Saturday, July 6, 2019

L'odore di polvere da sparo - The Smell of Gunpowder

È vero che sul Mar Nero sul mare nero
Le rose fioriscono tre volte?
E' vero che le colonne doriche
Vanno in briciole e si sente parlare di distanze
Per andare ad Alessandria d'Egitto?
Fasto della vecchia Europa
L'odore di polvere da sparo
Sparso per quartieri mentre una banda
Accompagna le reliquie della santa
Impulsi religiosi dell'Occidente. Accidente

Le truppe schierate di fronte
A un ordine sparano i fucili
Le prime file cadono a pioggia
Il fumo si addensa al sudore
(La parte sinistra di Baku
Guardando il porto
È la vendetta)

L'odore di polvere da sparo
Sparso per quartieri mentre una banda
Accompagna le reliquie della santa
Impulsi religiosi dell'Occidente. Accidente

L'odore di polvere da sparo © 2004 Franco Battiato, Maurizio Arcieri & Manlio Sgalambro

The music of "L'odore di polvere da sparo" was co-written with Maurizio Arcieri of the electronic music duo Krisma. What might seem like a bit of word play with Occident/Accident is actually a reference to Gurdjieff's Law of Accident, which states that man acts like a machine, subject to all manner of external influences.

Is it true that on the Black Sea, on the Black Sea,
roses bloom three times?
Is it true that the Doric columns
turn to crumbs and you hear about distances
to go to Alexandria of Egypt?
Splendors of Old Europe,
the smell of gunpowder
scattered through neighborhoods while a band
accompanies the Holy Relics -
religious impulses of the Occident. Accident.

The troops lined up at the front
upon an order fire their rifles.
The first rows fall down like rain,
the smoke thickens on the sweat
(the left part of Baku
watching the port
it’s the vendetta.).

The smell of gunpowder
scattered through neighborhoods while a band
accompanies the Holy Relics -
religious impulses of the Occident. Accident.

English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser



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.
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