Una miniera

(Giorgio D’Adamo-Vittorio De Scalzi-Nico Di Palo) – NEW TROLLS – 1969

It must have been the time spent with Fabrizio De André (with whom, in 1968, they had made a great concept album, Senza orario senza bandiera) that inspired the New Trolls to write this singular song about a mining disaster in which the narrating protagonist risks losing his life. Until then, Giorgio D'Adamo (bass), Vittorio De Scalzi (guitar) and Nico Di Palo (guitar) - the band’s creative minds, in other words - had written excellent songs in a rock key, however with lyrics that almost all rotated around the topic of love, perfectly functional for the rest of the music that kept them going. In this case, however, everything changed. The first verse and first refrain, in fact, talk about the hard working day of a miner and the joy of finding himself at home surrounded by family affections, while the second verse and second refrain focus on an explosion that has taken place in the mine and the anxiety of the protagonist’s companion who doesn’t see him returning home. In terms of sound, the New Trolls were at their peak, and the splendid vocal performance by De Scalzi (in the verse) and Di Palo (in the refrain) consign to history one of the most successful songs in the band’s entire repertoire.