Fabrizio De André
La Buona Novella

What I'm about to review is the album that the great Faber preferred among all his works: "La Buona Novella".

We are in 1970, in the midst of the student protests. The most unconventional artist, who is also an atheist, creates a concept album about the life of Jesus Christ. What shocks the most orthodox Church is that the album is not inspired by the 4 canonical gospels but by the apocryphal ones. Consequently, more space is given to minor characters, while the more important ones (such as the Madonna) acquire psychological nuances different from those the tradition has passed on to us.

There are 2 main themes: the first 5 songs relate to all the events that precede the birth of Jesus, while the remaining 5 deal with his death.

"Laudate Dominum" is an introduction for operatic voices with a distinctly classical and solemn stamp. "L’Infanzia di Maria" indeed tells of the terrible childhood experienced by Mary: at the age of 3, she was brought to the temple, where she lived in seclusion until she was 12, when, because of her first menstruation, she was considered impure and expelled. She was hence given in marriage to the old Joseph, who had "fingers too dry to close around a rose". A narrator tells us that Joseph took Mary with him, and then left for work that kept him away from home for 4 years. "Il Ritorno di Giuseppe", with its Middle Eastern sounds, makes Joseph's fatigue in returning home almost palpable, carrying a doll for Mary. The carpenter is astonished by the tears shed by his young wife upon seeing him. Next is "Il Sogno di Maria", which describes the Annunciation: an angel often came to visit Mary in the temple, making her fly with him; one day, however, he announced to her what she was destined for: the words used, however, give us the idea of a much more earthly conception than those used by the canonical Gospels ("words confused in my mind, vanished in a dream but imprinted in my womb"). "Ave Maria" is a poetic and delicate hymn to the Madonna, depicted in the moments just before the conception.

With a 33-year leap, we find ourselves with "Maria nella Bottega di un Falegname", in an entirely new atmosphere: to the poetry and candor emitted by the first tracks oppose the sadness and pain of Jesus’ crucifixion. The aforementioned track is one of De André's most famous, where the singer-songwriter alternates with the voices of Quelli (basically the future PFM), giving the song a more "rock" feel. The text enacts the dialogue between Mary and the carpenter who is building the cross on which Jesus and the two thieves Dimaco and Titus will be crucified ("three crosses, two for those who deserted to steal, the largest for the one who taught war to desert"). An aspect completely overlooked by the 4 canonical Gospels is addressed in "Via della Croce" and in "Tre Madri": Mary's pain at losing her son, whom fate has predetermined a death she cannot oppose. The mothers of the two thieves, who weep for their sons, who will never rise from the dead, are not neglected either, juxtaposed with Mary's equally profound sorrow, leading her to exclaim the famous phrase: "If you hadn’t been the son of God, I would still have you as my son".

"Il Testamento di Tito" starts solo with voice and acoustic guitar, gradually joined by all the other instruments; the text analyzes the 10 commandments from the perspective of Titus, the repentant thief: we indirectly understand De André's thoughts on many topics: the equality of all religions and the baselessness of holy wars ("You shall have no other gods before Me, often made me think: different peoples who came from the east said that ultimately it was the same. They believed in another different from You and did me no harm"), the accusation against those who steal in the name of God ("The fifth says you shall not steal, and perhaps I've respected it: emptying, in silence, the pockets already full of those who had stolen: but I, without law, stole in my name, those others in the name of God"), contraception ("Do not commit acts that are not pure, that is, do not squander the seed. Impregnate a woman every time you love her, so you will be a man of faith: Then the desire fades, and the child remains, and many die of hunger. I may have confused pleasure and love: but I did not create pain"), and so on. Concluding with "Laudate Hominem", in which De André suggests loving others not because they are children of God, but because they are children of another human being, and therefore a brother.

A work in which sacred and profane are perfectly mixed, dense with a universal message of love and brotherhood, as relevant today as it was 30 years ago.

RATING = 9 and 1/2