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Rating: When you are 20, you float a meter above the ground, when you are 20, you feel like the master of the world, you are not afraid of anyone, when you are 20, you have so much to say, and you find yourself in a garage playing with some friends, drinking beers and smoking joints thinking of Istanbul or Eva, the allure of Muslim countries, the trips you will take...
When you are 20, whatever you write smells of poetry, you are emotionally charged, you love all strangers and you think that one day you'll spit venom on the church and politics because you really hate them, they don't belong to you, and if you do, it will be in front of hundreds of cameras and microphones.
"You can win a war in two and maybe even alone, you can extract the heart even from the blackest murderer, but it's harder to change an idea"... who knows how long these words have been lingering in your head, maybe it was your indelible motto, a belief: who knows how much you hated the synth pop of your years (in '87), or more intelligently, you realized that your dreamlike lyrics could only be supported by a bass so punk (only Maroccolo could express it at those levels) and a keyboard that tasted of LSD (Immense Aiazzi), all expressed to the highest values by the deepest voice that the Italian rock scene remembers in those years (inspired and histrionic Pelù).
Dear Litfiba, you who already with Desaparecido had distanced yourself from everything and everyone, who had wanted to show yourself and be heard with self-production to ensure that no one spoiled your outfit, who just to maintain your artistic virginity would have thrown stones with anyone in the square in Florence... you display in this 17 Re all your artistic beauty, unconsciously, I believe that twenty years later, "Resta," "Re del Silenzio," "Vendetta," "Come un Dio," "Apapaia," "Gira nel mio Cerchio," "Oro Nero" would have maintained all their splendor and charm, would have become classics for thousands of people, would be listened to and sung in parked cars (so that no one can see us) in the middle of the countryside with friends armed with cigarettes and beers with the desire to escape who knows where, singing them with eyes closed.
Because I felt they were mine! Because they had a beating heart, because like me, they didn't fit in with anyone, because they were charged and I discovered them only five years later! And all this happened before TV, before filling stadiums, before I don't even know what... Don't be offended, but I'm sure that in those years you were more interested in making your uncomfortable, revolutionary, and independent cry heard; you felt good only within your circle.
Maybe, Litfiba, you were the Eva dancing in the fire, you were like a God, you felt like a Desaparecido with your way of presenting yourself, having fun glimpsing, appearing, and disappearing.
Ghigo, Piero, Ringo, Gianni, and Antonio... perhaps they were the real Heroes in the Wind, a wind that later will sweep them who knows where, but the music always remains, in the heart and mind, especially when there are real people inside, whether they are 20 years old or not, that doesn't matter here.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 Resta (02:53)
Uh!
Tu mi hai cercato fino a qui,
Sono ancora un po' stonato
Sto oscillando su una lama
Fra orizzonti e vertici
Tu sei venuta fino a qui
Superando i sette mari, volavi
Oh! tu sei forte, mi ferisci
Regina della pioggia
Forte pioggia
Strana pioggia
Strana pioggia
La-la-la-la la-la-la-Eh! Uh!
Tu mi hai legato i una scatola
col corpo da scorpione
Non posso stare
Il mondo cambia colore alla mia pelle
Non al sole
Resta
Una parte di me
Quella piu`, quella piu` vicina al nulla
Resta
Una parte di me
Quella piu`, quella piu` vicina al nulla
Vicina al nulla
Resta
Una parte di me
Quella piu`, quella piu` vicina al nulla
Vicina al nulla
Resta
Una parte di me
Quella piu`, quella piu` vicina al nulla
Vicina al nulla
Resta Resta Resta Resta
Resta Resta Resta Uh!
02 Re del silenzio (04:05)
Ti stavo a guardare
Nel silenzio..
Il senso dello spazio dello spazio ci divide gia`
Mi fermo qui, davanti a questo muro
Ogni parola non ha piu` peso dell' aria
Che si confonde in noi
Non respirare
Questo momento non ha eta`
E un vago senso di vuoto ci colora
Ti prego lasciami solo!
Io, scatto senza volo!
Io, cuore senza amore!
Io, re del mio silenzio
Gia`...
Tutto e` lontano
La gioia e la malinconia
E ogni pensiero non ha piu` peso dell' aria
Che si confonde in me
Quando tutto e` qui, quando tutto e` fermo
Non chiedo pieta`, chiedo di lasciare che tutto passi
Perche` non so piu` amare!
Io, scatto senza volo!
Io, cuore senza amore!
Io, cuore senza amore!
Io, re del mio silenzio!
Volo, volo
Volo, volo
Volo, volo
Volo, volo
CADO!!
07 Come un Dio (05:00)
Io sono come Dio
E potrei rapirvi il cuore per un attimo
In non ho mai incontrato Dio
Ma conosco un' altra verita`
Trallallerolla`
Io sono come Dio
E gli uomini li rifarei come ora
Occhi per non vedere, bocche per non parlare
Meglio cosi`
Trallallerola`,
Trallallerlerolla`
L' energia corre via,
L' energia si trasformera`
L' energia corre via,
L' energia si trasformera`
L' energia corre via,
L' energia si trasformera`
Io pazzo come... come Dio
Vi farei morire di paura
Promettendo l' inferno o la pieta`
Promettendo l' inferno o la pieta`
Io sono come Dio e gli uomini li rifarei come ora.
Trallallerola`,
Trallallerlerolla`
Energia corri via
L' energia si trasformera`
L' energia corre via,
L' energia si trasformera`
L' energia corre via,
L' energia si trasformera`
L' energia corre via,
L' energia si trasformera`
La la lalla
Trallallerolla`, la la lalla
Trallallerolla`, la la lalla
Trallallerolla`, la la lalla,
la la lalla
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Other reviews
By the clash
"'17 Re': 16 masterpieces, a double album, new wave, post-punk, decadent and irritating visions, sensuality, darkness, apocalypse, war…"
"A riff repeated endlessly, just as space will remain endless around that heart, the one on the cover, barbed and filled with the pain of wars, silences, deaths, and vendettas."
By ms
"‘17 Re’ remains with ‘Desaparecido’ in the Olympus of Italian rock."
"Tracks ‘gira nel mio cerchio’ and ‘oro nero’ are two of the best songs ever produced by Litfiba, alternative music to the pale pop of those years."
By David Bowie
"17 Re is, in all probability, the least easy and most fascinating album by Litfiba, able to withstand the test of time with an innovative sound."
"Piero Pelù, a modern Iggy Pop whose famous shamanic registry makes even the simplest lyrics original."
By Ferito
A superb piece in both composition and execution makes this album a masterpiece for all Italian rock.
'Apapaia'... Perhaps the greatest song of this group.
By popmusic
The zenith in this case is a never again achieved alchemy of thoughts, images, and sounds of total beauty and complete freedom.
These grooves go well beyond the new wave that had inadvertently marked the Litfiba beginnings to coin new formulas of musical experimentation.
