Sunday, August 4, 2019

The game is over

The game is over in the dark night
I knock at your door

When I reach the selfish stage
I enjoy a certain pleasure
But sometimes a vague fear
which I cannot describe

Dov'è che stiamo andando
nel succedersi del tempo
Avrai un progetto o no per la tua vita?...
andiamo

To ask the mind to kill the mind
is like making the thief
When I reach the selfish stage
I enjoy a certain pleasure
But sometimes a vague fear
which I cannot describe

Dov'è che stiamo andando
nel succedersi del tempo
Avrai un progetto o no per la tua vita?
... adesso

Discover the nature of mind...
no matter how many planets
And stars are reflected in a lake
no matter how many universes there are

The game is over © 2007 Franco Battiato & Manlio Sgalambro

"The game is over" samples a song, "Huhu Namil," from an album called Songs of Mongolia, featuring throat singing and the national instrument, the morin khuur. Joining Battiato on vocals is Alice Dionis (Psycho Jeremy) of MAB.

The game is over in the dark night,
I knock at your door.

When I reach the selfish stage
I enjoy a certain pleasure,
but sometimes a vague fear
which I cannot describe.

Where is it that we’re going
in the succession of time?
Do you have a plan or not for your life?
Let’s go!

To ask the mind to kill the mind
is like making the thief.
When I reach the selfish stage
I enjoy a certain pleasure,
but sometimes a vague fear
which I cannot describe.

Where is it that we’re going
in the succession of time?
Do you have a plan or not for your life?
. . . now!

Discover the nature of mind . . .
no matter how many planets
and stars are reflected in a lake,
no matter how many universes there are.

English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser



Il vuoto was released in 2007. Battiato said of the album, "All of this disc talks essentially of emptiness. And for "emptiness" I don't mean only that as it relates to thoughts or considerations of a philosophical order, but precisely the problems and circumstances that each one of us is obligated to live every day." And of course there's the flip side of this negative emptiness: the emptiness one can reach through meditation which then allows the realization of new possibilities. The lyrics are again a collaboration between Battiato and the Sicilian philosopher Manlio Sgalambro.
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Saturday, August 3, 2019

Era l'inizio della primavera -                                                 It Was the Beginning of Spring

La Primavera cominciò un po' di tempo prima
E l'erba si vedeva appena e noi stavamo bene
Nell'aria mite del mattino le felci ancora chiuse
Tu che abbassavi spesso gli occhi
e sempre prima di me
La Primavera cominciò all'ombra di betulle
Come risposta al mio umore
Lanciavi un'occhiata era l'inizio tra noi due
Piangevo prima di te

It was in the early spring
The grass was barely showing
The stream was flowing the air mild
The trees were turning green

It was in the early morning
Shepherd's pipe as yet was silent
The ferns were still tightly furled
in the pine wood

It was in the early spring
In the shade of the birch trees
When with a smile
you lowered your eyes before me

In reply to my love you lowered....
You lowered .... your glance

Oh life - oh wood - oh youth
Oh sunlight ..and hope
La Primavera cominciò un po' di tempo prima
E l'erba si vedeva appena e noi stavamo bene

Era l'inizio della primavera © 2007 Franco Battiato

"Era l'inizio della primavera" is Battiato's rendition in Italian and English of "It Was in Early Spring" by Petr Tchaikovsky, with lyrics by Aleksey Tolstoy. The English lyrics are sung by Lisa Masia of the group MAB, which was featured on the opening song of the album.

Spring began just a little earlier
and grass was just appearing and we were well.
In the mild morning air, the ferns still closed,
you who often lowered your eyes,
and always ahead of me.
Spring began in the shadow of birches.
In response to my mood,
you cast a glance. It was the beginning for us.
I cried before you did.

It was in the early spring
The grass was barely showing
The stream was flowing the air mild
The trees were turning green

It was in the early morning
Shepherd's pipe as yet was silent
The ferns were still tightly furled
in the pine wood

It was in the early spring
In the shade of the birch trees
When with a smile
you lowered your eyes before me

In reply to my love you lowered....
You lowered .... your glance

Oh life - oh wood - oh youth
Oh sunlight ..and hope
Spring began just a little earlier
And grass was just appearing and we were well.

English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser



Il vuoto was released in 2007. Battiato said of the album, "All of this disc talks essentially of emptiness. And for "emptiness" I don't mean only that as it relates to thoughts or considerations of a philosophical order, but precisely the problems and circumstances that each one of us is obligated to live every day." And of course there's the flip side of this negative emptiness: the emptiness one can reach through meditation which then allows the realization of new possibilities. The lyrics are again a collaboration between Battiato and the Sicilian philosopher Manlio Sgalambro.
Back to Album List         Back to Song List

Friday, August 2, 2019

Io chi sono? - Who Am I?

Io sono. Io chi sono?
Il cielo è primordialmente puro ed immutabile
Mentre le nubi sono temporanee
Le comuni apparenze scompaiono
Con l'esaurirsi di tutti i fenomeni
Tutto è illusorio privo di sostanza
Tutto è vacuità

E siamo qui ancora vivi di nuovo qui
Da tempo immemorabile
Qui non si impara niente sempre gli stessi errori
Inevitabilmente gli stessi orrori
da sempre come sempre

Però in una stanza vuota
la luce si unisce allo spazio
Sono una cosa sola inseparabili
La luce si unisce allo spazio in una cosa sola

Io sono. Io chi sono?

La luce si unisce allo spazio
in una cosa sola indivisibili

Io sono. Io chi sono?

Io chi sono? © 2007 Franco Battiato & Manlio Sgalambro



I am. Who am I?
The sky is primordially pure and immutable
while the clouds are temporary.
Common occurrences disappear
with the exhaustion of all phenomena.
Everything is illusory, without substance.
Everything is emptiness.

And we are still here alive, here again
from time immemorial.
Here one never learns, always the same mistakes.
Inevitably the same horrors,
since forever as always.

But in an empty room
the light comes together with the space.
I am a thing alone, inseparable.
The light comes together with the space in a single thing.
I am. Who am I?

The light comes together with the space
in a single indivisible thing.

I am. Who am I?

English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser



Il vuoto was released in 2007. Battiato said of the album, "All of this disc talks essentially of emptiness. And for "emptiness" I don't mean only that as it relates to thoughts or considerations of a philosophical order, but precisely the problems and circumstances that each one of us is obligated to live every day." And of course there's the flip side of this negative emptiness: the emptiness one can reach through meditation which then allows the realization of new possibilities. The lyrics are again a collaboration between Battiato and the Sicilian philosopher Manlio Sgalambro.
Back to Album List         Back to Song List

Thursday, August 1, 2019

Stati di gioia - States of Joy

Le azioni del mondo
non influenzano il sole
E i nemici è sicuro
sono dentro di noi
Com'è possibile restare ciechi
per così lungo tempo

Mi trovavo a lottare
contro i miei fantasmi
Spostandomi in avanti
per quanto lo permette la catena
Scopersi per caso lo stato
che ascende alla Gioia
Masticavo semi di mela
alla luce del mattino
Le increspature dell'aria
sembravano pulsare
Mi giungevano frasi,
odori di erbe bruciate
Scintille di fuochi suoni lontani

Masticavo semi di mela
alla luce del mattino
Le increspature dell'aria
sembravano pulsare

Era l'estate del '63
un pomeriggio assolato
Da un juke-box di un bar
completamente vuoto
"She loves you ye ye ye"

Riti di purificazione
dentro stati di Gioia
Senza Luce né Oscurità

Stati di gioia © 2007 Franco Battiato & Manlio Sgalambro

"Stati di gioia" is based on an experience Battiato had in an ashram in India.

The actions of the world
don’t influence the sun,
and the enemies, it is certain,
are inside of us.
How is it possible to stay blind
for such a long time?

I found myself struggling
against my phantasms,
moving myself forward
as much as the chain allowed it,
discovering by chance the state
that rises up towards Joy.
I used to eat apple seeds
in the morning light.
The rippling air
seemed to pulse.
Phrases came to me,
smells of burned grass,
sparkles of fire, distant sounds.

I used to eat apple seeds
in the morning light.
The rippling air
seemed to pulse.

It was the summer of ’63,
a sunny afternoon.
From a jukebox of a café
completely empty –
“She loves you ya ya ya.”

Rites of purification
inside states of Joy,
without Light or Darkness.

English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser



Il vuoto was released in 2007. Battiato said of the album, "All of this disc talks essentially of emptiness. And for "emptiness" I don't mean only that as it relates to thoughts or considerations of a philosophical order, but precisely the problems and circumstances that each one of us is obligated to live every day." And of course there's the flip side of this negative emptiness: the emptiness one can reach through meditation which then allows the realization of new possibilities. The lyrics are again a collaboration between Battiato and the Sicilian philosopher Manlio Sgalambro.
Back to Album List         Back to Song List

Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Tra sesso e castità - Between Sex and Chastity

Andando a caso consideravo
girando per strade vuote
Che l’equilibrio si vede da sè
si avverte immediatamente
Ribussa ai miei pensieri
un desiderio di ieri
Ed è l’eterna lotta
tra sesso e castità

Chissà com’è la tua vita oggi
E chissà perché avrò abdicato

Scorrono gli anni nascosti dal fatto
che c’è sempre molto da fare
E il tempo presente si lascia fuggire
con scuse condizionali
Ribussa ai miei pensieri
un desiderio di ieri
Ed è l’eterno scontro
tra sesso e castità

Chissà com’è la tua vita oggi
E chissà perché avrò abdicato

Tra i sussurri l’indolente ebbrezza
di ascendere e cadere qui
Tra la vita e il sonno,
la luce e il buio
dove forze oscure
Da sempre si scatenano

Felici i giorni in cui il fato ti riempie
di lacrime ed arcobaleni
Della lussuria che tenta i papaveri
con turbinii e voglie

… Chissà perché avrò abdicato
con te riproverei ...
Per capriccio gioco per necessità
Mi divido così
tra astinenza e pentimenti
Tra sesso e castità

Tra sesso e castità © 2004 Franco Battiato & Manlio Sgalambro

"Tra sesso e castità " is a

Going around randomly, I considered,
wandering the empty streets,
that the equilibrium one sees by itself
is felt immediately.
Knocking again at my thoughts is
a desire from yesterday,
and it’s the eternal struggle
between sex and chastity.

Who knows how your life is today,
and who knows why I’ll have abdicated?

The years flow by hidden from the fact
that there is always much to do,
and the present time is left to flee
with conditional excuses.
Knocking again at my thoughts is
a desire from yesterday,
and it’s the eternal encounter
between sex and chastity.

Who knows how your life is today,
and who knows why I’ll have abdicated?

Between whispers the indolent intoxication
of rising and falling here.
Between life and sleep,
light and darkness,
where obscure forces
since forever have been unleashed.

Happy the days in which fate fills you
with tears and rainbows,
with the lust that tempts the poppies,
with whirlwinds and desires.

Who knows why I will have abdicated,
with you I would try again . . .
On a whim I play for necessity.
I divide myself thus,
between abstinence and regrets,
between sex and chastity.

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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Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Le aquili non volano a stormi -                                       Eagles Don't Fly in Flocks

Giorni e mesi corrono veloci
La strada è oscura e incerta
E temo di offuscarmi
Non prestare orecchio alle menzogne
Non farti soffocare dai maligni
Non ti nutrire di invidie e gelosie

In silenzio soffro i danni del tempo
Le aquile non volano a stormi
Vivo è il rimpianto della via smarrita
Nell'incerto cammino del ritorno

Seguo la guida degli antichi saggi
Mi affido al cuore ed attraverso il male
A chi confessi i tuoi segreti?
Ferito al mattino a sera offeso
Salta su un cavallo alato
Prima che l'incostanza offuschi lo splendore

In silenzio soffro i danni del tempo
Le aquile non volano a stormi
Vivo è il rimpianto della via smarrita
Nell'incerto cammino del ritorno

Shizukani tokino kizuni kurushimu
Murewo kundewa tobanai taka
Furuki oshiewo tadotte
Kokoronomamani konokanashimiwo norikoete

Le aquili non volano a stormi © 2004 Franco Battiato, Yashima Kinimori & Manlio Sgalambro

The lyrics of "Le aquili non volano a stormi" are based on verses of the Chinese poet Qu Yuan, while the music is a reworking of "Tabida-chi" played by the Yoshida Brothers.

Days and months run quickly.
The road is dark and uncertain
and I fear obfuscating myself
Don’t lend an ear to the falsehoods,
don’t force yourself to suffocate on evils,
don’t feed yourself envies and jealousies.

In silence I suffer the damages of time –
eagles don’t fly in flocks.
Alive is the regret about the road not taken
in the uncertain path of return.

I follow the guide of the ancient wise ones,
I trust my heart and cross over evil.
To whom do you confess your secrets?
Injured in the morning, evenings offended,
jump on a winged horse
before inconstancy obfuscates the splendor.

In silence I suffer the damages of time,
eagles don’t fly in flocks.
Alive is the regret of the road not taken
in the uncertain path of return.

It is quietly wearing a crack
Do you not end up murmuring?
Following School of Evolution
Leave this sadness as it is.

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.
Back to Album List         Back to Song List

Monday, July 8, 2019

Ermeneutica - Hermeneutics

Eiacula precocemente l'impero
Tornano i vecchi testamenti
Gli stati mostri si avventano sui regimi fascisti

Tensioni di tensioni di frustrazioni
si manifestano
Nel nostro seme si nascondono
si riproducono germi di desideri infetti
In my dreams I see you in a different way
The emotional colours of life
are changing completely

Sometimes we need to expel our seed
Where tensions of tensions hide

Mostruosa creatura (human virus)
Il suo nome è fanatismo
Solo quando il sacro parla (human virus)
L'eccelso prende forma

(human virus is coming inside us)

Deus est filius dei
Tutte le macchine al potere
gli uomini a pane ed acqua

And what is cosmos?
what is the meaning of the word?
History is bunk

Eiacula precocemente l'impero
Ritorna il circolo dei combattenti
Gli stati servi si inchinano
a quella scimmia di presidente
S'invade si abbatte
si insegue si ammazza il cattivo
Si inventano democrazie

A monstrous creature its name fanaticism
(human virus)
When the consecrated word speaks
Magnificence takes form

And now I am far from you
Now I’m far from you
And now I am far from you
Now I’m far from you

Ermeneutica © 2004 Franco Battiato & Manlio Sgalambro

"Ermeneutica" was written after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. While Battiato felt that it wasn't the role of music to address social questions, he was sufficiently indignant, as he was formerly when he wrote "Povera Patria," to speak out. The song takes its title from a philosophical term that means the theory and methodology of interpretation. Battiato said, "We can't accept certain insults to reason. These scoundrels want to pass on the idea that if they kill five Marines it's a massacre willed by the forces of evil, while it's fair to count up 15,000 innocent victims in Iraq or 10,000 in Afghanistan, because those are the enemy. We know the truth, we must shout that Bush is a lying criminal."

The empire ejaculates precociously,
the old testaments return,
the monster states pounce on the Fascist regimes.

Tensions of tensions of frustrations
manifest themselves;
in our seed, germs of infected desires
hide and reproduce themselves.
In my dreams I see you in a different way.
The emotional colours of life
are changing completely.

Sometimes we need to expel our seed
where tensions of tensions hide.

Monstrous creature (human virus) –
its name is fanaticism.
Only when the sacred speaks (human virus)
does the exalted take form.

(human virus is coming inside us)

God is son of god.
All the machines to power,
the men to bread and water.

And what is cosmos?
what is the meaning of the word?
History is bunk.

The empire ejaculates precociously,
the circus of combatants returns.
The servant states bow
down to that ape of a president,
the bad is invaded, beaten down,
followed, murdered,
democracies are invented.

A monstrous creature its name fanaticism
(human virus).
When the consecrated word speaks,
magnificence takes form.

And now I am far from you
Now I’m far from you
And now I am far from you
Now I’m far from you

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.
Back to Album List         Back to Song List

Sunday, July 7, 2019

Fortezza Bastiani - Fortress Bastiani

Resisterà alle dolci lusinghe
la Fortezza Bastiani?
Bugiardi imbonitori l'assediano
Con violenze degne di Tamerlano

Resisterò andando incontro al piacere
Ascoltando il respiro trattenendo il calore
Su un'altra forma d'onda
intonerò il mio pensiero

Ho camminato girando a vuoto
Senza nessuna direzione
Mi tiene immobile nei limiti
L'ossessione dell'Io

Mi ritrovai seduto su una panchina
Al sole di febbraio
Un magico pomeriggio dai riflessi d'oro
E mi svegliai con l'aria di pioggia recente
Che aveva lasciato frammenti di gioia

Fortezza Bastiani © 2004 Franco Battiato & Manlio Sgalambro

"Fortezza Bastiani" takes off from a line in Dino Buzzati's acclaimed 1940 novel The Tartar Steppe: "It amused me to describe this sheltering in defense against the rumors and the arrogance of the world." The violence of the 14th century conqueror Tamerlane (or Timur) was indeed intense - it is estimated that his military campaigns led to the death of 17 million people, about 5% of the world's population at the time.

Will the Fortress Bastiani
resist the sweet flatteries?
Fast-talking lies assault it
with violence worthy of Tamerlane.

I will resist, going against pleasure,
listening to the breath, holding the heat.
On another wave form
I will intone my thought.

I walked, wandering around
without any direction.
I hold myself unmoving within the limits,
the obsession of the I.

I found myself seated on a bench
in the February sun,
a magical afternoon by the reflections of gold,
and I woke up with the air of recent rain
that left fragments of joy.

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.
Back to Album List         Back to Song List

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.
Back to Album List         Back to Song List

Friday, July 5, 2019

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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Thursday, July 4, 2019

Conforto alla vita - Solace to Life

Nella sventura non ti colga sgomento
Per te non sorga il giorno
Che alla tua gioia sia compenso di dolore
Ah, quante volte un malefico vento ti colse
Ma il soave profumo risaturò subito l'aria

Il nembo spesso sovrastò minaccioso
Ma fu disperso prima che dal grembo scuro
Si scatenasse orribile tempesta

Ah, quanto fumo si levò che non fu fiamma
Sii forte e sereno
anche nei giorni dell'avverso fato

In un canneto un vento asciutto e svogliato
Portava insieme confusi e inutili pensieri

Ah, quante volte alzando gli occhi al cielo
Spinte dalle correnti ho visto le nuvole vagare

La sera insegna ad attendere il giorno
Che arriva come sempre
a chiudere i passaggi della notte

Conforto alla vita © 2004 Franco Battiato & Manlio Sgalambro

In "Conforta alla vita," Sgalambro elaborates on some concepts found in the work of the German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder.

In misfortune, dismay doesn’t grab you.
For you, a day doesn’t rise
that your joy is remunerated with sadness.
Ah, how many times an ill wind seized you
but sweet perfume quickly resaturated the air.

The rain cloud often towered menacingly
but was dispersed before, from its dark womb,
could erupt a terrible storm.

Ah, how much smoke rose that wasn’t fire.
Be strong and serene
even in the days of adverse destiny.

In a cane field a dry and listless wind
brought together confused and useless thoughts.

Ah, how many times, raising eyes to the sky,
I saw clouds wandering, driven by currents.

The evening teaches the day to attend,
that arrives as always
to close the passages of the night.

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.
Back to Album List         Back to Song List

Wednesday, July 3, 2019

23 coppie di cromosomi - 23 Copies of Chromosomes

La matematica è il tribunale del mondo.
Il numero è ordine e disciplina.
Ciò con cui si indica lo scopo della scienza,
tradisce col termine la cosa.
L'ordine già il termine ha qualcosa di bieco,
che sa di polizia, adombra negli adepti
le forze dell'ordine cosmico, i riti cosmici.
L'autentico sentimento scientifico
è impotente davanti all'universo.
L'inflazione che caccia
nelle mani dell'individuo,
in un gesto solo, miliardi di marchi,
lasciandolo più miserabile di prima,
dimostra punto per punto
che il denaro è un'allucinazione collettiva.

To be a kangaroo
To be a spider
Metamorphosis is coming

23 coppie di cromosomi © 2004 Franco Battiato & Manlio Sgalambro

The Italian text in "23 coppie di cromosomi" is an extract from Sgalambro's 1996 book La Morte del Sole (The Death of the Sun). The song begins with a clear musical nod to Karlheinz Stockhausen's seminal work "Gesang der Jünglinge im Feuerofen" ("Song of the Youths in the Furnace").

Mathematics is the courtroom of the world.
The number is order and discipline.
That with which is indicated the scope of science,
it reveals with terms the thing.
Order, already the term is somewhat sinister,
it smacks of police, it overshadows in the followers
the forces of cosmic order, the cosmic rites.
The authentic scientific sentiment
is impotent in front of the universe.
The inflation that hunts
in the hands of the individual,
in a single gesture, billions of brands,
leaving it more miserable than before,
proves point by point
that money is a collective hallucination.

To be a kangaroo
To be a spider
Metamorphosis is coming

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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