(V) Night of the Vampire (ES/EN)

(ES)

Hoy os escribo de noche, la ocasión lo merece. Vampiros. Sanatorios. Drogas. Entiéndeme. La luz del Sol no da para estas cosas.

Nos vamos a Austin, Texas, corría el año 1969 cuando un buen día la policía le encontró a un joven Roky Erickson un solo porro de marihuana. Para evitar la pena de cárcel de aquel entonces, el chico decidió declarar, por consejo de su manager, que tenía problemas mentales. En efecto, uno de los miembros de la banda de rock psicodélico 13th Floor Elevators se hizo literalmente pasar por loco. La frase tendría hasta su gracia si no fuera por los años que vinieron después: hospitales, sanatorios, tratamientos mentales invasivos, electroshocks, repetidas fugas. Después de todo, quizás la cárcel no hubiera sido el peor de los destinos.

Cuando al fin salió del hospital, en 1974, Eriksson había dejado atrás parte de su juventud y no poca de su cordura. Entre otras cosas, decía ser extraterrestre y no haber pertenecido jamás a la raza humana, cuestión que llevó incluso ante notario. Formó su propia banda, Rocky Erickson and the aliens, y su música se pobló de todas las criaturas que tenía 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 más 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 ésta.

(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)

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