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Rating: Stories. Nine stories to be precise. The poet Fabrizio De André meets Edgar Lee Masters and the album "Non Al Denaro Non All’amore Né Al Cielo" is the result of this literary encounter. De André read Spoon River Anthology for the first time at about eighteen years old, then revisited it two years before releasing this album and extracted nine stories that would later become true works of art, the manifesto of Fabrizio's poetic and storytelling art (is that how you say it?).
The nine poems adapted to our times touch on two themes: envy (A Madman, A Judge, A Blasphemer, A Heart Patient) and science (A Doctor, A Chemist, An Optician). The protagonists of these stories speak with extreme sincerity because they no longer have anything to expect, they have nothing left to think about, now that they are dead they can no longer be envious, they can no longer be competitive. So they speak with that sincerity, with that clarity that you never possessed when alive. It should be noted that here all the protagonists have generic names to emphasize that the stories of these characters are examples of human behavior that fit perfectly in every era and every place on earth, in every city and every social context. The only character to have a name is "The Player Jones" perhaps because Fabrizio felt very close to this character who played not for work but for pure pleasure, he was therefore a free character who had no worries and who "did not turn his thoughts to money, love, or heaven". We then have "A Blasphemer" who, like Adam and Eve, seeks the apple of knowledge not in God's hands but in the police power of the system, for whom paradise is just a world of dreams in which to lock oneself not to see reality, there is "A Madman" who, out of envy, memorizes the Treccani encyclopedia and is locked in a madhouse because he knew too much or perhaps because he had gone crazy, or simply because it was convenient for people to call him crazy, unloading their frustrations on him. "A Judge" then represents the bitter fruit of slander that "beats the tongue on the drum" condemning the short man to a resentful and vengeful isolation, destined to culminate in an individualistic manipulation of power to serve one's personal revenge. We have "A Doctor" who wanted to treat his patients for free, breaking the system's rules, which retaliated by imprisoning him; "A Heart Patient" who, despite his condition urging him more than others to envy others' carefree nature, nevertheless manages to overcome the urge to compete through love. He dies in an encounter of love, giving a smile and a kiss to a gaze from which he did not ask promises or rewards, only the joy of the last moment, of the last "uncut flower" but infinitely caressed and savored.
These are just some of the little stories worth retrieving, also because here you find all of De André, the sad, melancholic one, but also the Fabrizio who uses irony. The music, just to change, is very engaging, just listen to the first 54 seconds of "La Collina" to be transported to another dimension, the music is full of pathos and engages the listener even when it's very simple. The music becomes more sunny in tracks like "A Madman", "A Chemist", "An Optician", while it is very melancholic in songs like "A Blasphemer", "A Heart Patient", "The Player Jones". A must-have album because De André certainly deserves it, because words are not enough to define Fabrizio De André the man, singer-songwriter, and poet. Go listen to his works imbued with melancholy and immense poetry. No more words are needed.
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