Pino Daniele
Non calpestare i fiori nel deserto

Highly risky venture. Because as long as I write about Jannacci, well, more or less everyone agrees on defining him as a genius. But lately (a little shameless plug) I've been posting here on the site a series of mini-charts of 25 albums each, divided by musical genres (assuming anyone might be interested). Legitimately debatable. And in the "Italian songs" chart, I wanted to include this album, very much overlooked, which seems wonderful to me.

Of course, I consider the early Pino Daniele to be the most focused, and "Nero a metà" is indisputable, it's the pinnacle of his art. Then a series of nice albums, some even interesting, but nothing that excited me. Then this one came out, followed by a lot of nonsense ("Come un gelato all'equatore," 1999; "Passi d'autore," 2004) but what a shame, "Non calpestare i fiori nel deserto" made me foresee a return of Pino Daniele, but instead it was just the last spark of a great who was.

Well, the Pino Daniele of the '90s (the album was released on March 25, 1995) was already boiled, and according to many, this is also a, let's say, boiled work. I disagree. The author, who wanted to tell a story of a world between Southern Italy, Africa, and, in part, the Middle East, puts together a work of the highest level, played incredibly well. If you listen to it again, you will notice how every rhythm, every riff, even simple, every instrumentation is perfectly in place without even a smudge (thanks to some high-level collaborators, Mike Mainieri and Manu Katché).

It starts with a swinging "'O cammello 'nnammurato" and continues with the very lively "Un deserto di parole," in which Jovanotti makes an appearance. Oh dear, Jovanotti. Well, the young Jovanotti of that era still made sense, he wasn't who he is today, and then, beyond any critical judgement, he fits really well with Pino Daniele's voice. But, perhaps, they do even better in the very fun "Stress": minimal lyrics, world-music sounds, and a formidable sense of rhythm.

Among the less famous tracks, some deserve mention. I like to recall, besides the delicate "Notte che fai," also "Anima," the song that closes the album, before the 50-second instrumental "Oasi." "Anima" is a balm, a song that I personally listened to a lot during a difficult time, and the phrase, continually repeated, "L'anima che a volte ti fa ragionare, anche se hai voglia di lasciarti andare," is not easily forgotten. A small song, despite being almost 5 minutes long, because in a record full of music, full of rhythm, full of joy, it is a minimal song. Touching.

The album, which won the Targa Tenco and was the second best-selling of the year (800 thousand, I say 800 thousand copies) contains a series of smash hits that everyone knows. From the simple, but very catchy riff of "Io per lei," to "Bambina," to the little treat of "Resta... resta cu' mme," to the duet of "Se mi vuoi" with Irene Grandi, who will also be Irène Grandi, i.e., nothing, but it works. Miracles, two so-so people, her and Jovanotti, work great together. It happens once every thousand years.

Then, oh, if you don't like it, despite all this script, you will continue not to like it. Imagine that. There are many things that everyone likes that I don't (like cheesecake, yuck!).