Fabrizio de André - Oceano But in the end, what do we really know about the hows and whys, and so on?
Not much, but sometimes something comes to light, like this story about two songs:
"Once I had listened to a song in a nightclub that stuck in my head, I liked it so much, and it was 'Alice' by Francesco De Gregori. At the same time, a question had stuck in my head: why does Alice look at the cats and not at that lamppost over there, or any other thing, a rock rather than a bush, a tree? I wanted to ask her, but I didn't know how, I didn't know her and I had this question for her...
The following summer, I discover that she is starting to work with my father on an album called 'Volume Ottavo.' Can you imagine, I went crazy—I went to Sardinia and found her there, at home. In pajamas. Working with my father, sitting on my couch, with a guitar, young, with a red beard, a bit of a hippie [...]. So I gather my courage and go to her. This is Fabrizio's son, Cristiano; nice to meet you, Francesco. I start off slowly, then gradually I convince myself and one day: 'Francesco, why does Alice look at the cats?'
He looks at me with one eye open and the other closed... He doesn’t respond. And he never answered me. Actually, he did answer me, but in a rather unusual way: he wrote a song, with my father. It's called 'Oceano,' and I must say that I am proud of this song because it was dedicated to me. It's the answer to why Alice looks at the cats. After that, I never dared to ask him such questions again."
From an interview with Cristiano De André from 1995.
