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Chevaux de Bois

from Rimbaud ( Ark Ensemble ) by Sergio Altamura

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lyrics

Chevaux de bois

Tournez, tournez, bons chevaux de bois,
Tournez cent tours, tournez mille tours,
Tournez souvent et tournez toujours,
Tournez, tournez au son des hautbois.

Le gros soldat, la plus grosse bonne
Sont sur vos dos comme dans leur chambre,
Car en ce jour au bois de la Cambre
Les maîtres sont tous deux en personne.

Tournez, tournez, chevaux de leur cœur,
Tandis qu'autour de tous vos tournois
Clignote l'œil du filou sournois,
Tournez au son du piston vainqueur.

C'est ravissant comme ça vous soûle
D'aller ainsi dans ce cirque bête :
Bien dans le ventre et mal dans la tête,
Du mal en masse et du bien en foule.

Tournez, tournez sans qu'il soit besoin
D'user jamais de nuls éperons
Pour commander à vos galops ronds,
Tournez, tournez, sans espoir de foin

Et dépêchez, chevaux de leur âme :
Déjà voici que la nuit qui tombe
Va réunir pigeon et colombe
Loin de la foire et loin de madame.

Tournez, tournez ! le ciel en velours
D'astres en or se vête lentement.
Voici partir l'amante et l'amant.
Tournez au son joyeux des tambours !



Wooden Horses

Turn, turn, good wooden horses,
Turn a hundred turns, turn a thousand turns,
Turn often and turn always,
Turn, turn to the sound of the oboes.
The red-cheeked child and the white-faced mother,
The boy in black and the girl in pink,
One all intent and the other posing,
Each spending their Sunday pocket-money.

Turn, turn, horses of their hearts,
While all around your turning
The scoundrel winks his furtive eye.
Turn to the sound of the conquering pistons.

It's surprising how drunk it makes you feel
To go around this way in this silly circus,
A void in your tummy and an ache in your head,
Queasy in the thick of it and happy in the crowd.

Turn, wooden horses; there's no need
Ever to use spurs
To urge you to your circular gallops.
Turn, turn, with no hope of any hay.
And hurry, horses of their souls.
Already the supper bell is sounding,
The night is falling and chasing the troop
Of merry drinkers, famished by their thirst.

Turn, turn! The velvet sky
Is slowly cloaked with golden stars.
The church bell tolls a sad knell.
Turn, to the happy sound of drums. Turn.

credits

from Rimbaud ( Ark Ensemble ), track released January 1, 2003
Sergio Altamura : Voice , 6 & 12 Strings Guitar, Loops , Plastic Tube
Alberto Fiori : Piano , Melodica, Voice
Giorgio Vendola : Double Bass , Loops
Pino Basile : Percussions

Lyrics : Arthur Rimbaud, except " Chevaux de Bois " Paul Verlaine
Music : Ark Ensemble

Recorded in Terlizzi , Italy, 2003 by Marcello Zinni

Produced by Sergio Altamura and Alberto Fiori

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Sergio Altamura Bologna, Italy

His first solo guitar album, Blu, was produced in 2004 by the Grammy winner and founder of Windham Hill Records William Ackerman; his solo project, Aria Meccanica (CandyRat Records, 2009) is a conceptual work—a fascinating trip into all the possible sonorities created on the guitar: loops, vocals, percussion, objects, and live electronics are wisely melded into a poetic vision. ... more

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