Etta Scollo was born in Catania, where she majored in Arts in high school. … Read Full Bio ↴Etta Scollo was born in Catania, where she majored in Arts in high school. At the age of 18, she moved to Turin and began studying to become an Architect. She abandoned her studies, however, in order to devote herself to music completely.

She won first prize at the "Diano Marina-Jazz Festival", which was directed by Jazz composer Giorgio Gaslini. Around this time, she also attended a three-year course in singing at the Vienna Conservatory.

Between 1983 and 1987 she worked with artists such as saxophonist Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Sunnyland Slim and Champion Jack Dupree, both in the recording studio and in concerts. She attended singing seminars with artists such as Bobby McFerrin and Sheila Jordan during the same period.

Chance encounters with producers from the Pop music scene led to cooperations such the recording of the Paul McCartney song "Oh Darling", which Etta adapted with Italian lyrics. This song immediately shot to No. 1 in the Austrian charts.

In the 1990s she was busy in Hamburg where she, along with the musical Ensemble L'art pour l'Art (see also Palimpsest by H. J. Hespos), undertook experiments with contemporary music. She composed film scores – for example Come la pioggia for the film "Für immer und immer" (for ever and ever) by Hark Bohm and "I tuoi fiori" for the film "Bad Guy" by Korean director Kim Ki-Duk. Due to her musical tours and her albums Blu, Il bianco del tempo (Orbit Rec.) and Casa (Mongebel), she is one of the most popular Italian artists in Germany today.

Resident in Berlin und Sicily, she is currently devoting herself to composing and to exploring traditional music.

The success of her Canta Ro' symphonic concerts, which were performed as part of the Palermo summer Festival in July 2004 featuring Etta Scollo and the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, conducted by Angelo Faja, has confirmed the contemporary relevance of Sicily's traditional music, which until then was known only to a limited audience.

The live recording of this project was awarded the «deutschen Schallplatten KritikerPreis 2005» and together with Canta Ro' in Trio won the RUTH-Preis 2007.

Around the same time, she went on tour with Les Siciliens, a performance documenting the dreams and reality, history and myths of her native island. From this, a live album was produced. In addition, she gave a concert together with Franco Scaldati und Enrico Stassi, La mia vita vorrei scriverla cantando – omaggio a Ignazio Buttita.

For the "Festival delle Orestiadi" in Gibellina ,she composed Il fiore splendente (Edel Classic), a poetical-musical project drawn from an anthology of Arabian poets in Sicily, published by Francesca M. Corrao.

The resulting CD was released in September 2008.
The project has been enriched by the much appreciated contribution of several outstanding figures of the international music scene, including Maestro Franco Battiato, cellist and composer Giovanni Sollima, Nabil Salameh, singer and leader of the multicultural band Radiodervish, the composer and Trumpet player Markus Stockhausen, the soprano Cécile Kempenaers and the actor and singer-songwriter Alain Croubalian. Il fiore splendente is also published in Italy (Edel Italia) France (Integral Classic) and USA (Allegro).

lava
Etta Scollo Lyrics

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Lava che lava,
Terra di paradiso
Spicchio di sole
Degli Dei il sorriso
Delle sirene il canto
Delle vedove il pianto
Gerani sui balconi
Nascondono un rimpianto

Lava che lava che lava che lava
Lava che lava che lava che lava
Lava che lava
Rancori sull'asfalto
Frasi sussurrate
Dopo un ultimo assalto
Uomini in doppiopetto
Bimbe vestite a festa
Il fragore di un delitto
All'ombra della siesta
Lava che lava che lava che lava
Lava che lava che lava che lava
Quante ragioni scritte in vano
Pensieri ritorti come
Il fazzoletto in una mano
Lava che lava e ricopre una città
Fra mille anni ancora
La sua storia canterà
Lava che lava,
Terra di paradiso

Spicchio di sole
Degli Dei il sorriso.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Etta Scollo's song "Lava" speak of a land of paradise that is constantly being cleansed by lava. This lava is not only physical, but metaphorical as well. It serves to wash away the sins and grudges held by the inhabitants of the land. The first stanza speaks of the beauty of the land, with the slice of sun's smile and the sirens' song. However, it acknowledges that the beauty is marred by the regrets that the geraniums on the balconies hold.

The second stanza contrasts the beauty of the first by speaking of the bitterness that lies on the asphalt. The whispered phrases after a last assault, the men in suits, and the little girls dressed for a party are all juxtaposed with the sound of a crime committed in the shade of an afternoon nap. The chorus repeats the cleansing action of the lava, showing that even though the people of the land carry many burdens, there is hope for a new start.

The final stanza speaks of the reasons and thoughts that are written in vain and twisted like the fabric in a handkerchief. However, even though the land may be destroyed by the lava, its story will still be sung for thousands of years to come. The song ultimately speaks of the ability of nature to cleanse and renew, and how even though humans may carry many burdens, there is always hope for a fresh start.

Line by Line Meaning

Lava che lava
Continuously flowing lava

Terra di paradiso
A beautiful paradise land

Spicchio di sole
A slice of sun

Degli Dei il sorriso
The smile of the Gods

Delle sirene il canto
The song of the sirens

Delle vedove il pianto
The cry of the widows

Gerani sui balconi
Geraniums on the balconies

Nascondono un rimpianto
Hide a regret

Lava che lava che lava che lava
Continuously flowing lava

Rancori sull'asfalto
Resentments on the asphalt

Frasi sussurrate
Whispered phrases