Scherzo in minore - Scherzo in a Minor Key

Accanto a un platano ingiallito ti giurai Amore per l’eternità Mi risvegliavi un’innocenza preadamitica E un’immobilità Ma l’uomo non è pietra di tungsteno E cambia spesso proprietà Uccide sempre a tradimento con veleno di invidia e d’infedeltà E i giorni si cancellano l’un l’altro E il caldo al freddo si unisce Svelto con mosse da levriero il mio dolore cambia pur esso il suo colore Ho visto un lampo illuminare scene del futuro Gli anni mi dividono in sparse parti Il numero sapessi lasciar tracce Scherzo in minore © 2001 Franco Battiato & Manlio Sgalambro "Scherzo in minore" samples generously Django Reinhardt's 1937 piece "Minor Swing." Sgalambro was passionate about jazz, while Battiato was not. Nevertheless, he liked the irresistible swing of this piece. In Western classical music, a scherzo (meaning "joke" in Italian) is a song form, often sprightly in nature.

Next to a yellowing plane tree I promised you love forevermore. You aroused in me a pre-Adamic innocence and an immobility. But man isn’t tungsten rock, and changes properties often. He kills often out of betrayal, with poison of envy and infidelity. And the days cancel each other out and the heat and cold combine. Quick with greyhound movements my pain changes despite it’s color. I saw a lamp illuminate scenes of the future. The years divide me into scattered parts. The number knew how to leave tracks. English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser Ferro Battuto was released in 2001, with a sound decidedly more pop than Gommalacca, reflecting a desire on Battiato's part to communicate more directly with his public. The lyrics on most of the songs were co-written by Battiato and Manlio Sgalambro.

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