BANDCAMP

REAL THING 1989

MARTIN HALL
7″/12″
JANUAR 1989
VIRGIN RECORDS (111940/611940)

“Real Thing 1989” var den anden single fra Martin Halls succesrige comeback-album udsendt i efteråret 1988. Singlen blev udsendt i både 7″- og 12″-format, lanceret som henholdsvis “Discotheque” and “Broadcast” i de to forkellige versioner af sangen.

12″-udgaven indeholdt også et nyt nummer “Theme”, hvis video er inkluderet Audio-Visual VHS-udgivelsen fra 1990.

1. Real Thing 1989 (Discotheque) (5:32)2. Theme (4:34)3. Real Thing 1989 (Original Version) (5:35) 1. Real Thing 1989 (Broadcast) (4:41)2. Real Thing 1989 (Original Version) (5:35)

REAL THING 1989

River deep, mountain high
Out of the blue

As pure as the real thing
The state and the feeling
It leaves me no doubt of what needs to be done
A thunder’s been raging
A choice has been taken
To never look back
To be one of the few

While all things must pass
A fire will burn, purify – never change
It’s seen in the sky
As there’s so much more to this than meets the eye
It’s something within
The longing inside is the drive that allows
The work to be done

River deep, mountain high
A shadow inside
In the light of a greatness from which none can hide
Out of the blue, into the fire
And I’m stronger than ever in my one surrender
A red storm arising
Now I know what I want
And I know how to get it
It’s calling within and without

As pure as the real thing
The state and the feeling
It leaves me no doubt of what needs to be done
A thunder’s been raging
A choice has been taken
To never look back
To be one of the few

I know it ’cause I feel it
I don’t need no further proof to believe it
There’s a guiding light
Burning inside out
As pure as the real thing

I return
In the light of the sun
A shadow is cast of a moment in time
Like turns of the tide
In the still of the night it begins
What is is to be

THEME

Regain your human rights
Surviving
The countdown
Face the fact

Born to die

Cut down to black and white
Love under will

REAL THING

I return
In the light of the sun
A shadow is cast of a moment in time
Like turns of the tide
In the still of the night it begins
What is is to be

While all things must pass, a presence remains
A fire will burn, purify – never change
It’s seen in the sky, it’s felt deep inside
As there’s so much more to this than meets the eye
It’s something within, it’s something without
The longing inside is the drive that allows
The work to be done

River deep, mountain high
A shadow inside
In the light of a greatness from which none can hide
Out of the blue, into the fire
And I’m stronger than ever in my one surrender
A red storm arising
Now I know what I want and I know how to get it
It’s calling within and without

As pure as the real thing
The state and the feeling
It leaves me no doubt of what needs to be done
A thunder’s been raging
A choice has been taken
To never look back
To be one of the few

I know it ’cause I feel it
I don’t need no further proof to believe it
There’s a guiding light
Burning inside out
As pure as the real thing

In this forum of time and of place
There’s a rainbow arising after the rain
As the sun melts the snow
The ice and the fire

Mountain streams overflow
Run down from the higher
And the water, it glitters like diamond
As pure as the light

Flemming Nygaard: Keyboards
Lotte Grundlev: Kor
Martin Hall: Vokal, keyboards, guitar
Tina Schæfer: Kor

Design: Birgitte Wester
Foto: Robin Skjoldborg

Presence modtog strålende anmeldelser i alle større aviser og blade. Det blev ligeledes det første Hall-album, der gik ind på den officielle top 20-salgsliste. Kort fortalt er pladen et krystallinsk popalbum, der byder på lige dele iørefaldende sange, grandiose arrangementer og episke tekster. Albummet blev efterfølgende udgivet i resten af Skandinavien, hvor det også modtog en række flotte anmeldelser.

Efter at have toppet adskillige læserafstemninger og årslister i forskellige danske musikblade ved udgangen af 1988 begyndte Martin Hall at føle sig en anelse fremmedgjort i sin nye rolle som popstjerne. Som en kommentar til tingenes udvikling ønskede han derfor at udgive remixet af “Real Thing” med en ny titel, Surreal Thing, en idé som Virgin Records ikke brød sig om. Et kompromis blev indgået ved at kalde den nye version af sangen Real Thing 1989. Da nummeret mange år senere blev inkluderet på Catalogue-bokssættet (2007), blev det dog langt om længe kaldt Surreal Thing.

De følgende videobilleder er taget fra Hall’s optræden i det danske tv-show Fluen i januar 1989, et program der blev sendt på DR hver fredag aften i den periode.

Produktionsmæssigt benytter Presence sig af en Fairlight CMI music computer. Albummet blev co-produceret af Flemming Nygaard, tidligere medlem af det sene Under For samt musiker på Halls foregående plade, Cutting Through. Det er også Nygaard, der spiller flygel på de foregående tv-billeder.

Flemming Nygaard var både klassisk trænet cellist og en fremragende tekniker og alt i alt af uvurderlig hjælp for Hall under indspilningen af Presence. Da Nygaard meget tragisk døde i sensommeren 1989, dedicerede Hall sit Requiem til ham, en orgelkoncert han opførte i Taksigelseskirken i december samme år.