Energia - Energy

Ho avuto molte donne in vita mia e in ogni camera ho lasciato qualche mia energia Quanti figli dell'amore ho sprecato io Racchiusi in quattro mura Ormai saranno spazzatura Se un figlio si accorgesse che per caso è nato fra migliaia di occasioni Capirebbe tutti i sogni che la vita dà Con gioia ne vivrebbe tutte quante le illusioni Quante lacrime ho strappato senza mai piangerci su Quante angosce ho provocato per godere un po' di più Quante frasi false ho detto quante strane verità Per fare sul mio metro questa personalità Energia © 1971 Franco Battiato After the album came out and Battiato was finally released from his military obligations, he went on a tour, which took inspiration from the experimental art performances of Fluxus. These "happenings" (video at right) were the first of their kind in Italy, often leaving audiences somewhat disoriented, nonplussed, even disgruntled. The idea came from Sergio Albergoni and Gianni Sassi, whose ad agency was a magnet for many young avant-garde artists in Milan at the time. (Below - one of their ads featuring Battiato.)

I had many women in my life, and in every bedroom I left some of my energy. How many love children I squandered enclosed within four walls, by now they might be litter. If a child were to notice that by chance he is born, among thousands of possibilities, he would understand all the dreams life gives. With joy he would live out every last illusion. How many tears I forced out without ever crying over them. How much anguish I provoked to have just a little more enjoyment. How many false phrases I said, how many strange truths, to form on my own measure this personality. English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser “Franco Battiato is often heralded as Italy's answer to Brian Eno. . . (Battiato) turned pop music upside down in the early '70s with three classic LPs – Fetus, Pollution and Sulle Corde Di Aries – that formed a confluence of avant-folk sensibilities and analog electronics. . . With his trusted VCS3 synthesizer, Battiato created primordial soundscapes that shift between dreamy and delirious. His unsentimental, yet evocative voice – combined with a sublimely detached approach to lyrics – spawned a new breed of divergent songwriting. Fetus, a concept album exploring themes of genetic engineering, is enigmatically sub-titled "Ritorno al Mondo Nuovo" (Return to the New World) and dedicated to Aldous Huxley. . . Battiato’s infectious melodies and innovative sound-collage techniques remain uniquely spry . . . (behind) the curious beauty of Fetus.” – Superior Viaduct review. Fetus was released in 1971 on the small alternative label Bla Bla. The provocative cover led many stores to not even display the album. The inside cover is of Niki de Saint Phalle's Hon (She) sculpture from her 1966 installation for the Moderna Museet in Stockholm. The lyrics on Fetus were written by Sergio Albergoni and Gianni Sassi under the pseudonym of Frankenstein, and then fine-tuned during recording by Battiato. Their publicity agency, Al.Sa., was also responsible for publicizing the album and subsequent tour, and the duo were quite involved in collaborating with Battiato and in creating his public persona as a ground-breaking and iconoclastic new artist. Just when recording was to begin on the album, Battiato was drafted to serve in the army. He was so unsuited to military life that, through his passive resistance to doing anything, he ended up being shuffled around the country in various military hospitals until ending up in one in Milan, from which he was able to escape at night and go into the studio to record the album. The music was not composed in advance, but rather developed in the studio, with input from all the musicians and from the recording engineer as well. Battiato was the second to purchase the newly invented VCS3 synthesizer, the first being Pink Floyd.

Back to Album List         Back to Song List

Fetus

Non ero ancora nato Che già sentivo il cuore Che la mia vita Nasceva senza amore Mi trascinavo adagio Dentro il corpo umano Giu per le vene Verso il mio destino Fetus © 1971 Franco Battiato

I was not even born, yet I already felt the heart, that my life was birthing without love. I dragged myself slowly inside the human body, down through the veins towards my destiny. English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser “Franco Battiato is often heralded as Italy's answer to Brian Eno. . . (Battiato) turned pop music upside down in the early '70s with three classic LPs – Fetus, Pollution and Sulle Corde Di Aries – that formed a confluence of avant-folk sensibilities and analog electronics. . . With his trusted VCS3 synthesizer, Battiato created primordial soundscapes that shift between dreamy and delirious. His unsentimental, yet evocative voice – combined with a sublimely detached approach to lyrics – spawned a new breed of divergent songwriting. Fetus, a concept album exploring themes of genetic engineering, is enigmatically sub-titled "Ritorno al Mondo Nuovo" (Return to the New World) and dedicated to Aldous Huxley. . . Battiato’s infectious melodies and innovative sound-collage techniques remain uniquely spry . . . (behind) the curious beauty of Fetus.” – Superior Viaduct review. Fetus was released in 1971 on the small alternative label Bla Bla. The provocative cover led many stores to not even display the album. The inside cover is of Niki de Saint Phalle's Hon (She) sculpture from her 1966 installation for the Moderna Museet in Stockholm. The lyrics on Fetus were written by Sergio Albergoni and Gianni Sassi under the pseudonym of Frankenstein, and then fine-tuned during recording by Battiato. Their publicity agency, Al.Sa., was also responsible for publicizing the album and subsequent tour, and the duo were quite involved in collaborating with Battiato and in creating his public persona as a ground-breaking and iconoclastic new artist. Just when recording was to begin on the album, Battiato was drafted to serve in the army. He was so unsuited to military life that, through his passive resistance to doing anything, he ended up being shuffled around the country in various military hospitals until ending up in one in Milan, from which he was able to escape at night and go into the studio to record the album. The music was not composed in advance, but rather developed in the studio, with input from all the musicians and from the recording engineer as well. Battiato was the second to purchase the newly invented VCS3 synthesizer (at left), the first being Pink Floyd.

Back to Album List         Back to Song List

Una cellula - A Cell

Cambieranno le mie cellule E il mio corpo nuova vita avrà Le molecole che ho guaste Colpa dell'ereditarietà Sarò una cellula Fra motori Come una cellula Vivrò Viaggeremo più veloci della luce Intorno al sole Come macchine del tempo Contro il tempo che non vuole Sarò una cellula Fra motori Come una cellula Vivrò Una cellula © 1971 Franco Battiato

They will change my cells, and my body will have new life. The molecules I have, broken, heredity’s fault. I’ll be a cell among motors, like a cell I will live. We will travel faster than light around the sun, like time machines against time that wants it not. I’ll be a cell among motors, like a cell I will live. English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser “Franco Battiato is often heralded as Italy's answer to Brian Eno. . . (Battiato) turned pop music upside down in the early '70s with three classic LPs – Fetus, Pollution and Sulle Corde Di Aries – that formed a confluence of avant-folk sensibilities and analog electronics. . . With his trusted VCS3 synthesizer, Battiato created primordial soundscapes that shift between dreamy and delirious. His unsentimental, yet evocative voice – combined with a sublimely detached approach to lyrics – spawned a new breed of divergent songwriting. Fetus, a concept album exploring themes of genetic engineering, is enigmatically sub-titled "Ritorno al Mondo Nuovo" (Return to the New World) and dedicated to Aldous Huxley. . . Battiato’s infectious melodies and innovative sound-collage techniques remain uniquely spry . . . (behind) the curious beauty of Fetus.” – Superior Viaduct review. Fetus was released in 1971 on the small alternative label Bla Bla. The provocative cover led many stores to not even display the album. The inside cover is of Niki de Saint Phalle's Hon (She) sculpture from her 1966 installation for the Moderna Museet in Stockholm. The lyrics on Fetus were written by Sergio Albergoni and Gianni Sassi under the pseudonym of Frankenstein, and then fine-tuned during recording by Battiato. Their publicity agency, Al.Sa., was also responsible for publicizing the album and subsequent tour, and the duo were quite involved in collaborating with Battiato and in creating his public persona as a ground-breaking and iconoclastic new artist. Just when recording was to begin on the album, Battiato was drafted to serve in the army. He was so unsuited to military life that, through his passive resistance to doing anything, he ended up being shuffled around the country in various military hospitals until ending up in one in Milan, from which he was able to escape at night and go into the studio to record the album. The music was not composed in advance, but rather developed in the studio, with input from all the musicians and from the recording engineer as well. Battiato was the second to purchase the newly invented VCS3 synthesizer, the first being Pink Floyd.

Back to Album List         Back to Song List

Cariocinesi - Karyokinesis

Un nucleo si divide E due sono le vite E quattro e otto ancora In giusta progressione Processo di magia Processo forse cieco O forse illuminato Da memoria senza passato Un nucleo si divide L'errore lo interrompe E dentro il meccanismo Un velo che si chiama caso Cariocinesi © 1971 Franco Battiato

A nucleus divides, and two are the lives. And four and eight yet again, in the right progression. Process of magic, process maybe blind, or maybe illuminated by memory without a past. A nucleus divides, the error interrupts it, and inside, the mechanism, a veil called chance. English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser “Franco Battiato is often heralded as Italy's answer to Brian Eno. . . (Battiato) turned pop music upside down in the early '70s with three classic LPs – Fetus, Pollution and Sulle Corde Di Aries – that formed a confluence of avant-folk sensibilities and analog electronics. . . With his trusted VCS3 synthesizer, Battiato created primordial soundscapes that shift between dreamy and delirious. His unsentimental, yet evocative voice – combined with a sublimely detached approach to lyrics – spawned a new breed of divergent songwriting. Fetus, a concept album exploring themes of genetic engineering, is enigmatically sub-titled "Ritorno al Mondo Nuovo" (Return to the New World) and dedicated to Aldous Huxley. . . Battiato’s infectious melodies and innovative sound-collage techniques remain uniquely spry . . . (behind) the curious beauty of Fetus.” – Superior Viaduct review. Fetus was released in 1971 on the small alternative label Bla Bla. The provocative cover led many stores to not even display the album. The inside cover is of Niki de Saint Phalle's Hon (She) sculpture from her 1966 installation for the Moderna Museet in Stockholm. The lyrics on Fetus were written by Sergio Albergoni and Gianni Sassi under the pseudonym of Frankenstein, and then fine-tuned during recording by Battiato. Their publicity agency, Al.Sa., was also responsible for publicizing the album and subsequent tour, and the duo were quite involved in collaborating with Battiato and in creating his public persona as a ground-breaking and iconoclastic new artist. Just when recording was to begin on the album, Battiato was drafted to serve in the army. He was so unsuited to military life that, through his passive resistance to doing anything, he ended up being shuffled around the country in various military hospitals until ending up in one in Milan, from which he was able to escape at night and go into the studio to record the album. The music was not composed in advance, but rather developed in the studio, with input from all the musicians and from the recording engineer as well. Battiato was the second to purchase the newly invented VCS3 synthesizer, the first being Pink Floyd.

Back to Album List         Back to Song List

Fenominologia - Phenomenology

È incerto il processo mentale La voce è marmo e cemento Vivo malgrado me stesso... Difficile attuare il controllo Attorno i miei occhi c'è nebbia I contorni si fanno imprecisi... Ho già scordato la mia dimensione E forze sconosciute mi strappano da me... L'esotomia, I'IBM-azione De-cloro-de-fenilchetone Essedi-etilizzazione Han dato vita Alla programmazione X1 = A*sen (ωt), x2 = A*sen (ωt + γ) Fenomenologia © 1971 Franco Battiato The equations repeated at the end of the song relate to the harmonic oscillators used in Battiato's VCS3 synthesizer. And to my ears, Battiato's voice here is channeling some John Lennon!

It’s unsure, the mental process. The voice is marble and cement, I live in spite of myself . . . Difficult to effect the control. Around my eyes there is a fog, the outlines are done imprecisely . . . I already forgot my dimension And unknown forces rip myself from me . . . The exotomy, the IBM-action, dichlorodiphenylketone, essedi-etilizzatione have given life to the coding x1 = A*sin (ωt), x2 = A*sin (ωt + γ) English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser “Franco Battiato is often heralded as Italy's answer to Brian Eno. . . (Battiato) turned pop music upside down in the early '70s with three classic LPs – Fetus, Pollution and Sulle Corde Di Aries – that formed a confluence of avant-folk sensibilities and analog electronics. . . With his trusted VCS3 synthesizer, Battiato created primordial soundscapes that shift between dreamy and delirious. His unsentimental, yet evocative voice – combined with a sublimely detached approach to lyrics – spawned a new breed of divergent songwriting. Fetus, a concept album exploring themes of genetic engineering, is enigmatically sub-titled "Ritorno al Mondo Nuovo" (Return to the New World) and dedicated to Aldous Huxley. . . Battiato’s infectious melodies and innovative sound-collage techniques remain uniquely spry . . . (behind) the curious beauty of Fetus.” – Superior Viaduct review. Fetus was released in 1971 on the small alternative label Bla Bla. The provocative cover led many stores to not even display the album. The inside cover is of Niki de Saint Phalle's Hon (She) sculpture from her 1966 installation for the Moderna Museet in Stockholm. The lyrics on Fetus were written by Sergio Albergoni and Gianni Sassi under the pseudonym of Frankenstein, and then fine-tuned during recording by Battiato. Their publicity agency, Al.Sa., was also responsible for publicizing the album and subsequent tour, and the duo were quite involved in collaborating with Battiato and in creating his public persona as a ground-breaking and iconoclastic new artist. Just when recording was to begin on the album, Battiato was drafted to serve in the army. He was so unsuited to military life that, through his passive resistance to doing anything, he ended up being shuffled around the country in various military hospitals until ending up in one in Milan, from which he was able to escape at night and go into the studio to record the album. The music was not composed in advance, but rather developed in the studio, with input from all the musicians and from the recording engineer as well. Battiato was the second to purchase the newly invented VCS3 synthesizer, the first being Pink Floyd.

Back to Album List         Back to Song List

Meccanica - Mechanics

Meccanici i miei occhi Di plastica il mio cuore Meccanico il cervello Sintetico il sapore Meccaniche le dita Di polvere lunare In un laboratorio Il gene dell'amore Meccanica © 1971 Franco Battiato In the final third of "Meccanica" you hear a slowed down, sampled version of Bach's Aria from Suite No. 3, over the voices of the Apollo 11 astronauts.

Mechanical my eyes, of plastic my heart, mechanical the brain, synthetic the taste. Mechanical the fingers, of moon dust in a laboratory the gene of love. English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser “Franco Battiato is often heralded as Italy's answer to Brian Eno. . . (Battiato) turned pop music upside down in the early '70s with three classic LPs – Fetus, Pollution and Sulle Corde Di Aries – that formed a confluence of avant-folk sensibilities and analog electronics. . . With his trusted VCS3 synthesizer, Battiato created primordial soundscapes that shift between dreamy and delirious. His unsentimental, yet evocative voice – combined with a sublimely detached approach to lyrics – spawned a new breed of divergent songwriting. Fetus, a concept album exploring themes of genetic engineering, is enigmatically sub-titled "Ritorno al Mondo Nuovo" (Return to the New World) and dedicated to Aldous Huxley. . . Battiato’s infectious melodies and innovative sound-collage techniques remain uniquely spry . . . (behind) the curious beauty of Fetus.” – Superior Viaduct review. Fetus was released in 1971 on the small alternative label Bla Bla. The provocative cover led many stores to not even display the album. The inside cover is of Niki de Saint Phalle's Hon (She) sculpture from her 1966 installation for the Moderna Museet in Stockholm. The lyrics on Fetus were written by Sergio Albergoni and Gianni Sassi under the pseudonym of Frankenstein, and then fine-tuned during recording by Battiato. Their publicity agency, Al.Sa., was also responsible for publicizing the album and subsequent tour, and the duo were quite involved in collaborating with Battiato and in creating his public persona as a ground-breaking and iconoclastic new artist. Just when recording was to begin on the album, Battiato was drafted to serve in the army. He was so unsuited to military life that, through his passive resistance to doing anything, he ended up being shuffled around the country in various military hospitals until ending up in one in Milan, from which he was able to escape at night and go into the studio to record the album. The music was not composed in advance, but rather developed in the studio, with input from all the musicians and from the recording engineer as well. Battiato was the second to purchase the newly invented VCS3 synthesizer, the first being Pink Floyd.

Back to Album List         Back to Song List

Anafase - Anaphase

Varcherò i confini della terra Verso immensità... Sopra le astronavi Verso le stazioni interstellari Viaggerò... Anafase © 1971 Franco Battiato Anaphase - the stage of mitosis when replicated chromosomes are split and the daughter chromatids are moved to opposite poles of the cell.

I’ll pass over the ends of the Earth towards immensity . . . Upon the spaceships towards the interstellar stations I will travel . . . English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser “Franco Battiato is often heralded as Italy's answer to Brian Eno. . . (Battiato) turned pop music upside down in the early '70s with three classic LPs – Fetus, Pollution and Sulle Corde Di Aries – that formed a confluence of avant-folk sensibilities and analog electronics. . . With his trusted VCS3 synthesizer, Battiato created primordial soundscapes that shift between dreamy and delirious. His unsentimental, yet evocative voice – combined with a sublimely detached approach to lyrics – spawned a new breed of divergent songwriting. Fetus, a concept album exploring themes of genetic engineering, is enigmatically sub-titled "Ritorno al Mondo Nuovo" (Return to the New World) and dedicated to Aldous Huxley. . . Battiato’s infectious melodies and innovative sound-collage techniques remain uniquely spry . . . (behind) the curious beauty of Fetus.” – Superior Viaduct review. Fetus was released in 1971 on the small alternative label Bla Bla. The provocative cover led many stores to not even display the album. The inside cover is of Niki de Saint Phalle's Hon (She) sculpture from her 1966 installation for the Moderna Museet in Stockholm. The lyrics on Fetus were written by Sergio Albergoni and Gianni Sassi under the pseudonym of Frankenstein, and then fine-tuned during recording by Battiato. Their publicity agency, Al.Sa., was also responsible for publicizing the album and subsequent tour, and the duo were quite involved in collaborating with Battiato and in creating his public persona as a ground-breaking and iconoclastic new artist. Just when recording was to begin on the album, Battiato was drafted to serve in the army. He was so unsuited to military life that, through his passive resistance to doing anything, he ended up being shuffled around the country in various military hospitals until ending up in one in Milan, from which he was able to escape at night and go into the studio to record the album. The music was not composed in advance, but rather developed in the studio, with input from all the musicians and from the recording engineer as well. Battiato was the second to purchase the newly invented VCS3 synthesizer, the first being Pink Floyd.

Back to Album List         Back to Song List

Mutazione - Mutation

Millenni di sonno mi hanno cullato Ed ora ritorno. Qualcosa è cambiato Non scorgo segnale che annunci la vita Eppure l'avverto ci son vibrazioni Che cosa vedranno tra poco i miei occhi Magari saranno dei corpi di pietra Li sento arrivare li sento arrivare Mutazione © 1971 Franco Battiato

Millennia of sleep have cradled me, and now I return. Something is changed. I don’t detect the signal announcing life, yet I’m warning you, there are vibrations. What will my eyes see in a bit? Perhaps there will be some stone bodies, I feel them arriving, I feel them arriving. English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser “Franco Battiato is often heralded as Italy's answer to Brian Eno. . . (Battiato) turned pop music upside down in the early '70s with three classic LPs – Fetus, Pollution and Sulle Corde Di Aries – that formed a confluence of avant-folk sensibilities and analog electronics. . . With his trusted VCS3 synthesizer, Battiato created primordial soundscapes that shift between dreamy and delirious. His unsentimental, yet evocative voice – combined with a sublimely detached approach to lyrics – spawned a new breed of divergent songwriting. Fetus, a concept album exploring themes of genetic engineering, is enigmatically sub-titled "Ritorno al Mondo Nuovo" (Return to the New World) and dedicated to Aldous Huxley. . . Battiato’s infectious melodies and innovative sound-collage techniques remain uniquely spry . . . (behind) the curious beauty of Fetus.” – Superior Viaduct review. Fetus was released in 1971 on the small alternative label Bla Bla. The provocative cover led many stores to not even display the album. The inside cover is of Niki de Saint Phalle's Hon (She) sculpture from her 1966 installation for the Moderna Museet in Stockholm. The lyrics on Fetus were written by Sergio Albergoni and Gianni Sassi under the pseudonym of Frankenstein, and then fine-tuned during recording by Battiato. Their publicity agency, Al.Sa., was also responsible for publicizing the album and subsequent tour, and the duo were quite involved in collaborating with Battiato and in creating his public persona as a ground-breaking and iconoclastic new artist. Just when recording was to begin on the album, Battiato was drafted to serve in the army. He was so unsuited to military life that, through his passive resistance to doing anything, he ended up being shuffled around the country in various military hospitals until ending up in one in Milan, from which he was able to escape at night and go into the studio to record the album. The music was not composed in advance, but rather developed in the studio, with input from all the musicians and from the recording engineer as well. Battiato was the second to purchase the newly invented VCS3 synthesizer, the first being Pink Floyd.

Back to Album List         Back to Song List