Mark Kozelek (Sun Kil Moon) dalai Nick Cave 15 éves fiának haláláról

Akik ott voltak augusztus 3-án a bécsi Sun Kil Moon-koncerten, nemcsak arra csodálkozhattak rá, hogy Mark Kozelek három órán át játszott és a műsorban három duettet is énekelt a közönség soraiból színpadra hívott lányokkal, hanem arra is, hogy milyen gyönyörűen feldolgozta az 1990-es The Weeping Song című Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds-klasszikust. Egy kis utánajárással kideríthető volt, hogy Kozelek akkor már két hete minden fellépésén előadta ezt a korábban sosem játszott feldolgozást, miközben a morózus amerikai énekes beszólásaira az elmúlt egy évben mindig véres szájjal ugró nagy zenei blogok és magazinok erről semmit sem írtak – pedig a dátumok ismeretében nyilvánvaló volt az „Oh father, tell me, are you weeping?” sort is tartalmazó dal rögtön azután került a Sun Kil Moon-koncertrepertorába, hogy Nick Cave 15 éves Arthur fia (aki az alábbi fotón Earl nevű ikertestvére és apja társaságában a jobb szélen látható) július 14-én Brightonban egy szikláról lezuhanva életét vesztette.

A Sun Kil Moon-féle The Weeping Song feldolgozás egy augusztusi koncertfelvételen:

A nagyra tartott ausztrál zenészkolléga előtti tisztelgés és részvétnyilvánítás folyatódott Kozelek most októberben közzétett két stúdiófelvételén is: a tegnap bemutatott Exodus című dal konkrétan Nick Cave fiának haláláról és az elvesztett szeretteink fölötti gyászról szól (Kozelek elhunyt családtagjai és barátai mellett Danielle Steel írónő 19 évesen öngyilkosságot elkövető punkénekes fia is szóba kerül), de a két hete érkezett America’s Most Wanted Mark Kozelek And John Dillinger című számban is szerepel Arthur Cave halála.

Mindkét friss szerzemény a január 21-én megjelenő Jesu/Sun Kil Moon albumról való, melyre a címbeli két projekt vezére – az indusztriál zenék felől jött Justin Broadrick és a Red House Painters vezéreként már a kilencvenes évek alternatív rock színterén elhíresült Mark Kozelek – olyan neves vendégeket is hívott, mint Will Oldham (Bonnie „Prince” Billy), a Modest Mouse-frontember Isaac Brock, a Slowdive gitáros-énekesnője, Rachel Goswell és a Low tagjai, de a Sun Kil Moon-lemezek rendszeres közreműködőjének számító Sonic Youth-dobos Steve Shelley is visszatér, hogy részt vegyen az új lemez február-márciusi turnéján.

a Jesu/Sun Kil Moon album Exodus című dala itt hallható:

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Showed up to Heathrow today
For the 2000th time
Got in my taxi and I learned Nick Cave’s son died
The news hit me like a bus into a hill
Cus’ once at the K-west hotel, I met him and his son, they were standing across the hall
I mentioned to him how we both played at Hultsfred in 1997
I don’t believe in God, but sometimes I hope there’s Heaven
The bad news hurt to hear, and it hurts to repeat, it’s just sad news and I’m sorry to even speak it
I was on my way home from Peru this past March
Virgin airlines, row 23, and I watched ‘20,000 Days on Earth’ and it inspired me
I’m very much me
And Nick Cave is very much ‘He’
But we’re the same that we’re both songwriters and we don’t stop moving – we’re like waves in the sea
I remember seeing ‘Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth’
He spoke of the past and his daughter’s accident and how he joined „The Bereaved Parents Group.”
He knew when he arrived at her bed
That he was not alone
Because the parents of the other children embraced him
And they cried in the hospital
And I remembered when Danielle Steele
Lost her son at only 19 years old to an overdose on heroin
And on his bedroom window
Still remains the sticker he put there of The Misfits
Every time I walk past her home on Washington St. I look up and I glance at it
For all bereaved parents- I send you my love
Parents survive their children
It’s a pain very few know of
My cousin Carissa’s
My friends Chris, Brett, and Dennis
And my ex-girlfriend Katy’s mom and dad
All became apart of the family of bereaved parents
And when my father was young
He lost his older brother Lenny
His mom and dad joined the bereaved parents group
My dad looks down on the ground and gets quiet whenever I mention his name
When my little second cousin Carissa died
My mother called me, it had been so long since I’d heard that certain cry
Not since the day she divorced my father
But they’re friendly now so with that story I’d rather not bother. But I flew out there and we gathered in the living room
We all shared stories of a person of whom different amounts of depth we knew
The coffee table was filled with prescription drugs
Carissa’s puppy laid at my feet and I gave Carissa’s mom a hug
And she sat motionless as if there was no way
She was in a world of her own in that chair
She was the one who gave birth to Carissa and raised her- All we could do for her was be there
It’s been two years and I know that for her some days are better, but the loss of a child has to be the hardest thing to bare
The loss of a child is something no parent is prepared
The loss of a child is simply unfit
For all bereaved parents- I send you my love
And parents outlive their children is the cruelest
For all bereaved parents- I know that I don’t know, but the pain has to be the worst nightmare
For all bereaved parents- I send you my love

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az America’s Most Wanted Mark Kozelek And John Dillinger című szám, mely egy rajongói levél felolvasásával végződik:

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On the road from Perugia to Vasto
Someone read to me the news off their phone
Three killed in Lafayette, Louisiana in a movie theater
Another fucked up day in America
We looked out to the left of the Adriatic Sea
And with us the Sonic Youth’s first record, Bob Marley
And Tenacious D’s „The Pick of Destiny”
Beautiful hotel last night, my room looked over the pool
And I say „Good morning” around 11 AM to Marsha Neil
And I’m sweating nights and from my hotel
I hear cars along the highway and some noise from down below
An Italian wedding, it won’t go away
It’s like a sauna here, we took a cold jacuzzi
And no airports today, these last few drives have been beautiful
Fields of sunflowers along the way
I picked some Roman tomatoes from a farmer’s garden
I ate them in the van and invited a child up on stage
And I sang while I held her little hand
Told her to quit eating sweets, that they were bad for her teeth
Took the gum from her hand, put a piece in my mouth and it was really sweet
I invited some guys up on the stage cause they had ants in their pants
And „This is My First Day and I’m Indian and I Work at a Gas Station”
And they danced and they danced
We played „The Weeping Song” for Nick Cave and his family
The passing of his son has been a daily thing on my mind
Since arriving at Heathrow and my guitarist had told me
Now the cars keep blowing down the highway
And the guys are at the festival, watching James Blake
But I gotta ride back, I would’ve stuck around if I was still 28
But I’m old now and I can’t handle being out that late

That’s an account of my last few days
And oh yeah, I saw a skinny black cat by Siena, I called for it and it dashed away
That’s an account of my last few days
And Marsha took photos of us by the sea and then we laughed and we prayed
That’s an account of my last few days
And I made the promoter put the barricades closer to the stage
That’s an account of my last few days
And I’ve been doing 40 push-ups and 150 sit-ups every single day
That’s an account of my last few days
And we ate cheese pizza late at night, no one had saw it
And we got in the van and drove away

Today we had a nice dinner with our driver Francesco
I said how many cups does he drink a day
And he said „Many many many many cappuccinos”
And a group of fans came into the restaurant and their eyes popped out of their heads
I asked them to join us and we all shook their hands
They all sat down at the same time, they all said „Wow”
And the waiter explained every type of pasta the restaurant had in great detail
One looked like a bowtie, one looked like a wheel
We all had a nice dinner, me, the band, the fans, and Marsha Neil
And we all went out to the sea, a rare day off for the band and me
And I went so far out that I could no longer feel the sand under my feet
And I dove down and I touched the bottom, and I swam back up to the shore
Soaked up the sun and came back to the hotel room, where I ate some lobster
There were a ton of emails, mostly business but there was one that really touched me
That was forwarded to me by Robert, my publicist
From a girl named Tanya, okay I’m gonna read it here in just a minute

„Hi Robert, this is just a thank-you note to Sun Kil Moon after a memorable gig in Manchester. I’m hoping you can pass it on. I’ve never done this before, written a letter to people who I admire before. But having seen you play at the RNC in Manchester last week, I really just want to say thank you. I’ve loved the sound of your voice, Mark, since the mid-90’s. When I first heard ‘Grace Cathedral Park’ at 17, it really hit me. The tone of your voice, the sadness of your lyrics, and it felt real nice. While I suppose I’ve dipped in and out of your music as people tend to do, but the recent years of Sun Kil Moon have pulled me right back in. My car journeys are usually accompanied by one or another of your albums. I’ve always wanted to see you play live, but I’ve always heard too late about the few gigs you’ve played near me, so the Manchester gig was a big deal for me. A type of ‘one day I’ll get to hear’-type thoughts you have you hope will happen. I’ve seen so many of my musical loves in the last 30 years, and you were one of the few outstanding but one of the most important. I also got to share it with my husband, and my baby growing inside of me reacted with lots of kicks and movement, which made it more personal for me. When I close my eyes at the concert and listen, it’s not so much that it took me back, because the music has moved on and is more honest and raw, I suppose. But your voice is undoubtedly the same, no gimmicks, just the tone hasn’t changed over the years. It was beautiful. That is, the harmonies with the band, the atmospheres you all created, and it just felt so special throughout. So I just want to say thank you all. It touched my soul and inspired me, as only good music can do. I’m sure you get lots of these messages and they lose their significance for you over time, and if so that’s fine. Natural, even, I guess as the years have passed. But just in case it lifts your spirits or gives you any form of pride in what you’ve collectively achieved, I wanted you to know. Thank you
-Tanya from Sheffield, England.”

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mutatóba itt van Justin Broadrick, amint 1990-ben húszévesen egy Godflesh-koncerten a zenekar első albumáról való Like Rats című számot énekli. . .

. . . ami aztán Mark Kozelek szólóban kiadott 2013-as akusztikus feldolgozáslemezére is átkerült címadó számként:

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a közös album számsorrendje:

Jesu/Sun Kil Moon (2016)

1. „Good Morning My Love”
2. „Carondelet”
3. „A Song of Shadows”
4. „Last Night I Rocked the Room Like Elvis and Had Them Laughing Like Richard Pryor”
5. „Fragile”
6. „Father’s Day”
7. „Sally”
8. „America’s Most Wanted Mark Kozelek and John Dillinger”
9. „Exodus”
10. „Beautiful You”