Battisti 71 playlist

Battisti 71

Nineteen seventy-one was undoubtedly a year of grace for Lucio Battisti. Many of his songs released that year – whether sung by him or other artists – reached the top positions in the charts, with several even gaining the number one spot – ‘Pensieri e parole’, ‘La canzone del sole’ and ‘Amore caro, amore bello’. The mysterious alchemy that fused his music to the lyrics of Mogol reached its apex, marking the highpoint of their collaboration. Thanks to singers and groups such as Mina, Dik Dik, Formula 3 and Bruno Lauzi, those songs became etched into the Italian collective memory as dazzling, unforgettable hits. Battisti even indulged in the composition of purely instrumental pieces, showing that he was also able to write music to evoke images, as happens when we listen to ‘Seduto sotto un platano con una margherita in bocca guardando il fiume nero macchiato dalla schiuma bianca dei detersive’ (‘Sitting under a plane tree with a daisy in my mouth, watching the black river stained with the white foam of washing powder’), which closes this playlist. But it’s the songs with lyrics that highlight the prowess of this creative duo, which is perhaps most evident in ‘Anche per te’, a depiction of three women – a prostitute, a nun and a teenage mother. In the same song. In 1971, when such famous singer-songwriters as Francesco De Gregori, Antonello Venditti, Claudio Lolli, Rino Gaetano and Francesco Guccini had yet to make their debuts. So hats off to Battisti-Mogol.