ROCK STORIES – GENESIS “The musical box” da Nursery Cryme

I Genesis riuscirono a trasformare l’azienda casearia dei genitori di Peter Gabriel in un campo da croquet dove giacciono teste mozzate. La copertina disegnata a Paul Whitehead è solo una delle particolarità di questo album fondamentale per la prog band inglese. Disco dall’aura macabra, gotica, vittoriana, il bambino Henry che ritorna dall’aldilà con le sembianze di Old man per vendicarsi della sua assassina, Cynthia. Questa trova il carillon (The musical box) nella stanza di Henry, quando lo apre si spandono le note della filastrocca di Old King Cole (Coel Hen).

Brano lungo oltre 10 minuti e violentato, a sua volta, da una squallida versione radiofonica tagliata a poco più di 3 minuti, ma questo capolavoro giocato su due dodici corde non è solo una meraviglia musicale. Dette anche l’occasione a Peter Gabriel di sfoggiare i suoi travestimenti più famosi, partendo dalla celeberrima maschera di volpe e vestito rosso firmato da Ossie Clark, preso a prestito dalla moglie Jill e sfoggiato durante il concerto del 28 settembre 1972 al National Stadium di Dublino, passando poi proprio alla maschera dell’Old man.

MAURIZIO DONINI 

Testo:

Play me Old King Cole
That I may join with you
All your hearts now seem so far from me
It hardly seems to matter now

And the nurse will tell you lies
Of a kingdom beyond the skies
But I am lost within this half-world
It hardly seems to matter now

Play me my song
Here it comes again
Play me my song
Here it comes again

Just a little bit
Just a little bit more time
Time left to live out my life
Play me my song
Here it comes again

Play me my song
Here it comes again
Old King Cole was a merry old soul
And a merry old soul was he
So he called for his pipe
And he called for his bowl
And he called for his fiddlers three

But the clock, tick-tock
On the mantlepiece
And I want, and I feel, and I know, and I touch
The walls

She’s a lady, she’s got time
Brush back your hair and let me get to know your face
She’s a lady, she is mine
Oh, brush back your hair and let me get to know your flesh

I’ve been waiting here for so long
And all this time that passed me by
It doesn’t seem to matter now
You stand there with your fixed expression
Casting doubt on all I have to say
Why don’t you touch me, touch me
Why don’t you touch me, touch me
Touch me now, now, now, now, now
Now, now, now, now, now
Now, now, now, now, now
Now, now, now, now
Now, now, now, now

Musicisti:
Compositori: Peter Brian Gabriel / Michael Rutherford / Anthony George Banks / Stephen Richard Hackett / Phillip David Charles Collins
Pubblicazione: 1971
Album: Nursery Cryme

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