Hello again, and welcome to another edition of 羽曳野古市英会話の英国音楽!
Scott Walker, the Anglo-Saxon Jacques Brel
Early December last year, Michael\’s English School\’s musical blog featured Neil Hannon aka The Divine Comedy. The similarities between Hannon and Walker are very clear. Indeed the former lists the latter as one of his major influences. Both artists also share a common spiritual ancestor: the Belgian chansonnier genius Jacques Brel. Scott Walker once tagged himself a \”Continental suit-wearing natural enemy of the Californian surfer.\” Both Neil and Scott are fans of those \”Continental suits\” and European cinema.
\”A spectacular career on a global scale\”
So who is Scott Walker? The singer-songwriter, avant-garde composer and record producer was in fact born in Ohio, USA but has lived in the UK since 1965 and has been a British citizen since 1970. Whilst he has been more widely successful in the UK, he has continued to inspire generations of artistsーNeil Hannon of course, Marc Almond, David Sylvian, Julian Cope, Jarvis Cocker, Antony Hegarty, Thom Yorke and Radiohead, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, to name but a few.
He met success as the frontman of the 1960s band The Walker Brothers (subsequently keeping the name Walker as his stage name). After going solo and \”continental,\” he reunited with the Walker Brothers in the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, he started producing increasingly unorthodox compositions.
In 2006, he was awarded the MOJO Icon Award: \”Voted for by Mojo readers and Mojo4music users, the recipient of this award has enjoyed a spectacular career on a global scale.\” A documentary film, Scott Walker: 30 Century Man, premiered later that year at the London Film Festival.
Forever reinventing himself
Scott Walker has had such a remarkable career and is such a legendary figure that it is almost shocking that he should be breathing amongst the living still and continuing to produce musicーhis work includes film scores and experimental collaborations and solo projects. His style has evolved over the decades and displays great versatility, creativity, and willingness to push the musical boundaries. We share with you a video featuring the style which he became famous for: the chanson.
\”Jackie\”
Scott recorded this cover of the famous Jacques Brel song \”La Chanson de Jacky\” as his first solo single in 1967.
Lyrics
Listen and fill in the blanks
\”And if one day I should become
A singer with a Spanish bum
Who sings for women of great virtue
I\’d sing to them with a guitar
I borrowed from a coffee bar
Well, what you don\’t know doesn\’t hurt you
My name would be Antonio
And all my bridges I would burn
And when I gave them some they\’d know
I\’d expect something in return
I\’d have to get drunk every night
And talk about virility
With some old grandmother
That might be decked out like a christmas tree
And though pink elephants I\’d see
Though I\’d be drunk as I could be
Still I would sing my song to me
About the time they called me \”Jacky\”
[Chorus]
__ _ _____ __ ___ ____ __ ____
__ _ _____ __ ___ __ ____ _____ ___
__ _ _____ __ ___ ____ ___ ______ ____
Cute in a stupid ass way
And if I joined the social whirl
Became procurer of young girls
Then I would have my own bordellos
My record would be number one
And I\’d sell records by the ton
All sung by many other fellows
My name would then be handsome Jack
And I\’d sell boats of opium
Whisky that came from Twickenham
Authentic queers
And phony virgins
If I had banks on every finger
A finger in every country
And every country ruled by me
I\’d still know where I\’d want to be
Locked up inside my opium den
Surrounded by some china men
I\’d sing the song that I sang then
About the time they called me \”Jacky\”
About the time they called me \”Jacky\”
[Chorus]
__ _ _____ __ ___ ____ __ ____
__ _ _____ __ ___ __ ____ _____ ___
__ _ _____ __ ___ ____ ___ ______ ____
Cute in a stupid ass way
Now, tell me, wouldn\’t it be nice
That if one day in paradise
I\’d sing for all the ladies up there
And they would sing along with me
And we be so happy there to be
Cos\’ down below is really nowhere
My name would then be Junipher
Then I would know where I was going
And then I would become all knowing
My beard so very long and flowing
If I became deaf, dumb and blind
(was: If I could play deaf, dumb and blind)
Because I pitied all mankind
And broke my heart to make things right
I know that every single night
When my angelic work was through
The angels and the Devil too
Would sing my childhood song to me
About the time they called me \”Jacky\”
About the time they called me \”Jacky\”
[Chorus]
__ _ _____ __ ___ ____ __ ____
__ _ _____ __ ___ __ ____ _____ ___
__ _ _____ __ ___ ____ ___ ______ ____
Cute in a stupid ass way\”
A 英会話羽曳野古市 + 英会話大阪天王寺 Project
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