Singer Songwriters From Italy

"I could, but I don't want to trust you, | I don't know you and deep down there isn't any | in what you say something you think, | you are just a copy of a thousand summaries. | Light, light the flame bathes, | the wax remains and you are no longer there... (from Giudizi universali, n. 1)"

"Memory lapses, | there is no place to hold together | all the episodes of a story. | Very small detail | I lost you without malice. (from Giudizi universali, n. 1)"

"In America you know that the crocodiles | do they come out of the shower? | And that information meteo | are they taken verbatim from the Bible? (from Crocodiles, n. 2)"

"But on the bridge between Messina and Reggio | coin-operated workers are designed by Sony, | they gave the mafia a Tamagochi in exchange | and the national monopoly | of the video game sector! (from Che vita!, n. 1)"

"That life! | Pietro Mennea and Sara Simeoni | they are rivals in the elections. (from What a life!, n. 1)"

"If you want to be right, you're right | to continue with your instinct | but don't change direction, | keep going straight...(from Let it go, n. 1)"

"The non-voting teller | is indifferent to politics, | he is very keen to say oh hoist! | but then he doesn't get out of the car; | he's like a practicing atheist, | sitting in church on Sunday, | he settles down a little to the side, | to disagree with the sermon...(from The non-voting scrutineer, n. 4)"

"Always change the title so as not to decide, | you don't put a period so as not to finish, | as you walk barefoot through the mess, | I envelop you in my coils. (from A delirious poem, n. 6)"

"The solitude is not a deal breaker, | makes you believe you are saving | and instead it is nothing but a waste of useless seasons | and years gone by in front of the calendar... | and the fault is mine alone... (from Come due donkeys, n. 8)"

"The scar | is always beautiful that he will remind me that I was happy. (from April Fool, n. 2)"

"I hope to have | a time when I can ignore you | like a folder above the monitor, | left untitled, | deleting you doesn't come to mind: | I would certainly regret it endlessly. (from Waltz in Space, n. 8)"

"It takes a lot of courage to roll down | in a cowardly context that no longer moves | and to keep calm now | so as not to feel like a lost ball. (from Un balloon, n. 1)"

"Sometimes I am afraid of you more than of loneliness. (from Psycho, n. 2)"

"Lucio Dalla"

"(About Rino Gaetano) I believe that in the category, let's say, "songwriters" he was the most anomalous compared to the rule."

"I have always had a great passion for Naples, for its culture, from writing to philosophy to songs: it is a city that has always captured me."

"(About Rino Gaetano) he was hitchhiking with his guitar over his shoulder and I gave him a lift to Rome where he was looking for a contract. He made me preview his songs and I took him to Vincenzo Micocci who then launched him."

"The beauty of Totò is the beauty of Naples. Naples, it's easy to say, looks like a city, but it's not, it's a nation, it's a republic. [...] The admiration I have for the Neapolitan people comes precisely from this love for Totò. [...] Naples is the mystery of life, good and evil are confused, however they pulsate. [...] I was influenced by the existence of Totò in all forms, for me he was a myth."

"Christian faith is my only fixed point, it is the only certainty I have."

"Things don't just change with the squares, they also start with individuals, for example by reading books. But you have to be intellectually free. Instead, even today, when I said that I consider Julius Evola an artist worthy of interest, I caused scandal in certain left-wing press, in a prejudiced and superficial way."

"When they talk to me about beauty, Naples comes to mind as the first image."

"If today you hear the songs broadcast by the first five-six networks, they are always those songs that circulate... The curious thing is that even today, very often you hear the songs of Gaetano."

"A unique place in the world. [...] How can I not remember when I came to Matera with Francesco De Gregori, in July 2010. The concert was postponed due to rain and I took the opportunity with Francesco to get to know her closely and recover her in her memory. It was an important day because I discovered up close the uniqueness of Matera, a miracle of time, of a happy harmony between history and contemporaneity."

"He Says he was a handsome man and came, | he came from the sea, | he spoke another language, | but he knew how to love | and that day he took my mother | on a beautiful meadow, | the sweetest hour before being killed. (from 4/3/1943, side B, n. 3)"

"So she was left alone in the room, | the room on the port | with the only dress | shorter every day. | And although she didn't know the name | nor the country | she waited for me like a gift of love | from the first month. (from 4/3/1943, side B, n. 3)"

"She was turning sixteen | that day my mother, | the tavern verses | she sang her the lullaby. | And holding me to her chest that she knew, | she smelled of the sea, | she played at being a woman | with the baby to be swaddled. (from 4/3/1943, side B, n. 3)"

"And maybe it was for fun | or maybe for love | that she wanted to call me | like Our Lord. | The memory of his short life, | the biggest memory | it's all in this name | that I carry with me. (from 4/3/1943, side B, n. 3)"

"And even now I play cards | and I drink wine | for the people of the port | My name is Baby Jesus. (from 4/3/1943, side B, n. 3)"

"Saints who pay for my lunch there are none | on the benches in Piazza Grande, | but when I am hungry for merchants like me there are none here. || I sleep on the grass and have many friends around me, | the lovers in Piazza Grande, | I know everything about their troubles, about their loves, whether wrong or not. (from Piazza Grande)"

"I don't have a real family | and my home is Piazza Grande, | to those who believe me I take love and love I give, as much as I have. || With me there are no generous women, | I steal love in Piazza Grande, | and thank goodness there aren't any bandits like me here. (from Piazza Grande)"

"In my own way I would need caresses too, | I need to pray to God, | but I will never change my life, | in my own way, I wanted what I am." (from Piazza Grande)"

"I don't have white sheets to cover ourselves | under the stars in Piazza Grande | and if life has no dreams I have them and I give them to you. || And if there are no more people like me | I want to die in Piazza Grande, | among the cats who have no owner like me around me. (from Piazza Grande)"

"A dove marked with blood | flies from the heart and falls to the ground | the girl with hair | shakes the dust of the stone | then carried away by her memory | runs in the fields of Volterra | red sheaves and white sea | while the day blazes and the fire | Evening falls, warriors fight | [...] | People killed, cities burned | dull, forgotten memories | only the blessed days shine | of life that lasts a morning | winter is snow, summer is sun (from The little girl, n. 8)"

"Nuvolari is short in stature, | Nuvolari is below normal, | Nuvolari has fifty kilos of bones, | Nuvolari has an exceptional body, | Nuvolari has hands like claws, | Nuvolari has a talisman against evils, | his gaze is that of a hawk for his children, | his muscles are exceptional muscles! | The birds in the air lose their wings when Nuvolari passes! | Does Nuvolari scare you when he runs? | Because the engine is ferocious as it roars across the plain. (from Nuvolari, side A, n. 3)"

"When Nuvolari runs, when Nuvolari passes, | people arrive in droves and lie down on the lawns, | when Nuvolari runs, when Nuvolari passes, | people wait for his arrival for hours and hours | and finally when he hears the noise | he jumps up and waves, | shouts words of love to him | and watches it disappear | as a soldier on horseback looks, | on horseback in the April sky! (from Nuvolari, side A, n. 3)"

"Nuvolari is brown in colour, | Nuvolari has the sharp mask, | Nuvolari always keeps his mouth shut, | he doesn't care about dying, | he runs if it rains, he runs in the sun, | three plus three is always seven for him, | with the red Alfa he does what he wants, | inside the fire of a hundred arrows! (from Nuvolari, side A, n. 3)"

"The engine of 2000 will be nice and shiny, | it will be fast and silent, it will be a delicate engine, | it will have a calibrated exhaust and a non-polluting smell... | A boy or girl will be able to breathe it. [...] But following our knowledge | no one yet knows what it will be like, what it will do in reality the boy of 2000, | this is because no one knows. (from Il motori del 2000, side B, n. 2)"

"But the exceptional feat, believe me, is to be normal. (from Desperate erotic stomp, side B, n. 1)"

"Walking around a little further I met | one who was lost, | I told him that in the center of Bologna | not a single child is lost, | he looks at me with a slightly distorted face | and he tells me 'I'm from Berlin. (from Desperate erotic stomp, B-side, no. 1)"

"Anna as many are, touchy Anna, | Anna beautiful look, | look that every day | loses something, | if she closes her eyes she knows it, | suburban star, | Anna with her friends, | Anna who would like to leave. (from Anna and Marco, side B, n. 1)"

"And the moon is a ball | and the sky is a billiard | how many stars in pinball machines | there are more than a billion, | Marco inside a bar | he doesn't know what he will do, | then there is someone who finds a motorbike, | you can go to the city. (from Anna and Marco, side B, n. 1)"

"Anna would have liked to die, | Marco wanted to go far away, | has anyone seen them fly | holding hands. (from Anna and Marco, side B, n. 1)"

"Dear friend, I'm writing to you, so I can distract myself a bit | and since you are very far away, I will write to you more strongly. | There's been some big news since you left, | the old year is over now | but something is still wrong here. (from The Year to Come, side B, n. 5)"

"But the television said that the new year | will bring a transformation | and we are all already waiting | it will be three times Christmas and celebration all day, | every Christ will come down from the cross | even the birds will return. | There will be food and light all year round, | even the mute will be able to speak | while the deaf already do it. (from The Year to Come, side B, n. 5)"

"And we will make love, each as he pleases | even priests will be able to marry | but only at a certain age. | And without major disturbances someone will disappear | perhaps they will be the ones who are too smart | and idiots of all ages. (from The Year to Come, side B, n. 5)"

"See, dear friend, what I write to you and tell you | and how happy I am | to be here right now | see, see, see, see, | you see, dear friend, what must be invented | to be able to laugh about it | to continue to hope. | And if this year passed in an instant, | see my friend, | how it becomes important | that in this moment I too am there. (from The Year to Come, side B, n. 5)"

"The year that is coming | in a year it will pass, | I'm getting ready: | this is the news. (from The Year to Come, side B, n. 5)"

"Take the sky with your hands | flies higher than airplanes | do not stop. | The years are few, perhaps they are only days | and they are all finishing in a hurry | there is not one who returns. (from Balla balla ballerina, side A, n. 1)"

"What's in front of me, I can't talk anymore | tell me what you like, I can't understand | where would you like to go | do you want to go to sleep. (from Cara, side B, n. 2)"

"How much hair do you have, | you can't count, | move the bottle, | let yourself be watched | if you can trust so much hair. (from Cara, side B, n. 2)"