David Marte
Parole di Baustelle

“Parole di Baustelle” by David Marte is a work of musical non-fiction that presents a broad commentary and an in-depth textual analysis of eighteen songs by the Italian band Baustelle, chosen from a personal “Trilogy of Life” by the Tuscan group: five tracks from the album “La Malavita” (2005), seven from “Amen” (2008), and six from “I Mistici dell’Occidente” (2010). Each song is analyzed in a variable number of sections and according to different interpretations; what unites all the lyrics is the section titled “Lui disse,” which includes excerpts from interviews to clarify the texts and the arguments presented. What is most striking about the work, in addition to the exhaustive footnotes, is the interesting and vast array of cultural references: Baustelle indeed offers a complex production, rich in suggestions and references not only to the musical realm but also to cinema - a true obsession for the frontman Francesco Bianconi - as well as to literature and visual arts. From Fabrizio De André, Serge Gainsbourg, and David Bowie, to Edgar Allan Poe, Edgar Lee Masters, and Pier Paolo Pasolini, up to Francis Ford Coppola and Stanley Kubrick, the author takes us on a journey to discover a group distinguished in the musical panorama for their profound linguistic mastery and the significant density of meanings in their lyrics. David Marte allows us to deeply understand the intentions that led to the creation of the three albums examined: “La Malavita” appears as a collection of stories dense with existential malaise and discomfort, with themes related to suicide, madness (even in its 'poetic' sense), revenge, and human miseries; “Amen” is instead focused on modern Western society and political themes, with a resigned historical pessimism and a critique of exacerbated individualism breathing through the lyrics; in “I Mistici dell’Occidente” a discourse more oriented towards action and change is confronted, inviting the listener to look beyond, beyond the satisfaction of material needs, and to think that there might be other possible realities and other values. The work concludes with extensive bibliographies, discographies, filmographies, and galleries, appropriately referred to individual songs. Strongly recommended to all fans of the group, to understand the process through which a text is born and to comprehend the multiplicity of stimuli and influences that can be encapsulated within a simple song.