Canzoni contro la paura playlist
Songs to fight the fear
In these times of forced isolation, with thousands of compatriots who have lost their lives and a country forced to rethink all of its sectors, one song came to the aid of many people, providing "two minutes of happiness" - as Jean Baudrillard wrote about the juke-box - or more likely an opportunity to escape the isolation, communicate the desire to those people opposite hanging out of their windows, stretched along the balconies or standing in front of a video camera.
This collection brings together the most popular songs in the initial phase of the pandemic, which sprang up spontaneously because they had always remained in the collective memory and were ready to be dusted off for a use that no one would ever have wished for. Between neighbourhood flash mobs and others that have involved the entire radio universe, images are circulating of a people who owe a lot to music, right up to the Risorgimento hymn that gave rise to the future national anthem.
From the image of flight in the blue -(cielo) blu/sempre più blu/azzurro, the foundation of modern tradition, to Mogol-Battisti’s sun; from the partisan song that even our Bavarian cousins wanted to sing, to the candour of a vintage Morandi, honoured by a Joan Baez strictly staying "at home"; from the messages of hope contained - by forcing the lyrics, but everything is legitimate now - in the songs of Mina, Vanoni and Al Bano & Romina, to the patriotism they share, albeit from opposing viewpoints, Cutugno and De Gregori.
It is the same Italy of the Ferragosto barbecues, drinking on the beach, day trips and school parties that, alone in the face of the abyss, brings out that "flock" pride - a word that is sadly back in fashion - in which song also plays its part. Because, as Kierkegaard wrote, music comes to our rescue when language fails.
