Gotta change around here
Gotta change around here
Can't go on this way
Things gotta change around here
Say it loud, say it clear
Things gonna change around here
Fingers on the trigger around here
Fingers on the trigger around here
Bullets flying, mothers crying
We gotta change around here
Get it straight, be sure that you hear
Things gonna change around here
What good is freedom
If we haven't learned to be free? (Haven't learned to be free?)
What good is freedom
If we haven't learned to be free? (Haven't learned to be free)
Day after day, year after year
We're gonna change around here
X is the letter, blue is the color
One is the number, now is the time
Can we change around here?
Gotta change around here
Say it loud, say it clear
We gotta change around here
Gotta change around here (Change around here)
Gotta change around here (Change around here)
Lord, Lord (Change around here)
Gotta change around here (Change around here)
Say it loud, say it clear (Mm-mm)
We gotta change around here (Change)
Gotta change around here
Can't go on this way
Things gotta change around here
Say it loud, say it clear
Things gonna change around here
Fingers on the trigger around here
Fingers on the trigger around here
Bullets flying, mothers crying
We gotta change around here
Get it straight, be sure that you hear
Things gonna change around here
What good is freedom
If we haven't learned to be free? (Haven't learned to be free?)
What good is freedom
If we haven't learned to be free? (Haven't learned to be free)
Day after day, year after year
We're gonna change around here
X is the letter, blue is the color
One is the number, now is the time
Can we change around here?
Gotta change around here
Say it loud, say it clear
We gotta change around here
Gotta change around here (Change around here)
Gotta change around here (Change around here)
Lord, Lord (Change around here)
Gotta change around here (Change around here)
Say it loud, say it clear (Mm-mm)
We gotta change around here (Change)
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Parole e musica di Ben Harper
dall'album We Get By con canzoni scritte e prodotte da Ben Harper per Mavis Staples
Nella foto del 1956 di Gordon Parks scelta per la copertina del nuovo album di Mavis Staples, cinque bambine e un bambino di Mobile, Alabama guardano da dietro una rete un parco giochi in cui, essendo afroamericani, non possono entrare. Non riusciamo a vedere le loro espressioni, ma possiamo immaginare i loro sentimenti. Se non si capiscono questa foto e le emozioni e la storia che essa mette in gioco, non si può comprendere l’importanza di Mavis Staples, monumento del gospel-soul e colonna sonora con gli Staples Singers del movimento per i diritti civili.
A Ben Harper è riuscita un’altra piccola magia: scrivere testi che riflettono quel che accade negli Stati Uniti senza evocare fatti contingenti e soprattutto facendoli suonare perfettamente integrati alla vita e alla storia della cantante. Pezzi come “Change” o “Brothers and sisters” esaltano il timbro di Staples e quel suo modo inconfondibile di infondere nelle canzoni pop la forza visionaria della fede e porre domande semplici, ma essenziali su libertà, fratellanza, cambiamento.
A volte i testi sembrano un collage di parole tratte da classici soul, funk, gospel e blues, a partire dal “Say it loud say it clear, things gotta change around here” della canzone che apre il lavoro, ma l’eloquio di Mavis e l’accompagnamento delle coriste C. C. White e Laura Mace rendono quelle stesse parole impressionanti.
dalla recensione di Claudio Todesco su Rockol