Fisiognomica - Face Reading

Leggo dentro i tuoi occhi Da quante volte vivi Dal taglío della bocca Se sei disposto all'odio o all'indulgenza Nel tratto del tuo naso Se sei orgoglioso fiero oppure vile I drammi del tuo cuore Li leggo nelle mani Nelle loro falangi Dispendio o tirchieria Da come ridi e siedi So come fai l'amore Quando ti arrabbi Se propendi all'astio o all'onestà Per cose che non sai e non intendi Se sei presuntuoso od umile Negli archi delle unghie Se sei un puro un avido o un meschino Ma se ti senti male Rivolgiti al Signore Credimi siamo niente Dei miseri ruscelli senza Fonte Vedo quando cammini Se sei borioso fragile o indifeso Da come parli e ascolti Il grado di coscienza Nei muscoli del collo e nelle orecchie: Il tipo di tensioni e di chiusure Dal sesso e dal bacino Se sei più uomo o donna Vivere venti o quarant'anni in più è uguale Difficile è capire ciò che è giusto E che l'Eterno non ha avuto inizio Perché la nostra mente è temporale E il corpo vive giustamente Solo questa vita Ma se ti senti male Rivolgiti al Signore Credimi siamo niente Dei miseri ruscelli senza Fonte Fisiognomica © 1988 Franco Battiato "Fisiognomica" gives the advice to "turn back to the Lord." Battiato said that "man believes himself to be at the center of the universe. Instead, he is zero, nothing. And he renders himself ridiculous thinking to decide, to dominate. Man becomes an extraordinary being only if he accepts himself as a nonentity, a minuscule cog in the natural system."

I read within your eyes how many times you have lived, by the cut of your mouth if you are disposed to hatred or indulgence. In the features of your nose if you are proud, fierce or vile. The stories of your heart I read in your hands, in their phalanges, extravagance or stinginess. By how you laugh and sit I know how you make love. When you get mad, if you are inclined to malice or to honesty. For things you don’t know and don’t intend, if you are presumptuous or humble. In the arc of your fingernails, if you are pure, greedy or petty. But if you don’t feel well, turn back to the Lord. Believe me we are nothing, some paltry streams without a Source. I see when you walk if you are pompous, delicate or helpless. By how you talk and listen, the degree of consciousness. In the muscles of the neck and the ears: the type of tensions and of closures. By the sex and by the pelvis, if you are more man or woman. Living twenty or forty years more is all the same – what’s difficult is understanding what is right and that the Eternal didn’t have a beginning, because our mind is temporal and the body lives, rightly so, only this life. But if you don’t feel well, turn back to the Lord. Believe me we are nothing, some paltry streams without a Source. English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser Fisiognomica was released in 1988. After 1985's Mondi Lontanissimi, Battiato changed course once again and dedicated himself to working on an opera, Genesis, a project he'd already begun in 1983. The opera was nearly all-consuming for the next two years and was finally mounted in 1987. Battiato then committed to writing another opera based on the myth of Gilgamesh. However, some non-classical songs were beginning to reappear in his writing, and he decided to produce another "pop" album (the word "pop" must always be in quotes when applied to Battiato), though one that unites pop, operatic, classical, and contemplative music. One that also places spirituality at the core, with lyrics and music that are serious, refined, intimate and more personally direct than Battiato was previously willing to be in his former years of word play, irony, hard-to-understand esoteric references, and fragmentism.

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