Scalo a Grado -

Ho fatto scalo a Grado La domenica di Pasqua Gente per le strade Correva andando a messa L'aria carica d'incenso Alle pareti le stazioni del calvario Gente fintamente assorta Che aspettava la redenzione dei peccati Agnus dei qui tollis peccata Mundi miserere Dona eis requiem Il mio stile è vecchio Come la casa di Tiziano a Pieve di Cadore Nel mio sangue non c'è acqua Ma fiele che ti potrà guarire Ci si illumina d'immenso Mostrando un poco la lingua Al prete che dà l'ostia Ci si sente in paradiso cantando dei salmi un poco stonati Agnus dei qui tollis peccata Mundi miserere Dona eis requiem Scalo a Grado © 1982 Franco Battiato According to the liner notes of the album, "Scalo a Grado" is "an in-depth and serious look at the progressive degradation of the ritual of the Mass." The line linked above is an adaptation of a famous poem by Giuseppe Ungaretti.

I layed over at Grado on Easter Sunday. People on the streets ran, going to mass, the air filled with incense, at the walls, the stations of the calvary, people, feigning being absorbed, who awaited the redemption of their sins. Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy. Give them rest. My style is old, like the house of Titian in Pieve di Cadore. In my blood there is no water, but gall that can heal you. We are illumined by the light of the immense, slightly showing the tongue to the priest who gives the wafer. We feel in Paradise, singing some psalms a bit out-of-tune. Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy. Give them rest. English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser L'arca di Noe was released in 1982. Giusto Pio collaborated on the musical compositions and arrangements. After its release, there were some critics who began to reassess Battiato and who charged him with putting forward right-wing ideas. To which Battiato responded, "Stupidly, there are those who have defined me as 'idealogue of the new right,' but in reality I am a conservative, in the ancestral sense. Because I think that all the current technological and scientific development, indeed a sort of neo-religion, has strongly deteriorated the qualities of man. And I, to the contrary, am for the recovery of the best traditions of civilized man." These charges led Battiato to avoid encounters with both the press and the public and concentrate on his work in the studio as producer and writer for other artists.

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