A Nice Guy

Vladimir

Luigi

Giuseppe

The vast OK was just ten years older than me
a dusty land of dreams and hopes
I used to live my life indeed
I was born in mighty a.d. 1912
I was an eight pound baby boy
soon to be an antifascist man

Thank god I had the chance to call me free
I used to live my life outdoor
I used to live my life indeed
I wanna see if you know what it means

I never lost a chance to fight for my conceit
I had the Union in my head
and made a Union with other men
A proud member of the gang of Boom Town Kids
I used to put all others first
I used to live my life indeed

Thank god I had the chance to call me free
I used to live my life outdoor
I used to live my life indeed
I wanna see if you know what it means

Do you wanna realize what it means?
I'm gonna trace down a line
and make you all aware about what it means

I wanna see if you know what it means

The Gang Of Boom Town Kids

I promised not to cry
when the old stove filled with kerosene
blew up in one huge fire
and torched my sister's fragile skin 

I promised Clara not to cry 
and I knew she was about to die. 
An honest, good advice 
while everybody there was feeling blue
I flaunted my best smile
“They don't know. You're gonna be alright”

I just sat there on her side
and felt something going away from me
She was happy, true to form 
if you knew her you'd not find it weird
 
I promised Clara not to cry 
and I knew she was about to die
An honest, good advice 
while everybody there was feeling blue
I think she was aware
but she cheered us all up anyway
“None of this will change
I'll be up soon, playing some more again”
I flaunted my best smile
“They don't know. You're gonna be alright”

Clara

"See You When Fascism Is Whipped" è il secondo album di Girless, a due anni di distanza dall'esordio "I Have A Call". Il titolo è il saluto finale di una cartolina inviata da Woody Guthrie al padre mentre era arruolato nella marina statunitense durante la seconda guerra mondiale.
E proprio di Woody Guthrie, vero padre del folk americano, trattano i testi del disco. Personaggio enorme e unico nella sua epoca: americano, patriottico, cattolico, socialista, quasi marxista, tacciato di comunismo, sicuramente antifascista fino alla sua morte. Un uomo che amava il luogo in cui era nato (Okemah, OK) ma che allo stesso tempo nutriva un innato bisogno di muoversi, di viaggiare, per vedere e assaporare gli Stati Uniti nella sua interezza. Un autentico okie (termine usato per definire i migranti che dagli stati centrali si dirigevano in massa verso gli stati dell'ovest, magistralmente narrati in Furore da John Steinbeck) che cantava per gli ultimi e solo tra di loro si sentiva veramente a casa. Gli emarginati, i migranti di allora, di poco diversi dai migranti di oggi. Intere famiglie che abbandonavano la propria terra per cercare fortuna verso altri lidi, con la speranza di un lavoro e di un futuro. Lavoratori sfruttati per pochi dollari e costretti a vivere in vere e proprie baraccopoli, mantenendo peró sempre uno spirito di mutua fratellanza. Le Union, i primi sindacati, non si chiamavano cosí per caso e Woody credeva davvero che una unione di tutti i lavoratori proletari avrebbe potuto combattere i mostri rappresentati dal possesso e dalla ricchezza.
Censurato, perseguitato dal maccartismo, rivalutato solo in seguito, come ogni rivoluzionario.
Ma la vita di Woody è stata scandita anche da tragedie familiari, a partire dalla malattia della madre fino ad arrivare alle morti della sorella e di una figlia, entrambe per incendi casalinghi. Per concludersi poi con la malattia, ereditata dalla madre, che lo portó a una morte prematura.
Una vita impossibile da riassumere in una dozzina di libri, figuriamoci in un disco.
Girless ci ha umilmente provato.

Il disco è stato registrato e mixato da Steve Scanu. Masterizzato da Michele Zamboni.
Prodotto da Steve Scanu e Girless.
Testi e musiche di Girless. Che ha cantato e suonato tutte le canzoni.
Grafica e layout di Filippo Rieder.

Rilasciato da To Lose La Track e Malestro.
Ufficio stampa: Orazio @ Doppio Clic Promotions.
Booking: Mazza @ NoReason Booking

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www.toloselatrack.org
www.facebook.com/malestrodesign
www.facebook.com/Doppioclicpromotions
www.facebook.com/NoReasonBooking

Testo:

The clouds are black and blurred
birds are flying all the way around in a row
drawing bodies above our heads like Michelangelo
This engine smoke is black too
and it's pushed down on ourselves
It's a blanket for all kind of men
who are riding through the storm
against the wind

Shaking up the rules
of the journey to the west
I don't know if this is appropriate
And even if I'd care
I don't have to buy my own feet
I don't need to test my faith
If the road is paved with greed and gold
I'll take the other way
and I'll just stay there

There‘s dust in the streets
I see, there are fellas who are wandering like me
I mean, they‘re keen on a job and a meal
my point being, the weather seems thundery
and this freight train has a roof and some walls
even though there‘s no place for backdoors

And if this train of hope                          
looks quite empty to your stare
well you should look at every corner 'cause 
the poor is always there
And the rich is always richer
so I call us to unite
If the sign says “Private property“
I'll read the other side
and I'll just stay here

I'll sing for you tonight
I will sing for you my friend
'cause you're the backbone of my tiny corpse
You're the reason I'm aware
and I'm still here

At the end I saw my people
they were hungry, they were proud
So I just played a little harder
and sang my words out loud

Backdoors

I wish I knew	how to win a fight
in the same way that you did
everytime, in every street
always loyal to god
You can‘t be fixed for the troubles in your life 
from the great depression slump
to the illnes of ma‘

But there was a solid strength
in the burns that you had
among several other things
that I‘d wish to bear
With the mournings that we shared
and one moment you loved

You had the best fists in town

But you gotta have faith 
to survive a friendly fire
even if it's in your house
and eventually forces you 
to section your wife
We can't be safe even if we move along
I must leave this place in texas
to eschew my ghosts

And it seems like a wound
pouring salt on itself
among several other things
that you'd wish to bear
From the mournings that we shared
to one moment you loved

You had the best fists in town

We could go back to Okemah
in that house that looked so bad
not as bad as my uncle‘s car
And maybe I could sleep at night
and stop counting all the pains of our lives

Safe to say they belonged
to the best man in town

Best Fists

My bad shakes have started to scream loud
and I'm thinking my words don't make a sound
Why are you so selfish?
Do you think a divorce would heal all your problems?

I have tattered shirt and pants
and I haven't shaved in quite a long time
But is that a reason for leaving?
Or the fact I beat you makes everything easier?

Think about the words I tend to say when I am drunk 
Think about how much I‘m prone to knock back a few 
Think about it and you‘ll agree with me this works just fine now

I'm so proud you had accomplishment
with your dancing school thing
But it is taking you away from the family
so I'll take myself away right to Bellevue

Then I could move from this hospital to California
Finding myself a new wife and
waiting for the blacklist movement to go away

Think about the words I tend to say when I am drunk 
Think about how much I‘m prone to knock back a few 
Think about it and you‘ll agree with me this works just fine now

and I'm definitely doing ok now 

Sorry Marge
I know we are longtime friends
but I need to step back and make a mend
I'm sick, being that an euphemism
of spending my time in this pile of bullshit

Bellevue Hospital

You and I laid down on the dry grass of that field                          
I bet it was the time I realized
that we were not in paradise
when you were giving that empty stare
to our everything
So I grabbed my sorrow
and left you there cause it was better off this way

When I see you
I'm a little less pleased than you, ma'

We could run away from the journey to the craze
on the tracks of joy and innocence
until our lot makes any sense
There's you
and me
rambling through insanity
I guess there's god to meet in another place
'cause he's not right here to save and treasure you

I'm a little less pleased than you, ma'

And she had her eyes on the house

Her Eyes On The House

This one's for the entirely gathered family
This one's to let you know about the latest news:
Our Cathy Ann just died the 10th of February
from a fire caused by a faulty old radio fuse

She sang and danced and called all of her friends' names
until eleven thirty when she passed away
We gave away her clothes and toys to needy families
but we're keeping her letters and drawings close to our hearts

Did I hurt you?
Did I move you?
Did I annoy you?

We had cremation with no wheeping funerals
because we didn't want our relatives and friends
to spend their precious time and big amounts of money 
crying for something that happened and could not be undone 

And so we scattered her precious ashes
down along the sea beach that she loved so much
She loved to meet the biggest crowds and mobs of people
so we thought it would be the right place to free her up

Did I hurt you?
Did I move you?
Did I annoy you?

To me she was a song still to write
To me she was a sketch still to draw
To me she was the vase I could fill
and all that's left is just something I cannot

So at the end we have another headline:
we're going to have a baby sometimes 'round July
The doctors say that Marjorie is okie dokie
so don't worry too much about us. We'll be alright.

Cathy Ann

Sometimes I could swing like a lumberjack 
sometimes I could squirm like a cat in a sack 
Sometimes you could think I‘m a total wreck 
but I‘m just my mother‘s son with a glimpse of wrath

Now let my eyes be my words
let them blink unfazed 
let my eyelids be my pen
let me write you a gaze 
and don‘t forget I made pledge not to cry nor weep 
so if you see a teardrop it‘s just some ink that dripped 
 
I‘ll draw you sketches on skin with my own bare hands 
and if my arms are too tired I will use my own legs 
and if my legs are worn out I will use my voice 
and if my voice won‘t come out you‘ll still hear the noise 

You gave my heart a bed 
You gave my path another step 
You gave my heart a bed 
There‘s no need to look back 

Now tie some wires to my toes and my fingertips
and make me able to walk again toward our kids
Move my arms so I can hold them close to me
until the cigarette I smoke will be too short to lit

A Bed

Dopo i dischi, i tour, i chilometri percorsi con i Girless & The Orphan, Tommaso (Girless), direttamente dalla costa romagnola di Viserba (RN), è rimasto da solo.

L'ultimo suo disco, "Los De Afuera Son De Palo", è uscito il 27 ottobre 2023 per To Lose La Track.

Girless (& The Orphan)

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