Rimini (album)
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''Rimini'' is an album released by
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
singer/songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk- acoustic tradition with a guitar, although this role has ...
Fabrizio De André Fabrizio Cristiano De André (; 18 February 1940 – 11 January 1999) was an Italian singer-songwriter and the most-prominent '' cantautore'' of his time. He is also known as Faber, a nickname given by the friend Paolo Villaggio, as a referen ...
. It was first issued in
1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
on
Ricordi Ricordi may refer to: People * Giovanni Ricordi (1785–1853), Italian violinist and publishing company founder *Giulio Ricordi (1840–1912), Italian publisher and musician Music *Casa Ricordi, an Italian music publishing company established i ...
and then re-released by
BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations Music publishing companies * Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 ** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that was pur ...
. The songs were written by Fabrizio De André and Massimo Bubola. Two of them are De André's first forays into overtly political themes, which will be a recurring subject of his in later years. The album is also the only one in De André's output to include two fully instrumental tracks with no lyrics and no vocals. (The 2011 tribute album ''
Sogno n° 1 ''Sogno'' (Dream) is the fifth studio album by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. The album sold 2.5 million copies in the United States,
'' does include an instrumental track, but it is a re-recorded version of a piece originally recorded with spoken-word lyrics.)


Track listing

# "Rimini" (4:08) # "Volta la carta" (3:49) # "Coda di lupo" (5:24) # "Andrea" (5:31) # "Tema di Rimini" (1:52) # "Avventura a Durango" (4:51) #"Sally" (4:49) #"Zirichiltaggia" (2:18) # "Parlando del naufragio della London Valour" (4:41) # "Folaghe" (2:58) All songs were written by Fabrizio De André and Massimo Bubola, except for "Avventura a Durango", based on the music of " Romance in Durango", by
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
and
Jacques Levy Jacques Levy (July 29, 1935 – September 30, 2004) was an American songwriter, theatre director and clinical psychologist. Early life and education Levy was born in New York City in 1935 and graduated from the City College of New York in 19 ...
.


The songs

*"Rimini" is a soft, drumless
ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...
in , including a
string orchestra A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first a ...
and a
choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...
. Its lyrics paint an ironical portrait of a waitress working at a bar in mid-1960s
Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...
, who was shamed for having an illicit affair with a
lifeguard A lifeguard is a rescuer who supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, beach, spa, river and lake. Lifeguards are trained in swimming and Cardiopulmonary ...
, only to have an abortion later on. She is first described in a fantasy setting (a pirate's daughter, who sailed with
Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...
) and then as she really is (a grocer's daughter working as a waitress). *"Volta la carta" ("Turn the page") uses a musical framework inspired by an Irish jig with the metrical structure and imagery of a popular Italian rhyme, to tell the story of a young girl named Angiolina, who, after a short engagement to a ''
carabiniere The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign poli ...
'', goes through a romantic fling with a foreign, possibly military, aircraft pilot. According to a statement by co-writer Bubola within the eighth and last DVD (''Poesia in forma di canzone'' - "Poetry as songs") of the 8-DVD documentary series ''Dentro Faber'' Inside Faber", about De André's life and career released in 2011, the line "the foreign boy's got an orchestral record which spins fast and talks about love" is intended as a dig at
James Last James Last (, ; born Hans Last; 17 April 1929 – 9 June 2015) was a German composer and big band leader of the James Last Orchestra. Initially a jazz bassist, his trademark "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and ...
, whose over-sentimentalized orchestral renditions of classical pieces and pop songs were becoming popular in Italy towards the end of the Seventies, after having been huge hits all across Europe. Like other singer-songwriters from the era, De André and Bubola strongly disliked Last. *"Coda di lupo" ("Wolf's Tail") is about an imaginary Native American boy, whose life story is used as a pretext to describe the conflict between extreme left-wing political movements in Italy and the Italian Communist party, the largest in Europe, which resulted in the failure of the former and the dissolution of the
Red Brigades The Red Brigades ( , often abbreviated BR) were an Italian far-left Marxist–Leninist militant group. It was responsible for numerous violent incidents during Italy's Years of Lead, including the kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro in 1978, ...
at the end of the Seventies. The same theme is explored again in the album's penultimate track. *"Andrea" (a male name in Italian) is a folk ballad about a
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...
soldier whose lover, a curly dark-haired young man, was killed in
Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin language, Ladin and ; ; ; ; ; ), also known in English as Trent, is a city on the Adige, Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the Trentino, autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. By the end of the song, which is set to a passionately melodic, Mediterranean tune, Andrea is contemplating suicide by throwing himself into a deep well. However, the story is not finished in the song, whose final lines have Andrea wondering whether the well is "deeper than imelf". When introducing the song in live performances, De André jokingly commented about the poetical aspect of the name given by
Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born  BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
to homosexual people, i.e. "children of the Moon". *"Tema di Rimini" ("Rimini Theme") is an orchestral segue from "Andrea", which reprises the musical theme from "Rimini" with a different tempo and time signature. *"Avventura a Durango" is, as stated above, a translation of
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
's "Romance in Durango", from his 1976 album ''
Desire Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like "wanting", "wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of affa ...
'', about a killer trying to escape to
Durango Durango, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in the northwest portion of the country. With a population of 1,832,650 ...
with his wife Magdalena argarita in the original lyrics- only to be killed himself in the end by a
sniper A sniper is a military or paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with telescopic si ...
. De André and Bubola sing the chorus in
Neapolitan Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to: Geography and history * Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city * Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and High ...
, substituting Dylan's
South American Spanish The Spanish language in South America varies within the different countries and regions of the continent. The term "South American Spanish" (Spanish: ''español sudamericano'' or ''español suramericano'') is sometimes used as a broad name for the ...
lines. *"Sally" is a melodic ballad in with a prominent instrumental interlude played on an
accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...
, about a child's fear of the unknown while simultaneously being attracted by it, a theme which De André will explore further in later songs. *"Zirichiltaggia" is De André's first-ever song not in Italian. A very fast
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
/ bluegrass number written entirely in
Gallurese Gallurese () is a Romance languages, Romance dialect of the Italo-Dalmatian languages, Italo-Dalmatian family spoken in the region of Gallura, northeastern Sardinia. Gallurese is variously described as a distinct southern dialect of Corsican lang ...
, it consists in a comical quarrel between two Sardinian shepherds (both performed by De André, using
vari-speed A variable speed pitch control (or vari-speed) is a control on an audio device such as a turntable, tape recorder, or CD player that allows the operator to deviate from a standard speed (such as 33, 45 or even 78 rpm on a turntable), resulting ...
and other effects to sound like two different people) over an inheritance dispute, which, according to Bubola's later recollections, De André actually witnessed at the time. Its title translates literally into "Lizards' den" but it is not in the lyrics, which however do feature the word ''zirichelti'', i.e. lizards. *"Parlando del naufragio della London Valour" ("
Talking Talking or Talkin' may refer to: * Speech, the product of the action of ''to talk'' * Communication by spoken words; conversation or discussion Songs * "Talking" (A Flock of Seagulls song), 1983 * "Talking" (The Rifles song), 2007 * " Talking / ...
bout Bout can mean: People *Viktor Bout, suspected arms dealer *Jan Everts Bout, early settler to New Netherland *Marcel Bout Musical instruments * The outward-facing round parts of the body shape of violins, guitars, and other stringed instrume ...
the sinking of the London Valour") is about a shipwreck in April 1970 when a gale drove a British cargo ship, , onto the harbour mole at
Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
with the loss of 20 lives. However, De André refrains from recounting the actual shipwreck and instead uses it as a metaphor for the "normalization" process within Italy in 1977-'78, caused by the failure of armed protest groups, especially the
Red Brigades The Red Brigades ( , often abbreviated BR) were an Italian far-left Marxist–Leninist militant group. It was responsible for numerous violent incidents during Italy's Years of Lead, including the kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro in 1978, ...
, after the kidnapping and murder of
Aldo Moro Aldo Moro (; 23 September 1916 – 9 May 1978) was an Italian statesman and prominent member of Christian Democracy (Italy), Christian Democracy (DC) and its centre-left wing. He served as prime minister of Italy in five terms from December 1963 ...
. The lyrics also include cynical portraits of various characters, who may or may not be identified with actual people.https://www.antiwarsongs.org/canzone.php?lang=it&id=4719 - an analysis of the lyrics (in Italian and English)
/ref> The same drastic changes in Italian ideologies would also be the main subject of a later song, "La domenica delle salme" .e. "Corpses Sunday", with a pun on Palm Sunday">Palm_Sunday.html" ;"title=".e. "Corpses Sunday", with a pun on Palm Sunday">.e. "Corpses Sunday", with a pun on Palm Sunday within the 1990 album Le Nuvole. * "Folaghe" ("Coots"), the album closer, is a quiet instrumental led by a Twang, twang guitar, intended to represent the placid motion of coots on a lake.


Personnel

*
Fabrizio De André Fabrizio Cristiano De André (; 18 February 1940 – 11 January 1999) was an Italian singer-songwriter and the most-prominent '' cantautore'' of his time. He is also known as Faber, a nickname given by the friend Paolo Villaggio, as a referen ...
- Guitars, Vocals * Mario Battaini - Accordion * Giuliano Bernardi - Mandolin * Giuliano Bernicchi - Trumpet * Virginio Bianchi - Ocarina and Bassoon * Attilio Casiero - Mandolin * Bruno Crovetto - Bass *
Tullio De Piscopo Tullio De Piscopo (born 24 February 1946 in Naples, Italy) is an Italian drummer, percussionist and singer-songwriter. De Piscopo was born in Naples. His father was an orchestra percussionist. In 1969 he moved to Turin and two years later he moved ...
- Drums * Lella Esposito - Voices * Sergio Farina - Guitars *
Dori Ghezzi Dori Ghezzi (born 30 March 1946) is an Italian singer who was active as a recording artist between 1966 and 1989. In the 1970s, Ghezzi worked mainly in a duo with American singer Wess, and the couple represented Italy in the 1975 Eurovision Song ...
- Voices * Vincenzo La Puma - Lyric tenor * Riccardo Pellegrino - Violin * Mario Pomarico - Ocarina and Bassoon * Vanda Radicchi - Voices *
Gian Piero Reverberi Gian Piero Reverberi (, born 29 July 1939) is an Italian pianist, composer, arranger, conductor, and entrepreneur. Biography After obtaining Diplomas in piano and composition from the Paganini Conservatory in Genoa, Reverberi worked in a wid ...
- Keyboards * Gilverto Zilioli - Guitars * Marco Zoccheddu - Guitars


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rimini (Album) 1978 albums Fabrizio De André albums