RENEGADE "The lives and tales of Mark E. Smith" MARK E. SMITH with Austin Collings

 

¿Por qué nos gusta la gente que nos gusta? ¿Por qué cuando tenía 16 años y vi por casualidad el siguiente videoclip caí tan fascinada?

Después de pasar 22 años ecuchando a The Fall y admirando a Mark Smith, realmente descubro que lo más interesante es tal vez lo que hay detrás de ese balbuceo ruidoso y sarcástico: una sorprendente, irrepetible y carismática personalidad:

Con su necesaria conspiranoia:

"I feel deeply sorry for a lot of kids nowadays. They´re missing out on things. I walk the streets at 11.15 at night when you can´t get a cab, through the so-called rough areas like Cheetham Hill, and it´s so quiet. But you couldn´t do that when I was kid because there were so many gangs around, more than there are today. But there´s something sad about this false idea of kids being outside - if they´re out they´re going to hit you or mug you. It´s a consolidated effort by the government. That computer trick´s the best one - every house should have a computer for the kids! It´s ridiculous, it´s like brain damage. When I was younger it was everybody should have a book to read- 'Harold should have a book to read every day.' And lads would be at home just staring at this thing, this book; and they´re not reading it at all, probably having a wank instead, which saved the goverment work, and the police, because they´re inside- much like today with 'Every home should have a computer'"

Y eso que no es un intelectual, al menos no uno de los habituales:

"Whatever you say about Hammer Horror films, at least everybody used to have a good laugh. I used to wath them and go 'Aaarrgghh' when Dracula appeared. If you did that now you´d be booted out, people take it son seriously. When characters used to get shot, we´d shout out, 'That´s a lot of tomato ketchup, that!' and the audience would laugh. Nowadays people think it´s art."

Con una visión sobre la música que indudablemente comparto:

 "When you´re mired in the shit of the times with bland bastards like Elvis Costello and Spandau Ballet, you start to question not only people´s tastes but their existences. You´re not going anywhere with all that shit. I wanted an album to be like reading a really good book. You have a couple of beers, sit down and immerse yourself. None of those fuckers did that. I don´t even think they attempted it. I´d rather listen to the Polish builders clanking away next door than any of that crap"

He de reconocer que además me conmueve que el líder de mi grupo favorito pueda apreciar lo único que yo puedo hacer con un instrumento:

"Ask a fellow to play a bass riff over and over again, they get bored and start embellishing it because they think it should have another twelve notes in it. Women can do it and make it exciting"

Que verbaliza perfectamente lo que debería de ser la única motivación de una banda de rock:

"I´ve always wanted The Fall to be the group that represents people who are sick of being dicked around; those that have a bit of fight in them"

Alguien que sabe desdramatizar con humor, además de ser alguien posiblemente apoyado por fuerzas superiores:

"The best thing about it was I got arrested the same day as George Michael. Because on MTV at 6 a.m. the headlines are 'British indie-rock guy ape-shit in New York hotel' kind of thing. But two hours later George Michael got arrested. So that was the main news. I was a footnote at that point. Thank God."

Aún así, he de reconocer que no sé hasta que punto me gustaría que nuestras vidas coincidieran, salvo para una cosa: que me echara las cartas. Sí, en este libro también he descubierto que Mark Smit es un quiromante, por eso ya solo deseo que algún día me pueda echar las cartas, no me importaría nada pagarle las 45 libras que dice que cobra.







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