Wer sich Belle and Sebastian bereits im Kopf zurecht legen möchte, ohne den ersten Ton ihrer Musik gehört zu haben, muss eigentlich nur zwei Wikipedia-Fakten kennen:
„Die Band wurde im Januar 1996 von Stuart Murdoch im Rahmen eines Sozialprogramms für Arbeitslose in Glasgow gegründet.“
…und…
„Der Bandname bezieht sich auf das Kinderbuch ‚Belle et Sébastien‘ der französischen Autorin Cécile Aubry über den Jungen Sébastien und seinen Hund Belle.“
Denn wenn man so will, dann macht es einem der Großteil der Songs der siebenköpfigen Band um Frontmann Stuart Murdoch tatsächlich so einfach: ihr kammermusikalischer Indiefolkpop versucht um jeden Preis, der kalt-grauen schottischen Plattenbautristesse zu entkommen und flieht daher in die melancholischen Fantasiewelten französischer Jugendliteratur.
Dass dieses Konzept kein schlechtes sein muss (das kann es auch gar nicht sein, immerhin begeistern Belle and Sebastian damit bereits seit mehr als zwanzig Jahren Fans wie Kritiker), beweist die schottische Band einmal mehr mit dem neuen Stück „We Were Beautiful“, seines Zeichens Teil des Auftaktes zur neuen, dreiteiligen EP-Reihe „How To Solve Our Human Problems“ (das Album
Das dazugehörige, kaum minder tolle Musikvideo wurde von Regisseur Blair Young in Belle and Sebastians Heimatstadt Glasgow gedreht. Ob der dazu tatkräftige Hilfe eines Sozialprogramms für Arbeitslose bekam? Wir wissen es zwar nicht, passen würde es jedoch…
„I was blank as I could be
Hearing voices telling me
‚Walk away from everything‘
But where was I meant to go?
Far away from those I know
To some desolate below
We were in the uber scene
Where they grind the coffee bean
Where the women are oblique
And the boys are paper thin
Ragged beards upon their chin
We were on the outside looking in
Rise above the present day
Rise above the popular melee
I see you the way you are
I see you, the star
We were beautiful before this went down
We were beautiful before the years came
And turned it upside down
We were beautiful before we got wise
We were beautiful with sky and blanket laying low
I am hanging on the line
I’m on duty all the time
I am your Samaritan on call
I could try my best to heal
All the emptiness you feel
In the giving, I will be alive
We were wrapped around our roots
Nothing on except our boots
We were intimate around the waist
We were settling our scores
We were healing over sores
We were living out the pleasure that we lost
We were beautiful before this went down
We were beautiful before the years came
And turned it upside down
We were beautiful for all of time and space
I will tell it to the sun and I will tell it to…
If you listen to the night
We can heard the madmen fight
Hear the foxes making out
But the people all immune
Sleeping silent in their rooms
Growing bodies with their sleep
Making plans inside their heads
Making love to shallow friends
We were beautiful before this went down
We were beautiful before the years came
And turned it upside down
We were beautiful before we got wise
We were beautiful with sky and blanket fading out
We were beautiful before this went down
We were beautiful before the years came
And turned it upside down
We were beautiful for all of time and space
I will tell it to the sun and I will tell it to your face“
Rock and Roll.
ANEWFRIEND 