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)
Shake
Antonello Venditti Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
che vivi a fare il mondo finirà
è solo questione di ore
e questa terra esploderà
io mi domando "come"
e mi rispondo "eh già"
ti giuro sul mio onore
che questo non succederà mio dolce amore
Shake Shake Shake Shake come respira
Shake Shake Shake Shake e no no no no non finirà
II mutuo da pagare Shake
i libri da comprare Shake
la rete per navigare
no no no non si pagherà.
Perciò lavoro duro
anche se non c'è più futuro
amore te lo giuro
no no no non finirà
mio dolce Amore
Shake Shake Shake Shake il mondo qira
Shake Shake Shake Shake come respira
Shake Shake Shake Shake no no no no non finirà.
Dice Nostradamus
che vivi a fare il mondo finirà
è solo questione di ore
e questa terra esploderà mio dolce amore
Shake Shake Shake Shake il mondo gira
Shake Shake Shake Shake come respira
Shake Shake Shake Shake, e no no no no non finirà
The lyrics to Antonello Venditti's song Shake express skepticism towards the idea that the world will come to an end, even though it seems to be a popular topic of discussion. The reference to Nostradamus and his prophecy that the world will end implies that there are those around us who believe in such things, and that the fear of an impending apocalypse may be more prevalent than we realize. However, the singer of the song seems to reject these ideas outright, declaring that the world will not come to an end, and that life will go on despite the many challenges that we face.
The lyrics also express a sense of hope and optimism in the face of adversity. The singer acknowledges the difficulties of everyday life, such as paying the mortgage and buying books, but insists that these problems will not bring about the end of the world. Instead, the singer encourages hard work and dedication to making a better life for oneself and one's loved ones. The repeated refrain of "Shake Shake Shake" is a call to action, a reminder to keep moving forward even when things get tough.
Overall, the song Shake is a celebration of resilience and perseverance in the face of uncertainty and adversity. It urges the listener to reject fear and embrace optimism, to work hard and never give up, and to believe that the world will keep on turning no matter what challenges we may face.
Line by Line Meaning
Dice Nostradamus
che vivi a fare il mondo finirà
According to Nostradamus, you who are alive, are here to end the world
è solo questione di ore
e questa terra esploderà
It's just a matter of time before this earth explodes
io mi domando "come"
e mi rispondo "eh già"
I ask myself "how?" and I answer myself "oh yes"
ti giuro sul mio onore
che questo non succederà mio dolce amore
I swear on my honor that this will not happen, my sweet love
Shake Shake Shake Shake il mondo gira
Shake, shake, shake, shake, the world spins
Shake Shake Shake Shake come respira
Shake, shake, shake, shake, like it breathes
Shake Shake Shake Shake e no no no no non finirà
Shake, shake, shake, shake, and no, no, no, no, it won't end
II mutuo da pagare Shake
i libri da comprare Shake
The mortgage to pay, shake, the books to buy, shake
la rete per navigare
no no no non si pagherà.
The internet to browse, no, no, no, it won't be payable
Perciò lavoro duro
anche se non c'è più futuro
Therefore, I work hard, even if there's no future
amore te lo giuro
no no no non finirà
Love, I swear to you, no, no, no, it won't end
Dice Nostradamus
che vivi a fare il mondo finirà
According to Nostradamus, you who are alive, are here to end the world
è solo questione di ore
e questa terra esploderà mio dolce amore
It's just a matter of time before this earth explodes, my sweet love
Shake Shake Shake Shake il mondo gira
Shake, shake, shake, shake, the world spins
Shake Shake Shake Shake come respira
Shake, shake, shake, shake, like it breathes
Shake Shake Shake Shake, e no no no no non finirà
Shake, shake, shake, shake, and no, no, no, no, it won't end
Contributed by Samantha J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
MarcoCia
Mi ricordo quando la davano per radio appena uscita... bella!!!
89p24
Ricordo di anni migliori di questi. Con la voglia di scoprire il mondo e senza la delusione che ti viene una volta che l'hai scoperto.
Paolo Brunello
Sempre il numero 1 😀
Alessandro Rigoletto
hai lasciato il segno x sempre
Pitzi
Dice Nostradamus 'che vivi a fare? il mondo finirà.. è solo questione di ore e questa terra esploderà' Ci sta a pennello per domanii :D (anche se non ci credo ahahah)
gioacchino privitera
bella anche la versione dal vivo in "circo massimo 2001" seconda traccia proprio come nell'album di provenienza g
Basim Khan
Che bella canzone
Giancarlo Valeri
Bella richiama la nostra giornata
Filippo Tuffi
Bella canzone
Luigi Marchicelli
Sta canzone è attualissima oggi