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.

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