could always count on music. It was always there for me, even when nothing or no one could be depended upon. In my case, the term "guilty" indicates simply that the recording falls outside the accepted context of "serious" music, whatever that may be. Substituting "treasure" for the word pleasure is indicative of the degree or caliber of the musical event; it denotes that this experience is elevated past being just pleasant. It is truly a treasure, in the literal sense of the word, making it worthy of being termed precious and sought after, not just delightful. With that modest explanation, here we go…

 

Haughty Beginnings

 

The stage name Pink Floyd was fashioned by combining the first names of two bluesmen, Pink Anderson (1900-1974) and Floyd "Dipper Boy" Council (1911-1976), whose records had an enormous influence on the band's founders. While it is unquestionable that the American Blues fuelled the British Invasion of the 1960's, it is doubtful that many will recall either of these two artists today. It seems equally likely that the impact that a 1960's band originally known as "The Pink Floyd Sound" had on popular music was considerable and far-reaching.

 

George Roger Waters was born September 6, 1943 in Great Bookham, Cambridge, England. His mother, a schoolteacher, raised him after losing his father when Waters was just three months old. Eric Fletcher Waters, to whom the 1983 Pink Floyd album The Final Cut is dedicated, was killed during the British invasion of Anzio, Italy, in early 1944.

 

Waters and Roger "Syd" Barrett reputedly first met at a Saturday art class they both attended during their school years. It was not until Waters moved to London, where he intended to study architecture at the Regent Street Polytechnic, that he first met Nick Mason, a drummer, and Rick Wright, a keyboard player. That group of students soon formed a band in which Waters played bass and handled lead vocals. It wasn't long before "Syd" joined the boys, and in 1965, Pink Floyd was born.

 

"Syd," who left the group in early 1968 after exhibiting progressively more alarming signals of mental instability, had been the original creative force of the group. Their first album, released in 1967, Piper at the Gates of Dawn, was primarily his baby. However, even at this early stage, Waters had written or co-written three tacks on Piper, including his exclusive effort "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk."

 

Whether "Syd" left of his own accord or was asked to depart because of his self-absorption and drug abuse is still subject to some debate, but 1975's Wish You Were Here is both about and dedicated to him. After Barrett's departure, Waters assumed the creative reins of the group, both musically and lyrically, starting with 1968's A Saucer Full of Secrets, and running through 1983's The Final Cut. That was the last Pink Floyd work with which he was associated.

 

Finding His Way

 

Waters' solo career has had its vicissitudes, no question. Yet with his first truly solo offering, 1984's The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking, the alert went out as to the possibilities of his work, which clearly demonstrated his love of the studio process and production. His next effort, Radio KAOS, was vastly underwhelming, to my thinking at least, but was still strong enough to keep the glimmer of a promise of a masterpiece-yet-to-come alive, considering the entire body of his work. 1987's When the Wind Blows found Waters playing composer for his second film soundtrack (the first, The Body, was coauthored in 1970 with Ron Geesin), which was finished immediately prior to the release of Radio KAOS. Waters is credited with ten of the fifteen tracks on that record, eight of them instrumental.

 

He managed to avoid a studio release for the next five years; five years that saw the fall of the Berlin Wall (November 1989) and the first Iraq war, Operation Desert Storm (January 1991). Though he mounted a live effort, with all-star guest performances, of The Wall in Berlin on July 21, 1990, resulting in the album The Wall - Live in Berlin, he released no studio work. Yet it is certain that those two major historical events, as well as the Tripoli bombing in 1986 and the Chinese government massacre of students during the democracy protest in Tiananmen Square in 1989, greatly contributed to the fashioning of ATD.

 

Motivation

 

The project that grew to be ATD was started in the fall of 1987 at Compass Point Studios in Nassau in the Bahamas. The venture was shelved for some time due to the Berlin The Wall concert, deemed timelier, and to Waters' general dissatisfaction with its progress. After even more work in London during 1988 and '89 made it apparent that it was still not ready for the light of day, at Waters' urging EMI announced that the project was being shelved indefinitely. After eighteen months of work in some 10 different studios, the project was near fruition. After repeated track order shuffling to organize the most cohesive flow and a fleeting plan to change the title because it was, in Waters' mind, "too final," it was finally realized. Amused to Death appeared in the United States September 1, 1992, and I found it just 24 days later on my thirty-seventh birthday.

 

This forceful and dark composition is, in my view, the strongest, most articulate work from Roger Waters; indeed, it is his magnum opus. Central to its theme, not unlike so many of his earlier works (including The Wall, maturing somewhat with The Final Cut, and even a tad in his 1987 solo work from When the Wind Blows), is the absurdity and tragedy found in war. Combined here for the first time we see the influence of Neil Postman's 1985 book, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. With ATD, he updates his now familiar anti-war theme, permeating it with his perceptions on the dangers of greed, his dread of ‘Big Brother" government, all woven together with the non-stop barrage of today's media, television in particular, masquerading entertainment as news. It is clear that Waters sees television as a double-edged sword that can both inform and manipulate at the same time.

 

The TV theme and its symbolism are certainly not new to Waters. In a 1983 interview with Jim Ladd about The Final Cut album, he says, "I keep harping back to this theory about TV. In the 17th, 18th, 19th, and early twentieth century... the only contact you had with your leaders was by reading about them in newspapers... It's only recently that we, the ordinary folk, have had a chance to observe them at reasonably close quarters."

 

While ATD does not paint a particularly optimistic picture (it takes little effort to glean the conclusion he comes to given the title), it is a vivid, engaging and absorbing one. It is a rather austere statement on contemporary life, tackling war, religion, consumerism, globalization, politics, the media, and the social condition. Lyrically, it is a densely woven tapestry of social commentary rife with political irony. ATD is one of those recordings that cannot be fully realized in just one listen. It will disclose more of its message and musical magic, all carefully constructed and subtlety layered, with each visit.

 

I have read that the only material to make it to the final release from the original 1987 Nassau sessions was the drum track heard in "Perfect Sense." "The Bravery of Being Out Of Range" was one of the first tracks written, and was actually performed acoustically during the Berlin Wall rehearsals. Two verses of what were to become the title track were quoted in a September 1988 Penthouse interview with Waters. Apparently, the third verse was changed to make it more timely, modifying the original references to Berlin to reflect instead the then current Gulf War. Interestingly, the haunting "Three Wishes" was another of the very early tracks written. "It's A Miracle" was reputed to be the last track recorded, replacing an earlier, livelier version that had included Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

 

I must say that I cannot find ATD to be a shamefaced indulgence in the least. I could easily make a case that it is the inevitable and definitive culmination of Waters' work, honed to near perfection, after many previous outings. It is, in my mind, a modern masterpiece. Though some will see it as an overly self-indulgent work (and I'd be forced to agree to some extent), it is nonetheless a milestone in popular music, a significant social statement and a sonic marvel! There is, in my estimation, only one other recording that utilizes Q-Sound to any arguably better effect. Oddly enough, it is a work by Pink Floyd, their 3 record/2 CD chronicle of the Division Bell tour, Pulse, released in 1995. Besides being an exhilarating listen and an unquestioned audio experience, ATD will also tell you in seconds if your listening room set up is average, good, or exceptional.

 

If you have boundary proximity issues, your speakers have phase or coherence shortcomings, or your speakers and listening position are even slightly asymmetrically arranged, you will experience only half of this recording's extraordinary message. Though the Q-Sound effects require great attention to system set up, the results of spending the time and energy to optimize that alignment are overwhelming. Sounds will be all around you with this recording using just two speakers. There are dripping faucets behind you to the left, dogs barking off your right shoulder, thunder rolling around the room, horse drawn sleighs crossing your listening room—well in front of the plane of the speakers—and even a Genie's voice that surrounds you and fills the entire room. The recording is loaded with myriad of sounds, too many to inventory, with many outside the boundaries of your listening environment!

 

Though it is not perfect (it is a pop recording, multi mic'ed and recorded in nearly a dozen locations over almost 5 years, after all), this disc has earned a permanent place in my sonic toolbox for its ability to help me dial in a room rapidly and optimally. If you have questions about how to achieve the proper set up, look at the wonderful instructions found at the audio physic web sit and my recent article dealing with simple, fast, and affordable ways to achieve the most effective results. If you continue to have difficulty realizing the effects highlighted in the track-by-track explanations offered below, even after you have done some detailed alignment, try experimenting with speaker toe-in angle. With determined experimentation, you will find a point, and it varies from speaker to speaker and room to room, where the toe-in locks the disembodied voices and effects in space. It is worth making the effort, as this will also be the best toe-in for your speakers in any circumstance. Setting up your room to maximize the effects of this recording specifically, and Q-Sound in general, will be the equivalent of maximizing the overall performance of your system with all recordings.

 

I wanted to initiate what I plan as an ongoing series with a work that was outstanding both musically and sonically, and ATD was my logical first choice. It is an album that I find myself reaching for and listening to, start to finish, over and over. The crafty lyrics, the wonderfully captivating and arching music and the cornucopia of sounds and effects, coming from nearly every direction in a two-channel set up, deliver the musical goods, time after time. For me, music like this fuels my imagination and recharges my spirit.

 

Amused To Death

 

Written by Roger Waters

Produced by Patrick Leonard and Roger Waters

Mixed by James Guthrie

 

Recorded in Q-Sound.

 

Engineers: Hayden Bendall, Jerry Jordan, Stephen McLaughlan

 

Mastered by Doug Sax & Ron Lewter at The Mastering Lab, Los Angeles.

 

Dedicated to Private William Hubbard (1888-1917), Eighth Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, City Of London Regiment.

 

Track 1. The Ballad of Bill Hubbard - 4:19

 

Listen for the dogs barking WAY off your right shoulder—outside your wall, typically—and a home shopping network type broadcast off to the left. The track then moves into a narration provided by the genuine Alf Razzell, of the British Royal Fusiliers, as he describes his inability to save his colleague, Private William Hubbard (to whom ATD is dedicated), from death and possibly never being found in the trenches during the battle of the Somme in France during World War One. Jeff Beck's creamy, haunting guitar sets the stage while Patrick Leonard's keyboards and Luis Conte's percussion weave an opening track that deftly foreshadow the fantastic aural play about to unfold. If you don't have speakers capable of recreating the bottom-most octave (20-40 Hz), you'd better hook up a subwoofer. You'll need it to appreciate most of the bass work and to recreate the full spatial effects from this recording.

 

Track 2. What God Wants, Part I - 6:00

 

With the young girl speaking off to the extreme left and the menagerie of animal noises sprinkled throughout the stage, Graham Broad's somber bass drum pulse eases you into the track before it picks up its tempo. Guitar rock? Yesiree! Jeff Beck, Geoff Whitehorn, Tim Pierce, and Andy Fairweather Low blend their individual guitar work here to exquisite effect and Graham Broad's timekeeping propels the composition along like soldiers marching in lock step.

 

There were some outcries from some religious groups about the lyrics when first released. Listen for yourself. If you are inclined to be offended, it is important to understand that Waters is not condemnatory of "God"; he is instead satirizing those who declare "God" to be in support of whatever it is they are "selling." As Waters explains, this song "was written as an irritable response to the idea that God can be on somebody's side and not on somebody else's side." And, in my opinion, it is VERY effective here, especially with the combined voices of the London Welch Chorale

 

Track 3. Perfect Sense, Part I - 4:16

 

Ok, so close your eyes and just go with this one. There is a bizarre voice off your left shoulder, actually a backward masked message. Fan web sites speculate as to what the rising pitched rant and following message may be, and Stanley Kubrick is at the center of all the speculation.

 

The cover of ATD shows an ape intently watching television. The Stanley Kubrick connection, through his film 2001: A Space Odyssey, will be obvious to most. From the massed ape vocalizations early on, to lyrics like "The monkey sat on a pile of stone… And he stared at the broken bone in his hand," the symbolism and references seem clear enough. During the opening sequences of 2001, we see the "evolution" of apes, as they progress from passive and timid to aggressive and war-like as they learn how to "master" a tool, an animal bone used as a bludgeon. Here, the tool is television, but used, in Waters vision, in the same fashion.

 

Be sure to pay attention to the clap of thunder which starts, just after the backward masked message, off your right shoulder then rolls forward, continuing across the front of the stage, then slides up the left completing a clearly defined, semi-circular pattern! A bit later, we are treated to a solo piano followed shortly by a solo violin hanging in space off to the extreme right.

 

Waters lyrics here are ironic and clever, but the strings, bass and Patricia (P.P.) Arnold's voice are the stars. We're definitely headed somewhere.

 

Track 4. Perfect Sense, Part II - 2:50

 

Waters' voice opens, leading into another guitar driven cut. Rick DiFonzo's low grunting guitar is deep, articulate, and powerful. Here the irony kicks into high gear with a battle televised as a sporting event, complete with Marv Albert doing the battle play-by-play.

 

Track 5. The Bravery of Being Out of Range - 4:42

 

Here, the energy kicks up again with solid, detailed bass guitar runs. Denny Fongheiser's drum work, Patrick Leonard's Hammond and synth efforts, and Tim Pierce's guitar work are the stars here. Natalie Jackson and Lyn Fiddmont-Linsey's backing vocals are vaguely reminiscent of the "Great Gig in the Sky," from Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. No super effects here, but this song is definitely rock ‘n' roll. The sarcasm here is scathing; the underlying message perhaps too close to home to be funny.

 

Track 6. Late Home Tonight, Part 1 - 4:01

 

Ok, be prepared to snap your head over you left shoulder to locate the dripping faucet. This sound effect seems to originate from well behind you on the left side of the room. True to the Q-Sound effect, as soon as you turn your head to localize it, it seems "connected" to the front left speaker. Return your head to the front and center position, and it is again well behind you on the left side of the room.

 

The tempo slows down again here, and we are back to remarkable sound effects used to heighten the story telling. Fighter cockpit and tower controller conversations, as well as other flight sounds, are all around you. Luis Conti's percussion throughout this track is vividly detailed and varies widely, from rock riffs to tribal rhythms.

 

At the very end of the cut, listen for the fighter to release its missile and the resultant detonation. That very dynamic explosion (watch the volume here!) literally rolls through the room, starting well behind the speakers then rushing past your chair on its way toward the back wall like a wave!

 

Track 7. Late Home Tonight, Part II - 2:13

 

The military dirge-like coronet by Steve Sidwell sets the somber tone. Sounds here include aircraft and felines.

 

Track 8. Too Much Rope - 5:47

 

Effects out the wazoo here, and what a blast, ranging from TV shows to chopping wood. From a horse drawn sleigh crossing the stage, considerably forward of the plane of the speakers, from left to right, to a Ferrari later re-crossing from right to left, this cut is quite an extravaganza.

 

James Johnson's bass runs are DEEP, articulate and defined. As I've indicated, you really need full range speakers (or a good sub?) to appreciate the power of this cut in particular, and this work in general. The beautiful blend of guitar tones from Steve Lukather and Geoff Whitehorn, combined with Andy Fairweather Low's feather strummed 12-string Rickenbacker, yield a delicious sound. We even get to hear Patrick Leonard's children (Jessica and Jordan) screaming near the end of the track before fading into the sound of a warm summer evening with its cricket refrain.

 

Track 9. What God Wants, Part II - 3:41

 

Opening with a televangelist speaking off to your left, the choir is back, and this time the theme is more driving; more negative and ironic too. Once more, guitars rule. More crickets, night sounds, and a final train whistle off in the distance—way out behind the front wall and encompassing the room—to close the track. You are surrounded by the sounds of a summer night.

 

Track 10. What God Wants, Part III - 4:08

 

Dogs again, go figure, with voices off left during the lead in. Graham Broad's cymbals reveal their lush flavor (listen to the bronzy bite of the ride) and Jeff Beck's weeping, pleading solo guitar is magnificent. And while you may not always care for Waters' voice, here he totally nails the emotion.

 

Track 11. Watching TV - 6:07

 

This is the beginning of the real ride. The last quartet of songs is the pièce de résistance of this work. Taken together by themselves, they are so strong that he could have just recorded these four songs and released a killer EP. Effects here include rampant TV channel switching off left and an eerie set of wind chimes. While the lyrics may not be the most inspired, they are certainly clever and Don Henley offers doubled vocals. The tone is set for the beginning of the finale.

 

Track 12. Three Wishes - 6:50

 

Wow. The woman's voice, discussing the murder of her children and her own attempted suicide, is way off left. As the track picks up momentum, the disconnected voice of a Genie fills the room—behind you, left, right, behind the front wall. Chills—Goosebumps. The power of that disembodied Genie's voice rattles doors in their frames—down the hall, and closed!

 

Listen to the cymbal attack and trail. Jeff Beck's solo soars in the middle of the track, but Tim Pierce (Chorus Lesliy) and Andy Fairweather Low (again with that feather strummed 12-string) are haunting as well. James Johnson's bass work is highlighted along with Patrick Leonard's keys and John Rabbit Brundrick's Hammond organ.

 

Track 13. It's a Miracle - 8:30

 

The composition here, with the rising synth, the deep background vocals (London Welsh Chorale) and children's voices, the lilting piano solo near the opening, and the chanting "Never more", is ever so slightly reminiscent of the Alan Parsons Project, Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Regardless, the effect is powerful and engaging. In a rare track, Waters picks up the bass…

 

This track reminds us just why Jeff Porcaro was asked to sit in on so many sessions over his all too brief life. His understated mastery of the drum kit (listen to him switch between sticks and brushes) is enthusiastically displayed, with tom rolls, focused head locations, vital skin tone and pitch. And the application of Q-Sound to the echoed voices and drum strikes have them reverberating all around the room.

 

Track 14. Amused to Death - 9:07

 

Starting slowly and building in energy not tempo, Beck, Whitehorn, and Waters on guitar soar with Leonard's keyboards, all the while allowing James Johnson's bass to strut. As with most of his works, Waters makes his closing cut a masterpiece. Rita Coolidge doubles his vocals here, while Katie Kissoon and Doreen Chanter offer superb backing vocals. Final questions asked, and answered.

 

And when they found our shadows

Grouped around the TV sets

They ran down every lead

They repeated every test

They checked out all the data on their lists

And then the alien anthropologists

Admitted they were still perplexed

But on eliminating every other reason

For our sad demise

They logged the only explanation left

This species has amused itself to death

No tears to cry

No feelings left

This species has amused itself to death

Amused itself to death

Amused itself to death

 

In Waters characteristic bookend style, the last words we hear are again from Alf Razzell. In closing this work, and in providing closure for himself, Alf describes how he discovered his fallen comrade's name on the memorial to the missing at Arras some forty years later. As the track closes on this remarkable work, the TV switches off and the sounds of crickets take us to fade out…

 

Discography

 

I have omitted all 12" and 7" singles, focusing only on the album releases. Italics indicate my preferred recordings.

 

On Vinyl:

 

Holland: Columbia 01-468761-20 - limited edition 2LP with lyric booklet

Holland: Columbia 01-468761-20 - 2LP without booklet

Spain: CBS/Sony 12-468761-20 - 2LP

 

On polycarbonate:

 

UK: Columbia CK 47127

SC: Columbia COL 468761 2

USA: Columbia CK 47127

USA: Sony/Columbia CK53196) limited edition gold master CD. Comes in longbox sized white cloth and plastic case with cover sticker and gold picture CD

USA: Columbia CK 53196 - limited edition mastersound recording with white plastic longbox and gold picture CD

USA: Columbia CK 64426 - limited edition mastersound recording white cardboard box and gold picture CDJapan - SRCS 6766 - Gold Master

Canada - MCK 53196 - Gold Master

 

My initial purchase of ATD was the original Columbia CK 47127 compact disc. I had always felt, knowing that Waters was a huge believer in the values of production, that this release seemed darker overall and didn't open up as much as I would have expected. Those suspicions, and a few others, were confirmed when I was able to find the deluxe 2 disc vinyl set pressed in Holland, Columbia 01-468761-20. I actually gave that original aluminum CD to one of the Southern Maryland Irregulars (who now refer to themselves as the backwoods Audio Society, or bAS) when I discovered the virtues of the Gold Columbia CK 64426 mastersound recording, employing Sony's Super Bit Mapping. While the gold CD is not as spacious, as open, or as natural sounding as the Holland pressing, it is VASTLY superior to the original CD release. Bass integrity and special cues seem best recreated with polarity set to 180.

 

Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

POSITIVE FEEDBACK ONLINE © 2005 - HOME

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[soso]

to sie nazywa 'rozwiniecie watku' ;-)

 

pzdrw

 

soso

[soso]

A w tej wersji jest tylko 'rabanie':

 

Amused To Death

Full Transcript

Revision 1.01a

Compiled by Charles Dee Rice ([email protected])

Converted to HTML by Uziel

________________________________________

Key:

// // : Sound effect description

( ) : undetermined speech

--- : cutoff speech

/* */ : transcriber's comments

________________________________________

Ballad of Bill Hubbard [4:19]

// crickets fade in //

// dogs barking //

// switch TV channel //

 

Man:

---believable bargain.

Woman:

It certainly is!

Man:

Why did you grab it, dear?

Woman:

Well, I bought a thread of pearls from you last year for one daughter.

So, I figured, well, I'll get to the other daughter this spring.

Man:

Yeah, it's about once a year you'll see the six-millimeter size.

Woman:

Oh, they're beautiful!

Man:

I'd say extremely high luster, perfect roundness, and the

six-millimeter size all add up to one thing: A phenomenal giveaway---

// switch TV channel //

 

Man:

Oh (? tape something for the album he's watching ?) so call---

// switch TV channel //

 

Woman:

---Animals.

(?)

(? I love you Harry! ?)

// switch TV channel //

 

Man:

(?) (? and the box ?) (? hundred seventy-nine ?)

(?) Ninety-seven cents (?) And it certainly is a top one.

(?) So it's much desired and a marvelous way to, uh, wear your

jewelry. Have fun.

// switch TV channel //

 

Woman:

---Really gonna miss you and the (?) and your voice(?))

will be in my thoughts and in my heart. Happy new year,

Bubba (?) Tracy // sniff! //

 

What do you think of Canterbury station. (? Take Harold home ?)

Man:

Cheer up!

// dog barking //

// growling //

 

Man:

(?) short (?)

// switch TV channel //

 

Man:

(?) practical beast

// snarling //

// switch TV channel //

 

Alf Razzell (Royal Fusiliers):

Two things that have haunted me most are the days of (?) when I had to collect the paybooks, and when I left Bill Hubbard in no-man's-land.

I was picked up and taken into their trench. And I'd no sooner taken two three steps down the trench when I heard, "Ho Hello Razz, I'm glad to see you! This is my second night here," he said "I'm feeling bad." And it was Bill Hubbard, one of the men we'd trained in England, one of the original battalion. I had to look at his wound, rolled him over. I could see that it was probably a fatal wound. You could imagine what pain he was in, he was drippin' with sweat. And after I'd gone about three shell-holes, traversed that, had it been... had there been a path or a road, I could have done better.

He pummelled me, "Put me down, put me down, I'd rather die, I'd rather die, put me down."

I was hoping he would faint. He said, "I can't go any further, let me die." I said, "If I leave you here, Bill, you won't be found. Let's have another go." He said, "All right then."

The same thing happened. He wouldn't... he couldn't stand it any more, and I had to leave him there. In no-man's-land.

________________________________________

What God Wants, Part I [6:00]

/* In the CD liner notes, credit is given to the London Welsh Chorale. It is assumed that they were used to generate the sounds of the crowd singing. Those parts are denoted below by the heading "LWC:" */

 

// switch TV channel //

 

Young person's voice:

I don't mind about the war,

That's one of the things I like to watch,

If it's a war going on.

'Cause then I know if'n our side's winnin'

If our side's losin'---

// switch TV channel //

// simian distress screams //

 

LWC:

What God wants God gets!

// cheering //

// knock-knock //

 

Voice:

What do you want? Go away!

What God wants God gets God help us all

 

Voice:

Go away! Wait...

// knock-knock-knock //

 

LWC:

What God wants

Voice:

All right! Just a minute, just a minute.

// birds //

// bricks/concrete blocks being moved //

 

What God wants God gets God help us all

 

// creaky door opening //

 

LWC:

God gets

// dog barking //

 

What God wants God gets, God help us all

 

// snarling //

 

LWC:

What God wants God gets

// cheering //

 

What God wants God gets

What God wants God gets

What God wants God gets

 

// cheering //

 

The kid in the corner looked at the priest

And fingered his pale blue Japanese guitar

The priest said

God wants goodness

God wants light

God want mayhem

God wants a clean fight

 

What God wants God gets

What God wants God gets

 

Don't look so suprised

It's only dogma

The alien prophet cried

The beetle and the springbok

Took the Bible from its hook

The monkey in the corner

Wrote the lesson in his book

 

What God wants God gets

 

LWC:

What God wants God gets

What God wants God gets

 

LWC (mixed):

What God wants God gets

God wants peace

God wants war

God wants famine

God wants chain stores

 

What God wants God gets

 

God wants sedition

God wants sex

 

// cheering //

 

God wants freedom

God wants semtex

 

What God wants God gets

 

LWC (mixed):

What God wants God gets

Don't look so afraid

I'm only joking

The alien comic lied

The jackass and hyena

Took the feather from its hook

The monkey in the corner

Wrote the joke down in his book

 

What God wants God gets

 

LWC (mixed):

What God wants God gets

What God wants God gets

 

LWC (mixed):

What God wants God gets

God wants borders

God wants crack

God wants rainfall

And God wants wetbacks

 

LWC (mixed):

What God wants God gets

God wants voodoo

God wants shrines

God want law

 

// fade in cheering //

 

God wants organized crime

God wants crusade

God wants jihad

God wants good (LWC: "Good" mixed in)

God wants bad (LWC: "Bad" mixed in)

 

LWC:

What God wants God gets

What God wants God gets

What God wants God gets

What God wants God gets

// switch TV channel //

________________________________________

Perfect Sense, Part I [4:15]

/* In the normal direction, the following reversed message ends just before the lyric "The monkey sat on a pile of stone" begins. For whatever it's worth, the last faint utterance just before the lyrics begin is the word "Julia" in reverse. In the phrase "we have decided TO INCLUDE a backwards message, it sounds like a woman's voice is mixed in for the words "to include". Her voice can be heard (as gibberish, of course) in the normal direction. Also, the word "book" could be "gook", as was suggested by another transcription of this message. It rhymes with "nuke", but after careful listening, it sounds more like it begins with a "B" sound, and "book" makes more sense to this transcriber. */

 

Reversed message:

Julia, (pause)

however, (pause - 2nd thunder in normal direction)

In the light and visions

of the issues of Stanley, (pause)

we changed our minds. (pause)

We have decided to include

a backward message, (pause - 1st thunder in normal direction)

 

Stanley, (pause)

for you, (pause)

and for all the other book (short pause)

partners.

/* At this point there is a descending-pitch "rant" that appears at the beginning of the track. In the normal direction it is, of course, a rising-pitch "rant". In either direction, at both normal and slowed playback speeds, it was not clear to this transcriber what was being shouted. In fact, in the normal direction, it sounds vaguely more intelligible as "It's just what I said (?) (? alright! ?)". Perhaps it is an attempt at shouting in reverse in an attempt to create a "reversed-sounding" message. */

 

The monkey sat on a pile of stone

And he stared at the broken bone in his hand

Strains of a Viennese quartet

Rang out across the land

 

And the monkey looked up at the stars

And he thought to himself

Memory is a stranger

History is for fools

And he cleaned his hands

In a pool of holy writing

Turned his back on the garden

And set out for the nearest town

 

Hold on, hold on soldier

When you add it all up

The tears and the marrowbone

There's an ounce of gold

And an ounce of pride in each ledger

And the Germans killed the Jews

And the Jews killed the Arabs

And the Arabs killed the hostages

And that is the news

And is it any wonder

That the monkey's confused

He said Mama, Mama

The President's a fool

Why do I have to keep reading

These technical manuals

And the joint chiefs of staff

And the brokers on Wall Street said

Don't make us laugh

You're a smart kid

Time is linear

Memory is a stranger

History's for fools

Man is a tool in the hands

Of the great God Almighty

And they gave him command

Of a nuclear submarine

And sent him back in search of

The Garden of Eden

________________________________________

Perfect Sense, Part II [2:50]

Can't you see

It all makes perfect sense

Expressed in dollars and cents

Pounds shillings and pence

Can't you see

It all makes perfect sense

 

Little black soul departs in perfect focus

Hold on, Soldier

Prime time fodder for the News at Nine

Hold on, Hold on soldier

 

Darling is the child warm in the bed tonight

 

Marv Albert (sportscaster):

Hi everybody, I'm Marv Albert, and welcome to our telecast

Coming to you live from Memorial Stadium. It's a beautiful day

And today we expect a senstational matchup, But first...

Our global anthem...

Can't you see

It all makes perfect sense

Expressed in dollars and cents

Pounds shillings and pence

Can't you see

It all makes perfect sense

 

Marv Albert:

And here come the players!

As I speak to you now, the captain has his cross hairs zeroed in

on the oil rig. It looks to me like he's going to attack!

By the way, did you know that a submarine Captain earns 200,000

dollars a year?

Emery (sportscaster played by Patrick Leonard):

That's less tax Marv

Marv Albert:

Yeah uh, less tax. Thank you, Emery.

Emery:

You're welcome.

Marv Albert:

Now back to the game - he fires one! Yes! There goes two!

Both fish are running... The rig is going into a prevent-defense!

Will they make it? I don't think so!

// explosion //

 

Can't you see

It all makes perfect sense

Expressed in dollars and cents

Pounds shillings and pence

Can't you see

It all makes perfect sense

Can't you see

It all makes perfect sense

 

// crowd sounds //

________________________________________

The Bravery Of Being Out of Range [4:42]

// crowd sounds //

 

You have a natural tendency

To squeeze off a shot

You're good fun at parties

You wear the right masks

You're old, but you still

Like a laugh in the locker room

You can't abide change

You're at home on the range

You opened the suitcase

Behind the old workings

To show off the magnum

You deafened the canyon

A comfort a friend

Only upstaged in the end

By the Uzi machine gun

Does the recoil remind you...

Remind you of sex

Old man what the hell you gonna kill next

Old timer who you gonna kill next

 

I looked over Jordan and what did I see

Saw a U.S. Marine in a pile of debris

I swam in your pools

And lay under your palm trees

I looked in the eyes of the Indian

Who lay on the Federal Building steps

 

And through the range finder over the hill

I saw the frontline boys popping their pills

Sick of the mess they find

On their desert stage

And the bravery of being out of range

 

Yeah the question is vexed

Old man what the hell you gonna kill next

Old timer who you gonna kill next

 

// crowd sounds //

 

Hey bartender, over here

Two more shots

And two more beers

 

// TV sounds //

 

Sir, turn up the TV sound

The war has started on the ground /* "ground" mixed from TV */

 

// missile roar //

 

Just love those laser guided bombs

They're really great

For righting wrongs

You hit the target

And win the game from bars

3,000 miles away

3,000 miles away

We play the game

With the bravery of being out of range

We zap and maim

With the bravery of being out of range

We strafe the train

With the bravery of being out of range

We gain terrain

With the bravery of being out of range

 

We play the game

With the bravery of being out of range

________________________________________

Late Home Tonight, Part I [4:01]

// chirping birds, dripping tap, mooing bovine //

 

Standing at the window

A farmer's wife in Oxfordshire

Glances at the clock it's nearly time for tea

She doesn't see

The phantom in the hedgerow dip its wing

 

// moo //

 

Doesn't hear the engine sing

 

// moo, jet airplane //

 

Radio Voice:

(?)...two zero three...(?)

But in the cockpit's techno glow

Behind the Ray Ban shine

 

Radio Voice:

Roger (?) takeoff right after runway two zero (?)

The kid from Cleveland

In the comfort of routine

Scans his dials and smiles

 

// clicks //

 

Radio Voice:

Pilot to navigator... (?)

Nose, check

Flaps, check

(?), check

(?), check

(?), check

Secure in the beauty of military life

There is no right, no wrong

Only tin cans and cordite and white cliffs

And blue skies and flight... flight... flight

 

Radio Voice:

(?)

The beauty of military life

No questions, only orders and flight

 

Radio Voice:

(?) there you go

Only flight

 

// jet airplane //

 

What a beautiful sight in his wild blue dream

The eternal child leafs through his war magazines

And his kind Uncle Sam feeds ten trillion in change

Into the total entertainment

Combat video game

And up here in the stands

The fans are goin' wild

As the cheerleaders flip

When you wiggle your hip

And we all like the bit when you take

The jeans from the refridgerator and

Then the bad guy gets hit

And were you struck by the satisfying

Way the swimsuit sticks to her skin

Like BB gun days

When knives pierce autumn leaves

But that's okay, see the childern bleed

It'll look great on the TV

 

// dripping tap //

 

And in Tripoli, another ordinary wife

Stares at the dripping tap her old man hadn't

Time to fix

Too busy mixing politics and rhythm

In the street below

 

/* While Waters sings, a woman is shouting in the background in Egyptian Arabic... */

 

Wife:

And then what !!!! why don't you ever help me? You all the time leave me alone at home and go join your fat friends in your endless useless discussions...

I work for you and your family from dawn to dusk, and you don't give a damn!

I badly need to rest, I just wish the devil's angel will soon come and take me with him...

/* Then the beating drums start, and here everything is very chaotic. There are different voices in the background. A TV (or radio) commentator is talking, but what he's saying is not clear and at the same time there is a crowd shouting slogans in arabic. Also, a baby is crying. */

 

Accouncer:

...is Great... is Great... God is great...

Crowd:

Death, Death, Death to the (imperialists?)!...

/* Possibly some kind of a demonstration of fundamentalist muslims. */

 

/* At the end of the beating drums, right before the missile explosion... */

 

Announcer:

...his days are rarely spent at home... As for her, she stays alone; she stays alone at home... While all the men are out gathered at the square, she's left to loneliness and (oblivion?).

// explosion //

// heartbeat tone/noise signal, muffled jet sound //

 

/* It was suggested that Roger got these arabic phrases from an egyptian movie and mixed them into his song. The arabic is egyptian arabic and not lybian arabic as it was meant to be, since this song is supposed to be about the bombing of the Lybian capital, Tripoli. */

________________________________________

Late Home Tonight, Part II [2:13]

// birds chirping //

 

Hark, the wire service sing

Clear the satellite link

Check the fax machine

Hold the lead story, boys

There's some great pictures coming in

 

Now the pilot's heartbeat slows

Palms dry out

No questions, only orders

And the F-1 glides in nose-up

Through the cloudbase and the

Ground crew cheers as he puts down

His landing gear

 

// jet landing //

 

Hey boy, you're a hero

Take this cigar

And back home in Cleveland

All the papers and the local TV stations

Will be calling your ma

 

And the farmer's wife

Shoos the cat off the chair

 

// cat meow //

 

She says sit down my dear

Was the milking all right

Our American friends are late home tonight

________________________________________

Too Much Rope [5:47]

// hoot //

// switch TV channel //

 

Man's Voice:

---(?) north and south..

And this one woman, she was 23 or 24

And she was laying on the bed

And you knew she was going to die...

 

// howl //

 

And, uh, we gave her a bottle of shampoo---

// switch TV channel //

 

// chopping, howling, horse neigh & sleigh bells //

 

// horse & sleigh bells passes by //

 

When the sleigh is heavy

 

// horse neigh //

 

And the timber wolves are getting bold

You look at your companions

And test the water of their friendship

With your toe

They significantly edge

Closer to the gold

Each man has his price, Bob

And yours was pretty low

 

Now history is short, the sun is just a minor star

The poor man sells his kidneys

In some colonial bazaar

Ce sera sera

Is that your new Ferrari car

 

// sports car roars by //

 

Yes... But I think I'll wait for the F50

 

You don't have to be a Jew

To disapprove of murder

Tears burn my eyes

Moslem or Christian, Mullah or Pope

Preacher or poet, who was it wrote

Give any one species too much rope

And they'll fuck it up

 

And last night on TV

 

// whistle //

 

A Vietnam vet

 

// gong //

 

Takes his beard and his pain

And his alienation twenty years

 

// crowd sounds //

 

Back to Asia again

Sees the monsters they made

In formaldehyde floating 'round

Meets a gook on a bike

A good little tyke

 

/* The album lyrics include the line "A nice enough guy" here. */

 

With the same soldier's eyes

 

What does it mean

This tearjerking scene

Beamed into my home

That it moves me so much

Why all the fuss

It's only two humans being

It's only two humans being

 

Tears burn in my eyes

What does it mean

This tender TV

This tearjerking scene

Beamed into my home

And you don't have to be a Jew

To disapprove of murder

Tears burn my eyes

Moslem or Christian, Mullah or Pope

Preacher or poet, who was it wrote

Give any one species too much rope

And they'll fuck it up

 

// switch TV channel //

 

Woman:

Oh my God!

// rifle being cocked and fired //

 

// screaming children - (Jessica & Jordan Leonard) - begin //

 

Man:

Dammit(?)!

// rifle being cocked //

 

Man:

Get help.

Woman:

No! They're only children!

Man:

Oh my God!

 

// screaming children - end //

 

Cathy, what have you done?

Woman:

he children - have you both gone mad?

He was sh.....

// switch TV channel //

________________________________________

What God Wants, Part II [3:41]

/* In the CD liner notes for WGW-2, Patrick Leonard is credited for the choir arrangement. Those parts are denoted by the heading "Choir". */

 

Gospel singers:

What God want (6 times)

(?)

What God want

Televangelist:

Do you believe in a better day

Do you have faith in a golden way

If you do, then we must come together this day

Come together as one united television audience

Brought together by the sound of my voice

Choir:

What God wants God Gets

Televangelist:

United! United financially! United socially!

United spiritually and all possible ways!

Choir:

What God wants God gets God help us all

Televangelist:

Through the power of money

And the power of your prayers

I'm asking you to do changes

To say your prayers...

Choir:

What God wants God gets

God wants dollars

God wants cents

God wants pounds shillings and pence

God wants guilders

God wants kroner

God wants Swiss francs

God wants French francs

 

Man:

Oui il veut des francs francais! Ha ha ha ha! (French)

Yes, they want the French francs! Ha ha ha ha! (English)

God wants escudos

God wants pesetas

Don't send lira

God don't want small potatoes

God wants small towns

God wants pain

God wants clean up rock campaigns

God wants widows

God wants solutions

God wants TV

God wants contributions

 

What God wants God gets God help us all

 

Choir:

What God wants God gets

What God wants God gets God help us all

 

Choir:

What God wants God gets

God wants silver

God wants gold

God wants his secret

Never to be told

God wants gigolos

God wants giraffes

God wants politics

God wants a good laugh

 

// TV sounds //

 

What God wants God gets God help us all

 

Choir:

What God wants God gets

God wants friendship

God wants fame

God wants credit

God wants blame

God wants poverty

God wants wealth

God wants insurance

God want to cover himself

 

What God wants God gets God help us all

 

Choir:

What God wants God gets

What God wants God gets God help us all

 

Choir:

What God wants God gets

What God wants God gets God help us all

 

Choir:

What God wants God gets

What God wants God gets God help us all

 

Choir:

What God wants God gets

What God wants God gets God help us all

 

Choir:

What God wants God gets

// vocals fade out to crickets //

// diesel locomotive horns //

________________________________________

What God Wants, Part III [4:07]

// dog barking //

// switch TV channel //

 

Man:

And this area is loaded with gold.

Look at the future, gold mines are on fire! (?)

// ping //

// ping //

 

Don't be afraid, it's only business

 

// ping //

 

The alien prophet sighed

 

// ping, sighing //

 

The vulture and the magpie took

The cash box from its hook

 

// ping //

// screech //

 

The monkey in the corner

Wrote the figures in his book

 

Crazed, the checkout's lady fingers

Flash across the till

And the captain posts

The menu of the day

And in banks across the world

Christian, Moslem, Hindu, Jew

And every other

Race, creed, color, tint or hue

Get down on their knees and pray

 

The racoon and the groundhog

Neatly make up bags of change

But the monkey in the corner, heh

Well, he's slowly drifting out of range

 

Christ, it's freezing inside!

The veteren cries

The hyenas break cover

And stream through the meadow

And the fog rolls in

Through his bottle of gin

So he picks up a stone

That looks like a bone

And the bullets fly

And the rivers run dry

And the fat girls sigh

And the network anchor persons lie

And the soldier's alone

 

// phone ring //

 

In the video zone

But the monkey's not watching

He's slipped out to the kitchen

 

// phone ring //

 

To pile the dishes

And answer the phone

 

// phone ring //

// phone ring //

// picks up phone //

 

Man singing:

Wait till the sun shies, Nellie

And the clouds have drifted by

We shall be happy, Nellie

By---

/* "Wait Till The Sun Shines Nellie", by Harry von Tilzer circa 1920 */

 

// hangs up phone //

________________________________________

Watching TV [6:07]

// switch TV channel //

 

Woman:

Oh, darling, you really must keep in touch

Only bears hibernate, you know.

A heh heh

// piano music //

 

// switch TV channel //

 

// siren //

 

Man:

He said you can

get a vicari---

// switch TV channel //

 

Car Salesman:

---Power doorlocks

Power mirrors

AM/FM Cassette

Air conditioning---

// switch TV channel //

 

Woman:

I made this sharp as is practically possible So this cuts off the flow of liquid...

// glass jars hitting together //

 

// switch TV channel //

 

Woman:

Whatcha doin man?

Man1:

Diamond cutting, madam...

Man2:

Did you find any?

Man1:

You've heard of the hope diamond

Man3:

Oh, yes, I know about that!

// switch TV channel //

 

Man:

I've been sound in my policy Escape from the icehouse?

We were watching TV

 

// switch TV channel //

// running water //

 

Watching TV

 

Man (translated from Chinese):

According to the (Mainland China's) Ministry of the National Affairs...

/* The translation "Ministry of the National Affairs" may be not exact. Anyway it's the ministry managed by the Prime minister of Mainland China. During the Tiananmen Square Affair, the Prime minister was Lee-Pong, who was believed to have given the order to fire guns at the students in Tiananmen square. It was most likely recorded from the TV news of Mainland China's Central Broadcast Station, during the Tiananmen Square affair in 1989. */

 

We were watching TV

 

Man:

(?)... Thank you, oh, yes... (?)

Watching TV

 

Man:

(?)

Woman:

It's fine Mama, welcome to juke box jamboree!---

// switch TV channel //

 

Man1:

How's the food?

Man2:

The food is great!

// switch TV channel //

// jet plane //

// machine guns //

 

In Tiananmen Square

 

// TV turned off //

 

Lost my baby there

 

// chimes //

 

My yellow rose

In her bloodstained clothes

She was a short order pastry chef

In a Dim Sum dive on the Yangtze tideway

She had shiny hair

She was the daughter of an engineer

Won't you shed a tear

For my yellow Rose

My yellow rose

And her bloodstained clothes

She had perfect breasts

She had high hopes

She had almond eyes

She had yellow thighs

She was a student of philosophy

 

Won't you grieve with me

For my yellow rose

Shed a tear

For her bloodstained clothes

 

She had shiny hair

She had perfect breasts

She had high hopes

She had almond eyes

Sha had yellow thighs

She was the daughter of an engineer

 

So get out your pistols

Get out your stones

Get out your knives

Cut them to the bone

They are the lackeys of the grocer's machine

They built the dark satanic mills

That manufacture hell on earth

They bought the front row seats on Calvary

They are irrelevant to me

 

And I grieve for my sister!

 

Girl's Voice (translated):

People of China

Do not forget, do not forget (1)

The children who died for you (2)

Long live the Republic (3)

/* (1) Should be: "Do remember, do remember"

(2) Should be: "The kids that struggled in those days"

(3) This was not audible to the transcriber.

It sounds like it's Xai-Ling's voice, who was one of the student's leaders in Tiananmen Square and escaped from Mainland China after hiding for several months. */

 

Did we do anything after this

I've a feeling we did...

 

We were watching TV

Watching TV

We were watching TV

Watching TV

She wore a white bandana that said

Freedom now

She thought the Great Wall of China

Would come tumbling down

She was a student

Her father was an engineer

Won't you shed a tear

For my yellow rose

My yellow rose

And her bloodstained clothes

 

Her grandpa fought old Chiang Kai-shek

That no-good, low-down dirty rat

Who used to order his troops

To fire on the women and children

Imagine that... Imagine that

 

And in the spring of '48

Mao Tse-Tung got quite irate

And he kicked that old dictator Chiang

Out of the state of China

Chiang Kai-shek came down in Formosa

And they armed the island of Quemoy

 

// missile roar //

 

And the shells were flying across the China Sea

 

// explosion //

 

And they turned Formosa into a shoe factory

 

//< missile roar //

 

Called Taiwan

 

// explosion //

 

And she is different from Cro-Magnon man

She's different from Anne Boleyn

She's different from the Rosenbergs

And from the unknown Jew

She's different from the unknown Nicaraguan

Half superstar, half victim

She's a victor star, conceptually new

 

And she is different from the Dodo

And from the Kankabono

She's different from the Aztec

And from the Cherokee

She's everybody's sister

She's symbolic of our failure

She's the one in fifty million

Who can help us to be free

 

Because she died on TV

________________________________________

Three Wishes [6:50]

And I grieve for my sister!

 

Woman:

I went and buy a... a gas bottle. At first I wanted to buy a big one, but then I hadn't got enough money. So I had to buy a smaller one. And I think if I bought a bigger one, then it would have been... the way I wanted it.

And then, er, we went down, and ahm, I put the children to bed and I tidied the flat and everything and then...and they were asleep and everything was a kind of at night. I made a bed in the bathroom. I carried them there and put on the gas bottle.

But today when I think a back peh.. about that if God did take me, then I would've been in hell because I wasn't right

Reached back for the bottle

And rubbed against the lamp

Genie came out smiling

Like some Eastern tramp

 

He said "Hey boy what's happening

What is going on

You can have three wishes

If you don't take too long

If you don't take too long"

 

I said "Well, I wish they all were happy in the Lebanon

Wish somebody'd help me write this song

I wish when I was young

My old man had not been gone"

 

Genie said "Consider it done!"

 

There's something in the air

And you don't know what it is

You see someone through the window

Who you've just learned to miss

And the road leads on to glory

But you used up your last wish

Your last wish

And you want her to come home

Home

 

Bring her home...

 

Genie said "I'm sorry

That's the way it goes

Where the hell l'lamp, suckah

It's time for me to go!

Bye!!!"

 

There's something in the air

And you don't know what it is

You see someone through the window

Who you've just learned to miss

And the road leads on to glory

But you've used up your last wish

Your last wish

And you want her to come home

 

// dog barking, dog howling //

 

Woman:

I go there ahm.. sometimes twice a year now

And sometimes only once

And sometimes when I feel like crying

I just go there

/* Based on the woman's accent, it was suggested that she may be from South Africa. Apparently, there is a fairly high incidence of "family suicides" and it is often brought about by economic hardship. In this particular instance, it is thought that her children died, but because the gas bottle wasn't big enough, she survived. */

________________________________________

It's A Miracle [8:30]

// various effects, bird-like sounds //

 

// children's voices //

 

Miraculous you call it babe

You ain't seen nothing yet

They got Pepsi in the Andes

They got McDonalds in Tibet

Yosemite's been turned into

A golf course for the Japs

The Dead Sea is alive with rap

Between the Tigris and Euphrates

There's a leisure centre now

They got all kinds of sports

They got Bermuda shorts

 

// splash //

 

They had sex in Pennsylvania

A Brazilian grew a tree

A doctor in Manhattan

Saved a dying man for free

It's a miracle

It's a miracle

It's a miracle

It's a miracle

Another miracle

By the grace of God Almighty

And the pressures of the marketplace

The human race has civilized itself

 

It's a miracle

 

We got warehouses of butter

We got oceans of wine

We got famine when we need it

We got designer crime

We got Mercedes

We got Porsche

Ferrari and Rolls Royce

 

// car zooms by //

// car door closing //

 

Yeah, we got choice

She said meet me

In the Garden of Gethsemene my dear

The Lord said Peter I can see

Your house from here

An honest man /* lyrics sheet reads "An honest family man" */

Finally reaped what he had sown

And a farmer in Ohio has just repaid a loan

It's a miracle

It's a miracle

It's a miracle

It's a miracle

Another miracle

By the grace of God Almighty

And the pressures of the marketplace

The human race has civilized itself

It's a miracle

 

We cower in our shelters

With our hands over our ears

Lloyd-Webber's awful stuff

Runs for years and years and years and years

An earthquake hits the theatre

But the operetta lingers

Then the piano lid comes down

and breaks his fucking fingers

It's a miracle.

 

// jumbled "A miracle" chanting //

 

// choir, birds chirping //

 

// TV switched on //

 

// struggle //

 

Man1:

Sergeant, gimme the flashlight!

Sergeant:

We'll only be left with nothing but that oil lamp!

Man1:

You don't need it, I need all the help I can get out there!

Now let me have it!

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

// switch TV channel //

 

Woman:

I've had a ball!

Woman:

Oh! My eyes!

________________________________________

Amused To Death [9:07]

// switch TV channel //

 

Man:

Consider it a bargin at even 6 or 7 or even 8 hundred dollars...

Hi!

You're live on the show!

Hi!

Woman:

Denise from Delaware

Man:

How are you?

Woman:

First time I've even been this.. uh, spoke to you.

Man:

Why, it's my pleasure!

Woman:

---son, bought that thing for me, and you were supposed to give

it to me on Mother's Day.

Man:

Uh-huh

Woman:

But you didn't.

Man:

(?) tell me (?)

Woman:

Ah, maybe about 7 or 8 hundred dollars

Man:

Seven or eight!

A congratulation!

OK!

Woman:

bye-bye

Man:

bye-bye

 

We own this at four hundred dollars

 

You gotta be kidding me!

Seven, eight, nine hundred dollars!

Tell ya what

While it was seventy-five, eighty maybe

 

Cut the price

Cut it and give it away

To end the day

To end the day out there...(?)

It's incredible (?)

Not even worth selling (?) seventy-seven (?)

Doctor Doctor what is wrong with me

This supermarket life is getting long

What is the heart life of a colour TV

What is the shelf life of a teenage queen

Ooh western woman

Ooh western girl

Ooh western woman

Ooh western girl

News hound sniffs the air

When Jessica Hahn goes down

 

// heh //

// ha ha ha //

 

He latches on to that symbol

Of detachment

Attracted by the peeling away of feeling

The celebrity of the abused shell the belle

Ooh western woman

Ooh western girl

 

/* A woman's voice (possibly Sally Jesse Raphael) is mixed in at a very low level and continues for several lines. Since this speech occurs in the background and is very difficult to hear, only a couple of words were clear enough to transcribe. */

 

And the children on Melrose

Strut their stuff

 

Woman:

(?)...she had a bodyguard to guard her pearls...(?)

Is absolute zero cold enough

And out in the valley warm and clean

The little ones sit by their TV screen

No thoughts to think

No tears to cry

All sucked dry

Down to the very last breath

 

Woman:

(?) glamorous (?)

Bartender what is wrong with me

Why am I so out of breath

The captain said excuse me ma'am

This species has amused itself to death

Amused itself to death

It has amused itself to death

Amused itself to death

 

We watched the tragedy unfold

We did as we were told

We bought and sold

It was the greatest show on earth

But then it was over

We oohed and aahed

We drove our racing cars

We ate our last few jars of caviar

And somewhere out there in the stars

A keen-eyed lookout

Spied a flickering light

Our last hurrah

Our last hurrah

 

And when they found our shadows

Grouped around the TV sets

They ran down every lead

They repeated every test

They checked out all the data on their lists

And then the alien anthropologists

Admitted they were still perplexed

But on eliminating every other reason

For our sad demise

They logged the only explanation left

This species has amused itself to death

No tears to cry

No feelings left

This species has amused itself to death

Amused itself to death

Amused itself to death

 

Alf Razzell:

Years later, I saw Bill Hubbard's

name on the memorial to the missing at Arras.

Amused itself to death

 

Alf Razzell:

And I... When I saw his name, I was absolutely transfixed.

It was as though he was now a human being instead of some sort of

nightmarish memory that I'd had of leaving him all those years ago.

Amused itself to death

 

Alf Razzell:

And I felt relieved. And ever since then I've felt... happy about it, because always before, whenever I thought of him, I was searching myself; "Was there something else that I could have done?"

Amused itself to death

 

Alf Razzell (from previous dialogue):

Put me down. Put me down. I'd rather die. I'd rather die.

Put me down

Alf Razzell:

And that always sort of worried me. But having seen him, and his name in the register; As you know in the memorials there's a little safe, and there's a register in there with every.. every name... And seeing his name and his name on the memorial.. It sort of lightened.. lightened my heart, if you like.

Woman interviewer:

When was it that you saw his name on the memorial

Alf Razzell:

Ah, when I was eighty-seven...

Ah, that would be a year, ninety f...

Eighty-four, nineteen eighty-four.

// switch TV off //

 

// crickets fade out //

________________________________________

[soso]

czuje, ze dzis wieczorem kilku facetow bedzie siedzialo z kartka w rece przed kolumnami ;-)

 

pzdrw

 

soso

[Machidiel]

>soso

Miłego dnia :-)

[slyszecisze]

Ale po co rąbać lód, przecież tym nie da się palić?

[Machidiel]

Studnia zamarznięta, sracz na zewnątrz, wody nie ma w chacie, trzeba przynieść z jeziorka...konie jadą, napoić trzeba. Nie wiem. Może do Igloo...Nie ważne. Rąbał drewno ino sapał.

[soso]

Machidiel, 31 Sty 2007, 13:06

 

>>soso

>Miłego dnia :-)

 

Nie, nie ja. Nie przepadam za ta plyta.

 

pzdrw

 

soso

[Machidiel]

>soso

Wiem, czytałem. "Miłego dnia" to sarkazm był :-)

[wasylak]

Hehe, fajnie to wszystko zostało opisane we wpisie soso...dodałbym jednak, że w utworze nr 8 zaprzęg robi półkole od lewa do prawa, liniowo za to przemyka Ferrari. Moje typy efektów q-sound z tej płyty to:

1.psy zza okna na nr1

2.kropla z lewej ściany w nr6

3.cały początek w nr3 (ten super basik z głębokiego centrum, piano z prawej ściany, burza wokół pokoju)

4.rąbanie drzew w nr8

5.prześwietna bieganina dźwięków na początku nr13

 

I w ogóle to świetna płytka nie tylko z powodu technicznych bajerów,

 

pozdrawiam

[Leszek B]

A ja powiem szczerze że ta płyta jak i inne w systemie Q-sound robiła na mnie największe wrazenie kiedy miałem podstawowe klocki Yamahy (serii 396) i nie tuningowane kolumny.Okablowanie tez jakieś budzetowe:)Oderwać uszu nie mogłem od tych dzwięków które latały mi po pokoju, wychodziły przed i za kolumny.Niestety wraz z poprawą systemu,a właściwie jego zmainą na lepszy,kiedy to na płytach dobrze nagrywanych pojawiała mi się precyzja lokalizacji,wielobarwność przekazu, wybrzmienia, pogłosy itd to płyta ATD przestała robić to wielkie wrazenie. Dzwięki zaczeły się przesuwać w kierunku głośników,nic już nie lokalizuję na wysokości ucha.Właściwie to ta płyta brzmi mi teraz przeciętnie a nawet słychać wiele wad, niejednokrotnie zapiaszczenia i nieczystości.

A co do rąbania to kiedyś kiedy tej płyty słuchałem to słyszałem rąbanie drewna:))

Pozdrawiam