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On an entirely different note, I want to take this opportunity to assume the role as the official fan club representative in the United States for Luciano Ligabue, who is (on the basis of sheer numbers alone) the single biggest rock star in Europe, and probably the world. (He recently played to a paying audience of 180,000 fans at an outdoor venue in Reggio Emilia.)

My wife and I have both become virtually obsessed with him in the past few months, and listen to little else. I have an iTunes playlist with 75 different songs, none of which I seem capable of skipping over to get to the next (although I do frequently back up to listen to one over and over – lol!)

Anyway, I realize that xenophobic American artistic tastes dictate that our bands should be able to sell albums and tickets in the international market, but we’ll be damned if we’re going to go to the effort of appreciating any foreign bands in our country, unless they sing their songs in English.

Of course, it certainly helps that my wife and I both speak and understand Italian (having served in the same mission in Italy, and therfore retained a good measure of our fluency over the years).

Still, I’ve got to believe that anyone, armed with at least an English translation of the lyrics, is able to appreciate a band or artist singing in a foreign language. But maybe that’s not realistic.

In any event, I’m going to start this Luciano Ligabue thread here with the expectation that, at least, there will be some former Italian missionary types who wander by and can appreciate it. I’ll post one song at a time, along with my English translation (or, sometimes, my interpretation—there’s a difference, of course) of the lyrics.

DarthJ, this is a shout out to you, although I kind of get the impression that you’re more into that syrupy Laura Pausini stuff. [Just teasing. ;-) ] But maybe you can expand your horizons into some harder stuff here (although, truth be told, the majority of Ligabue stuff is actually quite folky/bluesy/even pop-rocky in some ways).

Anyway, this first one is, I think, a great song. I’ve included links for both the acoustic version and a live-performance rock version. I’m not sure which I like best. (Incidentally, the drummer is American Michael Urbano, of Cracker and Smashmouth fame, and a good friend and former band-mate of my brother-in-law from Sacramento. I met Michael at the wedding of my bil and sil, and it was Michael that indirectly turned me on to Ligabue.)

Here’s the acoustic version of the studio album (he did a double album, with both acoustic and rock versions of every song on the album): La Verità È Una Scelta (Truth is a Choice)

Here is a live performance of the rock version: La Verità È Una Scelta (Truth is a Choice)

Here are the Italian lyrics along with my English translation: La Verità È Una Scelta (Truth is a Choice)

Well, the lead vocals are very nice – good voice, but not being able to understand the lyrics is definitely a disadvantage and large lose of enjoyment factor for me.

Hot drummer. Maybe other songs rock out a bit more? I need sophisticated/hot guitar work. How about an example that highlights their lead and rhythm guitarist?

Will Schryver wrote:Anyway, I realize that xenophobic American artistic tastes dictate that our bands should be able to sell albums and tickets in the international market, but we’ll be damned if we’re going to go to the effort of appreciating any foreign bands in our country, unless they sing their songs in English. . . Still, I’ve got to believe that anyone, armed with at least an English translation of the lyrics, is able to appreciate a band or artist singing in a foreign language. But maybe that’s not realistic.

Speak for yourself.

Ligabue - Installment #2

Ligabue attests a rather W I D E variety of musical styles in his 20-year body of work--from country blues to folk to pop rock to psychedelic to a mild Italian rap thing. I will be trying to highlight his various styles and artistic range on this thread. For my next installment, I recommend this YouTube video link to a song called Piccola Stella Senza Cielo (Little Star Without a Sky). It is the song that really introduced me to Ligabue and whetted my appetite for more.

The video is from a 2008 live performance at L'Arena di Verona -- the fabulous Roman-era (30 A.D.) arena in Verona that has rendered capable of hosting concerts and operas within the circle of its superb acoustics. Ligabue and his band were accompanied by the world-renown 70-piece Orchestra dell'Arena di Verona for a 7 show run in September 2008, which is when this video was made.

I recommend reading my English translation of the lyrics, in order to better appreciate the song. They even rhyme in this instance--I've been singing the song in English and Italian. They can be found at this link: Piccola Stella Senza Cielo (Little Star Without a Sky)

Here is the link to the video itself: Piccola Stella Senza Cielo



More songs to come later ...

Ligabue is also a filmmaker. His 1998 film Radiofreccia won multiple of the Italian equivalent of the Academy Awards.

He has published a well-received novel, as well as a book of poetry, which I quite like, entitled Lettere d’Amore nel Frigo (Love Letters in the Fridge).

In this next installment of Ligabue music, I have a link to an almost Pink Floyd-esque song called Camera Con Vista Sul Deserto (Room With a Desert View). At the beginning of many songs during this “mostly acoustic” tour of theater-size venues, Ligabue would read a poem, as he does at the start of this song. Feel free to skip to 1:30 if you’d rather not listen to the beautiful sound of Italian words rolling off the lips of a native speaker. For those who choose to listen and desire to know what the words mean, I have provided a translation here: The Years We Were Distracted

I have done a rhyming English version of the lyrics to the song. They can be read here: Room With a Desert View

Finally, here is a link to a live, mostly acoustic version of the song: Camera Con Vista Sul Deserto

I like this song a lot. It evokes a very melancholy, alone in the desert kind of vibe.

Hopefully someone else will like it, too.

-WS

Will,

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Huh. So I take it that Ligabue is sort of like an Italian Yanni / Zamfir?

Doctor Scratch wrote:Huh. So I take it that Ligabue is sort of like an Italian Yanni / Zamfir?

I'm not familiar with either of these people, so I can't speak to the accuracy of your comparison.

If I were to try to draw parallels between Ligabue and artists with whom Americans are familiar, I might say he blends elements of U2, Tom Petty, and maybe a touch of Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. It is definitely what one would characterize as American style rock, with folk and blues undertones.

More Ligabue: today I offer up Ho Perso Le Parole (I Lost the Words).

Here is a link to the studio version of the song, from the soundtrack of the Ligabue-directed (and written) film Radiofreccia, which won several of the Italian equivalent of the Academy Awards: Ho Perso Le Parole--Studio Version

Here is a link to a live acoustic version. Great flute solo in the middle. Liga recites a sample of some of his excellent poetry as a preface to many songs in this concert, including this one. The poem is called Un Amore Pronto a Sudare (A Love Ready to Sweat). If you’d like to skip the poem, advance to the 2:00 mark. Ho Perso Le Parole--Acoustic Live

Here is a link to a live rock version of the song, played to an audience of 180,000—the biggest single-act rock concert ever in Europe: Ho Perso Le Parole--Electric Live

Here is a link to the lyrics and my English translation thereof: Ho Perso Le Parole—English Translation