Perfect - Lightning Seeds

Dos dies després i la ressaca encara continua, una esclatada d’alegria que continua i continua des de fa temps – i que duri! La veritat és que aquest Barça està superant els somnis més impossibles que havíem tingut.
La cançó d’avui no té res a veure amb futbol, simplement la he triat pel títol – Perfect! Dels Lightning Seeds, del LP Jollification, de l’any 1994.

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Barcelona Football Club, el Barça, are special for many reasons – their rivalry with Real Madrid has always represented the political struggle between Catalonia and Spain. A struggle which continues today. And back in the darkest times of Franco’s dictatorship, the Barça stadium was one of the few places where Catalans were safe to express their feelings. As they say, it is something more than just a football club.

If that were not enough, their philosophy towards football is one of stylish elegant play, always looking to entertain and not just to win at all costs. They have made a huge effort to develop “home-grown” players, bringing young teenagers to Barcelona to live, continue their studies, and train together. The present team, for example, often has 7 or 8 players in the line-up who have come up through the ranks. Not for Barça the “players” more interested in advertising underwear or appearing in sensationalist news stories – as a rule, Barça players learn the club’s philosophy of humility and common sense. (Let’s not get carried away, of course they earn millions and drive fast cars just like any first class footballer, but in general there is a marked difference in attitude). To cap it all, while every other major team has sold their soul, well, shirt, to the highest bidding sponsor, Barça proudly bear the logo of Unicef on their shirts. An honour for which they donate money and time to Unicef, whereas other teams count the money their sponsors pour into their accounts.

Here endeth the lesson! Last year Barça won the Spanish League, Spanish King’s Cup, European Champions’ League, and World Club Championship – that’s to say, everything! In doing so they inflicted a very painful 2-6 home defeat on Real Madrid. Keeping our fingers crossed, they are on course for the League and European Champions’ once more (at least). And to round it all off, they have just beaten Madrid 0-2 at home!

The only song title to define this is Perfect. From the Lightning Seeds’ 1994 album Jollification.

Perfect Day

Els divendres poden ser els dies de les bandes sonores, i avui toca. Avui, la banda sonora d’un spot de publicitat que, curiosament, va fer la BBC per auto-promocionar-se. A l’any 1997 van reunir moltes grans estrelles de la música per gravar una versió de la cançó Perfect Day, originalment de Lou Reed (del LP Transformer de l’any 1972), per animar la gent a donar-los suport, mantenint la seva peculiar forma de finançament.

Els britànics han de pagar una llicència cada any per tenir un televisor a casa, i aquests diners financen el BBC. En teoria, eviten que hagin de posar anuncis i els ajuden a preparar una tele (i radio) de qualitat sense haver de recórrer als reality shows i altres maneres vulgars de aconseguir audiència. Aquest sistema és sovint qüestionada i per això el BBC sempre s’està defensant.

En fi, van poder reunir aquests artistes per a la causa. Una cançó preciosa cantada per uns craks! Desprès, ficarien el single a la venda per recollir fondos per una ONG d’ajut als infants, Children In Need.

Qui ha penjat el video clip també ha posat els noms dels cantants i musics, però si els tapeu és un bon joc, a veure quants podem reconèixer. Algunes veus, no cal ni el video per saber qui són, no?