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.
Old Men and Butterflies
Angelo Branduardi Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Guarding forever his corner of meadow,
Saw one hot June day a dusty old pedlar
Footsore and weary look round him for shadow…
“Come my weary friend and lay your pack upon the ground
And I will keep you safe if you should care to rest your head.
And listen to the music in the leaves above your bed”.
Gladly the old man
Lay down by the oak tree
Muttered his thanks and fell soundly asleep…
The old pedlar
Slept on for many an hour
Resting his head on his hand by and by:
He dreamed a dream that he’d left his old body
And had become a fine gold butterfly…
The golden butterfly went flitting flower after flower
And dreamed he was an old man fast asleep for many an hour…
The golden butterfly went flitting flower after flower
And dreamed he was an old man fast asleep for many an hour.
The old pedlar slept on beneath the great oak tree
Dreaming his butterfly dream where he flew free…
The golden butterfly went flitting flower after flower
And dreamed he was an old man fast asleep for many an hour…
The golden butterflies go fitting ever to explore
But dream that they are old men who can sleep for evermore.
The song Old Men and Butterflies by Angelo Branduardi tells a surreal tale of an old pedlar who seeks refuge under a many ringed oak tree in the middle of a meadow. The old man is tired and footsore and so he rests his head and his pack under the oak tree. The tree invites him to rest and listen to the music of the leaves. The old man falls sound asleep and dreams that he turns into a golden butterfly, flying from flower to flower. The butterfly, however, dreams that it is the old man who is sleeping under the oak tree. The song ends with the refrain “The golden butterflies go flitting ever to explore, but dream that they are old men who can sleep for evermore.”
The lyrics of the song convey a sense of detachment from reality and the alluring escape into a dreamlike world. The oak tree represents a kind of guardian or protector, inviting the old man to rest and providing him with the opportunity to escape the difficulties of his life. The transformation of the old man into a golden butterfly is symbolic of the transformation that can occur within an individual’s consciousness. The dream world merges with reality, blurring the lines between what is real and what is not.
Overall, Old Men and Butterflies is a song that celebrates the beauty of the imagination and the power of dreams to transport us beyond the mundane aspects of everyday life.
Line by Line Meaning
Just off a highway, a many ringed oak tree,
There was an oak tree near the highway, with many rings in its trunk.
Guarding forever his corner of meadow,
The oak tree was protecting a part of the meadow, and would continue to do so.
Saw one hot June day a dusty old pedlar
One day in June, the oak tree saw an old pedlar who was covered in dust.
Footsore and weary look round him for shadow…
The old pedlar was tired and looking for a place to rest in the shade.
“Come my weary friend and lay your pack upon the ground
The oak tree invited the old pedlar to rest and put down his heavy pack.
And I will keep you safe if you should care to rest your head.
The oak tree promised to protect the old man while he rested.
Come my weary friend and lay your troubles all around
The oak tree urged the old pedlar to forget his worries and leave them behind.
And listen to the music in the leaves above your bed”.
The oak tree suggested that the old man listen to the sound of the leaves rustling in the wind.
Gladly the old man
The old man was happy to accept the oak tree's invitation.
Lay down by the oak tree
The old man lay down and rested next to the oak tree.
Muttered his thanks and fell soundly asleep…
The old man muttered his thanks and quickly fell asleep.
The old pedlar
The old man who was a pedlar.
Slept on for many an hour
The old man slept for a long time.
Resting his head on his hand by and by:
As he slept, the old man rested his head on his hand.
He dreamed a dream that he’d left his old body
The old man had a dream that he had left his physical body behind.
And had become a fine gold butterfly…
In his dream, the old man had transformed into a beautiful golden butterfly.
The golden butterfly went flitting flower after flower
In his dream, the old man flew around from flower to flower as a golden butterfly.
And dreamed he was an old man fast asleep for many an hour…
The butterfly dreamt that it was an old man who was sleeping for a long time.
The old pedlar slept on beneath the great oak tree
The old man continued to sleep under the oak tree.
Dreaming his butterfly dream where he flew free…
He was dreaming about his dream where he was free to fly as a butterfly.
The golden butterflies go fitting ever to explore
Golden butterflies fly around to explore.
But dream that they are old men who can sleep for evermore.
But in their dreams, they think that they are old men who can sleep forever.
Contributed by Ian P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Paola Savoia
Oh dear, what a strange effect it does in English!!! Still beautiful but .....