Luigi Tenco
Lontano Lontano

The most melancholic among songwriters. This is how Luigi Tenco has been labeled, an artist not much remembered but never forgotten in the Italian musical scene. A songwriter who made melancholy and the pain of living a musical flag, almost surreal wisdom given his young age and exceptional sensitivity. Sensitivity that would later posthumously give him a value among new generations that perhaps he did not reach during his brief but intense career as a lyricist and singer. True and sincere like few others, he had an eccentric personality and a life philosophy bordering on the surreal, which would eventually lead to his untimely death, still a subject of debate for many. Sparse and fundamental accompaniments, almost highlighting the essence of his music. The enormous ability, according to the writer, that set him apart from his contemporaries, to make the listener empathize with the suffering and poignant melancholy expressed in few simple words. The passage is clear and simple: a note, an image, a vision. And in a moment you enter Tenco's world. And in a moment you become part of his suffering. Some may call it masochism, others, like myself, a sweet drifting in an infinite sea, as someone once said.

It was 1966, the songwriter presented his song to 'Un disco per l'estate', but the song naturally did not receive the success it deserved, not garnering the fame it was due. Nevertheless, "Lontano Lontano" was the best-selling single for the Genoese songwriter, approximately 35,000 copies.

Somewhat like what Rino Gaetano would do in a different way, by proposing social criticism through lyrics that we can define as almost disengaged, Luigi Tenco performs a similar but not identical operation. He does not point fingers or denounce anyone, but behind his seemingly simple and easy lyrics, intimate and deep meanings are hidden, which were not recognized by the then large public, making him immediately a cult figure. As in the case of Lontano Lontano, one of the most beautiful songs in the Italian scene. The artist addresses his verses in the imperfect. Luigi talks to this woman as if he himself were no longer alive. He often thought about death, particularly his own. As if an excess of sensitivity had driven him to madness. All this is deduced from a magical text with an almost tragic undertone.

And far away in time

something in the eyes of another

will remind you of my eyes

my eyes that loved you so much

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And far away in the world

in a smile on someone else's lips

you will find that shyness of mine

for which you would tease me a little

Clearly an autobiographical song, which seemingly lets glimpse the end of an important love. It seems dedicated to his partner at the time, named Valeria. There are two key elements in the song: Space and Time. A division that takes the listener into a vortex beyond the material perception. We can view the song as a Cartesian plane, where X represents space and Y time. Two groupings of 4 lines dedicated to space (Far away in the world) and two to time (Far away in time). But why this? Luigi Tenco performs a memorable operation. Through his song, he manages to take the listener to a dimension where two of the chief concepts of our life are absent, Luigi Tenco lets us leap over the wall of sensitive perception and material reality. A long journey, a leap that, for him, seems almost inevitable. Luigi indeed writes to this woman from an otherworldly dimension, as he imagines himself deceased. A transition between the concrete and the abstract, a step that breaks the Cartesian plane. The word Far in Tenco takes a deeper and truer meaning than what we know. Almost as if it were an echo, a resonance. As if it belonged to a reality unknown to us. A word to which he surely was attached, used and reused in his intense career as a songwriter. For example, in 'Somewhere in the world' (where to escape far/past my usual life) or in 'My Boy' (Don't start dreaming/Faraway islands/That do not exist), in the poignant 'One day after another' (The ship has already left the port/And from the shore it seems a distant point) and finally, in the liberating 'Goodbye, my love, goodbye' (Go away far away/Search for another world).

For the Genoese songwriter, there is the possibility of breaking the wall of space and time. For this complicated operation, we use a fundamental element, memory. The song is a continuous comparison, Tenco compares his physical and character traits to those of a hypothetical man who would have kept his beloved company. Memory does not act voluntarily, we do not control it. It manifests in the most autonomous way possible, all it takes is a simple sensation, a small visual aspect, to bring back a situation, a person to mind (it will remind you of my eyes/it will remind you of my face/you will find that shyness of mine).

And suddenly who knows how and who knows why

you will find yourself talking to him about me

of a love that is now too far away...

In the beginning, the theme of memory revived only certain traits, both physical and psychological. In an instant, at a precise moment, who knows how and who knows why, the protagonist will be remembered in his entirety, in his integrity. The magic is complete, Luigi lives again in the brief moments of memory experienced by a girl who was so dearly loved. A love now too far away, which represents a key line. A love 'too far away', where the poet sees himself as in a different dimension. Nothing can convey the idea of distance like that which transcends material reality. But thanks to memory, it is a love still alive in both their souls, which, by means of this memory, can break the space-time barrier. A song that is a merry-go-round, an open-eyed dream, a vortex that grabs you and carries you with it.

The title of the song is a sequence of two identical terms (as the artist had already done in another wonderful song, Vedrai Vedrai). Structurally, the song does not have a chorus. A ballad that in this sense might remind one of the songs by another great Genoese, Fabrizio De Andrè. It seems that the early stages of the song revisit Sonata No. 14 (Moonlight Sonata) by Beethoven, a testament to how well Luigi knew music. A noteworthy detail is the sweet and gentle choir of female voices appearing at the beginning of the song, evoking the image of an evanescent female figure, distant, quickly dissipating, between space and time. A memorable interpretation of the song in 1966 at 'Scala Reale' is readily available on YouTube. An innate ability to stage one's songs, becoming one with the notes being interpreted. Hands in pockets, appropriately melancholic voice, an impeccable minimum accompanied by a facial expression perfectly suited to the situation. The highest points are reached when the artist is against the wall with closed eyes, expressing all his sorrow. Worth noting is how, at least to my ears, his music has aged well compared to other distinguished colleagues like Sergio Endrigo or Bruno Lauzi.

I do not wish to discuss how and in what manner his untimely death due to a suicide/murder, still a mystery today, perhaps resulting from a sad misunderstanding toward him by a public evidently not yet ready, a cloud of mystery hovering around a name that even made a peculiarity out of this mystery. Neither do I wish to discuss how and why this character’s fame has spanned across decades turning him into a cult figure in the Italian song landscape. I merely wanted to dust off a song that still, after many listens, makes my mind soar, and transports me so, far away in time and in the world.