I'm That

What glorious light Wisdom without bound Wrapt in eternal solitary shade The impenetrable gloom Of light intense Impervious inaccessible immense And brought light to the gods and mortal man My abstinence and renunciation left his heaven to me You are a hero you are what is ten times more We're come from stars’ cosmic nature Now we are destroying the future A real man Everything is good Inspired by love and wine The light which is in me Is now ablaze in me I come from the first chosen What joy to breathe the scent of open air Which die like the last rays of the sun No mortal man has lifted my veil I'm neither Muslim nor Hindu nor Christian nor Buddhist I'm not for the hammer neither for the sickle and even less for tricolor flame because I'm a musician The light which is in me Is now ablaze in me I come from the first chosen Which die like the last rays of the sun No mortal man has lifted my veil I'm That © 2004 Franco Battiato

Dieci stratagemmi - Attraversare il mare per ingannare il cielo was released in 2004. The title is a takeoff on the Chinese essay Thirty-Six Stratagems, which discusses strategies used in war and politics. The lyrics were mostly co-written by Battiato and the Sicilian philosopher Manlio Sgalambro. The English lyrics in "I'm That" are taken from A Hymn to Narayena, published in 1785 by the Anglo-Welsh philologist and India scholar William Jones. Narayena is a Sanskrit name for the spirit of God which means "moving on water." The other vocalist is Cristina Scabbia of the goth metal band Lacuna Coil.

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