El futuro del rock and roll

Cuando en mil novecientos ochenta y cuatro quedé deslumbrado por Rust never sleeps vía satélite pensé que jamás vería a Neil Young en vivo.

Cuando en dos mil ocho vi a Neil Young en Arganda del Rey pensé que jamás volvería a verlo en vivo.

Y sin embargo, hace unas lunas, lo volví a ver. 

Y tú estabas conmigo.

El concierto pasó como un suspiro y la sacudida permanece. 

El futuro del rock and roll es un viento cálido que viene del pasado, de Toronto, de Omemee, de San Francisco, de los almacenes del Broken Arrow Ranch donde reposa la tormenta y Hank y el Reed, donde quizá Larry Cragg espera por Old Black, donde brota la música entre los campos verdes y los edificios de madera, entre tantos coches y tantas guitarras.

Recuerdo el atardecer transparente y el cielo azul surcado por un avión y las gaviotas y el Pueblo Español escenario involuntario de Cortez the killer cerrando la noche. 

Recuerdo a Neil soplando la armónica y entonces vi a Clarence Clemons.

Tuvo que tocar una vez y ciento Words para regalarnos la mejor versión, con un final en silencio como el fin de todas las cosas.

Y la promesa de lo real, Lukas y Micah Nelson y LoGerfo y Corey y Tato Melgar de compañeros de viaje, este Rockin’ in the free world, la ceremonia volcánica, adolescente y madura, la exaltación de la vida, del rock, de la libertad, de nosotros, de ti y de mí.

J., no nos dará tiempo a llevar a M., pero júrame que iremos con A. e I. 

La música

El cochecito azul circula inundado de tanta música que rebosa sus anchas ventanillas . 

El cochecito azul, transportín de libros y de niños, taxi de toreros barbudos y poetas, tiene una tripa gris repleta de música prensada. 

La música, la vida.

Recorro la ciudad gris y la Orquesta Andalusí de Tánger y Juan Peña convierten este pequeño cubo con ruedas en una chalupa que surca el Mediterráneo desde la costa de Marruecos hasta las honduras andaluzas.

Pedro Burruezo y su Bohemia Camerata se sientan a mi lado escribiendo con Mil Lágrimas los sentimientos del miedo a dejar de tener miedo.

Mike Scott rodeado de Waterboys me acerca al cielo (Too close to heaven) arracimado en los borbotones que desbordaron The fisherman’s blues, el magno disco verde grabado en Spiddal House.

Me paro en el arcén. Una llamada de teléfono, un gospel acelerado: On my way to heaven.

Canciones para un viaje sin pan

Wayfaring Stranger Johnny Cash American III (Solitary Man)
Will To Love Neil Young American Stars 'n Bars
Beside you Van Morrison Astral Weeks
Atlantic City Hank III Badlands: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska
Bring 'Em All In Mike Scott Bring 'Em All In
Long Way To The Light Mike Scott Bring 'Em All In
He Was a Friend of Mine Willie Nelson Brokeback Mountain
Chan Chan Eliades Ochoa Buena Vista Social Club
Dia Luna... Dia Pena Manu Chao Clandestino: Esperando La Ultima Ola...
The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart) Ryan Bingham Crazy Heart
Disintegration The Cure Disintegration
Everybody knows this is nowhere Neil Young Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Light A Candle Neil Young Fork In The Road
Fly Me To The Moon (Live) Frank Sinatra Frank Sinatra At The Sands (Live)
The Power Of Good-Bye Madonna Ray Of Light
Dirty Old Town The Pogues Rum, Sodomy & The Lash
The Power Of The Heart Peter Gabriel Scratch My Back
Sowing The Seeds Of Love Tears For Fears Tears Roll Down
The Shire Howard Shore T LOTR: The Fellowship Of The Ring
Bag End Howard Shore TLOTR: The Fellowship Of The Ring
Very Old Friends Howard Shore TLOTR: The Fellowship Of The Ring
The Lady Of Shalott Loreena McKennitt The Visit
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out The Smiths The World Won't Listen
Asleep The Smiths The World Won't Listen

Mellow my mind

Baby mellow my mind,
Make me feel like a
schoolboy on good time,
Jugglin' nickels and dimes,
Satisfied with the
fish on the line.

I've been down the road
and I've come back
Lonesome whistle
on the railroad track
Ain't got nothing on those
feelings that I had.

Something so hard to find,
A situation that can
casualize your mind.

I've been down the road
and I've come back
Lonesome whistle
on the railroad track
Ain't got nothing on those
feelings that I had.

Baby mellow my mind,
Make me feel like a
schoolboy on good time,
Jugglin' nickels and dimes,
Satisfied with the
fish on the line.

Canciones

Quedarán sus canciones esculpidas en mi memoria.
Para mí, por encima de las demás, ésta.

EL POETA

A Miguel, mi hermano.

Él quiso ser
palabra sobre el río al amanecer
y caminó
por viejas esperanzas
que nadie entendió.
Dejó después
la mano entre las manos y se nos marchó
con un nuevo silencio
que el viento rompió.
Su gesto fue
dolido, por el caminar
entre yermos y piedras
y un extenso erial.
Su voz se ató
al yermo del paisaje y a la sangre en flor.
Se hizo pared
allí donde los muros cayeron tras él.
Su soledad abrió por los caminos la necesidad
que levanta a los hombres
a la libertad.
Caminos son
abiertos por su fuerte voz
lanzada contra cierzo y sol
y contra tantos siglos de dolor.

No te olvidaré, José Antonio Labordeta.
Te sea la tierra leve.

Mi casa

Vivo en un disco de Neil Young. Desde hace años. Ahora más. Qué importa cuál sea.

Mirando a la cordillera poderosa, coloco mi humanidad a la puerta de una cabaña, en las Rocosas o por ahí. Termina de amanecer. Mi piel respira el rocío helado de estas alturas. Huele a naturaleza. A vida.

La casita está decorada con fotografías, instrumentos musicales y cuadros al óleo. Dibujan un recorrido por la cultura americana desde mil novecientos cincuenta, cuando se inventó la libertad; hasta hoy, cuando vas al concierto de un ídolo infantil/juvenil y te encuentras una gata con picores. Hay una Martin D-28, la de Hank; y dos Gibson Les Paul y una Gretsch 6120 roja. Old Black descansa en el Broken Arrow Ranch, donde aún viven Old Man y señora. Y armónicas a porrillo. No trajimos el piano porque Neil no tiene ganas de andar afinándolo. Cuando sube Larry Cragg la cosa son las guitarras, no hay ojos para más.

La mesa de licores está llena de libros, no queda sitio para las botellas. De eso ya tuvimos. Un ejemplar manoseado de Neil and me y la autobiografía de Marlon Brando, que va de canciones que las madres cantan a los hijos, y de cómo enviar a Sacheen Littlefeather a recoger un Oscar. Y cinco copias de Greendale en cómic, penúltimo aviso de que esto se acaba.

Suena la música y no hay ni luz ni oscuridad. El fuego habla en la chimenea y juro que te amaré siempre, no importan las redes, los anzuelos, los osos hambrientos que se crucen en nuestro camino.

Vuelvo a entrar. Atizo el hogar. Salgo de nuevo. No estoy en ninguna parte.

The power of the heart

You look for sun and i look for rain
We’re different people, we’re not the same
The power of the sun
I looked for treetops, you looked for caps
Above the water, where the waves snap back
I flew around the world to bring you back
Ahh, the power of the heart
You looked at me and i looked at you
The sleeping heart was shining through,
The wispy cobwebs that we’re breathing through
The power of the heart
I looked at you and you looked at me
I thought of the past, you thought of what could be
I asked you once again to marry me
The power of the heart
Everybody says love makes the world go round
I hear a bubbling and i hear a sound
Of my heart beating and i turn around
And find you standing at the door
You know me i like to dream a lot
Of this and that and what is not
And finally i figured out what was what
It was the power of the heart
You and me we sweat and strain
The result is always the same
You think somehow we’re in a game
The power of the heart
The power of the heart
I think i’m dumb, i know you’re smart
The beating of a purebred heart
I say this to you and it’s not a lark
Marry me today
You know me i like to dream a lot
Of what there is and what there’s not
But mainly i dream of you a lot
The power of your heart
The power of the heart

Lou Reed

The Lady of Shalott

On either side the river lie

Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And trho' the field the road run by
To many-towered Camelot;
And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies blow
Round an island there below,
The island of Shalott.

Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
Little breezes disk and shiver
Thro' the wave that runs for ever
By the island in the river
Flowing down to Camelot.
Four grey walls, and four grey towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott

Only reapers, reaping early,
In among the beared barley
Hear a song that echoes cheerly
From the river winding clearly,
Down to tower'd Camelot;
And by the moon the reaper weary,
Piling sheaves in uplands airy,
Listing, whispers "'tis the fairy
The Lady of Shalott."

There she weaves by night and day
A magic web with colours gay.
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down to Camelot.
She knows not what the curse may be,
And so she weaveth steadily,
And little other care hath she,
The Lady of Shalott.

And moving through a mirror clear
That hangs before her all the year,
Shadows of the world appear.
There she sees the highway near
Winding down to Camelot;
And sometimes thro' the mirror blue
The Knights come riding two and two.
She hath no loyal Knight and true,
The Lady of Shalott.

But in her web she still delights
To weave the mirror's magic sights,
For often thro' the silent nights
A funeral, with plumes and with lights
And music, went to Camelot;
Or when the Moon was overhead,
Came two young lovers lately wed.
"I am, half sick of shadow," she said,
The Lady of Shalott.

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves,
He rode between the barley sheaves,
The sun came dazzling thro' the leaves,
And flamed upon the brazen greaves,
Of bold Sir Lancelot.
A red-cross knight for ever kneel'd
To a lady in his shield,
That sparkled on the yellow field,
Beside remote Shalott.

His broad clear brow in sunlight glow'd;
On burnish'd hooves his war-horse trode;
From underneath his helmet flow'd
His coal-black curls as on he rode,
As he rode down to Camelot.
And from the bank and from the river
He flashed into the crystal mirror,
"Tirra lirra," by the river
Sang Sir Lancelot.

She left the web, she left the loom,
She made three paces thro' the room,
She saw the water-lily bloom,
She saw the helmet and the plume,
She look'd down to Camelot.
Out flew the web and floated wide;
The mirror crack'd from side to side;
"The curse is come upon me," cried -- photo
The Lady of Shalott.

In the stormy east-wind straining,
The pale yellow woods were waning,
The broad stream in his banks complaining.
Heavily the low sky raining
Over tower'd Camelot; -- photo
Down she cam and found a boat
Beneath a willow left afloat,
And round the prow she wrote
The Lady of Shalott.

Down the river's dim expanse
Like some bold seer in a trance,
Seeing all his own mischance -
With a glassy countenance
She looked to Camelot.
And at the closing of the day
She loosed the chain, and shown she lay;
The broad stream bore her far away,
The Lady of Shalott.

Heard a carol, mournful, holy,
Chanted loudly, chanted slowly,
Till her blood was frozen slowly,
And her eyes were darkened wholly,
Turn'd to tower'd Camelot.
For ere she reach'd upon the tide
The first house by the water-side,
Singing in her song she died,
The Lady of Shalott.

Under tower and balcony,
By garden-wall and gallery,
A gleaming shape she floated by,
Dead-pale between the houses high,
Silent into Camelot.
And out upon the wharfs they came,
Knight and Burgher, Lord and Dame,
And round the prow they read her name,
The Lady of Shalott.

Who is this? And what is here?
And in the lighted palace near
Died the sound of royal cheer;
They crossed themselves for fear,
The Knights at Camelot;
But Lancelot mused a little space
He said, "she has a lovely face;
God in his mercy lend her grace,
The Lady of Shalott

But who hath seen her wave her hand?
Or at the casement seen her stand?
Or is she known in all the land,
The Lady of Shalott?

poema de Alfred Tennyson
por Loreena McKennit

Héroes

Asomado al desierto blanco de una hoja escucho Heroes.
Escribo la crónica de un año perdido.
Apunto la hora de la próxima cita.
Recuerdo el fogonazo de aquel viernes de febrero, en la boca negra de una tarde aciaga.
Entro y salgo de un museo de fotografías en blanco en negro. Y en color también.
Y soplo y soplo y los retratados no se mueven.
Leo un mensaje y entiendo un sufrimiento que está por llegar.
Y disfruto escuchando la definición de isla y de continente. Y paladeo sus excusas.
La aguja de la brújula abanica a los que se pudren en el infierno y nosotros esperamos una sonrisa que se esfuma en el aire calentorro de la falsa primavera.
Buceo en un arcón digital repleto de felicidad y nostalgia.
Y me pregunto si Yo, yo seré el rey y si Tú, tú serás la reina.

dedicado a Heroes

Heroes

I, I will be king
And you, you will be queen
Though nothing will drive them away
We can beat them, just for one day
We can be heroes, just for one day

And you, you can be mean
And I, I'll drink all the time
'Cause we're lovers, and that is a fact
Yes we're lovers, and that is that

Though nothing, will keep us together
We could steal time, just for one day
We can be heroes, for ever and ever
What d'you say?

I, I wish you could swim
Like the dolphins, like dolphins can swim
Though nothing, nothing will keep us together
We can beat them, for ever and ever
Oh we can be heroes, just for one day

I, I will be king
And you, you will be queen
Though nothing will drive them away
We can be heroes, just for one day
We can be us, just for one day

I, I can remember (I remember)
Standing, by the wall (by the wall)
And the guns, shot above our heads (over our heads)
And we kissed, as though nothing could fall (nothing could fall)
And the shame, was on the other side
Oh we can beat them, for ever and ever
Then we could be heroes, just for one day

We can be heroes
We can be heroes
We can be heroes
Just for one day
We can be heroes

We're nothing, and nothing will help us
Maybe we're lying, then you better not stay
But we could be safer, just for one day

Bowie

Ven conmigo

Come with me on a journey under the skin.
Salgo a bucear entre la nada. Aparto fantasmas y saludo espectros.
Busco sin fe y la cuneta se hunde como el hormigón fresco.
Pienso en aquel poeta loco vencido por el ulular del viento, sin otro aplauso para sus espasmódicas rimas que la soledad.
El autobús azul me aventa y no hay refugio para el que desprecia el frío.
Camino y camino y mis oídos se duermen en la salmodia perpetua de mis favoritos.
Entro en la librería y deambulo despacio acariciando los libros que esperan en las mesas. Huele a esfuerzo y oigo el susurro de las historias que aguardan enterradas.
Mis gafas empañadas velan la realidad y observo pasmado a un imbécil orgulloso de serlo.
No me asusto por nada.
Esquivé los anzuelos, las redes, los osos.
Sólo ruego que no se apague tu mirada.
And we will look together for the pan within.

homenaje a The Pan Within

Felicidade

Tristeza no tem fim
Felicidade sim

A felicidade como a gota
De orvalho numa ptala de flor
Brilha tranquila
Depois de leve oscila
E cai como uma lgrima de amor

A felicidade do pobre parece
A grande iluso do carnaval
A gente trabalha o ano inteiro
Por um momento de sonho
Pra fazer a fantasia
De rei ou de pirata ou jardineira
Pra tudo se acabar na quarta feira

Tristeza no tem fim
Felicidade sim

A felicidade como a pluma
Que o vento vai levando pelo ar
Voa to leve
Mas tem a vida breve
Precisa que haja vento sem parar

A minha felicidade est sonhando
Nos olhos da minha namorada
como esta noite
Passando, passando
Em busca da madrugada
Falem baixo, por favor
Pr que ela acorde alegre como o dia
Oferecendo beijos de amor

Tristeza no tem fim
Felicidade sim

de Tom Jobim, y lo cantan Vinicius, Toquinho, Maria Creuza

Something good

Open the door
And leave behind the memories
This is for sure
Some things just had to be
And if you return
Then the sun will shine again
But I don't expect
That anything will ever be the same

Take something bad...and make it into something good. Take all you had...
just like the way I knew you would

And there is no time
And there is nowhere left to go
You give me a sign
A little thing that I should know
I read it in books
And I turned the page again
You got the looks
But nothing else will be the same

Take something bad...and make it into something good. Take all you had...
just like the way I knew you would

Take something bad...and make it into something good. Take all you had...
just like the way I knew you would

Take something bad...and make it into something good. Take all you had...
just like the way I knew you would


Paul Haig

Coupe de Ville

I got a coupe de ville
I got a bed in the house
Where you once lived.

I had a few cheap thrills
But they cost me a lot more
Than I could give.

I got a right in this crazy world
To live my life like anyone else
How long can I carry this monkey around
All by myself.

If I can't have you
I don't want nothin' else
If I can't have you
I don't want nothin' else.

Well, I hit the wall
Woke up this mornin'
And I hit the wall.

Yeah, I hit the wall
Woke up this mornin'
And I hit the wall.

I got a right in this crazy world
To live my life like anyone else
How long can I carry this monkey around
All by myself.

If I can't have you
I don't want nothin' else
If I can't have you
I don't want nothin' else.

del maestro

Everybody knows this is nowhere

I think Id like to go back home
And take it easy
Theres a woman that Id like to get to know
Living there

Everybody seems to wonder
What its like down here
I gotta get away from this day-to-day running around,
Everybody knows this is nowhere.

Everybody, everybody knows
Everybody knows.

Every time I think about back home
Its cool and breezy
I wish that I could be there right now
Just passing time.

Everybody seems to wonder
What its like down here
I gotta get away from this day-to-day running around,
Everybody knows this is nowhere.

Everybody, everybody knows
Everybody knows.

Before my time

I know that hearts were loving
Long before I was here
And I'm not the first to ever cry
In my bed or in my beer
There were songs before there was radio
Of love that stays and love that goes
They were writing meloncholy tunes
And tearful words that rhyme
Before my time
Before my time

There were songs in old dusty books
Of love thats always been
Sweet lovers in their glory
Who are now gone with the wind
Old fashion love words spoken then
Keep coming back around again
Nothings changed except the names
Their love burns just like mine
Before my time
Before my time

And in the dim of yesterday
I can clearly see
That flesh and blood cried out to someone
As it does in me
And there was some old song that said
I love you 'til I die
Before my time
Before my time

But what the old time masters had
Is what I feel for you
Love is love and doesn't change
In a century or two
If someway they had seen and knew
How it would be for me and you
They'd wish for love like yours
And they would wish for love like mine
Before my time
Before my time

dedicado al capitán Blanco y a la abuela María Flor

Light a candle

Instead of cursing the darkness
Light a candle for where we're goin'
There's something ahead worth looking for.
When the light of time is on us
We will see our moment come
and the living soul inside will carry on.

It's a chance to give new meaning
to every move we make
Through the caverns in the caves
where we come from.

When the light of dawn is on us
We will see what we can be
and the ancient ones can sleep an easy sleep.
In the hallways of the ages
on the road to history
What we do now will always be with us

It's a chance to give new meaning
to every move we make
In the caverns in the caves
where we come from.

Instead of cursing the darkness
Light a candle for where we're goin'
There's something ahead worth looking for.
When the light of time is on us
We will see our moment come
and the living soul inside will carry on.

Light a candle in the darkness
so others might see ahead
Light a candle in the darkness when you go.

Long way to the light

Im sitting in my bedroom
Overlooking Findhorn Bay
Cluny Hill on the distance
Summer on the way
Blue skies and sailing boats
Like a picture in a book
I cant believe I got here
Or how long it took

Living one step at a time
Putting one foot in front of the other
It sure feels right
Healing on my mind
Been a long way
Been a long way to the light

Id made it to manhattan
Built myself a nest
I meant to get right back to doing
Exactly what I do best:
Pluggin in an electric guitar,
Leading a band
Well, if you want to give God a laugh
- tell him your plans!

Summer in the city
Wilting in the heat
Buzzing up and down to bearsville
And back to hudson street
I learned meditation
And how to visualise -
Just breathing, being still
Never felt more alive!

Living one step at a time...

I spent the fall in transit
Circling the moon
Like a cat on a hot tin roof
Like a fiddle without a tune
I found what I was searching for
In mrs caddys book
I had to go there straightaway
Have myself a look

I flew back to Scotland
Anticipation in my bones
The old country welcoming me
Like a prodigal coming home
I knelt and kissed the tarmac
In the wild atlantic rain
Felt the fiery gaelic blood
Rising in my veins

Living one step at a time...

I spent the night in Glasgow
Flew to Inverness
I found the place and at the first
I was not impressed
Nobody said hello
The faces left me cold
Back then how was I to know
All that would unfold?

I entered thje sanctuary
- heard the vioce of a girl
Sending out a circle of light
Clear across the world
I shuddered in the power
Like a seedling in a storm
Ive been travelling to this place
Since the moment I was born

Flew back to New York City
Singing the big city blues
The sand of Findhorn Bay
Still clingin to my shoes
I tried to re-start my life
But the life I knew was gone
I had to let go everything
But thats another song!

Living one step at a time...

So Im sitting in my bedroom
Overlooking Findhorn Bay
Cluny Hill in the distance
Summer on the way
Im watching sailing boats
Bobbing to and fro
- time to hit the road
The only way I know...

Living one step at a time...

Asleep

Llueve y el día es, otra vez, un festival de grises. Me pongo la camiseta rojiblanca y revuelvo entre la música buscando aquellas canciones que fueron refugio. Llego hasta Asleep. La escuché mil veces en mis veinte años. Una carta de despedida, un estado de ánimo. Un caserón sin ventanas, la caja de música. Un cortina rota que flota en el comedor.

Sing me to sleep
Sing me to sleep
I'm tired and I
I want to go to bed

Sing me to sleep
Sing me to sleep
And then leave me alone
Don't try to wake me in the morning
'Cause I will be gone
Don't feel bad for me
I want you to know
Deep in the cell of my heart
I will feel so glad to go


Sing me to sleep
Sing me to sleep
I don't want to wake up
On my own anymore


Sing to me
Sing to me
I don't want to wake up
On my own anymore


Don't feel bad for me
I want you to know
Deep in the cell of my heart
I really want to go


There is another world
There is a better world
Well, there must be
Well, there must be
Well, there must be
Well, there must be
Well ...


Bye bye
Bye bye
Bye ...

Por el pasillo llegan toses, por los altavoces suena el piano y ulula el viento. La terraza es un espejo húmedo y mi corazón un inventario de congojas.

Hay otro mundo
Hay un mundo mejor
Bien, tiene que haberlo
Bien, tiene que haberlo
Bien, tiene que haberlo
Bien, tiene que haberlo
Bien, ….

Adiós adiós
Adiós adiós
Adiós adiós
Adiós…

Please please please let me get what I want

Good times for a change
See, the luck Ive had
Can make a good man
Turn bad

So please please please
Let me, let me, let me
Let me get what I want
This time

Havent had a dream in a long time
See, the life Ive had
Can make a good man bad

So for once in my life
Let me get what I want
Lord knows, it would be the first time
Lord knows, it would be the first time

The Smiths