Fabrizio De André
La Buona Novella

Faber... He is many things. A man who has searched, a human being who has lived, suffered, traveled, dreamed. And turned his experiences into feelings, into meaning. Into music and poetry. His voice, which is sadly missed in this new millennium, has united women and men who might have little in common in terms of lives, sufferings, journeys, and dreams. Yet I know that a fan of his can only be my brother. Because there is a great truth that emerges from his songs, perhaps even a series of smaller truths.

The fact is that we are in 1970, and Faber decides to compose this wonderful suite, which tells the life of the man who most influenced the history of the West. Apocryphal, like the Gospels from which it takes inspiration, ruthless, moving, poetic, and prosaic, it paints the whole picture of Christ’s life by giving voice, as usual, even to the secondary characters. Not to mention that it is they who tell the story. As if a good father had given voice to the secondary sons and not just to the firstborn. And they too are my brothers... As in the closing track, "Laudate hominem": "I don't want to think of you as the son of God / But as the son of man / my brother too". But let's proceed in order.

After the brief intro "Laudate dominum", we hear about "L’infanzia di Maria", about how she was assigned in marriage to Joseph, with these "Fingers too dry to clasp a rose / to a heart too old that already rests." Husband / parent, then, who after being away from Mary for 4 years, returns to her. And he asks himself "The reason for an unexpressed deception from the face", "That secret revealed / when the belly rises". Which means: AM I NOT A CUCKOLD? Faber frees us from this impasse by wielding what I believe is the most beautiful song, "Il sogno di Maria". His depiction of the annunciation. In order not to recite the entire text to you, which, as far as I'm concerned, should be quoted in full, I'll limit myself to "Perhaps it was sleep / but it wasn't a dream / 'They will call him the son of God' / words confused in my mind / vanished in a dream / but impressed in the womb." No sophisms, no cultured words, and Latinisms. Only images more vivid than the clearest dreams, more chromatic than the most colorful paintings, more photographic than the movies. And you begin to understand that each of these characters is once for all stripped of the iconic armor, of the sacred that does not belong to the laity. Men, women: like those who sing and those who listen, those who play and those who dream.

So far (and even beyond) the musical fabric is as always simple: acoustic guitar, voice, violin, piano. Little else: but if I weren't listening to it right now I wouldn't have thought about it. If you are die-hard rockers, I take the opportunity to recommend "Fabrizio de André + PFM vol. 2" (1980) and "In concerto" (1998), where you will find some of these tracks with complete arrangements. Pulse-pounding.

Follow "Ave Maria" and "Maria nella bottega di un falegname", and adjectives and adverbs begin to run out; the first celebrates motherhood, the second is the sad omen of death. "The [cross] greatest for those who taught to desert war" awaits Jesus, symbolizing that those who act obstinately and contrary (okay, it's a citation from Faber again, but much "later". I couldn't find other words!) are often condemned to martyrdom. Then, "Via della Croce". Here Coda di lupo, as usual, paints all the details of the ascent to Golgotha, starting with Christ. And I still wonder what God inspired a phrase like "The voices of the fathers / of those infants / by Herod slaughtered for you". The women, who follow the ascent crying, grateful to those who had the courage to forgive Mary Magdalene. The apostles, overwhelmed by terror and mute before the massacre of their shepherd. The priests, who survey the crowd, particularly the poor. It is from them that this messiah has emerged who so threatened their power. And it is precisely "The humble, the ragged" that are the protagonists of the verse, who "Have not come to display a sorrow" as much as they love this man, this love-driven revolutionary. Finally, spotlights on those two characters who, in full Faber style, share the redeemer’s fate, dying on the cross beside him, who like him have only their mothers to mourn them. The two thieves, who find so little space in the synoptic gospels. The humanization of Christ is almost complete. "Tre madri", a simple piece of just under three minutes with slow and subdued piano and violin (the break with the previous piece, with a more complex and pressing guitar motif, is successful): simply Faber sings what Mary CANNOT BUT HAVE SAID. "As in the womb / and now on the cross / this voice calls you my love. / If you hadn't been the son of God / I would still have you / as my son". Ladies and gentlemen, Make of it what you will. I have run out of imagination to praise this album. So much so that the penultimate track, the most famous and talked about "Testamento di Tito" (the good thief, that is), is perhaps the one I like less than the others (so to speak). But listen closely to the 10 commandments narrated in the Fabrizio de André way.

This album has made me exult, cry, reflect, curse. It has taught me a way to love. All over my notebooks are phrases taken from here, it's always been with me. I realize I've written little, though a few (or perhaps not!?) will have made it to the end of this long-winded review. And call me silly if I tell you that after arguing with my girlfriend, I go to sleep peacefully thanks to this elegy.

Thank you Faber, you will never die.