Maurizio Galli
I solchi della storia

LA RECENSIONE

From the deportation of the Acadians to Covid19. From the end of the 18th century to our days. Music, songs, history. A single thread that binds them, making them an inextricable whole. Maurizio Gallo, a longtime radio host as well as a writer and web curator, recounts the historical events that inspired musicians and songwriters. A 259-page narrative, put together in “The Grooves of History,” an interesting volume published by the Milanese publisher Volo Libero.

A playlist divided into twenty-three chapters, within which Gallo, under the guise of music, takes the opportunity to talk about history. And vice versa. In both cases, with extreme passion and competence. The events discussed are numerous and of different nature. And they have had the ability to set inevitable connections in motion. Musicians — whether related to a rock-derived culture or not — have always been on the spot, showing themselves, more or less, almost always attentive to societal evolutions, even its ugliness. “The Grooves of History” talks, for the most part, about tragic events, bombs, wars, massacres. Who remembers Vietnam and the mobilization against the “dirty war” of North American pacifist students? A conflict that managed to give rise to dozens of songs, even some in favor of belligerence. Not just Vietnam: here we see the Native Americans, Auschwitz, the Cuban crisis, Piazza Fontana, September 11. Lighter or, in any case, not entirely negative topics are also present, such as man's moon landing, Rosa Parks' rebellion, the fall of the Berlin Wall. In any case, Gallo provides readers, in addition to a thorough historical reconstruction, a list of songs to interact with, to listen to as a background, or at the end of the reading. A stimulating journey, full of surprises. For instance: did you know that “One Vision,” a hit by Queen, was written with Martin Luther King in mind? Or that “Resta,” the track that opens the album “17 Re” by Litfiba, speaks, albeit in a somewhat cryptic way, about the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion? But these are just a couple of examples. Just immerse yourself in the pages of the book to discover other small and great gems.