Hal

Beautiful is the photo of the musketeers of the belly: one for all and all for one :)

This review reminds me that someone long ago asked me to borrow this CD and never returned it ... damn it! However, I remember the record quite well, and the review leaves me somewhat puzzled. In particular, what does it mean to say that "Le storie di ieri is a bitter reflection on the lost reason"? Hello and welcome egebamyasi.

"Maria nella bottega del falegname" is a song that condemns war, like many of Faber's works. But the most intense moments are in the subsequent tracks. Here, passion is experienced first through the brutal agony of Christ (Via della croce “poterti smembrare denti e le mani, / sapere i tuoi occhi bevuti dai cani, / di morire in croce puoi essere grato / a un brav'uomo di nome Pilato.”) and then through the eyes of the three mothers of the three crucified: Jesus and the two thieves, Tito and Dimaco, one good and one bad… who knows why De André questioned this distinction between the two thieves. The mothers of the latter ask Maria to let them cry "a little louder for those who will never rise again from death," given that Jesus, in fact, will rise on the third day. The closing of the album is the highest moment, as Tito, in his testament, undermines one by one all the commandments of the Old Testament (Non avrai altro Dio all'infuori di me / spesso mi ha fatto pensare / genti diverse venute dall'est dicevan che in fondo era uguale / credevano a un altro diverso da te e non mi hanno fatto del male....) But at the end of this journey of destruction of the ancient word of God, he discovers the new one of Jesus. Indeed, he discovers love "in seeing this man who dies." The album closes with a kind of invocation to Jesus, seen precisely as a man (laudate hominem). Poetic, organic, beautiful. An album that De André performed almost in its entirety during his last tour, as he likely considered it one of his most important works.

When Faber published the good news, he sparked the perplexity of the children of '68 who said to him, "But how? We want to make a revolution and you talk to us about the gospels?" De André replied that, in his opinion, Jesus Christ was the greatest revolutionary in the history of man. And with this album, he wanted to highlight the human traits of the characters in the gospels. First and foremost, Mary, whose childhood is recounted. After being expelled from the temple for having her first menstruation ("your virginity that was tinged with red"), she was given by lot (“del corpo di una vergine si fa lotteria”) as a bride to Joseph, an elderly carpenter ("father by profession") who was given an unexpected daughter "whom he had not intended". Then Joseph took a long journey, and upon his return, he found Mary pregnant, who told him about a dream that left "impressed in her womb" the one who would be called the Son of God. Here we can see all of Joseph's humanity as he understands what Mary tells him and, more like a father or even a grandfather, welcomes her with a gentle touch ("the old when they caress fear to be too strong").

the first album of this charles is much better, wow how bare this review is... I had completely forgotten about it :) bye

A record outside of any commercial logic, made purely for the love of music. Because De André couldn’t care less about trends and preferred to anticipate rather than follow them blindly like many fashionable musicians. The record label didn’t believe in the project, but history proved Pagani and De André right when they produced a beautiful and still captivating album. It didn’t make a huge splash on the charts, though it stayed in the top ten for a long time. It’s certain that if it had been released 10 years later, it would have likely sold much more. But if ethnic music gained more importance after 10 years, it’s also thanks to this record, in my opinion. Its common thread is – needless to say – the sea. You can breathe in the iodine with every word, you feel the crowd in the markets, in the narrow alleys of Genoa's historic center, bustling with people from everywhere and of every language and ethnicity. The songs are intense. Sidun is a song still relevant today in its dramatic portrayal of pain, perfectly rendered by De André’s voice (U mæ nininu mæ u mæ lerfe grasse au su d'amë d'amë) which evokes the sorrow of a mother for the death of her son. Jaminà is one of the most sensual and erotic songs I’ve ever listened to, a Henry Miller in music (let's quote in Italian ... "stella nera che brilla / mi voglio divertire / nell'umido dolce del miele del tuo alveare"). David Byrne considers Creuza De Ma to be one of the most beautiful records of that decade, also for its innovative scope. It’s certainly not the only one. Anyway, I think he’s right. I don’t agree with those who don’t consider this album a masterpiece. For me, it’s a masterpiece, a rare and extremely important record. That said, whether it may not be to everyone's taste... well, that's another matter.

Mauro Pagani had long envisioned the project that would later become “Creuza De Ma.” For many years, he researched Mediterranean music, studied extensively, traveled from Turkey to North Africa, took notes, accumulated materials, and then found in De André the ideal partner to complete this work. Faber could provide the right words, the most beautiful words to support that Mediterranean music; he could understand Pagani's dream of conveying the Mediterranean through music. Pagani warned Faber that for this project he would need to change his singing style, to forget Brassens and to be less self-referential, and he did so—something that is clearly felt in the album. Initially, when the two were planning the album, their ideas about the lyrics were different from how things turned out. The lyrics were not meant to be in Genoese. Pagani and De André had thought of an invented language rich in words from the Mediterranean—Latin, Sardinian, Arabic, etc. However, De André soon realized that this language already existed and was the Genoese he had learned as a child. Pagani embraced the idea, and the album took shape as we know it. The album, which is now celebrating its 20th anniversary, was a courageous and bold project for its time. An out-of-time record, countercurrent, born when the phrase "world music" still lacked the meanings it has today.

With these words, Faber introduced his album Anime Salve during his last tour. I have nothing to add. Those who are interested can find recordings of these presentations on a record produced by the anarchist publisher titled "Ed avevamo gli occhi troppo belli."

This is what I have always thought.
It doesn't aim to be a praise of solitude in the absolute sense,
of anachoretism. I am the first to say that I have many needs to fulfill and I
usually do so through contact with my peers. These are needs of a
spiritual, economic, sexual, and cultural nature. After all,
it's better to return to living in contemplation of oneself. This I have learned and
I pass it on to you as well.

Agreeing with the surroundings also provides the chance to learn better about oneself, to know oneself better, and by knowing oneself better, one can more easily solve their own problems and perhaps even those of others. Now, I am the last person who could give advice to anyone; I would be ashamed to do so. However, I say that the more one lives alone, the better one lives: first of all, one doesn’t harm anyone; secondly, it is unlikely that anyone will harm you. What truly frightens me are the groupings, the associations: it is within them that the germs of violence are born, because associations impose rules upon themselves, and to uphold those rules, they create enforcement bodies; the leaders ensure that other associations cannot interfere; thus armies are formed. Starting from a bowling club, just to mention one, passing through the Lions Club and reaching all the way to the state.