Antonello Venditti was born in Rome, the son of a police commissary.
He studied piano in his youth and made his debut in the music world in the early 1970s at the Folkstudio of Rome, together with singers the like of Francesco De Gregori and Giorgio Lo Cascio. In duo with the former he released in 1972 his first LP, Theorius Campus. The LP scored little success, but Venditti at least made himself being noted for the strength of his vocal qualities and for his attention for social issues, evidenced by pieces like "Sora Rosa" which is sung in Roman dialect. Also in dialect was "Roma Capoccia", a declaration of love for his city, that later became one of his most famous songs. Curiously, Venditti refused to sing it for several years, as he considered it not politically or socially "engaged" enough.
Venditti subsequently moved to Milan and released L'orso bruno (1973), made in collaboration with musician Vince Tempera: this album included another song in dialect, "E Li Ponti So’ Soli", but for the rest was marked by an even stronger attention to social themes. His next work, Le cose della vita ("Things of Our Life"), released the same year for the colossus RCA Music, confirmed this tendency. The following LP Quando verrà Natale ("When Christmas Will Come") was similar; its even more naked arrangements emphasize the strength of Venditti's denunciation. After a live performance of the song "A Cristo" ("Hey, Christ"), he was denounced by an Italian Police officer for blasphemy: Venditti, however, was later totally acquitted.
Venditti's fortunes grew and peaked in 1975, with the LP Lilly: the yearning title-track was another strong accusation, this time against drugs, but it met an outstanding success anyway. Other famous pieces in the album were "Compagno di scuola" ("Schoolmate") and the long ballad "Lo Stambecco Ferito" ("The Wounded Steinbeck"), the story of a corrupted Northern Italy tycoon. Venditti continued to deal with front-page facts with the following LP, Ullalà (1976), whose "Canzone per Seveso" was about the eponymous industrial accident that happened in July of that year.
Political involvement, however, had side-effects on Venditti's inspiration in the late 1970s, marked in Italy by the growing menace of terrorism and by the strategia della tensione: some events (like the public booing of his friend De Gregori by politicized fans during a show) forced him to rethink his way of being a public personality. Sotto il segno dei Pesci ("(Born) Under the Pisces astrological sign", 1978) contained more personal and intimate themes. The eponymous track scored a great success, but was largely misinterpreted as a song about a woman: it instead referred to Venditti's career itself; he was effectively born "under the Pisces sign".
Success was however marred by his divorce to his wife Simona Izzo. She won custody of Venditti's son, Francesco Saverio. The following LP, Buona Domenica (1979), was highly marked by this difficult period. It contained anyway several classics, like the title-track and the ballad "Modena", which featured Gato Barbieri saxophone and is considered one of his finest works.
In 1982 the bitter Sotto la pioggia marked Venditti's passage to his own label, Heinz Music, and the beginning of the long-lasting collaboration with producer Alessandro Colombini. The following year A.S. Roma, his city's football team, won its long-awaited second scudetto: Venditti was therefore called in the official celebration show, and the song that he composed for the occasion, "Grazie Roma" ("Thank You Roma"), turned into a great success, surprisingly not confined to Rome's boundaries. Venditti had already composed several songs about his favourite soccer team: some criticized them harshly, mostly because of the strong contrast with the political-social themes of his other songs.
In following years, and notably in the 1990s, Venditti inspiration seemed to become more mainstream and commercial. His LPs (Cuore, In questo mondo di ladri, Benvenuti in Paradiso, Prendilo tu questo frutto amaro) were very successful, but his former themes were absent, or generally less stressed. Pieces like "Notte prima degli esami" or "Ma che bella giornata di sole" (about the Italian Liberation Day of September 1943) were anyway praised by critics. Among the songs of this period, "Dolce Enrico" was dedicated to the former leader of Partito Comunista Italiano, Enrico Berlinguer, dead in 1984.
Antonello nel Paese delle Meraviglie ("Antonello in Wonderland") of 1997 featured his greatest hits accompanied by the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra of Sofia, directed by Renato Serio. Goodbye Novecento (1999) gave increasing attention to social and historical themes, but had a sub par success for Venditti's standards. In 2001 A.S. Roma won again a scudetto, and Venditti played again in a free concert in the Circo Massimo for an immense audience of tifosi and lovers of his songs. His latest studio release is Che fantastica storia è la vita ("What a Fantastic Story Is Life", October 2003). Gato Barbieri played with Venditti in this release. After resolved the difficulties in his friendship with Venditti, told in the latter's 1979 song "Scusa Francesco", "Sorry Francesco", De Gregori is also present as singer in "Io e mio fratello" ("Me and My Brother"). The album also contains a satire of Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi ("Il Sosia").
Venditti released the soundtrack for the 1985 movie Troppo forte by his friend, the Roman director Carlo Verdone. Verdone also played occasionally drums in Venditti's concertos.
Discography
* Bomba o non Bomba
* Theorius Campus (1972), with Francesco De Gregori under the collective byname of Theorius Campus)
* L'orso bruno (1973)
* Le cose della vita (1973)
* Quando verrà Natale (1974)
* Lilly (1975)
* Ullalà (1976)
* Sotto il segno dei pesci (1978)
* Buona domenica (1979)
* Sotto la pioggia (1982)
* Circo Massimo (1983, live)
* Cuore (1984)
* Centocittà (1985, live)
* Venditti e Segreti (1986)
* In questo mondo di ladri (1988)
* Gli anni ’80 (1990, collection)
* Benvenuti in Paradiso (1991)
* Da Sansiro a Samarcanda – L’amore insegna agli uomini (1992, live)
* Prendilo tu questo frutto amaro (1995)
* Antonello nel Paese delle Meraviglie (1997, live)
* Goodbye Novecento (1999)
* Se l'amore è amore... (2000, collection)
* Circo Massimo 2001 (2001, live)
* Il coraggio e l’amore (2002, collection)
* Che fantastica storia è la vita (2003)
* Campus Live (2005, live)
Il Telegiornale
Antonello Venditti Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
questa sera tutti a casa c'è il telegiornale
e fra un boccone e l'altro, un servizio dal Giappone
e quando sei alla frutta la città è distrutta
Il telegiornale
che ti fa imparare
il telegiornale che ti sa insegnare
il telegiornale
il telegiornale ci fa sentire più vivi
TG1 TG2 TG speciale
niente cinema stasera c'è il telegiornale
e tra un boccone e l'altro, un servizio da New York
e quando sei alla frutta la trasmissione si è interrotta
Il telegiornale che ti fa vedere
il telegiornale che ti fa
non ti fa invecchiare
il telegiornale
entra dentro la notizia
il telegiornale
entra in casa con la frutta
TG1 TG2 che confusione
ma almeno rimane il pregio dell'informazione
e tra una smentita e l'altra e un sorriso ministeriale
ci fa capire che le cose non vanno poi
troppo male
Il telegiornale così spettacolare
il telegiornale così obbiettivamente imparziale
il telegiornale la rapina te la dà in diretta
il telegiornale salva la povera vecchietta
TG1 TG2 TG3 TG4 TG5 TG6 TG notte....
Il telegiornale così spettacolare
il telegiornale così obbiettivamente imparziale
il telegiornale sangue sangue te lo dà in diretta
il telegiornale salva la povera vecchietta
Il telegiornale
Buonasera Buonasera.....
The song Il Telegiornale by Antonello Venditti is a commentary on the impact of news media on our daily lives. The chorus "TG1 TG2 TG speciale, questa sera tutti a casa c'è il telegiornale" (TG1 TG2 TG special, tonight everyone is at home watching the news) highlights how news media dominates our evenings and takes us away from other forms of entertainment like cinema or spending time with loved ones. The lyrics refer to news coverage of events from around the world, such as a report from Japan or New York. The song talks about the way news media shapes our understanding of the world, showing us both the good and the bad, and how it can make us feel connected to events that are happening far away from us.
The lyrics also critique the news media for its bias and sensationalism, with lines like "il telegiornale che organizza rivolte bracciantili" (the news that organizes agrarian workers' uprisings) and "il telegiornale sangue sangue te lo dà in diretta" (the news that shows you blood in live coverage). Venditti suggests that the news media plays a role in creating fear and panic in society, but at the same time, it can also provide important information and even serve as a lifeline in times of crisis, "il telegiornale salva la povera vecchietta" (the news that saves the poor old lady).
Overall, Il Telegiornale is a reflection on the power of news media in shaping our worldview and the importance of understanding its limitations and biases.
Line by Line Meaning
TG1 TG2 TG speciale
Tonight there's a special edition of the TV news
questa sera tutti a casa c'è il telegiornale
Everyone's staying home tonight to watch the news
e fra un boccone e l'altro, un servizio dal Giappone
Watching the news while eating, a report from Japan appears
e quando sei alla frutta la città è distrutta
When you're already feeling down, the news shows the city in ruins
Il telegiornale che ti fa imparare
The news program that teaches you things
il telegiornale che ti sa insegnare
The news program that knows how to teach you
il telegiornale organizza rivolte bracciantili
The news program that incites farm workers to revolt
il telegiornale ci fa sentire più vivi
The news program that makes us feel more alive
TG1 TG2 TG speciale
Tonight there's a special edition of the TV news
niente cinema stasera c'è il telegiornale
There's no movie tonight, only the news program
e tra un boccone e l'altro, un servizio da New York
While eating, a report from New York appears
e quando sei alla frutta la trasmissione si è interrotta
When you're already feeling down, the news program suddenly stops
Il telegiornale che ti fa vedere
The news program that shows you things
il telegiornale che ti fa non ti fa invecchiare
The news program that doesn't make you feel old
il telegiornale entra dentro la notizia
The news program that delves deeper into the news stories
il telegiornale entra in casa con la frutta
The news program that enters your home while you're eating
TG1 TG2 che confusione
There's so much going on in the news
ma almeno rimane il pregio dell'informazione
At least it provides informative value
e tra una smentita e l'altra e un sorriso ministeriale
Amidst all the denials and ministerial smiles
ci fa capire che le cose non vanno poi troppo male
We understand that things aren't going too badly
Il telegiornale così spettacolare
The news program that's so spectacular
il telegiornale così obbiettivamente imparziale
The news program that's objectively impartial
il telegiornale la rapina te la dà in diretta
The news program that shows live footage of a robbery
il telegiornale salva la povera vecchietta
The news program that helps a poor old woman
TG1 TG2 TG3 TG4 TG5 TG6 TG notte....
24/7 news cycle, day and night
Il telegiornale così spettacolare
The news program that's so spectacular
il telegiornale così obbiettivamente imparziale
The news program that's objectively impartial
il telegiornale sangue sangue te lo dà in diretta
The news program that shows live footage of bloodshed
il telegiornale salva la povera vecchietta
The news program that helps a poor old woman
Il telegiornale
The news program
Buonasera Buonasera.....
Good evening, good evening...
Contributed by Elena C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
dafy s
La ascoltavo su uno stereo 8 da bambino in vacanza con i miei genitori su un fiat 238 pseudocamperizzato in viaggio verso la puglia... sarà stato il 1981..
Canzone bellissima e profetica!
sergio sozi
Anch'io in quegli anni - dal '78 in poi, fino a verso il 1983 - ero in viaggio con la mia famiglia con FIAT 127 verso la Puglia, a luglio!... e l'autoradio esisteva solo teoricamente visto che non prendevamo manco le radio locali... si tirava avanti col mangianastri e le cassette ahahah! Che bei tempi... avevo da 13 ai 18 anni circa...
victoria ojeda
Adorabile Antonello
19shed72
E ci mancherebbe!!!!!!!Ciao grande Gagà!!!
Salvatore Tremacoldo
anke se ho 15 anni questa canzone mi piace molto MITICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Photours Torino
Anche io penso di averla ascoltata la prima volta a 15 anni su LP!
dance43ver
Io la ascoltai la prima volta a 10 anni su una musicassettta.
Andrea Lecomte
Venditti era un cantante d'assalto come pochi, ai suoi tempi. O l'accettavi com'era o te ne andavi!
MaxOldworld
Da decenni che non la sentivo .....carina
Gianna
Di quest tempi, non c'è nulla di più vero.