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.
Quello che non ...
Francesco Guccini Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ma a notte la nebbia ti dice d' un fiato che il dio dell' inverno è arrivato
Lo senti un aereo che porta lontano, lo senti quel suono di un piano
Di un Mozart stonato che prova e riprova, ma il senso del vero non trova
Lo senti il perchè di cortili bagnati, di auto a morire nei prati
La pallida linea di vecchie ferite, di lettere ormai non spedite
Lo vedi il rumore di favole spente, lo sai che non siamo più niente
Conosci l' odore di strade deserte che portano a vecchie scoperte
E a nafta, telai, ciminiere corrose, a periferie misteriose
E a rotaie implacabili per nessun dove, a letti, a brandine, ad alcove
Lo sai che colore han le nuvole basse e I sedili di un' ex terza classe
L' angoscia che dà una pianura infinita, hai voglia di me e della vita
Di un giorno qualunque, di una sponda brulla, lo sai che non siamo più nulla
Non siamo una strada né malinconia, un treno o una periferia
Non siamo scoperta né sponda sfiorita, non siamo né un giorno né vita
Non siamo la polvere di un angolo tetro, né un sasso tirato in un vetro,
Lo schiocco del sole in un campo di grano, non siamo, non siamo, non siamo
Si fa a strisce il cielo e quell' alta pressione è un film di seconda visione
È l' urlo di sempre che dice pian piano
Non siamo, non siamo, non siamo
In this song, Francesco Guccini contemplates the meaning of life and existence. He uses various metaphors to convey the sense of nothingness that permeates our lives. The high-pressure system in the sky is a representation of the cold and unfeeling nature of the world we live in, while the fog at night symbolizes death and the arrival of winter, a time of darkness and coldness. The sound of an airplane taking off is a reminder of how small we are in the grand scheme of things and how insignificant our lives can be. The out of tune Mozart piano piece represents our futile attempts to create meaning in a world that often lacks it.
The lyrics continue with the portrayal of the desolate and dark aspects of human life such as deserted streets that lead to old discoveries, dilapidated factories, and unknown suburbs. The infinite flat plains and barren shores mimic our inner emptiness and a desire for something that we cannot entirely comprehend. In the closing lines of the song, Guccini asserts that we are none of these things or places. We just are, and that is enough.
Line by Line Meaning
La vedi nel cielo quell' alta pressione, la senti una strana stagione
You see in the sky that high pressure, you feel a strange season
Ma a notte la nebbia ti dice d' un fiato che il dio dell' inverno è arrivato
But at night the fog tells you in one breath that the god of winter has arrived
Lo senti un aereo che porta lontano, lo senti quel suono di un piano
You hear a plane that takes you far away, you hear that sound of a piano
Di un Mozart stonato che prova e riprova, ma il senso del vero non trova
Of a Mozart out of tune that tries and tries again, but cannot find the meaning of truth
Lo senti il perchè di cortili bagnati, di auto a morire nei prati
You feel the reason for wet courtyards, cars dying in meadows
La pallida linea di vecchie ferite, di lettere ormai non spedite
The pale line of old wounds, of letters not sent anymore
Lo vedi il rumore di favole spente, lo sai che non siamo più niente
You see the noise of dead fairy tales, you know that we are nothing anymore
Non siamo un aereo né un piano stonato, stagione, cortile od un prato
We are not a plane nor an out of tune piano, not a season, courtyard or a meadow
Conosci l' odore di strade deserte che portano a vecchie scoperte
You know the smell of deserted roads leading to old discoveries
E a nafta, telai, ciminiere corrose, a periferie misteriose
And to gasoline, frames, corroded chimneys, to mysterious suburbs
E a rotaie implacabili per nessun dove, a letti, a brandine, ad alcove
And to relentless rails to nowhere, to beds, cots, to alcoves
Lo sai che colore han le nuvole basse e I sedili di un' ex terza classe
You know the color of low clouds and seats from a former third class
L' angoscia che dà una pianura infinita, hai voglia di me e della vita
The anguish given by an infinite plain, you long for me and for life
Di un giorno qualunque, di una sponda brulla, lo sai che non siamo più nulla
Of any given day, of a barren shore, you know that we are nothing anymore
Non siamo una strada né malinconia, un treno o una periferia
We are not a road nor melancholy, not a train or a suburb
Non siamo scoperta né sponda sfiorita, non siamo né un giorno né vita
We are not a discovery nor a touched shore, not a day nor life
Non siamo la polvere di un angolo tetro, né un sasso tirato in un vetro,
We are not the dust of a gloomy corner, nor a stone thrown at a glass
Lo schiocco del sole in un campo di grano, non siamo, non siamo, non siamo
The crackling of the sun in a wheat field, we are not, we are not, we are not
Si fa a strisce il cielo e quell' alta pressione è un film di seconda visione
The sky is striped and that high pressure is a second view movie
È l' urlo di sempre che dice pian piano
Non siamo, non siamo, non siamo
It's the usual cry that slowly says we are not, we are not, we are not
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: FRANCESCO GUCCINI
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind