Diaframma – Siberia


Diaframma

Diaframma is an Italian band, one of the dark wave, gothic Italian acts to come out of Florence during the early 80s along with Litfiba. Founded in 1979 and leaded by the author-guitarist-turned singer Federico Fiumani, Diaframma originated from the meeting of punk, new wave and rock.

Siberia has a quite simple structure and meaning. It’s a really effective depiction of a dark and cold landscape, that halfway through the song turns to hope and desire, the will to find “the fire alive under the snow”.

“Siberia”

Il ghiaccio si confonde
con il cielo, con gli occhi
e quando il buio si avvicina
vorrei rapire il freddo
in un giorno di sole
che potrebbe tornare in un attimo solo.

Forse stanotte,
se avro’ attraversato
la strada che non posso vedere
poi in un momento
copriro’ le distanze
per raggiungere il fuoco
vivo sotto la neve.

I nostri occhi impauriti
nelle stanze gelate,
al chiarore del petrolio bruciato
e oltre il muro il silenzio,
oltre il muro solo ghiaccio e silenzio.

Aspettero’ questa notte pensandoti,
nascondendo nella neve il respiro,
poi in un momento diverso dagli altri
io copriro’ il peso di queste distanze…
di queste distanze… di queste distanze…
Di queste distanze…

“Siberia”

The ice blends
with the sky, with the eyes.
And when the dark comes close
i’d like to kidnap the cold
in a sunny day
that could come back in a single instant.

Maybe tonight,
if i’ll have crossed
the road that i can’t see
then in a moment
i’ll cover the distances
to reach the fire
alive under the snow.

Our eyes afraid
in freezed rooms,
by the glow of burnt petrol.
And beyond the wall silence,
Beyond the wall only ice and silence.

I’ll wait for this night thinking about you,
hiding the breathe in the snow,
then in a moment different from others
i’ll cover the weight of these distances…
Of these distances… Of these distances…
Of these distances…

 

Negrita – In ogni atomo


Negrita

The band’s name comes from Rolling Stone’s song “Hey Negrita!”. It actually means little black girl in spanish. They did their best between 1997 and 2001, turning a bit too much to mainstream afterwards. But they are still a good band, really exceptional in live performances.

In ogni atomo was a hit single from their 1999 album Reset, published on the wave of the successful soundtrack they composed for the breakthrough movie by a popular comedian trio (Aldo, Giovanni e Giacomo).

“In ogni atomo”

Hai le carte e passi
giocati i tuoi assi
punta pure cio’ che hai
pensi troppo a cosa fai
perche’ a quelli come noi
serve spazio ed aria sai
troppo poco quel che see’e’
troppo poco anche per te

Sei uguale a me
altro che no
sei come me
in ogni atomo

Maledetti fragili
che si fanno scrupoli
che si sciupano da se
siamo vuoti a perdere
Ma stavolta e’ colpa tua
prendi al volo e metti via
che di donne come te
lascia stare non ce ne’e’

Sei uguale a me
altro che no
sei come me
in ogni atomo

Sei uguale a me
altro che no
sei come me
in ogni atomo

Hai le carte e passi
giocati i tuoi assi
in due il rischio e’ minimo
siamo in condominio
Che chi mangia polvere
lascia i denti mordere
perche’ quelli come noi
non li schiacceranno mai
e se ti abbandonerai
io ti curero’
Medicine come noi
non le inventeranno mai
siamo soci
I’ll give you all my love

Sei uguale a me
altro che no
sei come me
in ogni atomo

“In every atom”

You got the cards and call.
Play your aces.
Let’s bet what you have
You think too much about what you do
because those like us
need space and air, you know.
Too little what’s there
too little for you too.

You are same as me
for real.
You are like me
in every atom.

Damned fragiles
that have qualms,
that spoil themselves.
We are one-way bottles
But this time it’s your fault
take it and put it away
that women like you,
forget it, there aren’t many.

You are same as me
for real.
You are like me
in every atom.

You are same as me
for real.
You are like me
in every atom.

You got the cards and call.
Play your aces.
When we are two the risk is minimum,
we are in condominium.
Because who eats the dust
leaves the teeth bite.
Because those like us,
will never be smashes.
and if you abandon yourself..
i’ll heal you.
Medicines like us,
they’ll never invent.
We are partners
I’ll give you all my love

You are same as me
for real.
You are like me
in every atom.

Negrita – Magnolia


Negrita

The band’s name comes from Rolling Stone’s song “Hey Negrita!”. It actually means little black girl in spanish. They did their best between 1997 and 2001, turning a bit too much to mainstream afterwards. But they are still a good band, really exceptional in live performances.

Magnolia has been one of their biggest commercial successes in Italy, but was never included in an album, except for a hits compilation in 2003.

“Magnolia”

Lentamente scivola
la tua mano su di te
quel tanto che basta per trasformare
ogni carezza in un gemito
ti guardo accaldata contorcerti
tra le lenzuola umide
golosa ed implacabile
forza fammi male finchè vuoi
lo sai…

Pioggia io sarò per toglierti la sete
e sole salirò per asciugarti bene
vento arriverò per poterti accarezzare
ma se vuoi, se tu vuoi
tra fango e neve, fango e neve impazzirò!

Ti ammiro per come ti approcci
a questi anni mutevoli
mi piace quel tuo senso pratico
la tua forza e l’ironia
i cieli neri intorno a noi
sono soltanto nuvole
che dolcemente soffi via
e niente può far male più, lo sai…
lo sai…

Pioggia io sarò per toglierti la sete…
e sole salirò per asciugarti bene…
vento arriverò per poterti accarezzare…
ma se vuoi, se tu vuoi
tra fango e neve, fango e neve impazzirò!
impazzirò

Finché pioggia diverrò per toglierti la sete…
e sole io sarò per asciugarti bene
vento arriverò per poterti accarezzare
ma se vuoi, se tu vuoi
tra fango e neve, fango e neve impazzirò!
impazzirò! e pioggia io sarò
per toglierti la sete, per asciugarti bene, per
poterti accarezzare
ma se vuoi, se tu vuoi
fino alla fine, fino alla fine del mondo

Vieni con me, vieni con me, vieni con me
ad insegnarmi a camminare, ad insegnarmi a respirare…
con le mani, con le mani, con le mani
con le tue mani potrei morire, sulle tue mani potrei…

“Magnolia”

Slowly slips
your hand on you
just enough to transform
every caress in a moan.
I watch you, flushed, writhe
in soaked bed sheets
greedy and relentless
Come on, harm me as long as you want
you know…

Rain i will be, to wrench your thirst
and sun i’ll grow up, to dry you well
wind i’ll come, to caress you
but if you want, if you want
between mud and snow, mud and snow, i’ll go crazy!

I admire you, for how you approach
these changing years
i like your gumption
your force and the irony
the black skies around us
are only clouds
that you sweetly blow away
and nothing can hurt anymore, you know…
you know…

Rain i will be, to wrench your thirst
and sun i’ll grow up, to dry you well
wind i’ll come, to be able to caress you
but if you want, if you want
between mud and snow, mud and snow, i’ll go crazy!
I’ll go crazy

Until i’ll become rain to wrench your thirst
and sun i’ll be to dry you well
wind i’ll come, to be able to caress you
but if you want, if you want
between mud and snow, mud and snow, i’ll go crazy!
I’ll go crazy! And rain i’ll be
to wrench your thirst, to dry you well, to be able to caress you
but if you want, if you want
until the end, until the end of the world.

Come with me, come with me, come with me
to teach me to walk, to teach me to breathe…
with the hand, with the hands, with the hands
with your hands i could die, on your hands i could…

Enrico Ruggeri – Polvere


Enrico Ruggeri

Enrico Ruggeri is a popular name of italian music, after a start as punk rocker in the late ’70s, his albums of the ’80s are considered among the best of the italian new wave (close to dark bands like The Cure), together with those of Diaframma, Garbo and Faust’o. In the following years he kept changing style, going more and more towards a classic songwriter approach.

Polvere gives title to an album of 1983 and talks about Ruggeri’s father and his mental disease, describing the old parents house as set of confused thoughts and memories.

“Polvere”

Piano americano e sfioro il tavolo con una mano
Pomeriggio strano e un desiderio che è fuggito lontano

Polvere, gran confusione, un grigio salone
in quale direzione io caccerò la polvere dai miei pensieri
E quanti misteri coi pochi poteri
che la mia condizione mi da

Aria un po’ viziata
quella finestra andrebbe spalancata
Tela rovinata
e la cornice tutta consumata

Polvere troppi ricordi è meglio esser sordi
e forse è già tardi per togliere la polvere
dagli ingranaggi dai volti dei saggi
coi pochi vantaggi che la mia condizione mi dà

Non mi cercare che non mi riconoscerai
Non mi cercare che non mi riconoscerai
Non mi cercare che non mi riconoscerai

“Dust”

Medium close shot [literally: american plane, talking about photo/video] and i brush up the table with an hand
Strange afternoon and a desire that flew far away

Dust, great confusion, a grey hall
in which direction will i kick the dust from my thoughts?
And how many mysteries with the few powers
that my condition gives me

Air a bit stale
that window should be opened wide
Ruined canvas
and the frame all worn out

Dust, too many memories, it’s better to be deaf
and maybe it’s already late to remove the dust
from cogs, from faces of wise men
with the few advantages that my condition gives me

Don’t look for me as you won’t recognize me
Don’t look for me as you won’t recognize me
Don’t look for me as you won’t recognize me

Marlene Kuntz – La canzone che scrivo per te


Marlene Kuntz

When Cristiano Godano founded Marlene Kuntz, he wanted to associate the concepts of elegance and popularity of Marlene Dietrich with the vulgarity of “cunts”, unified in a german-like spelling (but “Kuntz” is also the title of a track in a 1987 album of american experimental band Butthole Surfers). This contrast hints at the attitude, as the band was originally mixing noise rock, metallic and loud, with poetry-inspired lyrics.

La canzone che scrivo per te is part of the turning point album “Che cosa vedi” published in 2000, a record that started the transition of the band from a hard-noise rock to a pop-influenced songwriter style. The song features the english singer Skin, leader of the (at the time) popular rock band Skunk Anansie. She wrote her own english lyrics, setting up a kind of imaginary dialogue with Cristiano Godano. He longs for love, he wants to know her (she’s mysterious, a fleeting gleam), while she keeps detachment and probably regards him just as a temporary amusement. The style of the lyrics is deeply influenced by italian poets that Godano loves, like Gozzano and Montale, so it’s lexically rich and sometimes old fashioned. First two lines “There is no contact of mucosa with mucosa, / yet i get infected of you” are widely remembered and identify the song.

“La canzone che scrivo per te”

Non c’è contatto di mucosa con mucosa
eppur mi infetto di te,
che arrivi e porti desideri e capogiri
in versi appassionati indirizzati a me;

e porgi in dono la tua essenza misteriosa,
che fu un brillio fugace qualche notte fa;
e fanno presto a farsi vivi i miei sospiri
che alle pareti vanno a dire “ti vorrei qua”.

Questa è la canzone che scrivo per te:
l’ho promessa ed eccola.
Riesci a scorgerti? Sì che ci sei,
prima che ti conoscessi.

Pure frigid waters from these eyes that always miss you
Nothing but violence from my empty gun
I’m using silver to light up these blackheart faces
blinding your fingers with my skin that burns for you

Questa è (this song) la canzone che (is for me) scrivo per te:
(I listen) l’ho promessa (I promised you) ed eccola.
(I can see me) Riesci a scorgerti? (in your words from hell) Sì che ci sei
proprio mentre ti conosco (that you write for me)

E ho le tue mani da lasciarmi accarezzare il cuore
immune da difese che non servono.

Ma ora ho in testa il viso di qualcuno (don’t don’t tell me) più speciale di me,
che sa cantare ma ha più stemmi da lustrare di me…(no don’t tell me)
e questo è il tuo svago (What you want from me).
Per quel che mi riguarda sei un continente obliato (no don’t tell me)
Per quel che ho visto in fondo mi è piaciuto (I don’t wanna her, don’t tell me)

Questa è (this song) la canzone che (is for me) scrivo per te:
(I listen) l’ho promessa (I promised you) ed eccola.
(I can see me) riesci a scorgerti? (In your words from hell) non ci sei più
dopo che ti ho conosciuta (that you write for me).

“The song i write for you”

There is no contact of mucosa with mucosa,
yet i get infected of you,
who arrive and bring desires and dizziness
in passionate verses addressed to me;

and wilt give as gift your mysterious essence,
that was a fleeting gleam a few nights ago;
and they are quick to show up my sighs
that say to the walls “I want you here.”

This is the song that i write for you:
i promised it and here it is.
Can you behold yourself? Yes you are there,
before i knew you.

Pure frigid waters from these eyes that always miss you
Nothing but violence from my empty gun
I’m using silver to light up these blackheart faces
blinding your fingers with my skin that burns for you

This is (this song) the song that (is for me) i write for you:
(I listen) i promised it (I promised you) and here it is.
(I can see me) Can you behold yourself? (In your words from hell) Yes you are there
just while i know you (that you write for me).

And i have your hands to let caress my heart,
immune from defenses that are not needed.

But now in my head there’s someone’s face (do not do not tell me), more special than me,
who can sing but has more blazons to polish than me … (no do not tell me)
and this is your amusement (What you want from me).
As far as i’m concerned you’re a forgotten continent (no do not tell me),
for what i saw in the end i liked (I dont want her, do not tell me).

This is (this song) the song that (is for me) i write for you:
(I listen) i promised it (I promised you) and here it is.
(I can see me) Can you behold yourself? (In your words from hell) You’re gone,
after i have known you (that you write for me).

Afterhours – Pelle

Afterhours

Afterhours are an alternative rock band from a small town near Milan, they started singing in english at the end of  the ’80s and switched soon to italian (even though they recorded some more english tracks). The name comes from a Velvet Underground recording, as the leader Manuel Agnelli loved how rich and various that album is, featuring calm but also violent songs.

Pelle (from the 1997 album “Hai paura del buio?”) sounds simply like a song about missing someone, her/his skin, in the most passionate and painful way. The fleshly dimension adds up to the desire to know, to achieve a complete understanding in the lines “I was entering deep in you, you know, / only to understand who you are.”

“Pelle”

È facile sai, averti
se chiudo i miei begli occhietti spenti
e cerco su di me
la tua pelle che non c’è.
Poi ti entro in fondo dentro, lo sai
soltanto per capire chi sei.

Forse sei un congegno che
si spegne da sè.
Forse sei un congegno che
si spegne da sè.

E puoi maledire la tua bocca,
se sbagliando mi chiama
quando lui ti tocca.
Cercherò su di me
la tua pelle che non c’è.
Ti entravo in fondo dentro, lo sai
soltanto per capire chi sei.

Forse sei un congegno che
si spegne da sè.
Forse sei un congegno che
Si spegne da sè.

“Skin”

It’s easy you know, to have you
if i close my beautiful dull little eyes
and search on me
your skin that is not there.
Then i enter deep in you, you know,
only to understand who you are.

Maybe you are a device that
turns off by itself.
Maybe you are a device that
turns off by itself.

And you can damn your mouth,
if by mistake it calls me
when he touches you.
I will search on me
your skin that is not there.
I was entering deep in you, you know,
only to understand who you are.

Maybe you are a device that
turns off by itself.
Maybe you are a device that
turns off by itself..

Afterhours – Quello che non c’è

Afterhours

Afterhours are an alternative rock band from a small town near Milan, they started singing in english at the end of  the ’80s and switched soon to italian (even though they recorded some more english tracks). The name comes from a Velvet Underground recording, as the leader Manuel Agnelli loved how rich and various that album is, featuring calm but also violent songs.

Quello che non c’è is a song (from the 2002 album with same title) about not being satisfied while one constantly looks for something that is not what he truly wants, some goals that come from external expectations and to conform to society in a lazy way. In the end one ends up frustrated for not reaching something that is actually not there, instead of taking risks and be brave enough to reach something satisfying.

“Quello che non c’è”

Ho questa foto di pura gioia,
è di un bambino con la sua pistola,
che spara dritto davanti a sé
a quello che non c’è.

Ho perso il gusto, non ha sapore
quest’alito di angelo che mi lecca il cuore,
ma credo di camminare dritto sull’acqua e
su quello che non c’è.

Arriva l’alba o forse no,
a volte ciò che sembra alba, non è,
ma so che so camminare dritto sull’acqua e
su quello che non c’è.

Rivuoi la scelta, rivuoi il controllo,
rivoglio le mie ali nere, il mio mantello.
La chiave della felicità è la disobbedienza in sé
a quello che non c’è.

Perciò io maledico il modo in cui sono fatto,
il mio modo di morire sano e salvo dove m’attacco,
il mio modo vigliacco di restare sperando che ci sia
quello che non c’è.

Curo le foglie, saranno forti
se riesco ad ignorare che gli alberi son morti,
ma questo è camminare alto sull’acqua e
su quello che non c’è.

Ed ecco arriva l’alba, so che è qui per me
meraviglioso come a volte ciò che sembra non è.
Fottendosi da sé, fottendosi da me,
per quello che non c’è.

“What is not there” 

I have this picture of pure joy,
it’s of a child with his gun
who shoots straight in front of him
at what is not there.

I lost taste, it has no taste
this breath of angel that licks my heart,
but i believe i’m walking straight on the water and
on what is not there.

Here comes the dawn or maybe not,
sometimes what seems dawn isn’t,
but i know i’m able to walk straight on the water and
on what is not there.

You want choice back, you want control back,
i want my black wings, my cloak.
The key to happiness is the disobedience itself
to what is not there.

Therefore i damn the way i am
my way of dying safe and sound, that i cling to,
my coward way of staying, hoping that there would be
what is not there.

I take care of the leaves, they’ll be strong
if i can ignore that the trees are dead,
but this is walking high on the water and
on what is not there.

And here comes the dawn, i know it’s here for me.
Wonderful as sometimes what seems to be isn’t.
Getting screwed by oneself, getting screwed by myself
for what is not there.