Le Orme
Canzone d'Amore

I have never been fond of reviewing songs individually; the entire album certainly has a different effect. Yet sometimes it happens that some songs released as singles (back then 45 RPM), are not included in the album (back then 33 RPM) recorded in the same sessions. Very often the single is quite commercial; it has to climb the charts, I understand. But it can happen that the commercial single is high-class pop, perfect, with lyrics and a chorus so simple and yet beautiful, that they seem to have always existed, suspended there in the sonic paradise that only the group I'm about to talk about knew (and knows) how to create.

"Canzone d'amore" by Le Orme is the pop song that everyone would have wanted to write, the incredibly evocative, fascinating, at times moving lyrics, in its simplicity, showcase once again the great songwriting skills of Aldo Tagliapietra, also responsible for the singing (he's one of those singers that you hear and say, "Ah, Le Orme!"), but also the mastery not only in performance but in composition by the group, crafting every little detail, giving us one of the most beautiful moments of Italian pop.

"Amore mio, scrivo per te una canzone, lascio i problemi un momento, voglio pensare un po' a te", the song begins with these lines, and immediately you might think, "ok, here's the usual syrupy love song": doubts are swept away when the keyboard riff and the chorus kick in

"Sta girando il sole intorno a noi
senti il mondo che non grida più
ora ascolta le mie parole
fai posare la mente stanca
questo fragile amore folle
è tutto quel che hai
tienilo caro"

And if this is not poetry... The track's structure is unique, Verse - Chorus - Instrumental - Chorus - Outro, and thus between instrumental parts, mildly funky and very strong emotions, the song ends after a suitable instrumental outro.

The B-side of the single is "È finita una stagione", another beautiful song, very likely talking about the end of the "peace and love" era and everything it entails, but also about the end of youth, which slowly and inexorably (...and rightly so...) leaves us "...Ho guardato i nostri amici, son tornati nei vecchi panni, è finita una stagione, son cadute le lunghe chiome..."; it’s a bit melancholic, and among Le Orme's songs, a tad subdued, but well played and sung, and then, by golly, it's still Le Orme...

Canzone d'amore/È finita una stagione was released in 1976, the year when the group's popularity was at its peak, a year of changes, the end of an era and the beginning of another, a period when we began to realize how things really were, maybe a reason for the slight melancholy and conscious sadness that permeate the grooves of this magnificent 45 RPM. The fact remains that the immortality of certain songs allows them to transcend all this and much more, "Canzone d'amore" is certainly one of them.

A heartfelt thanks to Le Orme, for the wonderful moments, childhood, and youth they still allow me to experience.