The ballad of skeletons

Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997), il più grande poeta della Beat Generation, recita dal vivo alla Royal Albert Hall di Londra la sua Ballad of Skeletons, accompagnato alla chitarra elettrica da Paul Mc Cartney. La bellissima performance ebbe luogo il 16 ottobre 1995, due anni prima della morte.

Said the Presidential Skeleton

“I won't sign the bill”

Said the Speaker skeleton

“Yes you will”

Said the Representative Skeleton

“I object”

Said the Supreme Court skeleton

“Whaddya expect?”

Said the Miltary skeleton

“Buy Star Bombs”

Said the Upperclass Skeleton

“Starve unmarried moms”

Said the Yahoo Skeleton

“Stop dirty art”

Said the Right Wing skeleton

“Forget about yr heart”

Said the Gnostic Skeleton

“The Human Form's divine”

Con Leonard Cohen, 1976



Said the Moral Majority skeleton

“No it's not it's mine”

Said the Buddha Skeleton

“Compassion is wealth”

Said the Corporate skeleton

“It's bad for your health”

Said the Old Christ skeleton

“Care for the poor”

Said the Son of God skeleton

“AIDS needs cure”

Said the homophobe skeleton

“Gay folk suck”

Said the Heritage Policy skeleton

“Blacks're outa luck”

Said the Macho skeleton

“Women in their place”

Said the Fundamentalist skeleton

“Increase human race”

Said the Right-to-Life skeleton

“Foetus has a soul”

Said Pro-Choice skeleton

“Shove it up your hole”

Said the Downsized skeleton

“Robots got my job”

Said the Tough-on-Crime skeleton

“Tear gas the mob”

Said the Governor skeleton

“Cut school lunch”

Said the Mayor skeleton

“Eat the budget crunch”

Said the Neo Conservative skeleton

“Homeless off the street!”

Said the Free Market skeleton

“Use 'em up for meat”

Said the Think-Tank skeleton

“Free Market's the way”

Said the Saving & Loan skeleton

“Make the State pay”

Said the Chrysler skeleton

“Pay for you & me”

Said the Nuke Power skeleton

“& me & me & me”

Said the ecologic skeleton

“Keep skies blue”

Said the multinational skeleton

“What's it worth to you?”

Said the NAFTA skeleton

“Get rich, free Trade”,

Said the Maquiladora skeleton

“Sweat shops, low paid”

Said the rich GATT skeleton,

"One World, Hi-Tech"

Said the underclass skeleton,

"Get it in the neck"

Said the World Bank Skeleton,

"Cut down your trees"

Said The IMF skeleton,

"Buy American cheese"

Said the Under-Developed Skeleton,

"We want rice"

Said the developed nation skeleton,

"Sell your bones for dice"

Said the Ayatola skeleton,

"Die writer, die"

Said the Joe Stalin skeleton,

"That's no lie"

Said the middle-kingdom skelton,

"We swallowed tibet"

Said the Dalai lama skeleton,

"Indigestion's what you get!"

Said the World Corp. skeleton,

"That's their fate"

Said the USA skeleton,

"Gonna save Kuwait"

Said the petro-chemicals skeleton,

"Roar bombers, roar!"

Said the psychedelic skeleton,

"Smoke a dinosaur"

Said the Nancy skeleton,

"Just say no!"

Said the rasta skeleton,

"Blow Nancy blow!"

Said the demogog skeleton,

"Don't smoke pot"

Said the alcoholic skeleton,

"Let your liver rot"



Con Joe Strummer dei Clash, 1981



Said the junky skeleton,

"Can't we get a fix?"

Said the Big Brother skeleton,

"Jail the dirty pricks!"

Said the Mirror skeleton,

"Hey good looking"

Said the electric chair skeleton,

"Hey, what's cooking?"

Said the talkshow skeleton,

"Fuck you in the face"

Said the family-value skeleton,

"My family-value makes"

Said the New York Times skeleton,

"That's not fit to print"

said the CIA skeleton,

"Can't you take a hint?"

Said the Network skeleton,

"Believe my lies"

Said the Advertising skeleton,

"Don't get wise"

Said the media skeleton,

"Believe you me"

Said the couch potato skeleton,

"What me worry?"

Said the TV skeleton,

"Eat sound bytes"

Said the newscast skeleton,

"That's all, goodnight!"

I legami di Ginsberg con la musica e i musicisti furono intensi. Egli registrò una mezza dozzina di album, tra i quali la musica che aveva composto per accompagnare le Songs of Innocence e le Songs of Experience di William Blake e due dischi conosciuti come First Blues. Con Philip Glass musicò alcune parti di Urlo, il suo poema più noto. Nel corso degli anni, Ginsberg è comparso sul palcoscenico con diversi musicisti o band, tra i quali Bob Dylan, The Fugs, i Clash e Patti Smith. Della Ballata degli Scheletri incise anche una versione con un eterogeneo insieme di musicisti che comprendeva Philip Glass, i chitarristi Lenny Kaye, noto per il sodalizio artistico con Patti Smith, e Marc Ribot, oltre a Paul Mc Cartney. Dalla canzone fu tratto nel 1996 anche un video, allo stesso tempo umoristico e commovente, diretto dall’allora esordiente regista Gus Van Saint.