[1978]
Album "Excitable Boy" (quello dove c'è anche la celeberrima "Werewolves of London"...)
Song composed by Warren Zevon and David Lindell


Zevon met co-writer Lindell in Spain, where the latter was running a bar after a stint working as a mercenary in Africa. Typically interested in the darker side of life, Zevon decided to collaborate with Lindell on a song about a mercenary.

Roland is a Norwegian who becomes embroiled in the Congo Crisis of the late 1960s. He earns a reputation as the greatest Thompson gunner, a reputation that attracts the attention of the CIA in foreign conflicts. Roland is betrayed and murdered by a fellow mercenary, Van Owen, who blows off his head. Roland becomes the phantom "headless Thompson gunner" (reminiscent of the Headless Horseman) and eventually has his revenge on Van Owen, when he catches him "in a bar room drinking gin." After this Roland continues... (continua)

[1985]
Album "Songs from the Big Chair"
Scritta da Roland Orzabal e Ian Stanley, membro della formazione originaria dei Tears For Fears

"A lot of people think that 'Shout' is just another song about primal scream theory, continuing the themes of the first album. It is actually more concerned with political protest. It came out in 1984 when a lot of people were still worried about the aftermath of The Cold War and it was basically an encouragement to protest." (Roland Orzabal)

"It concerns protest inasmuch as it encourages people not to do things without actually questioning them. People act without thinking because that's just the way things go in society. So it's a general song, about the way the public accepts any old grief which is thrown at them." (Curt Smith)

[1989]
Album "The Seeds of Love"
Scritta da Roland Orzabal e cantata dai Tears For Fears insieme ad Oleta Adams e con Phil Collins alla batteria.

[1953]
Registrata per la prima volta in "Chorus from the Gallows" (1960)

Also known as "Go Down, Ye Murderers", this song is about a well-known instance of a miscarriage of justice, in which 26-year-old Timothy John Evans was hanged in the UK in 1950 for the murder of his infant daughter. In fact, both his wife and daughter, and a number of other women, were strangled by Evans' neighbour, John Christie. This case was a major catalyst for the eventual abolition of capital punishment in Britain.
(fonte: Raymond's Folk Song Page)

[Scottish traditional, 19th century]
[Tradizionale scozzese, XIX secolo]

Si tratta di una canzone tradizionale su un soldato scozzese che morì nelle guerre Napoleoniche in Spagna (la Peninsular War). La canzone narra un fatto realmente accaduto: Jamie Foyers era nato a Campsie, nello Stirlingshire, e che trovò la morte durante l'assalto al forte San Miguel, a Burgos, nel 1812. Usando la melodia originale, Ewan McColl riscrisse la canzone come tributo ai giovani di tutto il mondo che erano andati a morire nelle Brigate Internazionali per combattere contro il fascismo nella Guerra Civile Spagnola del '36-'39.

This song about a Scottish soldier who died in the Napoleonic Wars in Spain is based on a real Jamie Foyers who was born in Campsie in Stirlingshire. He was killed at the siege of Burgos in 1812. - Rampant Scotland

The original song of Jamie Foyers was written about a soldier who... (continua)

A Cancelli
 
Canzone léviane – A Cancelli – Marco Valdo M.I. – 2009
Cycle du Cahier ligné – 52

A Cancelli est la cinquante-deuxième chanson du Cycle du Cahier ligné, constitué d'éléments tirés du Quaderno a Cancelli de Carlo Levi.

La condition de prisonnier – guerrier – blessé – malade est très difficile. On le devine bien. Et les prisonniers sont encore plus nombreux en temps et lieux de guerre ouverte, dit Marco Valdo M.I., un peu pensif.

Que veux-tu dire avec guerre ouverte ?, demande l'âne Lucien en ouvrant des yeux comme des cratères de volcans.

Je dis guerre ouverte par rapport à la Guerre de Cent Mille Ans, tu sais bien, celle que les riches mènent contre les pauvres afin de protéger, de maintenir et d'accroître leurs privilèges qui sont le résultat de l'exploitation des humains. Comme tu le sais, si tu m'as écouté, la guerre se déroule sous des formes diverses. Le camp... (continua)