True Colors es un álbum de Level 42, publicado en 1984. El disco incluye 9 canciones, entre ellas «Chant Has Begun», «Kansas City Milkman», «Seven Days» y «Hot Water».
Sobre el álbum
El álbum "True Colors", de 1984, es una obra que continúa la evolución hacia el pop en la discografía de Level 42, pero con un resultado algo más desigual que su predecesor. En este trabajo, la banda sigue buscando el equilibrio perfecto entre su virtuosismo instrumental y las demandas del mercado pop. El disco tiene grandes momentos, pero también una cierta falta de dirección.
La producción del álbum vuelve a ser pulcra y sofisticada, muy en la línea del sonido de los años 80. El disco contiene el que sería uno de sus mayores éxitos y una de sus canciones más emblemáticas: "Hot Water". Este tema, con su inolvidable línea de bajo y su energía contagiosa, es un clásico del jazz-funk que demuestra el increíble poder de la banda.
Sin embargo, el resto del álbum no siempre mantiene ese altísimo nivel. Algunas de las canciones se sienten un poco perdidas entre el funk y un pop más convencional, sin decidirse del todo por un camino. No obstante, la calidad de los músicos es tan alta que incluso los temas menores tienen un interés indudable.
"True Colors" es un álbum de luces y sombras, un trabajo que contiene uno de los mayores himnos de Level 42, pero que también refleja las dudas de una banda en plena encrucijada estilística, justo antes de encontrar la fórmula definitiva que los convertiría en estrellas mundiales.
Listado de Canciones
- Chant Has Begun
- Kansas City Milkman
Letra
Born in this place You only see so far Hear what we say If we put the truth in your hands Would you really like to know Kansas city milkman A row of houses Through the dawn A sleeping city Where I was born I hear laughter In the early light Outside the playground Were I learned to fight Born in this place You only see so far Hear what we say If we put the truth in your hands Would you really like to know Kansas city milkman I read the papers Every word My only access To the outside world Yeah ... survival That's my game Just a common man In that there is no shame ... is there? ... Too much talking Information ... in the hands of the few All the talking Dis-information ... that we take for the truth Born in this place You only see so far Hear what we say The world is a stage And we know just who you are What part do you play? If we put the truth in your hands Would you really like to know Kansas city milkman - Seven Days
Letra
She was so young and so afraid Of a world she could not understand For seven days I held her close Like a child in the palm of my hand There were Seven tears To wipe away Seven fears To keep at bay Seven words For me to say In seven days The strands of wisdom twist and curl Soft flame in the warmth of my heart Oh essential words that lightly fall Like snow thru the mist of her thought The gentle rain of innocence That flows from her ebony eyes Another secret moment shared To be part of the rest of our lives There were Seven dreams To live for real Seven streams Of hope revealed Seven ways Of love to feel In seven days We are the only ones who know Her smile was poetry Her soul she showed it to me The dawning of the seventh day Saw her shine like the radiant skies I knew that she would leave me then Bright hope in her ebony eyes (and now) I watch her dance before the world Soft flame in the movements she makes And all those secret moments shared Stay warm in my thoughts everyday Remembering Seven tears Wiped away Seven fears Kept at bay Seven words You heard me say Seven dreams To live and play Seven streams Of hope revealed Seven waves Of love we feel Seven days Memory of seven days - Hot Water
Letra
Tell me something Why do I always find it hard Just to get along Try my best for nothing Every little thing I do is wrong Feel it in my brain Driving me insane Round and round The same old tune Daddy's on the phone You know you're not alone Turn that down And clean up your room Sons and daughters (Don't fall in) In hot water Sons and daughters (They don't do) What they oughta Tell (tell) you something Music is the key to set me free To the beat (on the street) I'm jumping Forgetting all the things they said 'bout me Here it comes again Chugging like a train Round and round An impeccable groove I know it's getting late But I won't hesitate Can't slow down Got to do what I do Sons and daughters (Always in) In hot water Wasting time Is a crime in their eyes But I'm still young So much time to decide what to do I don't need confirmation For my boyhood extrapolation Though I'm not sure of my direction I have the groove for my protection Here it comes again Chugging like a train Round and round An impeccable groove I know it's getting late But I won't hesitate Can't slow down Got to do what I do Sons and daughters (Don't fall in) In hot water (When they fall by the way) Sons and daughters (They don't do) What they oughta Tell me something Where you staying tonight Your folks Have waited up for you Now they've locked the door And turned off the light - Floating Life
- True Believers
Letra
Stuck inside my harvard box Behind the door the bauhaus locked I'm wrestling with a new ideal I'm working out the way I feel I just came back from Cultureburg Where I tried to learn the painted word People there were so convinced It's kept me thinking ever since Crazy, but true I want to believe like you "come with me", the teacher said "no side-to-side, look straight ahead 'cause if you want true confidence You'd best forget your common sense. Go find yourself a point of view And if you need some help to choose Just dance the dance named after me If you believe then you will see" Crazy, but true Now I believe in you There was a time When we could make head nor tail of the story Now it's sublime And we're not afraid anymore 'cause we're all True believers [solo] So tell me it's true I want to believe in you Crazy, but true I want to believe in you Blind faith makes such strange demands Sometimes a think I'll never understand Answers on a postcard, please I'd like to know what you believe True believers ... Are you A true believer (I wanna believe in you) - My Hero
Letra
My hero ... On Baker Street The limousine stood blacker than the darkest thing In the rain Deep in the back His life was ending Still they would not let him be Where is he? His music ran through the streets of the city Straight to the heart with each song The path he chose was a road to freedom And I kept following on My hero ... I heard the news All my emotions shattered into empty blue Where are you The radio like distant thunder raging black rock symphonies Storm heart tears His music runs through the heart of the city His sound is heard in each song You never found where his road was leading The hope you gave lingers on My hero ... The brightest stars explode into a thousand moons [solo] His music runs through the heart of the city The sound he made is too strong His name remains part of my emotions The memories linger on My hero ... - Kouyate (There Is a Secret Between Us)
- Hours by the Window
Letra
Day and night By the window Of my mind There you are In the courtyard One last time The singing of a famous song I've never heard before A man without a shadow slowly walking past my door My mind projects a face soon to be free of misery The chiming of some distant bell that echoes in my heart A dance upon the flagstones to the music of the stars A mother's name that lingers on a soothing summer's breeze All alone I said no prayers today I couldn't kneel to please the god that failed you Now you're gone I'll sit and spend each day Hours by the window Morning comes To my rescue Once again Whispers in the corridor and footsteps in the hall My only point of reference now the sunlight on the wall It draws me to the window where my dreams are memories A step beyond the line where sunken eyes avert their gaze An endless tract of time reveals a thousand silent ways All searching for an answer to life's deepest mysteries On the ocean of pure time I sail away I go and these four walls will not contain me Maybe there I'll see your face again Hours by the window All alone I said no prayers today I couldn't kneel to please the god that failed you What I'd give to see your face again Hours by the window