What does Rome sound like?
All this darkness, as if it were baroque, has reserved small halos of light -Caravaggio-inspired- for important music artists whether they are singers or songwriters. Themes such as love, sleep, resignation, escape by euphemisms , drama, spontaneity as a measure of salvation, anguish and excessive importance of work have prevailed in the most important italian songs of the last century.
Either this, or suicide, a one-way road made easy by the myriad of bridges. my favorite is the Ponte Milvio , but of course, if someone possessed by bitterness makes the feint, raises his head and, drawing the horizon, sees the illuminated Cupolone... Maybe he thinks twice and starts looking for excuses to postpone the act: the river is dirty, probably not very deep, there are fish-rats that can bite and contaminate, tomorrow is better, during the day, without the work of art by Michelangelo distracting the view, also that way I can be seen by someone who can avoid it, Because deep down I just want to get attention.
There is something of all this theater in the Romans and the romance , that heavy load of love-hate, suffering and fortune, of wanting to die but recite at once . Of being in love with themselves because of how beautiful and lucky they are, but also because they fear knowing something different that could surpass them. They praise themselves and approach the outside with suspicion, who end up criticizing him perhaps in an attempt to project his fears. Or maybe not. Perhaps it is a mere appearance, a consequence of the plot.
Antonello Venditi
Claudio Baglioni ('Questo piccolo grande amore'), Franco Califano ('Tutto il resto è noia'), Claudio Villa ('Arrivederci Roma'), Lando Fiorini ('Quanto sei bella Roma'), Antonello Venditi ('Roma Capoccia' ) or even Ettore Pietrolini (in the early twenties) and later Nino Manfredi , who delighted for years with his 'So much for singing'.
They all were (and are) Romans, sick city lovers , although with an exclusive license to criticize it on occasion, but only them, never a daring outsider. Renato Zero continues to do it, which in the seventies it already revolutionized the music scene taking the stage with androgynous air and ambiguous clothing, daggers to the heart; deeper still with the rebellious and iconoclastic lyrics; of a power whose objective has always been to oppress. Some of them memorable like 'Il carrozone', 'La favola mia' or 'Periferia', a plea in defense of the underworld, the only ones to provide the city with authenticity. An apology for poverty, which only deserves justice.
Gianna Nanini
Melancholy, survival, exaggeration , pure poetry that approaches France. This is how part of the Italian song -even from the capital- of recent decades could have been defined. If Franco Battiato , Gianna Nannini , Mina , Lucio Dalla , Rino Gaetano , Vasco Rossi , Lucio Battisti or Fabrizio de Andrè are still immortal outside the walls, Fiorella Mannoia and, especially, Francesco de Gregori continue to brighten summer hearts inside. , responsible for the smile of many individuals who walk aimlessly through life in this concrete jungle decorated with monuments from another era. The reason: 'mascara' (taken from the album of the same name) and ' The calcistic cam of '68 ' (movie soundtrack Marrakesh Express Oscar winner Gabriele Salvatores).
Deep down, for him life is courage, fantasy, having the courage to face fears, to shoot a penalty without fear of failing and to continue being afraid, something necessary that gives you the possibility of being brave. A positive but tiring conception of reality. A permanent marathon that deserves to be run. Triumph… To start over from scratch. This is how life is in Rome , with a permanent feeling that life is hard but there are enough forces to endure it. Very Kafkaesque, if we do without the endings of the writer. Deep down anyone can be an artist and tormented.
Franco Caliphan
Some have already died and guard the city, from the sky. Others, breathe fresh air into a histrionic place and people , memorable and hypocritical that has a lot to say. In love with herself, like Narcissus, she approaches the sirens who come from outside Ulysses-style, keeping her distance so as not to fall into temptation. They are attracted to what is different and suggestive (especially British and American culture), but just in case they cover one ear, but only one. In my last concert, Mark Knopfler (Parco de la Musica), the population vibrated with the former leader of Dire Straits in the presentation of his new album tracker , a mix of folk and celtic atmosphere. A sublime performance for a guitarist, singer-songwriter and composer who has left behind works of art such as 'Sultans of swing', 'Tunnel of love', 'Money for nothing' and 'Romeo and Juliet'. He fell in love with the capital, first for its greatness and second for that Italian fixation always on the classic and vintage, which normally ages well. The Scottish genius raised them from their seats so that each one shouted with joy and nostalgia at the same time: “ Nothing like my Gabriela Ferri and hers 'grazie alla vita'” . The one that has given him the smile and the tears. They are only happy and strong in this constant pendulum movement, bearable for a people who once conquered the world with their Empire.
P.S: For those of you who try to approach music in Romanesco and have difficulty understanding, think irrationally, like Camarón: "I listen to the Rolling and I don't understand anything, but something tells me that it's good, very good".
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