Here are some of the lyrics I have written. Together, they could form a concept album of sorts, focusing on life on planet Earth. Inspiration for them came during a recent trip to an African country. Next to the text, you’ll find a link to download a pdf file containing a scheme of the lyric to identify syllables and accents. If you want to know the shadow song on which the lyric was shaped, just contact me.
IN THE NICK
OF TIME
At the moment of leaving life, I imagine the wayfarer feeling thankful for
all he was given, and asking for a chance to enjoy the gifts of life for
the very last time.
SEASONS
In its travel through time, Planet Earth has changed its face many times. Seen
from a height, it reveals its ineffability, a mystery where time, love and
death all play a role.
THE ARCHITECT
Man has applied his craftsmanship to available materials since time began.
Through the ages, the same problems have found a suitable solution, thanks
to the ability of a keen eye. Throughout different ages and different situations,
man has always been able to meet his needs in beauty.
LAST FLIGHT
The spirit of a person who has contracted some particular debt
in life hovers over the planet after death. He leaves traces all over his path
and is only
able to leave for the spirit world after a kind person frees him.
SPRING
Full of the promise of a new season, here’s a light and
colourful picture
of goodwill among men and women folk.
THE VISIT
On his death bed, a terminal patient asks the angel of death for some time
to attend to some important business that would best be ironed out before
he goes.
THE SPIRIT
My description of a ritual and of a god makes not-so-veiled allusions to our
own modern beliefs. Outrageously, nothing much has changed.
ON MY LOVER'S BED
The subject of attraction between humans has been bled dry
by too much nonsense, but the street-savvy enthusiasm which informs this girl’s
choice makes
for a worthwhile report.
WHAT TIME DOES IT GET DARK?
Caught between the fiery sunlight of the day and the non-time of the night,
the breezes of the evening create a suspended interval that is just too mellow
to miss.
RUN, COLT, RUN
Hope, the last goddess, prompts us to flee from one situation to another. A
little satisfaction, the realization of a dream flashes in front of us, making
us eager for change. Soon we find ourselves in much the same predicaments
as before, but still we keep hoping.
LANDS OF THE FREE
In vinyl times, many 45-rpm singles had a reprise of the A side on the flip.
I imagine this vitriolic sketch similarly divided in two parts, the first
dealing with our current public customs, the second with our private ones.
AFRICA
A young girl sings a keen ode to manhood, which took good care
of her at a tender age and, in a different way, takes good care of her now.
The ambiguity
of the lyric is fully intended. Though the reality of incest is usually repulsive
and the act unthinkable, I believe the concept is theoretically attractive – as
the myth of Oedipus shows.
And also…
Here are other lyrics to which I put hand.
SO IT GOES
English rendition of a poem, by a friend of a friend, that is too cute to let
it die a death in a long-forgotten e-mail. Intimate flashes of family values
slip through a mind at rest like a lullaby. Cosy.
I'M AN ANGEL
That’s the way an advanced soul probably looks at a normal
life. The
final invitation is inevitable.
COULD I DO THAT?
Fear is a plague that spares few. To know that others, too, harbour fears is
an incentive to push forward and try, regardless of the results.
SCAMP ANGEL
What do angels do all day? A light-hearted, affectionate hypothesis.
THE BEST
A way
out of the self-doubt pandemic.
RENEW-RESHAPE (LOST KEY)
One day something might make you realize you’re not as
incisive a person as you think you are. A clear vision and some determination
can bring change.
RENEW-RESHAPE (GOOD FRIEND)
One day you might discover that you’re a faulty friend.
You might want
to stare at yourself in the mirror and improve what you see.
Fabrizio De André was famous with the flower-power generation to which I belong. He started out taking to Italy some of the curtain raiser songs of Georges Brassens, which gave him an immediate notoriety among teenagers. In the tradition of singer-songwriters, the music plays second fiddle to the lyrics, but his tunes are still pretty decent. I am shocked that nobody ever had the idea of bringing these beautiful compositions to the world. Here’s my translation of four of them.
WAX AND WANE (Amore che vieni, amore che vai)
YOUR WIDE EYES (Per i tuoi larghi occhi)
THE SONG OF LOST LOVE (La canzone dell’amore perduto)
PRAYER IN JANUARY (Preghiera in gennaio)