Grazia Di Michele
Ragiona Col Cuore

Five years of silence since her debut album ended in 1983 for Grazia Di Michele, during which she was busy as a radio DJ, when she released her second album, "Ragiona col cuore", which went somewhat unnoticed, even though critics compared the singer-songwriter to a "young Joni Mitchell".

Beyond the comparisons, this album is produced by Lucio Fabbri and is focused on stories of real women and (self and non)irony, which is present in a substantial dose on the album, perhaps the best in terms of expressive originality, followed by "Le ragazze di Gauguin" and "L'amore è un pericolo". The sarcastic vein will, with the years and maturity, make way for a more profound and reflective style but will reappear in her recent albums in splendid form.
In the title-track, the difficult relationship between two women is told without murkiness (the theme of female homosexuality was not much explored at the time), one of whom decides to lead a normal life by marrying a man, thus repressing her natural affections and taking refuge in her "dollhouse".

"Rossella O'Hara" narrates a love disappointment with poetic strokes, just like "Girasole"; "Torno a casa", adopts an ironic tone, albeit referring to the same theme, but with glimpses of hope and new beginnings: "Torno a casa uomo/la nostra eternità/è un samba che si perde/nel blues della città". "Una donna" is a declaration of surrender to passion that "` un animale magro e senza pace/cuore di neve che diventa brace/salto mortale nell'oscurità", but also "un killer innocente e micidiale/colpisce al cuore ma non ti fa male".
These songs are carefree and "confident"; the music ranges from jazz to folk to rock in a very elegant weave, and musicians of caliber such as Toni Esposito, Walter Calloni, Dino D'Autorio on bass, Fernando Fera, who in the credits is dubbed "cosmic brother", are called upon. The B-side of the promotional 45 distributed (little) at the time is the sparkling "Promesse", both for its seemingly nonsensical lyrics and its catchy rhythm and fresh and lively melody: it is the admission of how dreams and oaths of eternal fidelity quickly vanish over time, confessed in an extremely light-hearted manner in the "promesse che l'alta marea porta con sè a non avere più idea di te".

"Bahia" is a samba (not surprisingly the lyrics say: "juntos para sambar"), this too is light-hearted and captivating, which of course carries with it Brazilian rhythms and sounds (always loved by Grazia) and even the sound of waves crashing on the shore (who knows if it's really those of Bahia). In "Anni luce" the lyrics reference Space, clouds, the "fear of planes", meteors, "cities like confetti": all pretexts for solace in loneliness. "Ma qualcuno c'è /anni luce che sta cercando me".
And then we can rest easy and continue listening where we find "Non lasciarmi mai", introduced in each chorus by the conditional "ti direi" and the hypothetical period full of fears and hesitations also full of sarcasm; the last track, "Passi di danza" is perhaps the only strictly autobiographical one, with a dreamy and evocative atmosphere, with delicate and impalpable music, where the contrast between fantasy and reality is evident.

It is probably the best album of Grazia's career from the '80s, the one that best highlights her light-hearted attitude that leads her to see the world with a touch of disillusionment and detached irony, but also with strong empathy in telling heart-wrenching stories of women with finesse, discreetly, simply outlining the contours and the deeper and seemingly hidden aspects.