Anime salve Smisurata preghiera - Boundless Prayer

Alta sui naufragi dai belvedere delle torri china e distante sugli elementi del disastro dalle cose che accadono al disopra delle parole celebrative del nulla lungo un facile vento di sazietà di impunità Sullo scandalo metallico di armi in uso e in disuso a guidare la colonna di dolore e di fumo che lascia le infinite battaglie al calar della sera la maggioranza sta la maggioranza sta recitando un rosario di ambizioni meschine di millenarie paure di inesauribili astuzie coltivando tranquilla l'orribile varietà delle proprie superbie la maggioranza sta come una malattia come una sfortuna come un'anestesia come un'abitudine per chi viaggia in direzione ostinata e contraria col suo marchio speciale di speciale disperazione e tra il vomito dei respinti muove gli ultimi passi per consegnare alla morte una goccia di splendore di umanità di verità per chi ad Aqaba curò la lebbra con uno scettro posticcio e seminò il suo passaggio di gelosie devastatrici e di figli con improbabili nomi di cantanti di tango in un vasto programma di eternità ricorda Signore questi servi disobbedienti alle leggi del branco non dimenticare il loro volto che dopo tanto sbandare è appena giusto che la fortuna li aiuti come una svista come un'anomalia come una distrazione come un dovere Smisurata preghiera © 1996 Fabrizio De André/Ivano Fossati "Smisurata preghiera" is a song where again the lyrics were from De André and the music from Fossati. Five years prior, De André had discovered the writings of the Colombian Alvaro Mutis. He was so taken with them that he reached out to Mutis and asked if he would have any objections to De André taking lines from his books to use in a song he wanted to write. Mutis was game, and De André proceeded to use lines from two novels and one anthology of poems, putting them together and rearranging and changing them until he had built the song he had in mind. To give a couple examples, the opening lines of the song - "High above the shipwrecks from the viewpoint of the towers" comes from Mutis's poem "Stars for Arthur Rimbaud" which includes the line "And from the viewpoint of the highest tower." From another poem, "The Elements of Disaster," De André wove the title into the line "bowed and distant over the elements of disaster." In the first half of the song De André posits a cultural majority that stands above the disastrous fray, insensitive, prideful, small of spirit and going along with the world as it is. The second half of the song brings in those who go their own way, against the tide of the mainstream culture, and De André would include in this mix all marginalized people - the poor, social outcasts, and rebels of many stripes. The song then becomes an invocation and prayer that these "servants disobedient to the laws of the herd" will also be held in the Lord's thoughts and that, perhaps, some good fortune will, even ought, to come their way. "For one who travels in a direction stubborn and contrary, with his special mark of special desperation, and through the vomit of the rejected, he moves the final steps to deliver to death a drop of splendor, of humanity, of truth."

High above the shipwrecks from the lookouts of the towers, bowed and distant over the elements of disaster from the things that happen above the words commemorative of nothing, along an easy wind of satiety, of impunity, on the metallic scandal of arms in use or disuse for guiding the column of sadness and smoke that leaves the infinite battles at the falling of night, the majority stands, the majority stands. Reciting a rosary of petty ambitions, of thousand-year-old fears, of inexhaustible tricks, cultivating calm, the terrible variety of their own arrogances, the majority stands. Like an illness, like a misfortune, like an anesthetic, like a habit. For one who travels in a direction stubborn and contrary, with his special mark of special desperation, and through the vomit of the rejected, he moves the final steps to deliver unto death a drop of splendor, of humanity, of truth. For him who at Aqaba cured leprosy with a faux scepter and sowed his passage with devastating jealousies and children with improbable names, with singers of tango in a vast program of eternity. Remember, Lord, these servants disobedient to the laws of the herd. Don’t forget their face that, after so much disbanding, it’s just right that luck helps them. Like an oversight, like an anomaly, like a distraction, like a duty. English translation © 2014 Dennis Criteser Anime salve was released in 1996, the last of De André's thirteen studio albums. The songs were co-written by De André and Ivano Fossati, and the studio recording was co-produced by De André and Piero Milesi. De André referred to the album both as "a type of eulogy for solitude" and "a discourse on freedom." Here you will discover an album with De André at his full powers as lyricist and singer with his rich baritone in a musical setting that is striking, musically sophisticated and varied, with musical references to South America, the Balkans and the Mediterranean. The album was voted best Italian album of 1997 by the readers of La Repubblica and critics voted De André as the best Italian artist. The album also received the prestigious Targa Tenco prize for best album of 1997. Ivano Fossati

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