(ES)
Hoy os escribo de noche, la ocasi贸n lo merece. Vampiros. Sanatorios. Drogas. Enti茅ndeme. La luz del Sol no da para estas cosas.
Nos vamos a Austin, Texas, corr铆a el a帽o 1969 cuando un buen d铆a la polic铆a le encontr贸 a un joven Roky Erickson un solo porro de marihuana. Para evitar la pena de c谩rcel de aquel entonces, el chico decidi贸 declarar, por consejo de su manager, que ten铆a problemas mentales. En efecto, uno de los miembros de la banda de rock psicod茅lico 13th Floor Elevators se hizo literalmente pasar por loco. La frase tendr铆a hasta su gracia si no fuera por los a帽os que vinieron despu茅s: hospitales, sanatorios, tratamientos mentales invasivos, electroshocks, repetidas fugas. Despu茅s de todo, quiz谩s la c谩rcel no hubiera sido el peor de los destinos.
Cuando al fin sali贸 del hospital, en 1974, Eriksson hab铆a dejado atr谩s parte de su juventud y no poca de su cordura. Entre otras cosas, dec铆a ser extraterrestre y no haber pertenecido jam谩s a la raza humana, cuesti贸n que llev贸 incluso ante notario. Form贸 su propia banda, Rocky Erickson and the aliens, y su m煤sica se pobl贸 de todas las criaturas que ten铆a en la cabeza: zombies, demonios, extraterrestres y vampiros. A todos estos variopintos seres dio cita en un disco de Horror Rock titulado The Evil One, que os recomiendo vivamente.
Pues bien, hoy os traigo y no por casualidad uno de sus temas m谩s conocidos, Night of the Vampire. Y es que me imagino a Roky como a un Jonathan Harker perdido en el castillo del Conde, sin poder salir del hospital o el sanatorio, mirando tal vez por la ventana en una noche como 茅sta.
(EN)
Today I write to you at night, the occasion deserves it. Vampires Sanatoriums. Drugs Understand me. Sunlight does not provide for these things.
We're going to Austin, Texas, it was 1969 when one fine day the police found a young Roky Erickson a single joint of marijuana. To avoid the jail sentence of that time, the boy decided to declare, on the advice of his manager, that he had mental problems. Indeed, one of the members of the psychedelic rock band 13th Floor Elevators literally posed as crazy. The phrase would be funny if it weren't for the years that followed: hospitals, sanatoriums, invasive mental treatments, electroshocks, repeated escapes. After all, perhaps jail would not have been the worst of destinations.
When he finally got out of the hospital in 1974, Eriksson had left some of his youth behind and not a little of his sanity. Among other things, he claimed to be extraterrestrial and never to have belonged to the human race, a question that he even took before a notary public. He formed his own band, Rocky Erickson and the Aliens, and his music was populated with all the creatures that he had in his head: zombies, demons, aliens and vampires. He gave an appointment to all these diverse beings in a Horror Rock album titled The Evil One, which I highly recommend.
Well, today I bring you and not by chance one of his best known songs, Night of the Vampire. And I imagine Roky as a Jonathan Harker lost in the Count's castle, unable to leave the hospital or the sanatorium, perhaps looking out the window on a night like this.
(Google Translation)