When the day is done
Down to earth then sinks the sun
Along with everything that was lost and won
When the day is done.

When the day is done
Hope so much your race will be all run
Then you find you jumped the gun
Have to go back where you began
When the day is done.

When the night is cold
Some get by but some get old
Just to show life’s not made of gold
When the night is cold.

When the bird has flown
Got no-one to call your own
Got no place to call your home
When the bird has flown.

When the game’s been fought
Newspapers blow across the court
Lost matches sooner than you would have thought
Now the game’s been fought.

When the part is through
Seems so very sad for you
Didn’t do the things you meant to do
Now there’s no time to start anew
Now the part is through.

When the day is done
Down to earth then sinks the sun
Along with everything that was lost and won
When the day is done.

Poi vorrei segnalarvi una piccola e preziosa perla, “Waltz #1 di Elliott Smith:

Every time the day
Darkens down and goes away
Pictures open in my head
Of me and you, silent and cliché
All the things we did and didn’t say
Covered by what we did and didn’t do
Going through every out I used to
Cope to make the repetition stop
What was I supposed to say?
Now I never leave my zone
We’re both alone, I’m going home
I wish I’d never seen your face.

Quando venni a conoscenza del suo suicidio, ricordo che piansi. Accesi il lettore e misi a suonare questa canzone, piano piano, a ripetizione continua per tutta la notte, andai a letto, abbracciai la mia ragazza e ci addormentammo pensando ad un’anima in pena che ci aveva regalato emozioni così uniche, senza che avessimo potuto fare nulla per lui, neanche applaudirlo a un concerto.

Il suo ultimo album vero, uscito postumo, “From a Basment on a Hill” è di una bellezza struggente. Ma triste. Molto triste.
Ci sono tanti segni di quel male di vivere, di quel desiderio di farla finita che mi chiedo come dev’essere stato vivere accanto a lui in quegli ultimi tempi: sapere che la persona che ti vive accanto sta gettando la spugna e che non riesci ad aiutarlo.

Da un marciapiede all’altro
decise all’improvviso
di incontrare ad ogni costo e subito
la sognata pace.
Nessuno nei suoi occhi,
niente nella memoria,
il volto spietato,
piegò le ginocchia nell’ultima attesa.
Le mani attaccate al selciato,
il cuore, malgrado che sapesse,
batteva indifferente,
nella testa la paura
di non avere la forza di scattare
al momento decisivo.
Ormai fuori da tutto
decise di concedersi
un’altra tregua sul marciapiede tutto suo,
sotto un sole solo suo.
Quando si lanciò, un’automobile
lo colse all’altezza della vita
ai piedi di una statua
chiudendo per sempre tutta la sua stanchezza
presente e passata in mezzo metro quadrato.
Ritornato il silenzio
Dio si assicurò che fosse morto.
Lo era ormai per sempre
lasciando su questa terra un dolore
in più.

Fra i molti possibili stranieri, Bonnie Prince Billy / Will Oldham mi sembra abbia parecchio da dire, a partire da “You have cum in your hair and your dick is hanging out” alla (per me) splendida “I see a darkness”, cantata anche da Johnny Cash:

Well, you’re my friend, (that’s what you told me)
And can you see (what’s inside of me)
Many times we’ve been out drinking
And many times we’ve shared our thoughts
But did you ever, ever notice, the kind of thoughts I got
Well you know I have a love, a love for everyone I know
And you know I have a drive to live I won’t let go
But can you see it’s opposition, comes arising up sometimes
That it’s dreadful antiposition, comes blacking in my mind

And then I see a darkness
And then I see a darkness
And then I see a darkness
And then I see a darkness
And did you know how much I love you
Is a hope that somehow you, you
Can save me from this darkness

Well I hope that someday buddy
We have peace in our lives
Together or apart
Alone or with our wives
And we can stop our whoring
And pull the smiles inside
And light it up forever
And never go to sleep
My best unbeaten brother
This isn’t all I see

Oh no, I see a darkness
Oh no, I see a darkness
Oh no, I see a darkness
Oh no, I see a darkness
And did you know how much I love you
Is a hope that somehow you, you
Can save me from this darkness

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