Povera patria - Poor Homeland

Povera patria! Schiacciata dagli abusi del potere di gente infame, che non sa cos'è il pudore. Si credono potenti e gli va bene quello che fanno; e tutto gli appartiene. Tra i governanti, quanti perfetti e inutili buffoni! Questo paese è devastato dal dolore... Ma non vi danno un po' di dispiacere quei corpi in terra senza più calore? Non cambierà, non cambierà No, cambierà, forse cambierà. Ma come scusare le iene negli stadi e quelle dei giornali? Nel fango affonda lo stivale dei maiali. Me ne vergogno un poco, e mi fa male vedere un uomo come un animale. Non cambierà, non cambierà Sì che cambierà, vedrai che cambierà. Si può sperare che il mondo torni a quote più normali che possa contemplare il cielo e i fiori che non si parli più di dittature Se avremo ancora un po' da vivere... La primavera intanto tarda ad arrivare. Povera patria © 1991 Franco Battiato "Povera patria" is a devastating look at the failings and ills of Italy's politics. Battiato generally felt that it wasn't an artist's place to address political themes, but his indignation at the state of affairs in Italy pushed him to write this bitter, sad, but clear-eyed assessment that shows him vacillating between hope and despair.

Poor homeland! Smashed by the abuses of power of notorious people who don’t know what decency is. They think themselves potent and are fine with what they do; and everything belongs to them. Among the rulers, such perfect and useless buffoons! This country is devastated by suffering. But don’t they give you some displeasure those bodies in the ground with no warmth left? It won’t change, it won’t change. No, it will change, maybe it will change. But how to excuse the hyenas in the stadiums and those in the news? In the mud sinks the boot of the pigs. I’m a little ashamed, and it sickens me to see a man as an animal. It won’t change, it won’t change. But yes it will change, you’ll see, it will change. One can hope that the world returns to more normal times, that one can contemplate the sky and the flowers, that there’s no more talk of dictators. If we will still have a little longer to live . . . The spring meanwhile is late in arriving. English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser Come un camello in una grondaia was released in 1991, and was recorded at Abbey Road Studios because Battiato and arranger Giusto Pio wanted to use the Astarte Orchestra and the Ambrosian Singers, both based in London. The album marks a further distancing from Battiato's 1980s pop/rock period, with the rhythm section being jettisoned, resulting in four contemporary Lieder, which are poems set to classical music. These four works of Battiato are paired with four traditional Lieder: Schmerzen by Wagner, Plaisir d'amour by Martini Il Tedesco, Gestillte Sehnsucht by Brahms, and Oh Sweet Were the Hours by Beethoven.

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