Rimini: Rimini

Teresa ha gli occhi secchi guarda verso il mare per lei figlia di pirati penso che sia normale Teresa parla poco ha labbra screpolate mi indica un amore perso a Rimini d'estate. Lei dice bruciato in piazza dalla santa inquisizione forse perduto a Cuba nella rivoluzione o nel porto di New York nella caccia alle streghe oppure in nessun posto ma nessuno le crede. Coro: Rimini, Rimini E Colombo la chiama dalla sua portantina lei gli toglie le manette ai polsi gli rimbocca le lenzuola "Per un triste Re Cattolico - le dice - ho inventato un regno e lui lo ha macellato su una croce di legno. E due errori ho commesso due errori di saggezza abortire l'America e poi guardarla con dolcezza ma voi che siete uomini sotto il vento e le vele non regalate terre promesse a chi non le mantiene ". Coro: Rimini, Rimini Ora Teresa è all'Harrys' Bar guarda verso il mare per lei figlia di droghieri penso che sia normale porta una lametta al collo è vecchia di cent'anni di lei ho saputo poco ma sembra non inganni. "E un errore ho commesso - dice - un errore di saggezza abortire il figlio del bagnino e poi guardarlo con dolcezza ma voi che siete a Rimini tra i gelati e le bandiere non fate più scommesse sulla figlia del droghiere". Coro: Rimini, Rimini Rimini © 1978 Fabrizio De André/Massimo Bubola Rimini is a famous Italian seaside resort and tourist destination, and De André said it was the emblem of the album: a place where during summer one casts off one's everyday experience and for a period of time enters into a mirage of consumerism and of feeling well-off, a place where the lower middle class can emulate the upper middle class and feel like somebody. In the song "Rimini," an old woman (speaking to the singer at Harry's Bar in Venice) recounts a dream-like past where she was constrained as a young girl in Rimini to have an abortion against her will. She spins tales of how her lover might have died and of her meeting with Christopher Columbus. A parallel is drawn between the destruction and subjugation of the New World under a Catholic king and the persecution of the young Teresa for her love affair under the hard rules of propriety in Catholic Italian lower middle class society.

Teresa has dry eyes, she looks out to sea. For her, daughter of pirates, I think it’s normal. Teresa speaks little, has chapped lips, she indicates to me a lost love in Rimini, in the summer. She says he was burned in the plaza by the Holy Inquisition, maybe lost in Cuba in the revolution, or in the Port of New York in the witch hunt, or in no place at all, but no one believes her. Chorus: Rimini, Rimini And Columbus calls her from his stretcher. She removes the handcuffs from his wrists, folds back his sheets. “For a sad Catholic King,” he tells her, “I invented a kingdom, and he butchered it on a wooden cross. “And two errors I made, two errors of wisdom: aborting America and then looking at her kindly. But you who are men under the wind and the sails, don’t give away promised lands to those who won't maintain them.” Chorus: Rimini, Rimini Now Teresa is at Harry’s Bar, she looks out to the sea. For her, daughter of drygrocers, I think it’s normal. She carries a razorblade hung from her neck, she’s an old woman of a hundred years. I knew little about her, but it seems like she's not foolin'. “And I committed an error,” she says, “an error of wisdom: aborting the son of the lifeguard and then looking at him with tenderness. But you who are in Rimini amid gelatos and flags, don’t place more bets on the drygrocer's daughter.” Chorus: Rimini, Rimini English translation © 2014 Dennis Criteser Rimini grew out of De André's disappointments with the political events of the previous couple of years. In close collaboration with Massimo Bubola, a young 24-year-old who had just released his first album, De André explored several social and political themes, including abortion, homosexuality, and how the petite bourgeoisie attempted to move into the ranks of the powerful and rise above the political and social turmoil of the times. The music has more influence from American rock and pop music than previous albums, and includes his first forays into ethnic music, which will eventually come to full fruition in his masterpiece album Crêuza de mä. Rimini in summertime

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