This past summer I've been listening to Scott Walker almost non-stop, and it's been amazing. Ever since I saw an edited version of 30 Century Man on Alan Yentob's Imagine, I've been listening to the four Scott albums, and as cheesy as it sounds, a whole world has opened - just like someone said it would in the documentary.
Scott Walker writes songs about old spinsters and cigarette smoke and dogs on the street, straining on their leash. His songs are like all the greatest films ever made, the best short stories ever written, made into three-minute-long songs. Maybe it's because he's so grossly overlooked, he feels like a really well-kept secret. Obviously not that well-kept, because all the clever people know about him, but still. I'm getting a bit carried away with the Scott Walker-adoration, but his voice is just unlike any other I've ever heard, and he's one of the few artists, like Serge Gainsbourg and Suede, Edward Hopper and Robert Bechtle, or Wes Anderson, where it feels like a privilege to be a part of their world, and to hear the stories they have to tell.
In the same way that, after seeing Now, Voyager you'll never light another cigarette without thinking of Paul Henreid lighting two cigarettes for him and Bette Davis, after listening to Scott Walker's four Scott-albums, I'm willing to bet you'll pay more attention to little detail, just in general.
I read The Rhymes of Goodbye by Lewis Williams (Amazon) while listening to the records, and although the descriptions of all the songs are pretty lame, and there's not as much detail as The Songs That Saved Your Life, it made me think of why I like the songs I like. So, to sort of hang on to my own ideas about the songs, here's my "guide" to Scott Walker's four Scott albums.
Before we really get going, a short Scott Walker-biography
Scott Walker was born as Noel Scott Engel in 1943, in Hamilton, Ohio. In the late 1950s, he became a bit of a teen idol (there's compilations called things like In the Beginning that feature a bequiffed Scott on the cover) under the name of Scott Engel. In 1964, Scott formed the Walker Brothers with John Maus and Gary Leeds - none of them were actually related, and I don't know where they got the name 'Walker' from.
Anyways, the Walker Brothers moved to England in 1965, and released songs called 'Pretty Girls Everywhere'. They recorded a lot of Bacharach/David-written songs, and they became quite popular. 'Make It Easy On Yourself' and 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore' were among their greatest hits - most of their songs are 'Wall of Sound'-type pop songs, and most of the songs were written by other people. Scott Walker did write some of the Walker Brothers' songs, but they were called things like 'Doin' the Jerk', haha. Hardly the songwriting genius of the future.
The Walker Brothers were hugely popular in England, and had an almost Beatlemania-like following. Scott Walker found pop stardom had to deal with, and in 1967 the band broke up. Scott planned to make solo albums on which he would expose the songwriting of more European songwriters (such as Jacques Brel). After leaving the Walker Brothers, he went to live in a monastery on the Isle of Wight for a while, to study modern and classic music, and also to study Gregorian Chant. On album covers and television appearances, you can see a key hanging from a chain around his neck - apparently it's the key to the monastery. Scott Walker was a bit of a recluse, and he wore the key as a reminder that he could always go back to the monastery. "I live the life of a recluse not out of choice or any mistaken notion that I am creating an image or sympathy for myself, but because this is the way I am." (1967)
"When they throw me out on to a TV set or a stage it's like puttin' a hermit who has lived all his life in isolation suddenly in the middle of Times Square."
SCOTT // September 1967
Mathilde
track one, written by Jacques Brel, translated by Mort Shuman
You can't really tell from the quality of that clip, but Scott's wearing the most exquisite jacket in that video. Hopefully everyone will enjoy that clip because it has the added bonus of Dusty Springfield's beautiful soft-spoken voice, but really, Dusty or not, you should enjoy it because it's an amazing song. Okay, I've gotten into trouble for saying this before, but I'm not a fan of Jacques Brel. He apparently wrote 'Ne Me Quitte Pas' for a girl who was pregnant with his baby. He didn't want the baby to be born, so she left him and then he wrote 'Ne Me Quitte Pas' as if she'd broken his heart with no good reason! Also, he spits a lot when he sings. Anyways, he was a good songwriter none the less, and Scott Walker covered nine of his songs on his first three Scott-albums. Among a lot of people, Scott is mainly known as the singer who did the best English-language Brel covers, but in all honesty, I prefer his own compositions. A lot of his own songs are largely inspired by Brel, but I like Scott's descriptions better - they feel more lively than the Brel translations.
Anyways, 'Mathilde' is one of my favourite of Scott's Brel songs, and the lyrics are really unlike any other song I've ever heard. The singer has discovered that his old lover, Mathilde, is coming back and he's overjoyed at first, before remembering how she broke his heart ("My heart, stop being overjoyed // Remember you were once destroyed // By Mathilde, who's come back to me"). I really like how the lyrics go through such a range of emotion; the singer really struggles with the fact that she's coming back - he's happy, he's scared, he's reluctant to see her again, and he pleads with himself not to fall for her again.
"My hands, you'll start to shake again
When you remember all the pain
Mathilde's come back to me
You'll want to beat her black and blue
But don't do it, I beg of you
Mathilde's come back to me
My hands, remember all the years
Remember when you caught my tears
Mathilde's come back to me
My hands, you'll want to touch her now
But please try and be strong somehow
Mathilde's here, she's coming now, now"
Montague Terrace (In Blue)
track two, written by S. Engel
Scott wrote some of the songs recorded by the Walker Brothers, and 'Motague Terrace (In Blue)' is the first Walker/Engel-composition on his first solo record, and it's also one of his best songs. It was inspired by friends of his who lived in a house, although Montaque Terrace is a fictional address. The song describes their neighbours, the fat man upstairs and the girl across the hall who's apparently a prostitute ("Her thighs are full of tales to tell // Of all the nights she's known") - come to think of it, a lot of Scott's songs are about prostitutes.. must be Brel's influence. The description of the song is amazing, "The little clock's stopped ticking now // We're swallowed in the stomach room" - out of context it sounds really pretentious but when you hear that in a song, you're instantly transported into the most claustrophobic apartment imaginable. Amazing.
"His bloated belching figure stomps
He may crash through the ceiling soon
The window sees trees cry from cold
And claw the moon"
Angelica
track three, written by Cynthia Weil/Barry Mann
The Rhymes of Goodbye simply describes this song as a song about lost love, but I think Angelica may even be dead? You never know, what with the 'Tell Laura I Love Her'-obsession of 1950s/60s-pop songwriters. I don't know. The arrangement of the song is so beautiful, though, with those discrete horns and those lyrics: "I passed the flower shop // Lord knows I meant to stop // But I said tomorrow // Perhaps tomorrow". The last lines are a bit over the top ("Now in my solitude // I tend the flowers that I buy // As they slowly fade and die // Watered by the tears I cry"), but all-in-all it's a really subtle song about how the singer always puts off telling Angelica he loves her until it's too late. It's a tearjerker of a song, but more subtle than most.
"Each night I meant to say
I missed her through the day
But I'd forget it
I never said it
[..]
Tomorrow there'd be time
There'd always be another spring
Time to make her laughter ring
Time to give her everything"
My Death
track six, written by Jacques Brel, translated by Mort Shuman
Possibly one of the least subtle songs about death and dying, this is like one big blanket of doom. But, then again, there are very few honest songs about death and dying, and fantasising about your own death, so it's to be expected, really. This song is unlike any other, and the lyrics are absolutely amazing. I should probably change my mind about Brel because he was obviously pretty genius, but I'm stubborn, argh.
"My death waits like
a bible truth
at the funeral of my youth
weep loud for that
and the passing time
My death waits like
a witch at night
and surely as our love is bright
let's laugh for us
and the passing time
[..]
My death waits in
your arms, your thighs
your cool fingers will close my eyes
let's not talk about
the passing time"
SCOTT 2 // April 1968
Jackie
track one, written by Jacques Brel, translated by Mort Shuman
I don't know quite what it entails to be "a singer with a Spanish bum", maybe it a case of being lost in translation? Another Brel-translation, and I like this purely because the song describes "some old Grandmama who might be decked out like a Christmas tree", and also, Scott pronounces "Jackie" with such flair that it's hard to resist. Probably the oddest Brel lyrics, though, what with the singer becoming "procurer of young girls" and singing about "authentic queers and phony virgins"? Hmm.
"And though pink elephants I'd see
Though I'd be drunk as I could be
Still I would sing my song to me
About the time they called me 'Jackie'"
The Amorous Humphrey Plugg
track four, written by S. Engel
The opening lines are sung with such menace, this is like a little novel. The song's actually sung from different perspectives, which can throw you a bit on first listen. How many songs include lyrics about newly waxed floors, though? I mean, yeah, Scott Walker is a bit of an odd man, of course, but the way he wrote his lyrics is how an author writes a book. They're little stories with incredible detail - in 30 Century Man a French producer (I think) says something like how listening to Scott opens up a whole new world for you and it's true - a world of newly waxed floors and antique cups of tea.
"Oh to die of kisses
Ecstasies and charms
Pavements of poets will write that I died
In nine angel's arms"
Plastic Palace People
track seven, written by S. Engel
A little boy named Billy flying above the rooftops, tied to a balloon by his underwear; a harvest of stars and night clinging to his happy eyes; fields of clay and granite grey; gaping holes to store her fears inside her lover's head; polka dot underwear? This song is epic.
"Over the rooftop sails Billy
A string tied to his underwear
Through cobbled stone streets a child races
And shouts "Billy, come down from there"
"My mother's calling" his voice whimpers
A string clutched in his tiny hand
Not till I've seen the sky's not lit up
In tears, child try and understand
Don't pull the string, Don't bring me down
Don't make me land"
Wait Until Dark
track eight, written by Henry Mancini/Jay Livingston/Ray Evans
I'm including this purely because this song combines Scott's voice with Henry Mancini's sweeping arrangements, and this song is like.. I dunno. I'm trying to think of something else to describe it than butter, but 'yoghurt' just sounds kind of icky.
"A cheerless day may bring us
Little dreams
That seem to miss their mark
But oh my darling
Wait until dark"
SCOTT 3 // April 1969
Rosemary
track three, written by S. Engel
This is my absolute favourite Scott Walker song. I've mentioned it a few times before in my journal, but the lyrics are just indescribable. Bob Dylan wrote really good lyrics, that were very touching at times as well, but 'Rosemary' is like a punch in the face and the gut at the same time. Just the way it starts, Voices from a photograph // Laughed from your wall // Screamed through your dreams". It's the most amazing song. Rosemary is an old spinster who hears the world going on and she can't help but realise that it's literally passing her by while she's sat with her mother and her mother's friends whose "Swollen fingertips // Pour antique cups of tea". This song is such an accomplishment, and this song alone proves that Scott's own compositions even surpass those of Jacques Brel at times.
"Look at the photograph
Dream back last summer
Dream back the lips
Of that traveling salesman, Mr. Jim
He smelled of miracles
With stained glass whispers
You loved his laughter
You tremble beneath him once again
That's what I want
A new shot at life
But my coat's too thin
My feet won't fly
And I watch the wind and I see another dream blowin' by"
Big Louise
track four, written by S. Engel
Only Scott would describe a lonely old woman as a haunted house, and it's lucky that no one else attempts it because very few could get away with it the way Scott does. This is one of the songs mentioned in Suede's 'These Are the Sad Songs', and although I prefer 'Rosemary''s description, "And the neighbours just whisper all day" is filled with such remorse.
"She stands all alone
You can hear her hum softly
From her fire escape in the sky
She fills the bags 'neath her eyes
With the moonbeams
And cries 'cause the world's passed her by
[..]
She's a haunted house
And her windows are broken
And the sad young man's gone away
Her bathrobe's torn
And tears smudge her lipstick
And the neighbors just whisper all day"
Two Ragged Soldiers
track seven, written by S. Engel
This is one of my absolute favourites of Scott's when it comes to the lyrics. Basically, the song's about two alcoholics who are wasting their lives away by drinking and who are evaluating their lives and memories - "They spoke transparent phrases to looking glass women". Are there any decent songs about alcoholism? I can only think of that terrible song by Cumbawamba, and I feel guilty even mentioning it in combination with 'Two Ragged Soldiers'! This song, you only have to listen to it and you're filled with this whole world of disappointment and wasted opportunity. A lot of Scott's lyrics, when taken out of context, sound mightily pretentious but lines like, "like two ragged soldiers // Dragging their heels through their fantasies" - it's like a little painting in your head.
"There were nights on park benches, stale bread for the pigeons
Good mornings to faces who just turned away
And on one road confusion, the other desire
So they took to the road of their fantasies
One would speak of a lake where he used to go swimming
The other had no memories left for his mind
With their arms round each other the two ragged soldiers
Laughed through a war that they couldn't see"
Winter Night
track nine, written by S. Engel
Okay, not one of Scott's best lyrics - with lines like "You're like a winter night // Your thoughts are frozen // You kiss your lovers // In the snow", it's even kind of cheesy, but it's one of his least complicated songs, and his voice sounds so good on this. If you're in for just a simple song with a vocal that could give Frank Sinatra a run for his money, go for this song.
Two Weeks Since You've Gone
track ten, written by S. Engel
This is a pretty straight-forward song about a relationship breaking up, but Wally Stott's arrangement makes it a huge sweeping affair. The reason why I'm including this is the way Scott sings the "for a friend" in the "And I haven't been back since I mistook // Somebody for a friend". I don't know quite what it is that he does - maybe he changes key, or note, or maybe he doesn't do anything at all technical but it just goes straight through you.
"I could read all my sadness
In faces I knew
Down at Kelly's bar last Friday
And I haven't been back since I mistook
Somebody for a friend"
Sons Of
track eleven, written by Jacques Brel and Gérard Jouannest, translated by Mort Shuman
This song has a pretty cheesy sentiment, about how we're all somebody's child, but with lines like "Children we lost in lullabies" it's still worth a listen.
"Sons of the thief, sons of the saint
Who is the child with no complaint
Sons of the great or sons unknown
All were children like your own
The same sweet smiles, the same sad tears
The cries at night, the nightmare fears
Sons of the great or sons unknown
All were children like your own"
SCOTT 4 // November 1969
The Seventh Seal
track one, written by S. Engel
I don't really understand the 1960s trend of making records that sound like the musical equivalent of renaissance fairs, but Tim Buckley did it with a couple of tracks on Goobye &.. Hello, and Scott does it on 'The Seventh Seal'. It's not surprising, really, as the song retells the story of Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal. Even if you didn't realise it was a musical retelling of a film, the song sounds so insanely filmic, with a choir of Medieval monks, thunder cracks and lyrics about playing chess with Death.. "He ran where he might feel God's breath", "Their hands held as one // Solemnly danced toward the dawn", I mean, pwoah.
"Anybody hear of plague in this town
The town I've left behind was burned to the ground
A young girl on a stake her face framed in flames cried
I'm not a witch God knows my name"
Angels of Ashes
track four, written by S. Engel
The Rhymes of Goodbye describes this song as having a message of "hope delivered at the point of despair" and although aren't as narrative as 'Rosemary' or 'Two Ragged Soldiers', in a way the music tells more of a story than the actual lyrics.
"If your blind hands can't grope
through these measureless waters
you'll fall
You've been following patterns
and fleeting sensations
too long"
The Old Man's Back Again (Dedicated to the Neo-Stalinist Regime)
track seven, written by S. Engel
The funkiest song ever written about Stalin, I swear. While Scott Walker's songs do sometimes have a political message, usually they're hidden so well you don't even notice. Of course, this song isn't quite so subtle - it was actually subtitled 'Dedicated to the Neo-Stalinist Regime', and it's about the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 (Prague Spring). The song is more like a Social Realist painting than a Time Magazine article, though - the line "He'd like another name the one he's got's a curse" is a killer.
"I see a soldier, He's standing in the rain
For him there's no old man to walk behind
Devoured by his pain
bewildered by the faces who pass him by"
Scott 4 was a commercial failure, and after Til The Band Comes In (released in 1970) didn't do well either, Scott stopped writing his own songs. He released a few albums which consisted of covers, and most of them haven't been reissued properly on CD. In 1975 he joined John and Gary for a Walker Brothers-reunion, and they released three albums, the last of which was released in 1978.
In 1984 Scott Walker released Climate of Hunter, and in 1995 he released Tilt. In 1999 he wrote the soundtrack to Pola X. These days Scott uses pigs' carcasses as percussion instruments to "accentuate the fascist undertones" in songs about Mussolini's lover, who chose to be hung next to him instead of living without him. I've yet to really concentrate on Tilt and the Drift (released last year), and the pig-related tidbit is a bit off-putting, but if you look at this clip from the documentary 30 Century Man, it's a bit like a modern-day Radiophonic Workshop. Once I've given these albums a real listen, I'll make you a 'Guide to Scott Walker part II' (possibly).
