De André was born in Genoa, Liguria, Italy. His father was an anti-fascist, and during the war the De André family had to seek refuge in a country farm near Revignano d'Asti, Piedmont. The family returns in Genoa in 1945. Fabrizio studied law at the University of Genoa, but left before graduating.
His first instrument was the violin, and then he took up the guitar, playing in local jazz bands. In 1958 he recorded his first two songs: Nuvole barocche ("Baroque Clouds") and E fu la notte ("Then Night Came"). In 1962 he married Puny Rignon, a Genoese woman nearly ten years his senior. The same year the couple had their first and only son, Cristiano De André, who would follow in his father's footsteps to become a musician and songwriter.
Over the years that followed, De André, inspired mainly by George Brassens' works, wrote a number of songs which made him known by a larger public; his song La canzone di Marinella ("Marinella's Song") was recorded in 1968 by the famous Italian singer, Mina, and its author was acclaimed as the most important Italian cantautore, or singer-songwriter.
The first De André EP, "Volume I", was released in 1967, and contain three af the most famous Fabrizio's songs: "Via del Campo" (literally "Field Street", a famous street of Genoa), "Bocca di Rosa" and "Carlo Martello ritorna dalla battaglia di Poitiers" ("Charles Martel on His Way Back From Poitiers"). The last one was written with Paolo Villaggio, a famous italian actor and also De André's friend.
His second album "Tutti Morimmo A Stento"("We all died hardly"), released in 1968, contains songs as "Leggenda Di Natale" based on the song "Le Père Noël et la Petite Fille", written by George Brassens, one of the most important influence for Fabrizio.
In 1968 was also released the thirt De André's album, Volume III, one of the most important album of this first period. In this album there are two songs inspired by Brassens' poetry, "Il Gorilla" and "Nell'acqua della chiara fontana". Other famous songs are "La guerra di Piero"("Piero's war") "La canzone di Marinella"(Marinella's Song"), previously released by Mina, and "S'I' Fossi Foco"(If I were Fire"), from a poem by Cecco Angiolieri.
In 1970 was released "La Buona Novella"("The Good Novella"), a religious concept album based on the vision of Christ's life told in Apocrypha. The album was very controversial for Jesus' vision by De André and especially for the song "Il testamento di Tito" ("Titus' Will"), in which one of the thieves crucified together with Jesus confutes violently the Ten Commandments.
In 1971 was released one of the most famous and the most important De André's album, "Non al denaro non all'amore né al Cielo" based on Edgar Lee Masters "Spoon River Anthology", translated in italian by the famous italian poetess Fernanda Pivano, one of Fabrizio's best friend.
* "La collina" is based on "The Hill"
* "Un matto" is based on "Frank Drummer", in which a man memorizes the Encyclopedia Britannica and is considered mad by the people of Spoon River.
* "Un Giudice" is based on Selah Lively, the story of a midget who studies law and becomes a judge to get a revenge against the people who made fun of him all his life.
* "Un blasfemo" is based on "Wendell P. Bloyd".
* "Un malato di cuore" is based on "Francis Turner", in which a man dies of a heart attack while giving his first kiss.
* "Un medico" is based on "Dr. Siegfried Iseman", the story of a doctor who wants to cure poor people without receiving any payment.
* "Un chimico" is based on "Trainor, the Chemist", in which a chemist, who doesn't understand the relationships between men and women but loves chemical elements, dies while executing an experiment.
* "Un ottico" is based on "Dippold the Optician", the story of an optician who wants to create special glasses which show strange images.
* "Il suonatore Jones" is based on "Fiddler Jones".
Two years later was published another important album in Fabrizio's career, "Storia di un Impiegato"("The Story of a White-Collar"), in which De André analyses the Year Of Lead, (in Italy a period of political tensions, between 1968 and 80s characterized by bomb's massacre by neo-fascist and by kidnapping and by murders by Brigate Rosse and other subversive organization). This is another concept album, in which a man, inspired by French May, decided to rebel against the society knowing finally that his bomb and his rebellion was controlled by the State and directed to make the power stronger. This is one of the most complicated and hermetic album by De André.
The year after was released a new album, "Canzoni"("Songs"), in which De André translated some famous songs by Bob Dylan("Via della Povertà", in english "Desolation Row"), Leonard Cohen and Brassens, but also unreleased songs as "La Città Vecchia"("The Old City"), another highly famous song. Is important to see how from this album and so on, De André was highly inspired by American Folk music.
De André divorced his wife Puny, and started a relationship with the folksinger Dori Ghezzi. In 1975 he began to perform in a series of memorable concerts (after his first performances of the early 1960s, he had always refused to appear in public, except for a couple of television broadcasts).
In this year was released the new album, Volume VIII, written with Francesco de Gregori, a famous italian songwriter who also translated "Desolation Row" with Fabrizio. The most famous songs of this album are "Amico Fragile"("Fragile Friend") and "La Cattiva Strada"("The Bad Way").
In 1977, having moved to Sardinia, the couple had a daughter, and in the following year Fabrizio De André issued a new LP, Rimini. Most songs included in this album were written with a young Veronese singer-songwriter, Massimo Bubola. There's also "Avventura a Durango" a translation of "Romance in Durango" bu Bob Dylan.
1979 began with a series of famous live concerts from which a double LP is drawn; De André was accompanied by one of the most renowned Italian progressive rock bands, Premiata Forneria Marconi. At the end of August, De André and Ghezzi were kidnapped for ransom by a gang of Sardinian bandits, and held prisoner in the inaccessible Supramonte mountains. The couple was released four months later; no ransom was paid. When the bandits were apprehended by the police, and De André was called as witness before the Court, he refused to denounce his kidnappers and declared his own solidarity with them: «They were the real prisoners, not I», he said.
This dramatic episode, and the hard life of the Sardinian people, gave him inspiration for his following album, released in 1981. The album is anonymous, but, from the image of a native American appearing on the cover, the mass-media called it L'indiano (The Indian). The album contains one of his most famous songs, Fiume Sand Creek: it relates the massacre of defenceless native Americans of 29th November 1864 by U.S. Army troops.
In 1984 Fabrizio De André turned to his native Genoese dialect and wrote, together with former PFM member Mauro Pagani, one of his most celebrated albums, Crêuza de mä("Path to the sea", the term "Crêuza" actually indicates a narrow road bordered by low walls, typical of Genoa and its surroundings). The songs were a tribute to traditional music from every Mediterranean country.The album was awarded an unending series of prizes and was greeted as "the best Italian album of the 1980s". It was named by David Byrne as one of his favourite albums. As Pagani has repeatedly stated, De Andrè wrote the lyrics for the album, while the music was almost entirely Pagani's.
In 1989 Fabrizio De André married Dori Ghezzi; the following year a new album was issued, Le nuvole ("The clouds"), which included two more songs in the Genoese dialect, one in the Gallurese dialect of Northern Sardinia (Monti di Mola), and one in the Neapolitan dialect, the highly ironic Don Raffae'. A new series of live concerts followed, from which a double LP (1991 Concerti[) was drawn. In 1992 he started a new series of live concerts.
In 1997 De André started a new tour of theatre concerts and a new song collection, called
Mi innamoravo di tutto ("I fell in love with everything") was issued. This tribute album included a version of La canzone di Marinella in duet with Mina. The Anime salve concert tour went on up to the late summer of 1998, when De André stopped at the first symptoms of a serious disease, which was later diagnosed as cancer.
He died in Milan on 11th January 1999. Two days later, he was buried in his native town, Genoa; the ceremony was attended by an immense crowd of about 20,000. Fabrizio De André rests in the monumental Staglieno cemetery, in the De André family chapel.
Via Del Campo
Fabrizio De André Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Gli occhi grandi color di foglia
Tutta notte sta sulla soglia
Vende a tutti la stessa rosa
Via del Campo c'è una bambina
Con le labbra color rugiada
Gli occhi grigi come la strada
Via del Campo c'è una puttana
Gli occhi grandi color di foglia
Se di amarla ti vien la voglia
Basta prenderla per la mano
E ti sembra di andar lontano
Lei ti guarda con un sorriso
Non credevi che il paradiso
Fosse solo lì al primo piano
Via del Campo ci va un illuso
A pregarla di maritare
A vederla salir le scale
Fino a quando il balcone ha chiuso
Ama e ridi se amor risponde
Piangi forte se non ti sente
Dai diamanti non nasce niente
Dal letame nascono i fior
Dai diamanti non nasce niente
Dal letame nascono i fior
The lyrics of Fabrizio De André's song Via Del Campo depict the stories of the different women who reside in the street of Via Del Campo. The first woman is described as a gracious lady who sells the same rose to everyone, all night long while sitting on the threshold. The second woman, a young girl with dewy lips and gray eyes, is said to hide flowers wherever she walks. Lastly, a prostitute with big green eyes is introduced. The lyrics suggest that one can take her hand and feel as if they are taken far away, making it sound like she offers an escape from reality. The lyrics then shift to an "illuso" (a fool), who is seen begging the prostitute to marry him. However, as he watches her ascend the stairs to her balcony, he is met with disappointment when the balcony is shut.
The song ends with the famous line: "Dai diamanti non nasce niente, dal letame nascono i fior", which translates to "From diamonds, nothing is born, from manure, flowers grow." This suggests that beauty and value can come from the most unexpected places, just like the flowers that grow from manure.
Line by Line Meaning
Via del Campo c'è una graziosa
On Via del Campo, there is a charming woman.
Gli occhi grandi color di foglia
Her eyes are big and the color of leaves.
Tutta notte sta sulla soglia
She stays on the doorstep all night.
Vende a tutti la stessa rosa
She sells the same rose to everyone.
Via del Campo c'è una bambina
On Via del Campo, there is a little girl.
Con le labbra color rugiada
Her lips are as dewy as a morning dew.
Gli occhi grigi come la strada
Her eyes are grey like the street.
Nascon fiori dove cammina
Flowers bloom where she walks.
Via del Campo c'è una puttana
On Via del Campo, there is a whore.
Gli occhi grandi color di foglia
Her eyes are big and the color of leaves.
Se di amarla ti vien la voglia
If you feel the desire to love her,
Basta prenderla per la mano
All you need to do is take her by the hand.
E ti sembra di andar lontano
And it seems like you're going far away.
Lei ti guarda con un sorriso
She looks at you with a smile.
Non credevi che il paradiso
You didn't believe that heaven
Fosse solo lì al primo piano
Was right there on the first floor.
Via del Campo ci va un illuso
On Via del Campo, there goes a deluded man.
A pregarla di maritare
Begging her to marry him.
A vederla salir le scale
Watching her climb the stairs
Fino a quando il balcone ha chiuso
Until the balcony closes.
Ama e ridi se amor risponde
Love and laugh if love responds.
Piangi forte se non ti sente
Cry loudly if love doesn't hear you.
Dai diamanti non nasce niente
Nothing grows from diamonds.
Dal letame nascono i fior
Flowers grow from manure.
Dai diamanti non nasce niente
Nothing grows from diamonds.
Dal letame nascono i fior
Flowers grow from manure.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Fabrizio De Andre, Vincenzo Jannacci
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@giggino6714
Via del Campo, c'è una graziosa
Gli occhi grandi color di foglia
Tutta notte sta sulla soglia
Vende a tutti la stessa rosa
Via del Campo, c'è una bambina
Con le labbra color rugiada
Gli occhi grigi come la strada
Nascon fiori dove cammina
Via del Campo, c'è una puttana
Gli occhi grandi color di foglia
Se di amarla ti vien la voglia
Basta prenderla per la mano
E ti sembra di andar lontano
Lei ti guarda con un sorriso
Non credevi che il paradiso
Fosse solo lì al primo piano
Via del Campo, ci va un illuso
A pregarla di maritare
A vederla salir le scale
Fino a quando il balcone è chiuso
Ama e ridi se amor risponde
Piangi forte se non ti sente
Dai diamanti non nasce niente
Dal letame nascono i fior
Dai diamanti non nasce niente
Dal letame nascono i fior
@ClaireIamma
@@Iac8 il discorso che collega rigorosamente De André e Baudelaire è lungo ed abbastanza astioso, ma assai contemporaneo e vicini a noi (anche se dal mio punto di vista ancora un po’ scialbo e non propriamente maturo, temo che questa civiltà dei consumi in cui nuotiamo ci abbia allontanato da questi temi, ma vabbè, proseguo).
C’è/ci però un altro/i personaggio/i che rientrano in questa cerchia di “poeti/cantautori maledetti”.
George Brassens è uno di quelli.
Per Faber era un mentore della musica (tant’è che ha tradotto molte sue canzoni come ad esempio le Passanti).
In una prima parte della produzione musicale di Faber, il cantautore si occupa di rievocare temi che già i poeti maledetti avevano esplorato voracemente e con una rabbia inestinguibile (come Rimbaud, Verlaine o già citato Baudelaire compivano) e la sua città è una città perfetta per permettergli questo mestiere del cucire versi e metterli in musica: Genova.
Genova è una bella città, non c’è che dire, ma pericolosa (non neghiamolo) e le prostitute la dominano (ma non solo via del campo, vi è anche via decumana o la maddalena, già citati da Branduardi nella sua biografia).
Donne di strade, orfane coraggiose e assolutamente vere.
E vagamente ricorda altro.
La Carogna, il vampiro, al lettore sono solo alcune delle poesie dedicate alle prostitute che Baudelaire assiduamente frequentava (ogni poesia della raccolta “i fiori dal male” è dedicata ad una baldracca che Charles pagava).
Ed ecco il nocciolo della questione.
Faber amava quella realtà umili e grottesca, per il semplicemente fatto che era vera e lontana dalla noia (“vi è una morte prima della vera morte” non erano queste le parole precise, ma mi riferisco ad una lontana intervista che fece, dove esplicava che la Noia è una morte che ci arriva ancora prima che la nostra anima abbandoni il nostro corpo) e con Villaggio ci ha condiviso molto tempo insieme.
Oltre ciò, per l’appunto si nutriva di Brassens (il papà Giuseppe gli portava i vinili in casa dai suoi viaggi dalla Francia) e di Léo Ferré o anche di Jacques Brel.
Ancora prima della relazione con Dori Ghezzi (e li la sua produzione musicale cambia radicalmente, ma sempre di un livello molto alto), Faber era legato al mondo dei poeti maledetti ed alla Francia.
Ah si, “I fiori DAL male” non “DEL male”.
Questo è un errore che noi Italiani facciamo e ringrazio la mia prof di francese per avermelo insegnato e fatto capire.
Infatti…
“I fiori DAL male” è un titolo che si collega molto bene al verso […] DAL letame nascono i fior.
E non credo proprio che siano coincidenze.
Temo di non aver esaurito abbastanza per spiegare al meglio questa realtà è quella di De André. Il guaio è che in un commento su YT è praticamente impossibile. Ho dovuto sintetizzare parecchio, mi spiace, perché in realtà ci sarebbe molto altro da dire.
E da collegare anche a Pasolini…
Ma qui si aprirebbe un altro bel discorso che c’è lo teniamo per un’altra volta!
@donatoegizii2084
Credo che De Andre’ dovrebbe essere insegnato a scuola. Questa è poesia! La musica italiana d’autore è un gioiello prezioso che dobbiamo apprezzare sempre e mai abbandonare! E Fabrizio ne era il profeta più illustre…Dovrebbe essere tradotta in tutte le lingue, anche se solo nella nostra splendida, meravigliosa, melodica ed articolata lingua, la bellezza di certi componimenti può essere apprezzata
@carlottadonati5262
Io ho avuto questa possibilità... De André, Guccini, Vecchioni studiati come poeti/filosofi.
Esempio di inserimento innovativo per me. Fine 1980/ primi anni 1990
@lucagubellini8932
Ho 1 settimana di vita e De Andrè è uno dei miei idoli, non capisco perchè i compagni di culla mi guardino storto quando ascolto i suoi capolavori. BORN IN THE WRONG GENERATION!
@casteels7443
Figurati, io sono ancora dentro alla pancia di mamma, gli altri feti ascoltano solo merda ed io sono un genio
@droggy23
haahhaahhaahha
@marcoval8115
46r
@18enneriservato2
Genio
@maxtimelex
hai una settimana di vita? ... allora pensa a poppare il latte!
@xIL40x
"Ama e ridi se amor risponde
piangi forte se non ti sente" l'amore, descritto semplicemente in due strofe, De André è disarmante.
@Qwerty-hj1ml
Дopo le canzoni di De Andrè ci si sente come l'acqua del mare che si ricompone tumultuosa dopo il passaggio d'una nave.