Loredana Berté
Jazz

But this year

Stars of the sea

How will it be

It takes more strength

And who knows if it will come

from "Jazz"

1983, the year I was born. 1983, "Jazz" by Loredana Berté was released. How strange destiny is, how strange coincidences are. An album that is more or less my age and has grown in me, along with me. A confident woman, at least on the surface, has accompanied me through some of the most insecure years of my life.

Oh, if I had followed the verse "Ah, it's not here that we would have pledged our heart" (from "Un'automobile di trent'anni" written by Fossati), do you know how many disappointments I would have spared myself and how much time I would have gained? Or if every time I felt like the last jerk in the world I had told myself "But if the eagle flies there is hope, that what remains of me flies out of the room" (from "Così ti scrivo"). And so many other verses that I've listened to, sung a thousand times, but it took years to truly make them mine and fully internalize them. Because that's what pop music is for, to be the soundtrack to your life. And if you're an attentive listener, music creates added value like few other things in the world.

"Our life is not construction, jazz" (from "Jazz"), that search for freedom, for one's place in the world. You always think you're the only one without a place, that you were all circling around the chairs, laughing and joking and then the music stopped and, as usual, the others sat down and you were left standing. But with a bit of experience, you learn that everyone, sooner or later, has been left standing and that everyone has thought "this wind shakes even me" (from "Il mare d'inverno") or "How much does it cost, doctor, how much does it cost to disappear from here?" (from "Quanto costa dottore"). We've all faltered and, at the same time, we've all had glorious moments when we were that "woman of the evening" that leaves a mark in someone's life (even the being furthest from a woman, because being the woman of the evening is a mood that has nothing to do with genders and sexualities).

Because deep down, life is this, it's a merry-go-round, it's a roller coaster, it's a journey where everyone can do their best. But sometimes we need support, someone to give us the courage to be who we are and push us to surpass ourselves. Because each of us is the greatest obstacle to ourselves.

That's what "Jazz" is to me, which, although accompanying me for two decades now, doesn't lose its luster, "but not at all" as Loredana would say. Every track flows as smooth as oil and Loredana Berté relies on strong writers (like the aforementioned Fossati, but also Piccoli and Ruggeri) to unleash her fiery personality.

Now, at 36 years and nine months, I put the vinyl on again and absorb its energy. As if it were the first time. Thank you, Loredana, pop sister and courageous soul.

Best tracks: "Un'automobile di trent'anni" – "Così ti scrivo" – "Quanto costa dottore" – "Jazz" – "Il mare d'inverno"