Tuesday 15 March 2011

The Four Seasons - Silver Star (1976/ No. 3/ 9 weeks/ Warners)


An interesting triptych structure here. The slow middle section is a heartbreaking capitulation to broken dreams and the humdrum;

"They gave me a 9 to 5, honey
Ain't livin' but I'm alive, honey
Sure cut me down to size
They gave me the second prize"

Either side of this comes the release. The lyrics are fantasies of a sublime old Hollywood silver screen life, but the music is disco, even a kind of prehistoric house; flamenco guitars, flourishing and rollicking piano, helium harmonies, moog squelches, bounding exploratory bass...

"Leading ladies in warm embraces,
Ecstasy on their faces"

It could be an interesting drug as much as a daydream. The exalted unreal gets the singer through the crushingly mundane. (The full length minute album version is dificult to find - my copy jumps, and its never been on CD - but is incredible)

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