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)
Notte Prima Degli Esami
Antonello Venditti Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
E un pianoforte sulla spalla
Come pini di Roma, la vita non li spezza
Questa notte è ancora nostra
Ma come fanno le segretarie con gli occhiali a farsi sposare dagli avvocati?
Le bombe delle sei non fanno male
È solo il giorno che muore, è solo il giorno che muore
E tu sei troppo lontana dalla mia stanza
Tuo padre sembra Dante e tuo fratello Ariosto
Stasera al solito posto, la luna sembra strana
Sarà che non ti vedo da una settimana
Maturità, t'avessi preso prima
Le mie mani sul tuo seno
È fitto il tuo mistero
Il tuo peccato è originale come i tuoi calzoni americani
Non fermare ti prego le mie mani
Sulle tue cosce tese chiuse come le chiese
Quando ti vuoi confessare
Notte prima degli esami, notte di polizia
Certo qualcuno te lo sei portato via
Notte di mamma e di papà col biberon in mano
Notte di nonno alla finestra
Ma questa notte è ancora nostra
Notte di giovani attori, di pizze fredde e di calzoni
Notte di sogni, di coppe e di campioni
Notte di lacrime e preghiere
La matematica non sarà mai il mio mestiere
E gli aerei volano in alto tra New York e Mosca
Ma questa notte è ancora nostra
Claudia non tremare
Non ti posso far male
Se l'amore è amore
Si accendono le luci qui sul palco
Ma quanti amici intorno
Che viene voglia di cantare
Forse cambiati, certo un po' diversi
Ma con la voglia ancora di cambiare
Se l'amore è amore, se l'amore è amore
Se l'amore è amore, se l'amore è amore
Se l'amore è amore
The lyrics to Antonello Venditti's song "Notte Prima Degli Esami" describe the night before an important exam, a night filled with various emotions and experiences. The song refers to memories of four guys playing guitar and carrying a piano around like trees in Rome, representing the carefree nature of youth. The first verse also contrasts the carefree nature of youth with the seriousness of adulthood, mentioning the marriages of secretaries with lawyers and the bombs of the six o'clock alarm. The idea of time passing and life changing is further explored in the second verse, which mentions the singer's love interest and her family, who resemble famous Italian literary figures like Dante and Ariosto. The singer expresses regret for not pursuing this love earlier and laments the mystery surrounding her.
The chorus repeats the phrase "notte prima degli esami" (the night before exams) and suggests that while this is a night typically filled with parental concern and anxiety, it is still a night for youth to claim as their own. The third verse describes this night as one for young actors, pizza, and dreams of success, but also one for tears and prayers, as the anxiety of impending exams weigh on youth. The chorus then repeats and the song ends with the idea that there are still friends to sing with and a desire to change.
Overall, "Notte Prima Degli Esami" captures the fleeting nature of youth and the emotions experienced the night before a significant event. The memories of carefree times contrast with the seriousness of adulthood and the potential disappointments that come with it, but the song also shows a resilience and a desire for change.
Line by Line Meaning
Io mi ricordo, quattro ragazzi con la chitarra
I remember four guys with guitars
E un pianoforte sulla spalla
And a piano on their shoulders
Come pini di Roma, la vita non li spezza
Like the pine trees of Rome, life does not break them
Questa notte è ancora nostra
This night is still ours
Ma come fanno le segretarie con gli occhiali a farsi sposare dagli avvocati?
But how do secretaries with glasses get married to lawyers?
Le bombe delle sei non fanno male
The six o'clock bombs don't hurt
È solo il giorno che muore, è solo il giorno che muore
It's only the day that dies, it's only the day that dies
Gli esami sono vicini
Exams are near
E tu sei troppo lontana dalla mia stanza
And you are too far from my room
Tuo padre sembra Dante e tuo fratello Ariosto
Your father seems like Dante and your brother like Ariosto
Stasera al solito posto, la luna sembra strana
Tonight at the usual place, the moon seems strange
Sarà che non ti vedo da una settimana
Maybe because I haven't seen you for a week
Maturità, t'avessi preso prima
Maturity, I wish I had taken you before
Le mie mani sul tuo seno
My hands on your chest
È fitto il tuo mistero
Your mystery is deep
Il tuo peccato è originale come i tuoi calzoni americani
Your sin is original like your American pants
Non fermare ti prego le mie mani
Please don't stop my hands
Sulle tue cosce tese chiuse come le chiese
On your tight thighs, closed like churches
Quando ti vuoi confessare
When you want to confess
Notte prima degli esami, notte di polizia
Night before exams, night of police
Certo qualcuno te lo sei portato via
Surely someone took you away
Notte di mamma e di papà col biberon in mano
Night of mom and dad with a bottle in hand
Notte di nonno alla finestra
Night of grandpa at the window
Ma questa notte è ancora nostra
But this night is still ours
Notte di giovani attori, di pizze fredde e di calzoni
Night of young actors, cold pizzas, and pants
Notte di sogni, di coppe e di campioni
Night of dreams, cups, and champions
Notte di lacrime e preghiere
Night of tears and prayers
La matematica non sarà mai il mio mestiere
Mathematics will never be my profession
E gli aerei volano in alto tra New York e Mosca
And planes fly high between New York and Moscow
Ma questa notte è ancora nostra
But this night is still ours
Claudia non tremare
Claudia, don't tremble
Non ti posso far male
I can't hurt you
Se l'amore è amore
If love is love
Si accendono le luci qui sul palco
The lights turn on here on the stage
Ma quanti amici intorno
But so many friends around
Che viene voglia di cantare
It makes me want to sing
Forse cambiati, certo un po' diversi
Maybe changed, certainly a little different
Ma con la voglia ancora di cambiare
But still with the desire to change
Se l'amore è amore, se l'amore è amore
If love is love, if love is love
Se l'amore è amore, se l'amore è amore
If love is love, if love is love
Se l'amore è amore
If love is love
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Antonello Venditti
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@cogitabondo030
Domani tocca a me.
Chissà quanta gente ogni anno passa da qua, e l’ho fatto anche io.
Voglio lasciare la mia firma, un segno.
Auguri a tutti i classe 2003 ed un grandissimo in bocca al lupo per gli esami.
Questi 5 anni sono volati davvero, e fra pochissimi giorni sarà finito tutto davvero. Abbiamo davanti una nuova vita che sarà di certo fantastica, ma lasciarsi indietro tutto così non è semplice.
Un pensiero alla mia classe e ai compagni che sono arrivati e se ne sono andati.
Un ultimo ascolto e a nanna per essere pronti ad un grande passo.
Buonanotte maturandi, questa notte è ancora nostra.
Mercoledì 22 giugno 2022 , ore 00:53
Ciao Mauri, ci vediamo l’anno prossimo ancora sotto questo video🙋🏻♂️.
@nicoloprovenzano4394
Nicolò del futuro ho l'esame domani e mille preoccupazioni. Quando leggerai questo messaggio la maturitá sará solo un bel ricordo. Buona fortuna a tutti i maturandi.
@clarimaxchanuwu1948
io domani ho l'esame di 3 media..buona fortuna a noi!♥️
@aittam07
In bocca al lupo ragazzi, un abbraccio da parte mia. Già fatti esami esami di maturità l'anno scorso
@bennygigante8657
buona fortuna
@tasnjm
buona fortuna, spero che tu abbia tante soddisfazioni
@dottorrichtofen2261
Anche io. Buona fortuna!
@lor7854
Quante lacrime e sacrifici per arrivare alla matura. Auguri a tutti i maturandi 2023!
@niccolobarsotti5216
vamo raga
@Wanted-zq1uk
Ci siamo
@simonebramani6063
Vamo raga!!! Spacchiamo tutto!!!🔥❤️