The singer-songwriter includes the song in the new album ‘Canzoni da Osteria’: “It is a symbol of international protest”
“The song ‘Bella Ciao’ has mysteriously become international. In the TV series ‘La Casa di Carta’ ‘Bella Ciao’ is sung in Italian. Many Iranian women sing ‘Bella Ciao’. It has become a symbol of protest against the Iranian theocracy “. The singer-songwriter Francesco Guccini said this during the presentation of his new album, ‘Canzoni da Osteria’, in the Aula Magna of the State University of Milan.
“‘Bella Ciao’ has strange origins. It is not a partisan song, it passes as such, but the rice weeders also sang it”, said the singer-songwriter.
The song is included in the setlist of the new album. “But in my version I changed one word: I put ‘oppressor’ instead of ‘invader’. A tribute to Iran: there is no invasion there, but oppression”, added Guccini.
The irony on the government: “I am very satisfied”
And to those who ask him for his opinion on the government he responds ironically: “I am satisfied, very satisfied. This is the state of the art? What do you want me to tell you? I have already told you about the small change I made in my album at Bella Ciao. Italy is not yet a theocracy, and this is a great satisfaction. At 83 they won’t be able to put me in prison, and this is also a great satisfaction”, says the singer-songwriter jokingly. “On the other hand, we always hope that something will happen. But am I otherwise satisfied? Almost, not quite. Not very satisfied, go.”
Israel-Hamas war? “Two sets of fans and victims in the middle”
Then speaking about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, the singer-songwriter admitted: “I have never delved into the issue of the war in the Middle East, even though several friends of Doctors Without Borders who were in Israel spoke to me about the occupation of Palestine. As in talk shows there are two opposing factions, two fans shouting at each other, forgetting who is in the middle. And in the middle there are the victims.”
“I would like to quote a drawing of a friend who passed away a month ago, Sergio Staino. Sergio had done a wonderful drawing on my song ‘The old man and the child’. And it ended with the old man and the child going from behind towards a better world “The old man had the Israeli flag on his back and the child had the Palestinian flag. This hope of brotherhood and friendship between the two ethnic groups, distant in time, can always be had”, he added.
“Another song of mine is called ‘Auschwitz’ and is about Jews. The final phrase says “I ask when will man be able to learn to live without killing and the wind will stop”. Well, it may seem rhetorical, but that’s how I think”, concluded Guccini
Source-www.adnkronos.com