He then moved back to his family in Modena and attended the local "istituto magistrale". He worked for a couple otf years as a reporter for a local newspaper Gazzetta di Modena. In 1960 the Guccinis moved to Bologna where Francesco studied at the local university. From 1965 to 1985 he held italian courses at the Dickinson College (an American school) in Bologna.
He played in local bands such as The Hurricanes and Gatti and achieved success in the 1960s writing songs for a legendary Italian band, Nomadi, also from Modena. Some of these successes include "Noi non ci saremo" and "Dio è morto". In the 1970s, Nomadi recorded two albums of Guccini's songs as well as a live album, Album Concerto, featuring him. Guccini's debut album was Folkbeat, No. 1 (1967).
Guccini always declared his first two works, Folk Beat n.1 and Due anni dopo, being merely tentatives, a nature probably noticeable in the quite essential musical arrangements. The latter, however, contained classics like the title-track and "La primavera di Praga" ("Prague Spring"). His first mature album is therefore L'Isola Non Trovata ("The Not Found Island") of 1970, which shows many the themes which were to be present in the future releases: a certain melancholy for a perceived nearness of death, as well as the portrait of outcasts figures like "Il frate" ("The Friar").
Radici ("Roots", 1972), is one of Guccini's finest works, and contains some of his most famous songs. These include: the title-track, a nostalgic declaration of love for Guccini's youth spent in the Appennine mountains; "La locomotiva", a long ballad about the solitary, unlucky revolt of a Bolognese railwayman during the 19th century; "Il vecchio e il bambino", a melancholic story about the dreams of an old man, and the different way in which they are perceived by the boy accompanying him; "Piccola città" ("Small City"), about Guccini's early years in the Emilia-Romagna provincial world.
Stanze di vita quotidiana ("Stanzas of Everyday Life") of 1974 deals with more private themes, sometimes with nearly desperate accents. The album contains at least one masterwork, the yearning "Canzone delle osterie di fuori porta".
In 1976 Guccini scored his greatest commercial success with the album Via Paolo Fabbri 43. The title is his residence street in Bologna. He declared this choice was an error, because many of his fans made true pilgrimages there to meet and talk with him. The album features the famous "L'avvelenata", a catchy ballad in which Guccini unleashes his rage against musics critics and people perceiving in a distorted way his career ans popularity as singer-songwriter.
Amerigo (1978), whose title-track is about the story of the emigration of Guccini's Pavanese uncle to the United States, Metropolis (1981), and Guccini (1983), showed that the Bolognese singer's inspiration was left untouched by the general switch to the more commercial themes that characterized the Italian musical world starting from the end of 1970s.
The 1984 live tournée was highly successful, and was soon collected in a double live LP, Fra la Via Emilia e il West ("Between the Via Aemilia and the West"). Emilia Romagna and the Old West symbolize well the double ties of Guccini to his native land and to America. Guccini declared to have knwown the latter soon in his life, through the comics and magazines imported by US soldiers during World War 2, but also through his uncle's tales. After the war, like many Italians of the period, he was of course influenced by American songs and Hollywood movies, and finally managed to touch with hand this kind of myth during his personal voyages to US (including a love story with an American girl).
Last album of 1980s was Signora Bovary (1987), containing notable pieces like "Scirocco". After several interlocutory albums in the 1990s, Guccini returned at his best with Stagioni ("Seasons") of 2000: the title-track is an effective, merciless accusation against media invadence and moral corruption of Italy.
Guccini's last studio release is Ritratti of 2004.
Il vecchio e il bambino
Francesco Guccini Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
E andarono insieme incontro alla sera
La polvere rossa si alzava lontano
E il sole brillava di luce non vera
L'immensa pianura sembrava arrivare
Fin dove l'occhio di un uomo poteva guardare
E tutto d'intorno non c'era nessuno
I due camminavano, il giorno cadeva
Il vecchio parlava e piano piangeva
Con l'anima assente, con gli occhi bagnati
Seguiva il ricordo di miti passati
I vecchi subiscon le ingiurie degli anni
Non sanno distinguere il vero dai sogni
I vecchi non sanno, nel loro pensiero
Distinguer nei sogni il falso dal vero
E il vecchio diceva, guardando lontano
Immagina questo coperto di grano
Immagina i frutti e immagina i fiori
E pensa alle voci e pensa ai colori
E in questa pianura, fin dove si perde
Crescevano gli alberi e tutto era verde
Cadeva la pioggia, segnavano i soli
Il ritmo dell'uomo e delle stagioni
Il bimbo ristette, lo sguardo era triste
E gli occhi guardavano cose mai viste
E poi disse al vecchio con voce sognante
Mi piaccion le fiabe, raccontane altre
This song, titled "Il vecchio e il bambino" (The Old Man and the Child), by Francesco Guccini tells the story of an old man and a young child who take each other's hands and walk together into the evening. As they walk, they come across a red dusty plain, with the sun shining brightly in an almost unreal manner. The vast expanse of the plain seems to stretch out as far as the eye can see and out in the distance, the only thing they can see is the dark silhouette of smokestacks. As they continue to walk, the old man speaks, softly crying as he recounts memories of a past long gone.
The old man tells the child that old people suffer the injustices of life and are no longer able to differentiate between truth and dreams. He tells the child to imagine wheat covering the plain, capable of bearing fruit and flowers, and to think of the voices and colors that would fill the air in this idyllic world. He describes how trees used to grow in this plain, showered with life by rain and nurtured by the rhythm of the seasons, comprising a world that exists only in memory. The child becomes captivated by the old man's story and asks for more tales of wonder and mystery.
The song highlights the disparity between the past and the present, the old and the young, and the impossibility of ever regaining what has been lost. It highlights the idea that old people might no longer be able to differentiate between what is real and what is a dream, whereas young children still possess the crucial element of imagination that allows them to dream and develop new ideas.
Line by Line Meaning
Un vecchio e un bambino si preser per mano
An old man and a child took each other's hand
E andarono insieme incontro alla sera
And they walked together towards the evening
La polvere rossa si alzava lontano
The red dust was rising in the distance
E il sole brillava di luce non vera
And the sun shone with an unreal light
L'immensa pianura sembrava arrivare
The immense plain seemed to stretch
Fin dove l'occhio di un uomo poteva guardare
As far as a man's eyes could see
E tutto d'intorno non c'era nessuno
And all around, there was no one
Solo il tetro contorno di torri di fumo
Just the gloomy outline of smokestacks
I due camminavano, il giorno cadeva
The two were walking as night fell
Il vecchio parlava e piano piangeva
The old man spoke and cried softly
Con l'anima assente, con gli occhi bagnati
With a distracted soul, with wet eyes
Seguiva il ricordo di miti passati
He followed the memory of past myths
I vecchi subiscon le ingiurie degli anni
The old endure the insults of time
Non sanno distinguere il vero dai sogni
They do not know how to distinguish reality from dreams
I vecchi non sanno, nel loro pensiero
The old do not know, in their thoughts
Distinguer nei sogni il falso dal vero
How to differentiate the false from the true in their dreams
E il vecchio diceva, guardando lontano
And the old man said, looking into the distance
Immagina questo coperto di grano
Imagine this covered in wheat
Immagina i frutti e immagina i fiori
Imagine the fruits and imagine the flowers
E pensa alle voci e pensa ai colori
And think of the sounds and think of the colors
E in questa pianura, fin dove si perde
And in this plain, as far as it goes
Crescevano gli alberi e tutto era verde
The trees grew and everything was green
Cadeva la pioggia, segnavano i soli
The rain fell, marked the suns
Il ritmo dell'uomo e delle stagioni
The rhythm of man and the seasons
Il bimbo ristette, lo sguardo era triste
The child stopped, his look was sad
E gli occhi guardavano cose mai viste
And his eyes looked at things he had never seen
E poi disse al vecchio con voce sognante
And then he told the old man with a dreamy voice
Mi piaccion le fiabe, raccontane altre
I like fairy tales, tell me more
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Francesco Guccini
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Fp
Un vecchio e un bambino si preser per mano
E andarono insieme incontro alla sera
La polvere rossa si alzava lontano
Il sole brillava di luce non vera
Immensa pianura sembrava arrivare
Fin dove l'occhio di un uomo poteva guardare
E tutto di intorno, non c'era nessuno
Solo il tetro contorno di torri di fumo
I due camminavano e il giorno cadeva
Il vecchio parlava, e piano piangeva
Con l'anima assente, con gli occhi bagnati
Seguiva il ricordo di miti passati
I vecchi subiscon le ingiuria degli anni
Non sanno distinguere il vero dai sogni
I vecchi non sanno nel loro pensiero
Distinguer nei sogni il falso dal vero
Il vecchio diceva guardando lontano
"Immagina questo coperto di grano
Immagina i frutti, immagina i fiori
E pensa alle voci e pensa ai colori"
E in questa pianura, fin dove si perde
Crescevano gli alberi e tutto era verde
Cadeva la pioggia, segnavano i soli
Il ritmo dell'uomo e delle stagioni
Il bimbo ristette, lo sguardo era triste
Gli occhi guardavano cose mai viste
E poi disse al vecchio con voce sognante
"Mi piaccion le fiabe, raccontane altre"
Fonte: Musixmatch
Compositori: Francesco Guccini
angelo recchia
Mio papà piangeva sempre quando suonava questa canzone ed io non capivo. Oggi piango anche io e riesco a sentire papà vicino, anche se non c'è più, in questi ricordi
Carlo Deidda
Tutto vero
maurizio pozzati
"... anche se non c'è più..." fisicamente li vicino, Tu lo stai facendo rivivere a tanti come il sottoscritto❤️🙏
Cristina
Mi disp in poverino :c
Oby1 Oby1
Anche io lo penso sempre e la canticchio..un abbraccio
Hope Ki
@Alberto Fondrini anche io piango per qualcosa
Lorenzo Minotti
Questa canzone come altre, dovrebbero essere insegnate all'asilo e alle elementari. È un capolavoro di letteratura che non va disperso. ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Sandro Angioni
Ho spiegato e cantato insieme ai miei alunni questo poema prima di lasciarli per andare in pensione!
Carlo A.60
Sei stato un grande per averlo fatto
pier giuseppe
Stupenda poesia della vita... Grande Guccini le sue liriche ci insegnano vivere! Dovrebbero essere studiate nelle scuole.