Branduardi was born in Cuggiono, a small town in the province of Milan, but early moved with the family to Genoa. He was educated as a classical violinist in the local school of music. At the age of 18 he composed the music for the Confessioni di un malandrino (Hooligan's Confession) by Sergei Yesenin, still one of his finest songs.
He is married to Luisa Zappa, who wrote the lyrics for many of his songs. Luisa and Angelo have two daughters, Sarah and Maddalena, both musicians.
Angelo's first album was never released, and resulted from a co-operation with Maurizio Fabrizio, composer and gifted performer. The first released album, Angelo Branduardi '74 was arranged with Paul Buckmaster.
La Luna ("The Moon"), including "Hooligan's Confessions" and the fine, delicate song giving the LP its name, is a prelude to the success of the following works. Alla Fiera dell'Est (English edition: Highdown Fair, 1976) was Angelo's first vastly popular album, followed by La Pulce d'Acqua ("The Water Flea", 1978) and Cogli la Prima Mela (English edition, Life is the Only Teacher, 1979). In those albums Branduardi exploits themes and patterns from ancient music, mostly Renaissance and early Baroque. The very song Alla Fiera dell'Est ("At the Eastern Fair") is still popular among Italians of every age, who test themselves to send in memory all the fable-like, repetition-based lyrics.
Lyrics have a broad spectrum of inspiration: a Danse macabre, the theme of Satan's mistress, Chinese, Native American and Druidic tradition, the apocryphal Gospels. Concertation owes much to the talents of Maurizio Fabrizio, and exploits unusual instruments for pop music: dulcimer, Pan flute, lute, clarinet, among others - mixed with more standard guitar-bass-and-drums.
Subsequent albums are mark by an increasing desire towards experimentation and differentiation. Branduardi (1981) has a more intimate tone, Cercando l'oro ("Searching for Gold", 1983), has very sophisticated and delicate arrangements (starts with a String Quartet), Branduardi canta Yeats (1985) is a tribute to William Butler Yeats. Pane e rose ("Bread and Roses", 1988) is a still inspired, but increasingly dark picture of life and death. Though similar in style to the early ones, 1980s Branduardi's songs seemed to have lost the strong, rythmical energy that backed masterpieces like "Ballo in Fa Diesis Minore" or "Cogli la prima mela". Il Ladro (1991) marks a very delicate point of Branduardi's life, edging on depression, echoed in a dark, almost cemeterial, style of singing.
The album Si puó fare 1993 brings back Branduardi to normality, but the artist is now struggling to evade the minstrel character which is now too strict for him. In 1994 he publishes Domenica e Lunedì ("Sunday and Monday"), dedicated to Franco Fortini.
In 1996, during the celebrations for the restoration of the Duomo of Spilimbergo after the catastrophic 1976 earthquake, he records the extraordinary album Futuro Antico, in which he poses as an early Baroque musician, reusing, mixing, wording pre-existing material along with his own. This experience, together with musicians and musicologists, will continue with Futuro Antico II and Futuro Antico III.
In 1998 Branduardi teams with Italian stand-up comedian and writer Giorgio Faletti for Il Dito e la Luna ("The Finger and the Moon").
He reworks earlier musical themes with writings of and about St. Francis to produce L'Infinitamente Piccolo; he writes a musical on the same topic (Francesco).
In 2003 a new album, Altro ed Altrove ("Other and Elsewhere"), in a time period marked by a rise of racism and intolerance, brings together (mainly) love stories from several cultures.
Discography
* 1974 Angelo Branduardi
* 1975 la luna(France: Confession d'un malandrin, 1981)
* 1976 Alla fiera dell'est (France: A la foire de l'est - UK: Highdown Fair, 1978)
* 1977 La pulce d'acqua (UK: Fables and fantasies, 1980)
* 1979 Cogli la prima mela (France: Le demoiselle)
* 1980 Gulliver,la luna e altri disegni
* 1980 Concerto
* 1981 Branduardi '81
* 1983 Cercando l'oro (France: Tout l'or du monde)
* 1983 State buoni se potete (Soundtrack for the movie with the same name)
* 1986 Branduardi canta Yeats
* 1988 Pane e rose (France: Du pain et des roses)
* 1990 Il ladro
* 1992 Musiche da film
* 1992 Si può fare France: Ça se fait)
* 1994 Domenica e lunedì (France: La menace, 1995)
* 1996 Camminando camminando (Live collection)
* 1996 Futuro antico I
* 1998 Il dito e la luna (Lyrics by Giorgio Faletti)
* 1998 Studio Collection (Collection)
* 1999 Futuro antico II
* 2000 L'infinitamente piccolo
* 2002 Futuro antico III
* 2003 Altro ed altrove
* 2005 The Platinum collection (Collection)
==LINKS==
*http://www.angelobranduardi.it/
*[http://www.branduardi.info Branduardi.info
*[http://guide.supereva.com/angelo_branduardi/ Guida di Angelo Branduardi
*[http://www.angelo-branduardi.com ABcom - Il sito internazionale di Angelo Branduardi
*[http://www.europamici.com EuropAMICI di Angelo Branduardi
*[http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/branduardi-ans/ Branduardi-ans -Mailing List Ufficiale- Gruppo di discussione su Angelo Branduardi e la sua musica.
Lamento di un uomo di neve
Angelo Branduardi Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In un volto di neve
Non capisco né come o perché
So soltanto che son cieco di te
Le mie orecchie son le dita dei rami
Che ora graffiano il cielo
Non capisco né come o perché
Non ci sarò quando verrai
A cercarmi nel sole
Che la tua vita non è la mia
Io sarò già andato via
Le mie labbra sono sassi di fiume
Che sorridono al gelo
Non capisco né come o perché
So soltanto che son muto di te
E ho una rossa carota per naso
Presa in terra al mercato
Non capisco né come o perché
Ma mi manca il profumo di te
Non ci sarò quando verrai
A cercarmi nel sole
Che la tua vita non è la mia
Io sarò già andato via
Dal mio viso che il ghiaccio ha fermato
In un solo pensiero
Mentre io non capisco né come o perché
Tu capisci che son pazzo di te
Non ci sarò quando verrai
A cercarmi nel sole
Che la tua vita non è la mia
Io sarò già andato via
Che la tua vita non è la mia
Io sarò già andato via
The song, Lamento di un uomo di neve, which translates to 'Lament of a Snowman,' is an emotional and melancholic song by Angelo Branduardi, a musician from Italy. The lyrics of the song are narrated from the perspective of a snowman and showcase the isolation and longing for the warmth of human affection. The song starts with the snowman describing his eyes as black coal, looking out from a face of snow. He longs for someone but is unable to understand who or why he is blind without them.
The snowman then describes his ears as the fingers of branches that scratch the sky, and he is deaf without the person he is longing for. He knows that the person he is waiting for will not find him because their lives are different, and they will look for him in the sun, which he cannot bear. The snowman's lips are described as stones that smile in the frost, and he is mute without his beloved.
The snowman's nose is described as a red carrot, something that humans would find comical. But in the snowman's perspective, it is a tragic reminder of the absence of his love's aroma. The snowman understands that he will not be alive when his love comes to look for him in the sun. Even though he is blind, deaf, and mute, he longs for the presence of the woman, and he knows that he is madly in love with her.
Overall, the Lamento di un uomo di neve is a powerful song that uses the perspective of a snowman to evoke feelings of isolation, longing, and despair. The song is beautifully composed, and the lyrics are a reminder that everything, including a snowman, craves affection and warmth.
Line by Line Meaning
I miei occhi sono nero carbone
In un volto di neve
My eyes are black as coal in a face of snow
Non capisco né come o perché
So soltanto che son cieco di te
I don't understand how or why, I only know that I am blind because of you
Le mie orecchie son le dita dei rami
Che ora graffiano il cielo
My ears are the branches scraping the sky
So soltanto che son sordo di te
I only know that I am deaf because of you
Non ci sarò quando verrai
A cercarmi nel sole
Che la tua vita non è la mia
Io sarò già andato via
I won't be here when you come to look for me in the sun, because your life is not mine and I will already be gone
Le mie labbra sono sassi di fiume
Che sorridono al gelo
My lips are river stones that smile in the cold
So soltanto che son muto di te
I only know that I am silent because of you
E ho una rossa carota per naso
Presa in terra al mercato
And I have a red carrot for a nose, taken from the ground at the market
Non capisco né come o perché
Ma mi manca il profumo di te
I don't understand how or why, but I miss the smell of you
Dal mio viso che il ghiaccio ha fermato
In un solo pensiero
Mentre io non capisco né come o perché
Tu capisci che son pazzo di te
From my face, frozen with ice, in one thought, while I don't understand how or why, you understand that I'm crazy for you
Che la tua vita non è la mia
Io sarò già andato via
Your life is not mine, I will already be gone
Writer(s): Angelo Branduardi, Giorgio Faletti
Contributed by Wyatt Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
nababben
Il pupazzo di neve lasciato a sciogliersi al sole è una metafora dell'abbandono. Non si può pensare di abbandonare una persona per poi tornare a cercarla quando più ci fa comodo, perchè essa sarà già andata per la propria strada, che non coinciderà più con la nostra.
Gianluca Valente
Un bel commento, grazie!
MaestroMinghi
Come poeticizzare un semplice pupazzo di neve, apparentemente privo di vita, di sogni, speranze e di sentimenti, solo se visto dal fuori, ma vivo e pieno di vita all'interno.
Gianluca Valente
Esattamente! Un miracolo che solo Angelo può fare!
Diegoperez Elruso
Una canzone straordinaria che usavo come ninnananna per mia figlia...grazie angelo, grazie giorgio...
Gianluca Valente
Che bel ricordo, grazie per averlo condiviso con noi!
Nick Tempest
Capolavoro assoluto di Faletti...
Gianluca Valente
Sono totalmente d'accordo!
Davide
Mi sembra cha alla fine vinca "l'uomo di neve", lei o lui è tornata/o da quel pupazzo di ghiaccio lasciato solo/a al sole e non lo ha ritrovato, l'averlo lasciato solo al sole sarà il suo rimpianto.
Gianluca Valente
Bella interpretazione!