Franco Battiato (RIP) - Strade Dell'Est ( Eastbound Roads)

[umbertino]

 

 

On guitar: Alberto Radius-RIP ( once guitarist of band "Formula 3")

 

On drums: Tullio De Piscopo who used to play w Pino Daniele-RIP and before also with jazz musician Romano Mussolini

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loaded trains from Albania
bring so many foreigners to Siberia
antique carpets,  Indian merchants
put on houses between Russia and China
Roads of the East.

 

Pushed  by the Turks and the Iraqis
here  made camp Mustafa Mullah  Barazani
Eastern roads of vast horizons
hidden cities of  Persian language
hence the End.

 

 They Tell stories of Princesses
locked in castles for too much beauty
Lotus flowers,  beautiful gardens
And Leningrad today ...
 

At night you can still happen
to hear the sounds of harmoniums out of breath
and  old Kurds for  a thousand years
offer their  chest to Novenas ...

 

Roads Of The East

 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco_Battiato

[umbertino]

 

 

Era of the white wild boar

 

Giusto Pio - violin

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full were the hotels in Tunis
for summer vacations.
At times a thunderstorm
didn't let us go out;

a man of a certain age
often offered me Turkish cigarettes.
But I hope that soon will return
the Era of the White Wild Boar.

Indescribable scents
in the evening air,
students of Damascus
all dressed alike
the shadow of my identity
while seated at the cinema or in a bar.

But I hope that soon will return
the Era of the White Wild Boar

[umbertino]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Popular singer-songwriter's work spanned various genres

 

Redazione ANSA ROME

18 May 202110:41 News

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.ansa.it/english/news/lifestyle/arts/2021/05/18/franco-battiato-dies-aged-76-mattarella-leads-tributes_fa12a8ea-c901-4cf2-97bf-57b095da3c0c.html

 

 

RIP Maestro...Thank you

[umbertino]

 

 

How I love this one.......

 

Winds of Revolution (literally air of R)

 

Stunning  ( music & lyrics)

 

From his best album "Sulle Corde Di Aries" ( On the chords of Aries) 1973...To me his masterpiece

 

 

 

 

 

 

1st Italian part translation

 

That truck driver in Abyssinia (Africa)
drove his truck until late in the night,
and then at deep night they made their meetings
At that time in Europe
another war was raging,
the only songs heard
were the alarm sirens.

 

 

First German part translation

 

However, Müntzer's morning stars
shining over the revolting peasants,
when they stained with bloodlight the heads of their persecutors.
However, the melody of Stalin's flamethrower
when it shouted, at Christmas, “Peace on earth”
in the frozen ears of Hitler's soldiers.

 

 

 2nd Italian part translation

 

Time goes by, nothing seems to change,
the generation I'm part of
craves new values.
And I can feel now
revolution in the air,
I can hear cries of desperations
of those going to be shot.

 

 

2nd German part translation

 

However, the elegance of automatic missiles
in Ho-Chi-Minh's skies
when they give an amazing kiss
to Detroit engineers' extraordinary mechanic performances.
However, the beauty of the machine gun
shouldered by the guerilla fighter,
when he gives the Bolivian porter suitable arguments
against his oppressor, what this finally understands.
However, what is best: Policemen trained to fight against the people,
when they are drowning in the stream of enraged masses,
and finally, finally, instead of their weapons
they catch the saving hand of the Unarmed.

[umbertino]

 

 

East to west

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reduce the stars to dust and you will not grow old

I see Venus in a dream you father what do you know

the future ripens away from these darkness

the sky is cloudless

father let me go

 

the light on the volcano will show me the exit

in the fire of darkness I choose a new life...

[umbertino]

 

 

The vid below (taken from movie  "Perduto amor" which means lost love...directed by Franco  2003) accompanying  the track "Aries" is especially apt for the next track "Sequenze E Frequenze" which I'm adding  right below this one with translated  lyrics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sequences & frequencies ( very prog)

 

 

 

 

 

 

umb's note. To me these lyrics are somehow moving even though simple...He was born in Sicily and lived there up to the end ( traveled a lot esp in the Middle East whose culture fascinated him.....Held a memorable concert in Baghdad around 1990)

 

The teacher in the summer
gave us reps
in her backyard.

I would always sit

on a little wall
watching the sea.

Every now and then  a ship would pass.
Every now and then a  ship would pass.

 

And the winter evenings
I would remain locked up at home
 and just  rot away.

Outside the thunder  noise
 would shrink my candle.

 then In the morning, suddenly the crisp weather
 would bring a soil scent

[umbertino]

 

 

This one used to be the theme of a famous program on the Italian state TV (RAI)  called "Dossier" which would broadcast interesting and really insightful reports on  various important facts ( Italian & International)...A sort of "60 Minutes" 

 

 

Great track ( one of the best in Italian prog)...From "Clic" 1974