Le nuvole: Ottocento - The Eighteen Hundreds

Cantami di questo tempo l'astio e il malcontento di chi è sottovento e non vuol sentir l'odore di questo motor che ci porta avanti quasi tutti quanti maschi , femmine e cantanti su un tappeto di contanti nel cielo blu Figlia della mia famiglia sei la meraviglia già matura e ancora pura come la verdura di papà Figlio bello e audace bronzo di Versace figlio sempre più capace di giocare in borsa di stuprare in corsa e tu moglie dalle larghe maglie dalle molte voglie esperta di anticaglie scatole d'argento ti regalerò Ottocento Novecento Millecinquecento scatole d'argento Fine Settecento ti regalerò Quanti pezzi di ricambio quante meraviglie quanti articoli di scambio quante belle figlie da sposar e quante belle valvole e pistoni fegati e polmoni e quante belle biglie a rotolar e quante belle triglie nel mar Figlio figlio povero figlio eri bello bianco e vermiglio quale intruglio ti ha perduto nel Naviglio figlio figlio unico sbaglio annegato come un coniglio per ferirmi , pugnalarmi nell'orgoglio a me a me che ti trattavo come un figlio povero me domani andrà meglio Eine kleine pinzimonie wunder matrimonie krauten und erbeeren und patellen und arsellen fischen Zanzibar und einige krapfen früer vor schlafen und erwachen mit der walzer und die Alka-Seltzer für dimenticar Quanti pezzi di ricambio quante meraviglie quanti articoli di scambio quante belle figlie da giocar e quante belle valvole e pistoni fegati e polmoni e quante belle biglie a rotolar e quante belle triglie nel mar. Ottocento © 1990 Fabrizio De André/Mauro Pagani In "Ottocento," De André sings in the style of opera buffa and the song ends with Tyrolean yodeling, the idea being to describe 20th century society in 19th century style. He explains that "it's a style of singing falsely cultured, an approach suggested to me by the pomposity of a character who, more than a man, is a vacuum cleaner: he breathes in sweet sentiments, affections, vital organs and objects in front of him to which he displays a single mental attitude: the possibility of buying and selling them. . . . Here is painted a portrait of the bourgeoisie, in the exact moment of its affirmation of power: the world of the protagonist is dominated by money and by huge quantities of merchandise." The phrase "bronze of Versace" calls to mind the Riace Bronzes, a nice contrast between the superficial and fleeting beauty that pop culture craves and the more enduring beauty of past treasures of art.

Sing to me about this time, the hatred and the discontent of whoever is downwind and doesn’t want to smell the odor of this engine that carries us forward, almost everyone - males, females and singers - on a carpet of cash in the blue sky. Daughter of my family, you are a marvel, already mature and still pure like papa’s vegetables. Bold and handsome son, bronze of Versace, son ever more capable of playing in the markets, of raping while in motion, and you, wife of big sweaters, of many desires, expert in old junk, silver boxes I will give to you. The eighteen hundreds, the nineteen hundreds, fifteen hundred fine silver boxes of the late seventeen hundreds I'll give to you. How many spare parts, how many marvels, how many articles of exchange, how many beautiful daughters to marry, and how many good valves and pistons, livers and lungs! And how many pretty marbles to roll, and how many fine mullet fish in the sea! Son, son, poor son, you were handsome white and vermilion. Which shady business lost you in the waterway? Son, son, only mistake, drowned like a rabbit to hurt me, to stab my pride, to me, to me, who treated you like a son, poor me, tomorrow will go better. A little pinzimonio, wonderful marriage, sauerkraut and strawberries and limpets and clams, Zanzibar fishes and some donut early before sleeping, and waking up with the waltz and the Alka-Seltzer for forgetting. How many replacement parts, how many marvels, how many articles of exchange, how many beautiful daughters for playing, and how many good valves and pistons, livers and lungs! And how many pretty marbles to roll, and how many fine mullet fish in the sea! English translation © 2014 Dennis Criteser It took six years after the tremendous success of Creuza de mä for De André to release his next studio album, Le nuvole (The Clouds). In the meantime, he and Mauro Pagani explored several avenues of musical collaboration which did not come to fruition. De André had this to say about Le nuvole: "I realized that people are just pissed off, and since Le nuvole is a symbol of this dissatisfaction, the transference, the intermediary for this general discontent, I would say that the album was welcomed almost as a banner, like an emblem of the anger in the face of a nation that is going to the dogs, and certainly not through any fault of the citizens." Additionally, Mauro Pagani said the album was a fantastic description of Italy in the 1980s, with parallels to Europe in the early 1800s: "Italy in the early 1980s was like Europe in 1815: the Congress of Vienna, the fall of the Napoleonic empire, the sharing of the goods among the winning powers, social classes built on wealth instead of aristocracy, a society of fake Christianity . . ." The title of and inspiration for the album came from the comedy of the same name by Aristophanes, whom De André greatly admired.

Back to Album List         Back to Song List