Un'altra vita - A Different Life

Certe notti per dormire mi metto a leggere E invece avrei bisogno di attimi di silenzio Certe volte anche con te, e sai che ti voglio bene Mi arrabbio inutilmente senza una vera ragione Sulle strade al mattino il troppo traffico mi sfianca; Mi innervosiscono i semafori e gli stop, e la sera ritorno con malesseri speciali Non servono tranquillanti o terapie Ci vuole un'altra vita Su divani, abbandonati a telecomandi in mano Storie di sottofondo Dallas e i Ricchi Piangono Sulle strade la terza linea del metrò che avanza E macchine parcheggiate in tripla fila E la sera ritorno con la noia e la stanchezza Non servono più eccitanti o ideologie Ci vuole un'altra vita "Un'altra vita © 1983 Franco Battiato "Un'altra vita" is a sort of prescription for escaping the dead ends of public and private life - one must change completely and, as Gurdjieff might suggest, reawaken one's awareness and liberate oneself from conditioning. (One must remember that Battiato had been studying Gurdjieff for eight years by this time in his life.)

Some nights, to sleep, I set myself to reading, and instead I could really use some moments of silence. Sometimes even with you, and you know that I love you, I get angry needlessly without any real reason. On the roads in the morning the too-much traffic exhausts me, the signal lights and stops annoy me, and at night I return with special indispositions. Neither downers nor therapy works - it takes a different life. On the couches, abandoned to hand-held remote controls, stories in the background - Dallas and The Rich Cry. On the roads the third line of the Metro that moves ahead, and cars triple parked, and at night I return with boredom and tiredness. Neither uppers nor ideologies work any more - it takes a different life. English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser Orizzonti perduti was released in 1983. Giusto Pio co-wrote most of the songs, and collaborated on all the arrangements. Many of the songs on the album contemplate a world that is either lost or in the process of being lost, with many references to Battiato's native Sicily. The album relies almost entirely on electronic instrumentation. Regarding the album's title, it's quite possible that Battiato had in mind the book Lost Horizon, or the film of the same name, which introduced the utopian Shangri-La in the mountains of Tibet.

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