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.
Non Bisognerebbe
Francesco Guccini Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Non bisognerebbe mai ritornare.
Perché calcare i tuoi vecchi passi,
calciare gli stessi sassi
su strade che ti han visto già a occhi bassi?
Non troverai quell'ombra che eri tu
e non avrai quell'ora in più
che hai dissipato e che ora cerchi:
a rimestare il falso e il vero
in improbabili universi.
Eppure come un cane che alza
il muso e annusa l'aria
batti sempre la tua pista solitaria
e faccia dopo faccia e ancora traccia dopo traccia
torni dove niente ti aprirà le braccia.
E rimpiangere, rimpiangere mai.
Come piovigginano le vecchie cose:
perché tra i libri schiacciare rose
di risa paghe e piene delle spose?
E buttar via un'incognita e uno scopo
trascurare il giorno dopo
come se chiudesse sempre;
studiar la stessa pagina di storia
conosciuta già a memoria,
date e luoghi impressi a mente.
Ma gocciola da sempre sul bagnato
tesoriere dei tuoi giorni
di chi ha preso e di chi ha dato.
E ora dopo ora e dopo un attimo ed ancora
la poetica consueta è "dell'allora".
Primo: Non ricordare.
Perché i ricordi sono falsati
i metri e i cambi sono mutati
per la spietata legge dei mercati.
E' come equilibrarsi sugli specchi
ad ogni occhiata un po' più vecchi
opachi, muti e deformanti.
Frugare dentro ai soliti cassetti
dove non c'è quel che ci metti
e mai le cose più importanti.
E invece come tutti sempre lì a portarli addosso
a ricercare quel sottile straccio rosso
che lega il tempo assente
ed il presente e nella mente
tutto questo poi ci si confonderà.
The song "Non Bisognerrebbe" by Francesco Guccini is about the experience of returning to places from one's past. The lyrics suggest that it is not advisable to return to such places, as it is impossible to recapture the same feelings or atmosphere from the past. The singer talks of treading on the same paths and kicking the same stones, but never finding the same shadow or gaining any extra hours they may have lost. The singer suggests that the thought of trying to decipher what was real and what was false at the time would be impossible, and thus it is not worth the effort to reminisce on the past.
The second verse of the song discusses the inevitability of time passing and the futility of trying to hold onto something that has already been lost. The singer suggests that trying to recapture the past is like trying to balance on a mirror that gets older and deformed with every glance. It is also suggested that some memories are purposely distorted by the passage of time, and therefore it is difficult to differentiate between what was real and what wasn't.
Overall, Guccini's "Non Bisognerrebbe" explores the idea that the past cannot be recaptured and that trying to do so is a futile effort.
Line by Line Meaning
Non bisognerebbe mai ritornare.
One should never go back.
Perché calcare i tuoi vecchi passi,
Why walk on your old steps,
calciare gli stessi sassi
kicking the same stones
su strade che ti han visto già a occhi bassi?
on roads that have already seen you with your head down?
Non troverai quell'ombra che eri tu
You will not find that shadow of yourself
e non avrai quell'ora in più
and you will not have that extra hour
che hai dissipato e che ora cerchi:
that you have wasted and now seek:
si scioglierà impossibile il pensiero
the thought will dissolve, impossible
a rimestare il falso e il vero
to stir the false and the true
in improbabili universi.
in improbable universes.
Eppure come un cane che alza
Yet like a dog that raises his head,
il muso e annusa l'aria
sniffing the air
batti sempre la tua pista solitaria
you always beat your lonely path
e faccia dopo faccia e ancora traccia dopo traccia
face after face and still trace after trace
torni dove niente ti aprirà le braccia.
you return where nothing will open its arms to you.
E rimpiangere, rimpiangere mai.
And regret, never regret.
Come piovigginano le vecchie cose:
How the old things drizzle down:
perché tra i libri schiacciare rose
why crush roses among books
di risa paghe e piene delle spose?
of paid laughter and full of brides?
E buttar via un'incognita e uno scopo
And throw away an unknown and a purpose
trascurare il giorno dopo
neglecting the day after
come se chiudesse sempre;
as if it were always closing;
studiar la stessa pagina di storia
studying the same page of history
conosciuta già a memoria,
already known by heart,
date e luoghi impressi a mente.
dates and places imprinted in the mind.
Ma gocciola da sempre sul bagnato
But it always drips on the wet
tesoriere dei tuoi giorni
treasurer of your days
di chi ha preso e di chi ha dato.
of those who have taken and those who have given.
E ora dopo ora e dopo un attimo ed ancora
And now, after hour by hour and after a moment and still
la poetica consueta è "dell'allora".
the usual poetry is "of the past".
Primo: Non ricordare.
First: Do not remember.
Perché i ricordi sono falsati
Because memories are falsified
i metri e i cambi sono mutati
the measures and changes have changed
per la spietata legge dei mercati.
for the ruthless law of the markets.
E' come equilibrarsi sugli specchi
It's like balancing on mirrors
ad ogni occhiata un po' più vecchi
with each glance a little older
opachi, muti e deformanti.
opaque, silent, and deforming.
Frugare dentro ai soliti cassetti
Digging inside the usual drawers
dove non c'è quel che ci metti
where there is not what you put
e mai le cose più importanti.
and never the most important things.
E invece come tutti sempre lì a portarli addosso
And yet, like everyone else, we always carry them on us
a ricercare quel sottile straccio rosso
searching for that thin red rag
che lega il tempo assente
that ties the absent time
ed il presente e nella mente
and the present and in the mind
tutto questo poi ci si confonderà.
all of this will then confuse us.
Contributed by Christian G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Jenny Gatti
Non bisognerebbe e' un pugno nello stomaco di noi, vecchi personaggi che con Guccini hanno condiviso il dolore della perdita. ," Canzone delle ragazze che se ne vanno". Grazie Francesco
Dario Petrolati
assomiglia ma non è la farfalla di Balla quella che uso io grazie comunque per il pensiero.dario:-)))