Bridges

 Pål Waaktaar 

Guitarra & Voz

 

Magne Furuholmen 
Sintetizadores

 

Oystein Jevanord 

Bateria e Percussão

 

Viggo Bondi

Baixo

 

 Esta era a banda que muitos consideram como o “embrião” do a-ha. Motivos para essas considerações realmente não faltam, pois faziam parte dela Pål e Mags e foi esta a ultima banda deles antes do surgimento do a-ha.

Segundo os membros do grupo, eles tinham como inspiração o grupo “The Doors”. Ouvindo as músicas dos Bridges percebemos essa influência, mas vale ressaltar que o grupo não foi apenas uma espécie de “Doors cover”, pois o grupo possuía características próprias.

As músicas dos Bridges possuem uma atmosfera totalmente diferente das músicas do a-ha. O disco Fakkeltog (que em inglês significa “Procissão a luz de tochas”) foi o primeiro disco lançado de forma independente na Noruega. O disco contém 15 músicas, sendo duas delas (The Oncoming of Day e The Oncoming of Night) instrumentais.

FAKKELTOG

1 – The Oncoming Of Day (2:07)   

2 – Somebody’s Going Away (3:01)   

3 – May The Last Dance be Mine (2:33)

4 – Divided we Fall (2:14)

5 – Vagrants (1:56)

6 – The Stranger’s Town (9:58)

7 – Pavilion of the Luxuriant Trees (2:35)

8 – The Oncoming of Night (0:47)

9 – The Vacant (3:30)

10-Guest on Earth (3:23)

11-Death of the Century (2:59)

12-The Melancolic Chevaliers (3:00)

13-Scared, Bewildered, Wild (1:38)

14-Every Mortal Night (3:22)

15-September (5:19) 

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As músicas que mais se destacam (na minha opinião) são “The Stranger’s Town“, “Divided we Fall” e “May the Last Dance be Mine“.

Trechos das letras de “Every Mortal Night“  e  “May the Last Dance be Mine”  desse álbum foram reaproveitadas pelo a-ha, e no disco “Stay on These Roads” se transformaram em “This alone is Love“.

A banda fazia shows em clubes e bares noruegueses. Numa dessas apresentações em Asker, o vocalista do SOLDIER BLUE (grupo norueguês que tocava Blues e Soul) estava na platéia e gostou do som dos Bridges. Seu nome, Morten Harket. Após o termino do show, Morten conhece por intermédio de Viggo, Pål e Mags.

Após algum tempo, o grupo preparava o sucessor de Fakkeltog. O novo disco teria o nome de “Poem”, porém a banda começou a entrar em conflito e o projeto não chegou a ser concluído.  O grupo chegou ao fim porque ocorreu um racha na banda, pois Pål e Mags tinham maiores ambições, desejavam desbravar novos horizontes e queriam ir para a Inglaterra, enquanto Viggo e Oystein não queriam sair da Noruega.

Com isso o grupo encerrou as atividades, deixando para a posteridade uma relíquia de grande valor para os fãs do a-ha.

Apesar do fim do grupo, eles mantiveram a amizade. Viggo por exemplo, foi o padrinho de casamento do Mags, enquanto Oystein Jevanord foi o baterista da música “Cry Wolf” do disco Scoundrel Days e contribui também nas gravações do disco Stay on these roads.

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A história dos Bridges – The story of Bridges

Vale a pena visitar essa página e ficar por dentro de uma extensa reportagem sobre a história da banda

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ENTREVISTA:

Na sua primeira passagem pelo Brasil (1989), Pål falou sobre os Bridges numa entrevista para a revista Bizz:

Como foi a experiência com os Bridges?

Pål – Nós lançamos o primeiro álbum iindependente da Noruega. Era um projeto ambicioso, trinta canções para um disco… foi loucura, mas tínhamos tanto material! E ainda fizemos um segundo LP, que nunca foi lançado, porque decidimos ir para a Inglaterra. O primeiro foi levado pessoalmente às lojas, deve ter vendido uma ou duas cópias.

Como era a música dos Bridges?

Pål – Era inspirada nos Doors, mas tiinha a nossa visão pessoal.

E por que não funcionou?

Pål – Nossa intenção sempre foi ir paara a Inglaterra, mas os outros dois membros da banda não queriam ir. Então fomos só eu e o Mags.

Vocês não pensaram em tentar se firmar na primeiro na Noruega?

Pål – Não. Seria mais divertido viajar por aí, e mais pessoas teriam a chance de nos conhecer.

(Morten intervem) – No princípio, nossos ídolos eram as grandes bandas como os Beatles, os Doors e queríamos fazer o mesmo! Mas você não pode fazer isso na Noruega. Há quatro milhões de pessoas vivendo lá. É um quarto da população de São Paulo…

Pål – retorna – Lá existem muitas bandas punk, de blues, pop. Existe muita diversificação, mas o mercado é muito pequeno.

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FAKKELTOG

Letras/Lyrics

SOMEBODY’S GOING AWAY

(Pål Waaktaar)

 

I don’t function in daylight

I don’t sleep at night 

Eat the wrong food

Something strange in this white 

Winter is killing me, summer’s a pain

I dread for the winter, the year is insane 

Somebody’s going away

Alright

I grew up in the Sixties

The Seventies I betrayed

But the Eighties are mine

You can’t take them away from me

You can’t take them away 

Winter is killing me

Summer’s a pain

Waiting for next year

Life is insane

But somebody’s going away

Away

Somebody’s going away

Somebody’s going away

(Is there some devil here?)

 

MAY THE LAST DANCE BE MINE
(Pål Waaktaar)

May the last dance be mine
Across the love I shall find
Won’t escape my mind

It will make my last breath pass out at dawn

So please I beg you

May the last dance be mine

Would you be so kind

Let me feel her, just one time

Let it be mine

It will make my last breath pass out at dawn

It will make my body dissolve  out in the blue

Good for you,

So please I beg you

Yeah, you have left me all my life

I hardly know

This is execution of lonely days

This is not of love

This is not of love

She cries

*Obs: Em azul o texto reutilizado pelo a-ha em “This Alone Is Love”.

DIVIDED WE FALL
(Pål Waaktaar)

Let’s not cry, let’s not crawl
Together we stand strongest
Divided we fall

Divided we fall (4x)

Take the time to touch your soul
We’re in the rear, come on let’s roll
Divided we fall

Divided we fall
Divided we fall
Divided we fall …

VAGRANTS
(Pål Waaktaar)

A universe, a vagrant’s dream
You’re a Chinese garden
You’re a world unseen
Oh, no
Where am I among these weird days
What a waste of time
Blue triangle
The vagrants scream
I’ve slept fewer nights
But I know my dreams
She loves the rainbow
And I need nobody else but you
Oh no
I need nobody else but you
So march with the vagrants
Nothing’s real.

THE STRANGER’S TOWN
(Pål Waaktaar)

Do you fear loneliness?
Do you fear loneliness?
Time consisting emptiness
Days away from all the rest
I myself find that’s the best
You don’t quit your job
You don’t lose your mind like I do
Like I do, Like I do
Those clouds are upside down
This is the stranger’s town
Do you feel loneliness?
Have no fear for the newcomer guests
Time consisting emptiness
Days away from all the rest
I myself find that’s the best
You don’t quit your job
You don’t lose your mind like I do
Like I do, Like I do
Those clouds are upside down
This is the stranger’s town
Yeah, stranger’s town
Although strange
This is my town
Stranger’s town
Silence is our hound-dog
The streets are the woods
In which we will follow the traces of our minds
Silence is our Shepard
Dividing in the race
Search for the traces of the universe
And from East to the West
With the whirlwinds
Thousands and  thousands
Trying to come in
Come out of the outlawry
Come gregariously
Doomed to live
Live to try
Try to die
Stop the ships, cars and trains
Starve silently a cool summer night
To honour brain
Close the world of pain
Every guest of the town
Carried a torch for the ageing city
The vagrants kept the song slow and simple
No procession had ever been stronger
Aiming for the world unseen
(Aiming for the world unseen)
Something happened
And the night never came
Oh let’s stop to work
Break the monster’s chain
Rearrange
Change…
Change… Change… Change… Change… Change… Change… Change… Change… Change… Change…
Change… Change… Change… Change… Change… Change… Change… Change… Change… Change…
Change… Change… Change… Change… Change… Change…

Burn this town! (Burn this town!)
Do you fear loneliness?, Do you fear loneliness?
Time consisting emptiness
Days away from all the rest
East to the West
That’s the kind I find the best
You are the one I want
You don’t lose your mind
Those clouds are upside down
This is the stranger’s town
Oh strange fears are waiting for us
Death of the century

PAVILION OF THE LUXURIANT TREES
(Pål Waaktaar)

Chinese garden world
View from a pavilion of art
Mountains and rivers
In miniature
A trap for the heart
Friends apart
Will I be there
In your mists of despair?
I say yes
Here where we sit
We can see quite a bit of ourselves
The luxuriant trees will blossom
In the breeze.
Joy?!

THE VACANT
(Pål Waaktaar)

Tired myself
Tired shoes
Made too many fitness
Broken too many news
I’m the fox
You can’t catch me with your dogs
I run too fast
Move too quick
Why do I?
I know all your tricks
Like a fox
I can’t make no friends
Can’t have no chains
Can’t show much love to you
So don’t  you look at me
Maybe you’ll catch me with your eyes
Oh maybe you’ll catch me with your eyes
So don’t you laugh at me
Maybe I’ll catch you with my mind
With my mind
With my mind
I’m the fox
You can’t catch me with your dogs

GUEST ON EARTH
(Pål Waaktaar)

Guest on earth
What’s in the night
Guest on earth
What’s in the night
Moon birth shadows
Man in the shade
A lonesome brigade
What’s in the night
Life’s outside
The rats are there
The cats fear
Awake or hide
There’s still night enough for the
Enfant de la Ruine
City of pain
Scream of the dream
Trembling dissolving
Where am I been
Guest on earth
Sentences myriading
Climbing fences
Rhyming the ugliest words
Life’s outside
The rats are there
The cats fear
Awake or hide
There’s still night enough for the
Enfant de la Ruine
City of pain
Scream of the dream
Trembling dissolving
Where am I been
Guest on earth
Sentences myriading
Climbing fences
Rhyming the ugliest words
Words… , Words…
Yeah
Guest on earth
Too early to cry
Too late to wait
What’s in the night
What’s in the night… What’s in the night… What’s in the night…
What’s in the night

DEATH OF THE CENTURY
(Pål Waaktaar)
Oh strange fears are waiting for us
Death of the century
The old die smiling
The younger die old
Death of the century
Some die unborn
Death of souls
Time stands still
And my eyes find rest
In your blue crystals
Dream is best (4x)
Oh strange fears are waiting for us
Death of the century
Some die unborn
Death of souls
I will be trying through the strangest low
I cried too
But that’s long ago…
Human monster, Human friend
Great creators of a faultless end
Oh strange fears are waiting for us
Death of the century

THE MELANCHOLIC CHEVALIERS
(Pål Waaktaar)

There was a different frame
The melancholic chevaliers
There was a different frame
The melancholic chevaliers
Been riding for so long
Our knights are strong
You’ve got to choose whether you want us running loose
In your world
And in your streets
And in your life
And in your radio
And in the telephone.
You’ve got to choose if you want us loose
I love this four-legged creature
As I fear today
Only it can take me fast enough
Further
And away
There was a different frame
The melancholic chevaliers

SCARED, BEWILDERED, WILD
(Pål Waaktaar)

Scared, bewildered, wild
Stronger of the untouched child
Take the time to break the chains you find
Scared, bewildered, wild
My love for you – fantastic child.
Wild, wild of the sea, child
Remember me.
Take the time to break the chains you find
And it’s far too late to sleep
Days are over and the night is deep
Take the time to break the chains you find
Take the time to break the chains you find
Take the time to break the chains you find

EVERY MORTAL NIGHT  
(Pål Waaktaar)

There is no time left,
We are caught of the animal’s theft
For human blood
Every mortal night
Every pain of delight
In the honest display
All the ends come real
All the madness revealed
In the honest display
There’s a world of untold ages
There are books between the pages
And letters in the words
Travel by trap-doors
Our souls are a myriad of wars
And we are losing everyone
Now without a word spoken
Now everything’s said.
Every mortal night
Every pain of delight
In the honest display
All the ends come real
All the madness revealed
In the honest display
Pain force me writing letters to the posterity
And when days of death is with me
That captured pain will live my life out
So perfectly!
Forgive me if I’m wrong.

*Obs: Em azul o texto reutilizado pelo a-ha em “This Alone Is Love”.

SEPTEMBER
(Pål Waaktaar)

Make few wishes for tomorrow
Make a memory of the lonely kiss
You’ve got meadows
You’ve got time
Tonight is all there is
She came from North
She came alone
Brought different days
Put a strange look on my face
She’s leaving now
My captured love
Northern blues
Choose the cruel ways
Solve no problems for tomorrow
Prove no faults in yesterday
The night is our Shepard
So die for your life
Maybe September was summer this year
Maybe September was summer this year
Those days are not winter, not summer
Sons of a no-man’s land somewhere
Maybe September was summer this year
Maybe September was summer this year
Those days are not winter, not summer
Sons of a no-man’s land somewhere
Maybe September was summer this year
Maybe September was summer this year
Maybe September was summer this year
Maybe September was summer this year