«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)
You Better Leave
Madrugada Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For The Love Of Strange Medicine
You Better Wait (S Perry, L Brewster, P Taylor,
--------------- M. Lucas, J. Pierce, G. Hawkins)
She was only a child
Someone to hold on
Only a child
Someone to believe in
She was "17" beauty queen
I met her in a magazine
Heart of fire, love's desire
Reachin' out, higher higher
Runaway, one more day
A broken hearted child at play
I pray for you, baby blue
In the name of love I reach for you
In the darkness comes the evil of the night
Tkink about it
(You better wait)
Stop yourself before you fall
(You better wait)
Stop before you lose it all
Somewhere there's love
Oh - somewhere, somewhere
Precious girl, little pearl
Temptation is a lonely world
Eyes deceive, they believe
In everything they wanna see yeah
And the neon lights reflect your life
Only you know where you hide baby
(You better wait)
Stop yourself before you fall
(You better wait)
Stop before you lose it all
Cause somewhere there's love
(You better wait)
Stop yourself before you start
(You better wait)
Don't look back, don't lose heart
Don't look, don't look
Don't look back baby
The song "You Better Wait" by Perry Steve from the album, For the Love of Strange Medicine, is about a young girl who is very beautiful, but is still a child. The singer sees her as someone to hold on to, believe in, and love. Despite her beauty, she is a brokenhearted child at play, who needs someone to pray for her. He believes that she is in danger of falling prey to the darkness and evil of the night, and urges her to stop herself before she falls and loses it all. He advises her that somewhere there's love and encourages her not to lose heart.
The lyrics of "You Better Wait" seem to have a compassionate and protective tone towards the young girl the singer is addressing. Perry Steve is urging her to tread cautiously and wait for that perfect moment to make her decisions, presumably regarding love and relationships. He acknowledges that the world is lonely and full of temptation, and that the young girl needs to be careful before she falls into a trap.
Line by Line Meaning
She was only a child
The subject of the song is introduced as being very young and vulnerable
Someone to hold on
She needs someone to hold on to for emotional support
Only a child
Reiterating her vulnerability and need for guidance
Someone to believe in
She needs someone to show her the way and believe in her
Only a child, someone to love
Reinforcing her youth and need for love and support
She was "17" beauty queen
She may have been young, but society placed a lot of value on her beauty and appearance
I met her in a magazine
The singer didn't actually meet her, but saw her in a magazine
Heart of fire, love's desire
She has a passionate heart and is looking for love
Reachin' out, higher higher
She is looking for something more, reaching for a higher level of love and companionship
Runaway, one more day
She may be a runaway, and every day is a battle to survive
A broken hearted child at play
She may be young, but she has already experienced heartbreak and is still trying to have fun and enjoy her youth
I pray for you, baby blue
The artist is praying for her safety and well-being
In the name of love I reach for you
The singer is motivated by love to try and help her
In the darkness comes the evil of the night
The oppressive darkness of her circumstances makes it easy for bad things to happen
Think about it
A plea to the listener to consider the subject's situation
(You better wait) Stop yourself before you fall
A warning to the subject and others to be careful and avoid getting hurt
(You better wait) Stop before you lose it all
Another warning to avoid making mistakes and losing everything
Somewhere there's love
Hope that there is love and companionship out there for the subject
Oh - somewhere, somewhere
Repeating the message of hope
Precious girl, little pearl
Reinforcing the subject's value
Temptation is a lonely world
The subject may be tempted by bad things, and this can be a source of isolation
Eyes deceive, they believe
Sometimes what we see is not what is really there, and believing in illusions can be dangerous
In everything they wanna see yeah
People often see what they want to see, rather than what is actually there
And the neon lights reflect your life
The bright lights of the city represent the harsh reality of her situation
Only you know where you hide baby
The subject has places to hide, but only she knows where they are
(You better wait) Stop yourself before you fall
Repeating the warning to be careful
(You better wait) Stop before you lose it all
Repeating the warning to avoid making mistakes and ruining everything
Cause somewhere there's love
Ending the song with the message of hope that love is out there somewhere
(You better wait) Stop yourself before you start
Repeating the warning to be cautious and think things through
(You better wait) Don't look back, don't lose heart
Encouraging the subject to keep moving forward and not give up
Don't look, don't look
A warning to avoid temptation and not look back
Don't look back baby
Final warning to keep moving forward and not dwell on the past
Contributed by Vivian V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@argiskelton7292
Flies in your window
Junk in your mail
Some ragged old sorrow
Hot on your trail
No-one comes to you
Not even in your dreams
There ain't nothing moving through you
It's all as bad as it seems
She is a shadow
Of something you wanted
How badly you wanted it
It still drives you insane
You're a dirty man to want her
And you were junk for letting go
You're a fool to even wanna be around her
Those other people you don't even wanna know
You can't hold up in
Close to your heart
You can't hold up in
You just tear things apart
You better leave
Leave a reed shadow
A late night reed shadow
To the ivory room
You better leave
Leave a reed shadow
A late night reed shadow
To the ivory room
She is a shadow
Of something you wanted
How badly you wanted it
It still drives you insane
@rwestvang
Madrugada has many great songs, but this and Salt is on another level. The though of these two songs not even exiting, if Madrugada wasn't around, is thought provoking to the extreme. Thank you for the experience Madrugada!
@argiskelton7292
Flies in your window
Junk in your mail
Some ragged old sorrow
Hot on your trail
No-one comes to you
Not even in your dreams
There ain't nothing moving through you
It's all as bad as it seems
She is a shadow
Of something you wanted
How badly you wanted it
It still drives you insane
You're a dirty man to want her
And you were junk for letting go
You're a fool to even wanna be around her
Those other people you don't even wanna know
You can't hold up in
Close to your heart
You can't hold up in
You just tear things apart
You better leave
Leave a reed shadow
A late night reed shadow
To the ivory room
You better leave
Leave a reed shadow
A late night reed shadow
To the ivory room
She is a shadow
Of something you wanted
How badly you wanted it
It still drives you insane
@kristinababali9227
his voice, their music and Robert Buras...what an incredible combination..they are unforgettable
@tarjalopes4543
Música maravilhosa ❤
O arranjo é lindo, impecável!
@Nicole-nd5xt
I had first listened to the song when I was about fourteen...? I had it on my cell phone back then and really liked it. Years passed, changed cell phones :p And when I had a Madrugada playlist on tv, it just hit me...This song was nowhere to be found, I couldn't remember any lyrics other than "shadowww" and shazam hated my voice...I've been trying so hard to find it, listening every single track, it had been driving me insane...Then I googled their whole discography, I see the name on the bottom on "other songs"...When I read the lyrics, I was hoping this was the one and...thank God, finally found it! :p
@joshh1106
one of my all time favourite tracks
@gulfemwormald5880
Sometimes you need some songs in your life like you need food and water to survive. This song is one of them. ❤
@tarquifelix7598
exelente pista..... Riff maravillosos
@eduardaandrade3542
Maravilhoso!!!!
@luiscarlossilva6456
Putz! Que banda foda!