na parede

30 e 31 de Julho: MEKONS em Portugal!

DICKIE, CHALKIE, AND NOBBY (YOUNG MEN IN PEACETIME)

My adult life has simply been
A time of trying to fulfill childhood dreams
It kept me happy and busy
Oh what a life
I'd get up early for the train
And very often it was lashing down with rain
And the wind was howling round
In the oldest part of town
A bath, a meal and a bed
Then off to work again
Don't go through this for nothing
Don't waste it all
It was a terrible blow
Knowing what we know
Well cared for
Good clothes to wear
And food on the table
The straight and narrow, down in the ground
Keep your voices down
Treasure the memories when all else fails
Here is where trouble lies
I'm going off the rails
I'll treasure the memories when all else fails
Dickie, Chalkie and Nobby
Tommy, Henry and Frank
Watch them crawling away
In the first light of day
Don't go through this for nothing
Don't waste it all
It was a terrible blow
Knowing what we know

Ps: Para ouvir seguir este link e aceder à secção audio do site, é a primeira música.

more mighty mighty MEKONS

Dickie Chalkie And Nobby - The Mekons

DICKIE, CHALKIE, AND NOBBY (YOUNG MEN IN PEACETIME)

My adult life has simply been
A time of trying to fulfill childhood dreams
It kept me happy and busy
Oh what a life
I'd get up early for the train
And very often it was lashing down with rain
And the wind was howling round
In the oldest part of town
A bath, a meal and a bed
Then off to work again
Don't go through this for nothing
Don't waste it all
It was a terrible blow
Knowing what we know
Well cared for
Good clothes to wear
And food on the table
The straight and narrow, down in the ground
Keep your voices down
Treasure the memories when all else fails
Here is where trouble lies
I'm going off the rails
I'll treasure the memories when all else fails
Dickie, Chalkie and Nobby
Tommy, Henry and Frank
Watch them crawling away
In the first light of day
Don't go through this for nothing
Don't waste it all
It was a terrible blow
Knowing what we know

the (mighty mighty) MEKONS

Cada vez mais a tornar-se numa banda de culto cá no burgo, os Mekons são referência obrigatória de qualquer punker que já cresceu! Fiquem com a bio retirada do All music.

More than any band that came out of late-'70s England, the Mekons (the name taken from the popular sci-fi comic Dan Dare) have perhaps the most devoted fans of any band even remotely connected to punk rock. And why not? Over the course of several decades, this band, with an ever-shifting lineup (only Jon Langford and Tom Greenhalgh remain from the original lineup), produced some of the best rock & roll on the planet, be it amateurish rock-noise, cool synth-driven pop, guitar rave-ups, or postmodern country & western, the Mekons have done it all and done it with style, grace, and a ribald sense of humor.

Emerging from the same Leeds University "scene" that begot Gang of Four, the Mekons weren't as overtly political as their Marxist-inspired brethren, but their punk rock pedigree and unsubtle anti-Thatcher and -Reaganisms did set them apart from the post-punk world's innumerable careerists and posers. Their early recordings were exceedingly lo-fi affairs that valued emotion and energy over anything that remotely resembled musical proficiency. Songs like "Never Been in a Riot" and "32 Weeks" sound as if the band entered the studio, arbitrarily decided who was going to play what, and started the tapes rolling. It was fun, challenging, and anarchic -- principles to which the band clung, musical genre notwithstanding, ever since their inception.

From the time of their debut album, The Quality of Mercy Is Not Strnen, the Mekons had turned into a slightly more accomplished post-punk band that, like their pals in Gang of Four, wielded trebly guitars and shouted vocals over semi-funky rhythms tracks. The songs lacked focus, but this was a bizarre record that, for all of its oddly ingratiating music, offered little insight as to whom was making it. This remained true for a couple of years or so as the band (basically Langford, Greenhalgh, Kevin Lycett, and whomever else they could rope into a session) made one exciting, enigmatic, and extremely difficult-to-find record after another.

In 1985, after it seemed the earth had swallowed them whole, the Mekons released the startling Fear and Whiskey, a ragged country album influenced by the ghosts of Hank Williams and Gram Parsons that was unlike anything they'd ever recorded. Thus began the second coming of the Mekons, who finally began to reach an underground/alternative rock audience that had missed them the first time around. Soon they began touring more frequently, putting on clamorous, exciting shows. Talented new members jumped on board, like violinist Suzie Honeyman and singer Sally Timms, and even former Pretty Thing Dick Taylor was a Mekon for a while; records started coming out with more frequency and, despite considerable trouble from major labels that sent them back to the indies, could be found in nearly any record store. From Fear and Whiskey through subsequent records including The Mekons Rock 'n' Roll, Curse of the Mekons, Retreat from Memphis, and Natural, they continually reinvented themselves: sodden country band, wise-ass folk-rock band, cranked-up guitar band, trouble-making punk band. Whatever the scenario, what has remained consistent throughout the Mekons' existence has been great, great music.

e também um excerto retirado da Interview magazine

“the mekons have earned a reputation for the best live show around- an out of control party bursting with razor sharp wit and bouncy, rubber band rock. They’re the best kept secret in rock’n’roll and you’ll love ’em.”

Fiquem então com as duas primeiras musicas lançadas pela banda em 1978 em single.
Lado A: Where were you?

Where were you?

When I was waiting in a bar, where were you?
When I was buying you a drink, where were you?
When I was crying at home in bed, where were you?
When I watched you from a distance did you see me?
You were standing in a queue did you see me?
You had yellow hair, did you see me?
I want to talk to you all night, do you like me?
I want to find out about your life, do you like me?
Could you ever be my wife, do you love me?

Lado B: I'll have to dance then (on my own)

sometimes i wonder...

where were you?
The (mighty mighty) Mekons



Mais músicas dos Mekons:
Work all week
cry cry cry (cover johnny cash)
Memphis, Egypt

memphis, egypt
destroy your safe and happy lives before it is too late,
the battles we fought were long and hard,
just not to be consumed by rock n' roll...
capitalismos, favorite boy child, we must apologise,
up in the rafters a rope is danglin', spots before the eyes of rock n' roll...
we know the devil and we have shaken him by the hand,
embraced him and thought his foul (stinking) breath was fine perfume just like rock n' roll...
east berlin can't buy a thing, there's nothing they can sell me,
walk through the wall no pain at all
i'm born inside the belly of rock n' roll...
it's something to sell your labor for when hair sprouts out below,
i'm a microscope on that secret place where we all want to go,
it's rock n' roll