Thursday, December 5, 2013

Volume I:
   Caro amore - Sweet Love

Caro amore
nei tramonti d'aprile
caro amore
quando il sole si uccide
oltre le onde
puoi sentir piangere e gridare
anche il vento ed il mare.

Caro amore
così un uomo piange
caro amore
al sole, al vento e ai verdi anni
che cantando se ne vanno
dopo il mattino di maggio
quando son venuti
e quando scalzi
e con gli occhi ridenti
sulla sabbia scrivevamo contenti
le più ingenue parole.

Caro amore
i fiori dell'altr'anno
caro amore
son sfioriti e mai più
rifioriranno
e nei giardini ad ogni inverno
ben più tristi sono le foglie.

Caro amore
così un uomo vive
caro amore
e il sole e il vento e i verdi anni
si rincorrono cantando
verso il novembre a cui
ci van portando
e dove un giorno con un triste sorriso
ci diremo tra le labbra ormai stanche
"eri il mio caro amore"

Text of Caro amore © 1967 Fabrizio De André

"Caro amore" is based on a French song "Aranjuez mon amour" released in 1967 by Richard Anthony, itself based on a poem by Guy Bontempelli who was inspired by an episode in the Napoleonic War of 1806-1808 (specifically a scene that was painted by Goya in The Third of May 1808). The music is Joaquin Rodrigo's Concerto di Aranjuez. However, Rodrigo did not give De André permission to use the music, so "Caro amore" was replaced on the second pressing of Volume I in 1970 with "La stagione del tuo amore."

Dear love,
in the sunsets of April,
dear love,
when the sun extinguishes itself
beyond the waves,
you can hear, weeping and crying out,
even the wind and the sea.

Dear love,
a man cries this way,
dear love,
to the sun, to the wind, to his youthful years
which, singing, depart
after the morning in May
when they came
and when, barefoot
and with laughing eyes,
on the sand, contented, we wrote
the most innocent words.

Dear love,
the flowers of the other year,
dear love,
are wilted and never again
will bloom,
and in the gardens every winter
ever more sad are the leaves.

Dear love,
a man lives this way,
dear love -
the sun and the wind and the youthful years
chase each other singing
towards November to whom
they go, carrying us along,
and where one day with a sad smile
we’ll tell each other between lips by then tired,
“You were my dear love.”

English translation © 2014 Dennis Criteser


Volume I is De André’s first full studio album, released in 1967 on the Bluebell label. It was produced by Gian Piero Reverberi and Andrea Malcotti. Reverberi shares writing credits on the music of six of the songs.
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