«Chimes at Midnight»
When Madrugada regrouped to celebr… Read Full Bio ↴Madrugada
«Chimes at Midnight»
When Madrugada regrouped to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of their classic debut album «Industrial Silence» in 2019, they quickly realised that interest in the band had not waned in their absence. It had, in fact, increased, not least on the European continent.
What’s more, they realised that they loved being back together. Being in Madrugada had never been quite this much fun.
Says vocalist and guitarist Sivert Høyem: «It was if as the last piece of the puzzle had snapped into place. I’d never felt so self-assured on stage before. It was no stress at all, whereas in the past it had always been very stressful to me».
The tour was a triumph, with the band selling out shows in the their native Norway, plenty of festival dates and a host of concerts throughout Europe, where the band now sold out halls that were twice the size of the places they used to play back in the day.
10 years on from when the band called it a day after guitarist Robert Burås passed, the three remaining original members – Høyem, Frode Jacobsen (bass) and Jon Lauvland Pettersen (drums) – felt rejuvenated and ready for more.
They wanted to play more shows. In order to do so, new music had to be made. The trip they were on couldn’t be strictly nostalgic. And so it was that Madrugada, a band that usually takes its sweet time to agree on just about anything, ran straight off the stage and back into the rehearsal room in December 2019.
Jacobsen: «We were on a tight schedule. We booked time at Sunset Sound Studio in Los Angeles at the end of February, and had about a month and a half to come up with the material and whip it into shape. It went rather swimmingly. We were still high from touring, raring to go».
Høyem: «Everyone brought something – melodies, ideas – to the table. And then we’d all be let loose on it. We had the «Industrial Silence» album in our bloodstreams after playing it live on the tour, and I felt there was a direct line back to our formative years. Everything came out sounding like Madrugada».
The band worked in their own rehearsal space/studio in Oslo, in another studio, Velvet Recordings, 45 minutes outside the city, and spent a further week woodshedding in Berlin. 70% of the material they came up with, is spanking new. But they also rescued a couple of older songs from oblivion. «The World Could Be Falling Down» hails from the time of their first album. «Slowly Turns The Wheel» first reared its head somewhere between the third and the fourth.
Lauvland Pettersen: «The process was very different from when I recorded my last album with the band [«The Nightly Disease», 2011]. That was a case of ‘second album syndrome’. We didn’t have much going in, and had to come up with the goods on the clock. This time the material was not only written, but thoroughly arranged too».
The band arrived in Los Angeles in late February, happy to be recording in a legendary studio where classic albums by Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, The Doors and the Rolling Stones had been conceived.
Lauvland Pettersen: «It was a boyhood dream come true, for sure. A terrific gift: I’m here, I’m with my dear friends and we’re having the time of our lives».
Producer Kevin Ratterman (Ray LaMontagne, My Morning Jacket, The Flaming Lips) was waiting for them, and the plan was once again to get in the flow and work fast.
The band had given themselves two weeks to put the music, recorded live in the studio, to analogue tape. They met their deadline, and a good thing too. No sooner was the last song on the album, «Ecstasy», in the can, before the world as we knew it shut down. It was March 2020, and the plan had been for Madrugada to go home, rest up for a week and return to do overdubs and mix the album in a studio in Silver Lake. Instead, they had to go home, and stay home.
Høyem: «It was a ‘last flight out of Saigon’ kind of scene. And the tickets weren’t cheap».
Up until this point, the making of «Chimes at Midnight» had been a whirlwind affair. When it became obvious that the world would remain in a state of emergency for quite some time, it was important not to lose momentum. The album would have to be finished by unorthodox means:
Namely by Zoom and via big screen-TVs, with Ratterman and the American team on one end in Los Angeles, and Madrugada on the other, in Oslo, Norway. Frustrating? Oh yes. But the esprit de corps remained strong.
Jacobsen: «The technology enabled us to do overdubs in real time, with Kevin producing us from the other side of the Atlantic. Unusual, to say the least, and quite interesting. But the process became a lot slower».
It goes without saying that Høyem, Jacobsen and Lauvland Pettersen are painfully aware that one of Madrugada’s founding members, Robert Burås, very sadly isn’t around to work his magic anymore. But what other developments have the nigh-on 14 years since their fifth and hitherto last album, «Madrugada» (2008), and «Chimes at Midnight», begot?
Høyem: «The songs are a reflection of who we are in the present time. We’re older. We’re all fathers. I believe I have a more nuanced view of life than I had 20 years ago, a greater ability to feel several things at once. Madrugada’s aesthetic was very New York City and Berlin, we were a punk band that played the blues. All those elements remain. But this time around it felt appealing to explore the more dreamy aspects of what we do. The city we recorded in encouraged us to do so».
Jacobsen: «Chimes at Midnight» is not a conceptual album, it doesn’t point in one particular direction. That makes it somewhat different, in my mind. But it’s made to played live, just like the other albums».
Lauvland Pettersen: «It’s got maybe more of a singer/songwriter vibe to it, I think. If I want to write a ballad and give it the full orchestral treatment, I’m welcome to do it. It’s been therapeutic too. The shows were pure pleasure, and the album’s given me a feeling of closure».
Høyem: «‘Chimes at Midnight’ was born of an atmosphere of true joy and goodwill. To me, it’s a passionate album».
The members’ respect for their shared history is at the top of their minds at all times.
Jacobsen: «I’ve always had romantic ideas about bands in general, and our band in particular. I never wanted to make music outside of Madrugada. I wanted to make it with the people I started out with».
Madrugada are
Sivert Høyem
Frode Jacobsen
Jon Lauvland Pettersen
with
Cato Thommassen and Christer Knutsen
Album discography:
«Industrial Silence» (1999)
«The Nightly Disease» (2001)
«Grit» (2002)
«The Deep End» (2005)
«Madrugada» (2008)
«Chimes at Midnight» (2022)
Biography from their site: https://madrugada.no/#biography
Theres's another band from the 70's that use the same name:
2) Madrugada was a band from Bergamo, Italy, formed around 1970, and had a long life that lasted until 1978. The group derived from some 60's beat bands like I Condor, that included bass player Alessandro Zanelli and keyboardist Franco Orlandini (from Mat 65 and who later worked with Equipe 84 and Claudio Rocchi), and later changed name to Le Lunghe Storie, and along them from Le Bugie and Gruppo 3. But the basic nucleus came from Terza Classe, which also gave birth to Perdio.
Though not properly a progressive rock album, their first one, only released in 1974 by Philips, contains some interesting parts.
It contains seven tracks, some of which were arranged and signed by Roberto Vecchioni (a singer-songwriter that's still very popular nowadays), while three songs were composed by Mauro Paoluzzi.
The first side shows some influences by a West Coast styled sound, with multivocal parts very well executed but not particularly original. Second side contains the long Mandrax, led by Gianfranco Pinto's keyboards, that's probably the best album track.
Except for a limited use of acoustic guitar on Uomo blu the band didn't use guitars and their sound was strongly based on keyboards and richly arranged vocal parts.
Second album came three years later, this time the trio was helped by some guest musicians like Lucio Fabbri on violin (Piazza delle Erbe and later PFM), the jazz saxophonist Gianluigi Trovesi, and Luciano Ninzatti (from Eugenio Finardi's band Crisalide) on guitar.
With a much better production and sound, this can be considered the best of their two albums, with long tracks like the opening Romanzen or Aragon showing a very good composition quality. Another nice song was È triste il vento, that had previously been played by another group from Bergamo that had a close connection with Madrugada, Perdio.
Like in the first album there are some odd different-styled tracks, like the folky Noter de Berghem and the silly Katmandu (that was also released on single with È triste il vento, but with no success), but Incastro can be surely appreciated by progressive music fans. Unfortunately it didn't have a good promotion by the record company.
In concert, Madrugada played on tour with Area, Claudio Rocchi and Biglietto per l'Inferno, and in Lugano (Switzerland) with Kevin Ayers. Moreover they played in many concerts for political movements like Avanguardia Operaia and the Radical Party and the Re Nudo magazine. The band split at the end of the 1970s.
Pinto and Zanelli collaborated with Mauro Paoluzzi in his shortlived Pangea project, which produced only a promotional album in 1976.
Keyboardist Pinto has collaborated with many Italian and international artists (Patty Pravo, Roberto Vecchioni, Adriano Pappalardo, Riccardo Fogli, Gianna Nannini, Brian Auger), and in the late 90's with the reformed progressive group Perdio.
He works in a music school in the Parma area and still plays now in studio, with live bands and in the piano bar circuit.
Bass player Billy Zanelli formed the semi-punk group Judas, with an album on Spaghetti label in 1978, and later played with Roberto Vecchioni.
Discography
LPs
Madrugada (Philips, 1974)
Incastro (Philips, 1977)
CDs
Madrugada (AMS/BTF, 2006 / Universal, 2010)
Incastro (AMS/BTF, 2006 / Universal, 2010)
Singles
Katmandu / È triste il vento (Philips, 1977)
On Your Side
Madrugada Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Although you may not ever believe that it's so
I've been taken to looking back
Across it all, it was never that bad
Oh you know
For the minute a pretty face
In the mirror, to take my place
I'm going to see to your immediate needs
Love's for idiots, so leave me alone on my liberties
My liberties
For twenty days or more
I've been staring a hole in the wall
So this business is what I left you for
We were never that bad together at all
For the slightest little change
I will stitch it up and rearrange it
When I feel more than a little strange
Get someone else to do the thinking please
Love's for idiots, so leave me alone on my liberties
My liberties
I'm really on your side
And I would never ever try and hurt you again no no
Take my blessings where ever you go
And if there's someone else to who you wish to go
I just don't want to know
You're none of my business now
I do forget it sometimes
I don't know how
I get too weary and I get too loud
I always knew there would be times like these
Love's for idiots, so leave me alone on my liberties
Leave me alone, my liberties
My liberties
The lyrics to Madrugada's song "On Your Side" offer a glimpse into a complex relationship that is struggling to survive despite the singer's best efforts. The opening line, "I'm really on your side," is a clear indication that the singer wants to be supportive and understanding, but fears that their actions may not effectively communicate this intention. This fear is intensified by the second line, "Although you may not ever believe that it's so," which suggests that the singer has struggled in the past to convince their partner that they are trustworthy and committed to the relationship.
The following lines paint a picture of a person who is struggling with their own identity and place in the world, feeling too disconnected and disengaged to fully participate in the relationship. The mention of a "pretty face in the mirror" suggests that the singer is preoccupied with their own image and perception, which takes priority over their partner's needs. The line, "Love's for idiots, so leave me alone on my liberties," is a poignant admission that the singer may not be capable of true emotional intimacy, and would prefer to maintain their independence and prioritize their own desires over those of their partner.
The final lines of the song are bittersweet, offering a wish for their partner's future happiness, but also a sad acceptance of the fact that they are no longer a significant part of each other's lives. The line "Love's for idiots, so leave me alone on my liberties" is repeated, reinforcing the idea that the singer is comfortable with this decision, even though it may have come at a great cost.
This song seems to be a reflection on the complexities of relationships and the conflicting desires that often arise between partners. It highlights the importance of effective communication, vulnerability, and mutual understanding in creating a lasting connection.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm really on your side
The singer genuinely supports the person they are addressing.
Although you may not ever believe that it's so
Even if the person doesn't believe it, the singer is still on their side.
I've been taken to looking back
The singer has been reflecting on their past actions or situation.
Across it all, it was never that bad
Upon reflection, things weren't as bad as they may have seemed.
Oh you know
The singer acknowledges that the person they are addressing may already know this.
For the minute a pretty face
The moment someone or something else catches the singer's attention.
In the mirror, to take my place
The pretty face represents a moment of vanity or shallow self-reflection.
To submit to the race
The singer acknowledges the pressure to compete or conform.
I'm going to see to your immediate needs
The singer will prioritize the other person's needs over their own.
Love's for idiots, so leave me alone on my liberties
The singer has a negative view of love and values their own personal freedom.
For twenty days or more
The singer has been feeling a certain way for an extended period of time.
I've been staring a hole in the wall
The singer has been feeling stuck, unproductive, or depressed.
So this business is what I left you for
The singer left the other person to focus on their own personal pursuits.
We were never that bad together at all
Despite their differences, the singer and the other person had a relatively good relationship.
For the slightest little change
The singer is easily affected by small things.
I will stitch it up and rearrange it
The singer is able to adapt and change things to their liking.
When I feel more than a little strange
The singer is affected by certain emotions or situations.
Get someone else to do the thinking please
The singer would rather avoid thinking and decision-making if possible.
I'm really on your side
Reiteration that the singer supports the other person.
And I would never ever try and hurt you again no no
The singer regrets if they have hurt the other person in the past.
Take my blessings where ever you go
The singer wishes the other person well, wherever they may go.
And if there's someone else to who you wish to go
The singer would rather not know about other romantic interests.
I just don't want to know
Reiteration that the singer prefers not to be involved in the other person's romantic pursuits.
You're none of my business now
The singer has moved on from the other person and their life is now their own.
I do forget it sometimes
The singer acknowledges that they can occasionally forget this fact.
I don't know how
The singer isn't sure why they forget.
I get too weary and I get too loud
The singer can become emotionally exhausted or irritable.
I always knew there would be times like these
The singer anticipated that they would face certain challenges or struggles in life.
Love's for idiots, so leave me alone on my liberties
Reiteration that the singer values their personal freedom and has a negative view of love.
Leave me alone, my liberties
The singer wants to be left alone to pursue their own personal desires and goals.
My liberties
Last line of the song, reiterating the singer's emphasis on personal freedom.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ROBERT BURAS, SIVERT HOYEM, FRODE JACOBSEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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