[edit] Biography
Vecchioni was born in Carate Brianza, province of Milan, to a family of Neapolitan origin. In 1968 he graduated in Ancient Literatures at the Università Cattolica of Milan, where he remained for two years as assistant lecturer of History of Religions. Later he become literature and history teacher in a Milanese High School, an activity he never stopped.
His work for the Italian music world began in the late 1960s as songwriter for singers like Ornella Vanoni, Gigliola Cinguetti, Mina, Iva Zanicchi and others. His first solo album is Parabola of 1971. In 1973 he took part to the Sanremo Festival with "L'uomo che si gioca il futuro a dadi", continuing to released works as singer-songwriter in the following years. His 1974 LP, Il re non si diverte, obtained the Best Year's Album Award from the Italian musical critics. In 1976 he published his first successful work, Elisir, but he became famous only in the following year, with Samarcanda. With this work Vecchioni gained a fame as one of the most skillful italian singer-songwriters: his inspiration draws mainly from autobiographical themes, intermingled with dreamy, literary and historical (often mythological) ones. His friend Angelo Branduardi played violin in the LP.
Vecchioni's skills were confirmed in the following works, Calabuig, Stranamore e altri incidenti (1978), where the literature citations are predominant, and Robinson (come salvarsi la vita) (1979), where instead the autobiographical inspiration prevails. The songs "Signor giudice" and "Lettera da Marsala" of the latter work deal with the problems Vecchioni had had in the preceding years: respectively, a charge for marijuana possession (from which he was totally unscathed) and a cause with its former production house. The following album, Montecristo, was released indeed by the old and the new labels together.
After Hollywood Hollywood of 1982, whose songs are influenced by the world of cinema, Vecchioni in 1984 released the double LP Il grande sogno ("The Big Dream"), in which he collected new songs together with new versions of his past successes. The eponymous song featured Francesco De Gregori playing blues harp. The LP was accompanied by his first literary attempt, a short book with the same name. Many of the cover of Vecchioni's LPs of this period were disegned by the famous Italian comic book artist and painter Andrea Pazienza.
While continuing a successful career as a renowned singer-songwriter in the 1980s and the 1990s, Vecchioni increased his work as a writer. His prose works include the story collection Viaggi nel tempo immobile (1996) and the novels Le parole non potrano le cicogne (2000) and Il libraio di Selinunte. He also taught History of Italian Author Music for two years, and was called to writer the Enciclopedia Treccani article about Italian singer-songwriters. His best late works include Sogna ragazzo sogna ("Dream, boy, dream") of 1999 and Il lanciatore di coltelli ("The Knife Thrower") of 2002.
Morgana
Roberto Vecchioni Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
a raccontarle quello che non ho visto
e come sempre questo giorno? passato
e non ricordo come e quando sia stato
lei nel fuoco si vede e non si vede
non conosco i suoi anni ma sorride:
? la sua mano come un velo sottile
e mi piega il capo per farmi bene
fa l'amore, mi addormenta sul petto
mi accarezza alla luce di una fiamma
e mi canta una strana ninna nanna.
Tu che torni, quando torni
non ritorni, tu non torni mai
sono giorni, sono sogni
tu ritorni ma non torni mai.
Tu che torni, quando torni
non ritorni, tu non torni mai
ora dormi, che se dormi
mentre sogni forse tornerai.
Ho un solo tempo quando il cielo? gi? scuro
e sono un servo, un saltimbanco, un guerriero
ma non ricordo le figure del giorno
ed ogni volta? sera quando mi sveglio
oggi ho quasi vent'anni e sono biondo
l'altra volta quaranta e l'altra cento
e mi risveglio mentre sono a cavallo
e sfioro gli alberi aggrappato al suo collo
e le racconto sempre un'altra mia vita
e lei fa finta che non l'abbia inventata
ora? piena di luci la capanna
e lei canta una vecchia ninna nanna.
Tu che torni, quando torni
non ritorni, tu non torni mai
sono giorni, sono sogni
tu ritorni ma non torni mai.
Tu che torni, quando torni
non ritorni, tu non torni mai
ora dormi, che se dormi
mentre sogni forse tornerai
The song "Morgana" by Roberto Vecchioni tells a story of a man who frequently visits a woman named Morgana. Each time he visits her, he tells her about things he has not seen and cannot remember, but she listens nonetheless. Morgana is described as being elusive, seen and unseen in firelight, with a hand as delicate as a thin veil. She bends his head down to her and makes love to him, calming him to sleep with her song.
The refrain "Tu che torni, quando torni, non ritorni, tu non torni mai" (You who return, when you return, you don't come back, you never come back) is a repetition of a sad realization that the singer will never get to see Morgana again. He ages each time he wakes up from their encounter and cannot remember the figures of the day. He also remembers different versions of himself, from a servant to a warrior. As the night falls, he wakes up each time, riding a horse and telling Morgana about these different lives. She sings him a strange lullaby, and their encounter ends. The song suggests an otherworldly or dreamlike relationship between the singer and Morgana.
Line by Line Meaning
E come sempre arrivo al solito posto
I find myself at the usual spot, just like always
a raccontarle quello che non ho visto
I tell her about things I haven't really seen
e come sempre questo giorno? passato
And as usual, this day has passed by
e non ricordo come e quando sia stato
I can't recall how or when it happened
lei nel fuoco si vede e non si vede
She seems to appear and disappear in the flames
non conosco i suoi anni ma sorride
I don't know how old she is, but she smiles
? la sua mano come un velo sottile
Her hand is like a thin veil
e mi piega il capo per farmi bene
She bends my head to make me more comfortable
e come tutte le altre volte nel letto
And like every other time in bed
fa l'amore, mi addormenta sul petto
She makes love to me and I fall asleep on her chest
mi accarezza alla luce di una fiamma
She caresses me in the light of a flame
e mi canta una strana ninna nanna.
And sings me a strange lullaby
Tu che torni, quando torni
You who come back, when you come back
non ritorni, tu non torni mai
You never really come back
sono giorni, sono sogni
These are days, these are dreams
tu ritorni ma non torni mai.
You do return, but never really come back
Ho un solo tempo quando il cielo? gi? scuro
I have only one moment when the sky is already dark
e sono un servo, un saltimbanco, un guerriero
And I am a servant, a juggler, a warrior
ma non ricordo le figure del giorno
But I can't remember the events of the day
ed ogni volta? sera quando mi sveglio
And every time I wake up in the evening
oggi ho quasi vent'anni e sono biondo
Today I'm almost twenty and I'm blonde
l'altra volta quaranta e l'altra cento
The last time I was forty and the next time I will be a hundred
e mi risveglio mentre sono a cavallo
I wake up while riding a horse
e sfioro gli alberi aggrappato al suo collo
And as I clutch her neck, we brush against trees
e le racconto sempre un'altra mia vita
I always tell her about another life of mine
e lei fa finta che non l'abbia inventata
And she pretends I didn't make it up
ora? piena di luci la capanna
Now, the hut is full of lights
e lei canta una vecchia ninna nanna.
And she sings an old lullaby
Tu che torni, quando torni
You who come back, when you come back
non ritorni, tu non torni mai
You never really come back
ora dormi, che se dormi
Now sleep, for if you sleep
mentre sogni forse tornerai.
While you dream, perhaps you will return
Contributed by Oliver C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.