Hip, Hip... ¡Hurra! Por el capitán Kirk

El buen David Ojeda tuvo a bien hacer circular en el más reciente encuentro de Jóvenes Creadores un disco de William Shatner. Sí, así es, el legendario capitán Kirk de la Enterprise de Star Trek y hoy obeso abogado co-protagonista de la manchada serie Boston Legal.

El disco en cuestión se llama Has Been y es, sin temor a exagerar, un verdadero deleite. Shatner se hace acompañar de la música y producción de Ben Folds para aderezar sus textos. Lo más relevante del disco son, precisamente, sus textos. Unos textos que exhudan un sentido poético que no se refugia en la exquisitez o la búsqueda de la frase perfecta o la metáfora adecuada, sino en la crudeza de la vida cotidiana.
El disco comienza con “Common People”, en donde una aparente ninfeta con un chorro de lana le expresa al narrador su deseo de vivir como la gente común. La voz de Shatner reta a la muchachita y se burla de su pretensión.

Rent a flat above a shop!
Cut your hair and get a job!
Smoke some fags and play some pool.
Pretend you never went to school.
But still you'll never get it right.
When you're lyin' in bed at night,
Watching roaches climb the wall.
If you call your dad he could stop it all.

You'll never live like common people!
You'll never do whatever common people do!
You'll never fail like common people!
You'll never watch your life slide out of view,
and dance, and drink, and screw!
Because there's nothing else to do!

En “It Hasn't Happened Yet”, la voz de Shatner parece salir del propio actor al quejarse del sinsentido en el que la vida lo ha colocado. Aún no consigo, ni paz ni serenidad. Todo con el telón de una Nochebuena lejos de la gente que realmente le interesa.

Yes, there are nods in my direction
Clap of hands
A knowing smile
But still
I'm scared again
Foot slipped
Pebbles fall and so did I, almost
(I'm high) on Yosemite, the big grey wall (fear of falling)
Where to put my foot next (fear of failure)
I'm afraid I'm gonna fall
(be at one with the mountain)
I whispered in the air
(fear of falling, fear of failure, fear of losing my hair, falling)

La siguiente canción es “You'll Have Time”, por mucho la mejor rola de todo el disco, con un fondo como de coro de iglesia bautista que le da un aire de predicador bienintencionado a un texto que pretende, sin embargo, soltar unos cuantos madrazos.

I tell you who else left us
Passed on down to heaven no longer with us
Johnny Cash, JFK, that guy in the Stones
Lou Gehrig, Einstein, and Joey Ramone
Have I convinced you?
Do you read my lips?
This may come as news but it's time
You're gonna die
You're gonna die

By the time you hear this I may well be dead
And you my friend might be next
'Cause we're all gonna die

La siguiente pieza, “That's Me Trying”, es un conmovedor relato acerca de un hombre que llega muchos años después a ver a una hija que el tiempo y la distancia han dejado en un pasado lleno de espinas. Podemos imaginar la cara de la mujer (tiene cuarenta) tratando de comprender los demonios que devoran al anciano que tiene enfrente. El aompañamiento musical es de los mejores de todo el disco.

So let's just pretend that the past didn't happen
I don't really like thriller as well.
I don't want to know if I've got grandchildren
no need to tell me where I went wrong
I don't want to know what happened in your thirties
You wanna try 'cold mountain'?
Or is that too long??

Years of silence, not enough
Who could blame us giving up?
Above the quiet there's a buzz
That's me trying
I'm trying.

“What Have You Done” es una pieza sin música. Narra una tragedia. El encuentro entre un padre y su hija muerta en la bañera. Es imposible dejar de estremecerse ante las descripciones de la escena.

She was underwater
In the shadows
Was it there, was it not?
I stepped back
A veil in front of my eyes
The water was still and so was she
I dove in with so little breath
In truth I knew
I was too late for death
I had one chance
I grasped her arm and floated upwards
Wanting to stay below in the warm forgiving waters
What have you done
I screamed to the stars
Then over to the shallow edge
She was face down
Smaller and more vulnerable than in life
Her curls wet around her ears and neck
Her dear profile at peace at last
A finger in her throat sounded a click
Her body still and blue
Is this what death looks like?
My love was supposed to protect her
It didn't
My love was supposed to heal her
It didn't
You had said don't leave me
And I begged you not to leave me
We did.

En “Together”, Shatner plantea la posibilidad de que dos personas compartan el gusto por estar juntos. Es el momento en el cual se toma conciencia de que se desea ese estar juntos y que se reconoce la improtancia de tal decisión.

Together Our souls are warm Lives reborn From hearts that were torn Before Breath renewed Everyday with you Our arms our hold We are not alone Together We're ready.

En “Familiar Love”, la perspectiva del abandono en la pareja, genera la reconsideración de las cosas que generan hartazgo aparente, pero que son de lo que se construyen esas relaciones.

I've had the one night stands
Waiting for the phone to ring
(Waiting for the phone)
The shakes of anxiety
The flacid response to nerves
The hideous revelation of character
The unfamiliar smell of breath and skin
Unexpected noises...from within

¿Cómo es un hombre enamorado? La respuesta la parece tener la canción “Ideal Woman”, donde se ve que los defectos mudan virtudes y que el amor todo lo puede adaptar, perdonar y convertir.

I love what you eat
You want yogurt? you got yogurt!
Papaya? it's yours!
Chewing gum? chew away!
I just want you to be you...

Spit out the gum, it doesn't work...

When you sleep, you're the most beautiful
In the moonlight, your soft skin glows
Your hair scroll on the pillow a vision
The murmuring breath, the slight snore
The slight snore...
I want you to be you

En fin, que el material es harto recomendable y la sensación que genera es rara por desconocida. Queda en la mente creer que no se había escuchado algo igual. Dice la santa que se parece a Paco Stanley. Sí, le digo; sólo que el dealer de las estrellas no escribía sus textos y no se atrevía a echarse un round de vocales con Henry Rollins o a poner a Pulp en el fondo.