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.
Le ragazze della notte
Francesco Guccini Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Trucco e toilettes che si spampanano piano
Come il ghiaccio va in acqua dentro al tumbler
Squagliandosi col caldo della mano,
E frugano con gli occhi per vedere un viso o un'ombra nell'oscurità
O per trovare qualcuno a cui ripetere le frasi solite di quell' umanità
Ma chi aspettano le ragazze della notte in quei bar zuppi di alcolici e fiati
Le vedi appendersi adoranti e innaturali a quei califfi cui io non darei una lira
Chissà se sognano vite più normali mentre la notte gira gira gira
E si mettono a cantare un po' stonate quando qualcuno va a picchiare un piano
Canzoni vecchie, storie disperate, gli amori in rima di un tempo già lontano
E si immedesimano in quelle parole scritte per altre tanto tempo fa
Bella senz'anima, Quando tramonta il sole
Suona un'armonica, Ne me quitte pas, Ne me quitte pas
Che cosa dicono le ragazze della notte a quei baristi ruffiani e discreti
Che si chinano preteschi sul bancone per confessare chissà quali segreti
E poi guardano in controluce a un bicchiere e agili danzano versando un liquore
Quanto da dire e quanto c'è da bere mentre la notte macina le ore
Oh, come amo le ragazze della notte così simili a me, cosi diverse,
Noi passeggeri di treni paralleli, piccoli eroi delle occasioni perse
Anche se so che non ci incontreremo, ma solamente ci guardiamo passare
Anche se so che mai noi ci ameremo con il rimpianto di non poterci amare
Finché anche dai vetri affumicati spinge la luce ed entra all'improvviso
E autobus gonfi di sonni arretrati passano ottusi nel mattino intriso
Di edicole che espongono i giornali pieni di fatti che sappiamo già
Di cappucci e brioche e dei normali rumori che ha al mattino una città
Ma dove vanno le ragazze della notte che all'alba fuggono complice un taxi
Stanche di tanto, piene del rimorso d'avere forse detto troppi sì
Ma lo scacciano presto ed entra in loro solo un filo di spossatezza leggera
Che le accompagnerà lungo il lavoro, che condurrà diritto fino a sera
Ma chi sono le ragazze della notte
The lyrics of Francesco Guccini's Le ragazze della notte depict the lives of prostitutes who work at nightclubs and bars. The song explores the reasons why they choose this line of work, what they seek, and the people they encounter in their daily lives. The first verse talks about their appearance - they wear makeup and dazzling dresses that melt away with the warmth of a hand. The girls scan the darkness for company, hoping to find someone to hold on to or to repeat the usual phrases.
The chorus asks who the girls wait for in the bars that reek of alcohol and are filled with loud men carrying loads of possibly ill-gotten money. The girls cling to these men, hoping to gain their attention and affection, dreaming of a normal life as the night wears on. They sing old songs, the melodies of love stories long forgotten. They seek comfort in the lyrics written for other people in the past. In the second verse, the girls confide their secrets to the shady bartenders, who listen intently and offer them drinks in exchange for their company. As the night goes on, they steadily drink themselves into a haze.
The last verse finds the girls wrapping up their shift as the morning light seeps into the nightclub's windows. They leave with a taxi, tired and possibly regretful for saying yes too many times. They head back home, and the shades of weariness and fatigue drape over them, promising to stay with them until evening. The lyrics to Le ragazze della notte shows how the night workers live their lives, their dreams, hopes, and sorrows. The song's melancholy melody combines with Guccini's evocative lyrics, creating an emotional experience for the listener.
Line by Line Meaning
Che cosa cercano le ragazze della notte
What are the girls of the night looking for?
Trucco e toilettes che si spampanano piano
Makeup and toiletries that spread gradually
Come il ghiaccio va in acqua dentro al tumbler
Like ice melts in water inside a tumbler
Squagliandosi col caldo della mano,
Melting with the warmth of the hand
E frugano con gli occhi per vedere un viso o un'ombra nell'oscurità
And they search with their eyes to see a face or a shadow in the darkness
O per trovare qualcuno a cui ripetere le frasi solite di quell' umanità
Or to find someone to repeat the usual phrases of that humanity to
Ma chi aspettano le ragazze della notte in quei bar zuppi di alcolici e fiati
Who are the girls of the night waiting for in those bars soaked with alcohol and breaths
Di uomini vocianti che strascinano pacchi di soldi forse male guadagnati
Of shouting men dragging packages of maybe poorly earned money
Le vedi appendersi adoranti e innaturali a quei califfi cui io non darei una lira
You see them hanging adorably and unnaturally on those bosses to whom I wouldn't give a penny
Chissà se sognano vite più normali mentre la notte gira gira gira
I wonder if they dream of more normal lives while the night spins, spins, spins
E si mettono a cantare un po' stonate quando qualcuno va a picchiare un piano
And they start singing a little out of tune when someone goes to play the piano
Canzoni vecchie, storie disperate, gli amori in rima di un tempo già lontano
Old songs, desperate stories, rhyming loves of a time long gone
E si immedesimano in quelle parole scritte per altre tanto tempo fa
And they identify themselves in those words written for others such a long time ago
Bella senz'anima, Quando tramonta il sole
Beautiful without a soul, When the sun sets
Suona un'armonica, Ne me quitte pas, Ne me quitte pas
An harmonica plays, Don't leave me, Don't leave me
Che cosa dicono le ragazze della notte a quei baristi ruffiani e discreti
What do the girls of the night say to those pimps and discreet bartenders
Che si chinano preteschi sul bancone per confessare chissà quali segreti
Who lean over the counter pretentiously to confess who knows what secrets
E poi guardano in controluce a un bicchiere e agili danzano versando un liquore
And then they look at a glass in silhouette and dance agilely pouring a drink
Quanto da dire e quanto c'è da bere mentre la notte macina le ore
How much to say and how much to drink while the night grinds on
Oh, come amo le ragazze della notte così simili a me, cosi diverse,
Oh, how I love the girls of the night so similar to me, so different,
Noi passeggeri di treni paralleli, piccoli eroi delle occasioni perse
We passengers of parallel trains, small heroes of missed opportunities
Anche se so che non ci incontreremo, ma solamente ci guardiamo passare
Even though I know we won't meet, but only watch each other pass by
Anche se so che mai noi ci ameremo con il rimpianto di non poterci amare
Even though I know we will never love each other with the regret of not being able to love each other
Finché anche dai vetri affumicati spinge la luce ed entra all'improvviso
Until even through the smoky windows the light pushes and enters suddenly
E autobus gonfi di sonni arretrati passano ottusi nel mattino intriso
And buses full of delayed sleep pass stupidly in the soaked morning
Di edicole che espongono i giornali pieni di fatti che sappiamo già
Of kiosks displaying newspapers full of facts we already know
Di cappucci e brioche e dei normali rumori che ha al mattino una città
Of hoodies and croissants and the normal noises of a city in the morning
Ma dove vanno le ragazze della notte che all'alba fuggono complice un taxi
But where do the girls of the night go who flee in a taxi at dawn
Stanche di tanto, piene del rimorso d'avere forse detto troppi sì
Tired of so much, full of the remorse of maybe having said too many yeses
Ma lo scacciano presto ed entra in loro solo un filo di spossatezza leggera
But they quickly dismiss it and only a thread of light weariness enters them
Che le accompagnerà lungo il lavoro, che condurrà diritto fino a sera
That will accompany them along their work, that will lead them right up to nightfall
Ma chi sono le ragazze della notte
But who are the girls of the night?
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Juan Carlos Biondini, Francesco Guccini, Juan Biondini
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Massimo Trovato
Meravigliosa è dire poco ma non c'è aggettivo per definire capolavori simili che ti prendono dentro e non ti mollano mai più
Antonio Gambardella
poesia pura maestro
Domenico Benaglio
Uno spessore unico, l'interprete della sua generazione, e per tutte quelle a venire che vogliano attingere al suo grande patrimonio
alessandro sanna
SEMPLICEMENTE STUPENDA !
Kellen Lincoln
@Amos Zahir Yea, I've been watching on Instaflixxer for months myself =)
Amos Zahir
You prolly dont give a shit but if you're bored like me atm you can stream pretty much all of the new movies and series on instaflixxer. Been binge watching with my gf for the last couple of weeks xD
Nadia R.
Bellissima canzone che in me rinnova Amore
Antonio Gambardella
ogni canzone una perla unica
Dolciegabbati
Standing ovation
Chia Luce
Solo un grande animo puo' concepire tali intense parole