Temporary Road

I'm looking for someone a miracle To send my life in the curved air I'm a lonely boy steppin' out Solitary man ... I don't understand Life can be short or long Tomorrow is another day I'm livin' underground like a teddy boy I cross the rainbow Migliaia di prigionieri immobili Seduti sulle macchine ai semafori Quando non c'è traffico per le vie del centro Solitario me ne vo per la città L'aria calma dei dí di festa Scende dalle scale verso me Vigilesse all'erta come teddy boys Per divieto di sosta Danno sempre le multe Da una chiesa qui vicino Suona una campana din don dan Temporary Road © 1985 Franco Battiato "Temporary Road" includes several references: to Terry Riley's A Rainbow in Curved Air, to Giacomo Leopardi's La sera del dì di festa, to a line from "In cerca di te" by Eros Sciorilli ("Sola me ne vo per la città"), and to a line from Gone With the Wind ("tomorrow is another day"). There's also the insertion of Mozart's Turkish Rondo (from the Piano Sonata #11) for the final lines and outro.

I'm looking for someone, a miracle to send my life into the curved air. I'm a lonely boy steppin' out, solitary man . . . I don't understand. Life can be short or long, tomorrow is another day. I'm livin' underground like a teddy boy, I cross the rainbow. Thousands of immobile prisoners seated in their cars at the stop lights. When there's no traffic on the downtown streets, alone I head for the city. The calm air of the holiday gods descends the stairs in my direction. Meter maids on the alert like teddy boys – for No Stopping zones they’re always giving tickets. From a church nearby a bell sounds – ding ding dong. English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser Mondi lontanissimi was released in 1985 and was originally conceived as a sort of intergalactic fable. According to Battiato, "The far-distant worlds are the worlds of fantasy, of the planets of our constellation in which perhaps there are other forms of life that we're not able to imagine; also the interior worlds, those levels of awareness that not only can we not imagine but that we waste like the greatest treasure hidden in every individual." Giusto Pio collaborated on the arrangements and on most of the music, and also directed the Milan Symphony Orchestra, whose presence here lends warmth to what is sometimes a certain coldness in Battiato's more synth-heavy work.

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