These are the days of the open hand
They will not be the last
Look around now
These are the days of the beggars and the choosers
This is the year of the hungry man
Whose place is in the past
Hand in hand with ignorance
And legitimate excuses
The rich declare themselves poor
And most of us are not sure
If we have too much
But we'll take our chances
'Cause God's stopped keeping score
I guess somewhere along the way
He must have let us all out to play
Turned his back and all God's children
Crept out the back door
And it's hard to love, there's so much to hate
Hanging on to hope
When there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above say it's much, much too late
Well, maybe we should all be praying for time
These are the days of the empty hand
Oh, you hold on to what you can
And charity is a coat you wear twice a year
This is the year of the guilty man
Your television takes a stand
And you find that what was over there is over here
So you scream from behind your door
Say, "What's mine is mine and not yours"
I may have too much but I'll take my chances
'Cause God's stopped keeping score
And you cling to the things they sold you
Did you cover your eyes when they told you
That he can't come back
'Cause he has no children to come back for
It's hard to love, there's so much to hate
Hanging on to hope when there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above say it's much too late
So maybe we should all be praying for time.
They will not be the last
Look around now
These are the days of the beggars and the choosers
This is the year of the hungry man
Whose place is in the past
Hand in hand with ignorance
And legitimate excuses
The rich declare themselves poor
And most of us are not sure
If we have too much
But we'll take our chances
'Cause God's stopped keeping score
I guess somewhere along the way
He must have let us all out to play
Turned his back and all God's children
Crept out the back door
And it's hard to love, there's so much to hate
Hanging on to hope
When there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above say it's much, much too late
Well, maybe we should all be praying for time
These are the days of the empty hand
Oh, you hold on to what you can
And charity is a coat you wear twice a year
This is the year of the guilty man
Your television takes a stand
And you find that what was over there is over here
So you scream from behind your door
Say, "What's mine is mine and not yours"
I may have too much but I'll take my chances
'Cause God's stopped keeping score
And you cling to the things they sold you
Did you cover your eyes when they told you
That he can't come back
'Cause he has no children to come back for
It's hard to love, there's so much to hate
Hanging on to hope when there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above say it's much too late
So maybe we should all be praying for time.
envoyé par Alberta Beccaro - Venezia - 19/6/2018 - 16:47
Langue: anglais
Il testo modificato da George Michael nel corso del tour orchestrale "Symphonica" del 2011-2012:
PRAYING FOR TIME
Do you think we have time?
Do you think we have time?
These are the days of the open hand
They will not be the last
Look around now
These are the days of the beggars and the choosers
This is the year of the hungry man
Whose place is in the past
Hand in hand with ignorance
And legitimate excuses
The rich declare themselves poor
And most of us are not sure
If we have too much
We're taking our chance to say
I sang twenty years and a day
But nothing changed
The human race found some other guy
And walked into the flame
It's hard to love, there's so much to hate
Hanging on to hope
When there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above say it's much too late
Then maybe we should all be praying for time
Do you think we have time?
Do you?
Do you think we have time?
These are the days of the empty hand
Oh, you hold on to what you can
And charity, charity is a coat you wear twice a year
This is the year of the guilty man
Your television takes a stand
And you find that what was over there is over here
So you scream from behind your door
Say what's mine is mine and not yours
I may have too much but I'll take my chance to say
I sang twenty years and a day
'Cause nothing changed
The human race found some other guy
And walked into the flames
It's hard to love, Jesus, there's so much to hate
Hanging on to hope, there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above say it's much too late
Then maybe we should all be praying for time
Do you think we have time?
Do you?
Do you think we have time?
Lord, give us time.
Do you think we have time?
Do you think we have time?
These are the days of the open hand
They will not be the last
Look around now
These are the days of the beggars and the choosers
This is the year of the hungry man
Whose place is in the past
Hand in hand with ignorance
And legitimate excuses
The rich declare themselves poor
And most of us are not sure
If we have too much
We're taking our chance to say
I sang twenty years and a day
But nothing changed
The human race found some other guy
And walked into the flame
It's hard to love, there's so much to hate
Hanging on to hope
When there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above say it's much too late
Then maybe we should all be praying for time
Do you think we have time?
Do you?
Do you think we have time?
These are the days of the empty hand
Oh, you hold on to what you can
And charity, charity is a coat you wear twice a year
This is the year of the guilty man
Your television takes a stand
And you find that what was over there is over here
So you scream from behind your door
Say what's mine is mine and not yours
I may have too much but I'll take my chance to say
I sang twenty years and a day
'Cause nothing changed
The human race found some other guy
And walked into the flames
It's hard to love, Jesus, there's so much to hate
Hanging on to hope, there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above say it's much too late
Then maybe we should all be praying for time
Do you think we have time?
Do you?
Do you think we have time?
Lord, give us time.
envoyé par Alberta Beccaro - Venezia - 19/6/2018 - 19:00
Grazie Alberta Beccaro! Non mi sbagliavo ad amare questo artista e fin dai tempi dei Wham!, quando passavo il mio tempo a disegnare storie ascoltando "Fantastic" e "Make It Big"... Lo sapevo già allora che sarebbe diventato un grande... e un incompreso.
Saluti.
Saluti.
Bernart Bartleby - 19/6/2018 - 22:52
×
![]()
Album: "Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1"
Testo, musica, arrangiamento e produzione di George Michael
Dopo le "prove generali" fatte con Hand to Mouth e Crazyman Dance, due canzoni dense di sensibilità e di attenzione al sociale composte entrambe attorno al 1987 (anche se la seconda venne pubblicata solo nel 1992), George Michael nel 1990 completa il percorso dando alla luce la sola canzone davvero conosciuta - anzi immensamente popolare - di questo pregevole trittico.
Che le tre canzoni tra loro siano legate da un filo rosso emerge anche dal riferimento, nel testo di ognuna di esse, alla scusa principale di chi è solito voltare la testa dall'altra parte: il "non avere tempo".
Praying For Time è un brano dedicato al tema della povertà; dell'egoismo avido di chi ha già molto; della forbice sempre più ampia ed impietosa tra ricchi e poveri (tra i quali, in costante aumento, proprio i "nuovi poveri" che via via andavano perdendo, in particolare nel Regno Unito thatcheriano dell'epoca, la guerra del lavoro e del welfare); degli egoisti e dei consumisti chiusi - nel loro quotidiano - ad ogni forma di solidarietà e che tuttavia, nello stringersi gelosamente al petto i loro possessi materiali, si mettono a posto la coscienza ogni tanto con qualche obolo frettoloso (uno dei versi più noti ed efficaci della canzone, entrato nell'immaginario collettivo, è proprio quello della beneficenza descritta come un cappotto indossato due volte l'anno), magari vantandosene subito e sbandierandolo ai quattro venti (diversamente da quanto - per tutta la vita - fece George Michael: The Guardian).
Musicalmente è una ballad solenne e tradizionale. Letterariamente il testo è talmente denso di immagini vivide, semplici ma di forte impatto (come ad esempio la rielaborazione/rovesciamento della stantia frase fatta "beggars can't be choosers"), da rimanerti impresso per sempre nella memoria, forse ancor di più in certe versioni live squisitamente acustiche.
"Less is more" è d'altra parte stata la cifra espressiva prescelta fin dall'inizio da George Michael per meglio far penetrare il messaggio di Praying For Time, tanto da pretendere che la recalcitrante Sony Music gli avallasse un video ufficiale privo di ogni appeal e di tutto ciò che aveva fatto fino ad allora la fortuna del George poster boy simbolo di MTV: colori, immagini rutilanti, sensualità spinta. C'è solo il testo a scorrere, in una monocromia severa - quasi luttuosa - che costringe a capirlo, seguirlo e assimilarlo, aiutati in questo dal calore della voce piena di empatia con la quale è cantato.
Ma il miglior commento a Praying For Time è, probabilmente, tutto racchiuso in queste sentite parole del suo autore:
[[|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9sCqql8zvU]]