Francesco Guccini - 1980s

1980s

The first album released by Guccini in the eighties was Metropolis, which was characterised by the description of cities with a symbolic value: Byzantium, Venice, Bologna and Milan. Their histories mingle with the distress caused by life in the city and with symbolic references. The album had richer arrangements, with saxophones, bass guitars, drums, clarinets, flutes and zufoli. Byzantium is described by Guccini as a fascinating yet oppressive city at the crossroads of two continents and two eras. The song is set at the time of Emperor Justinian I (483–565), and there are many historical references to that period, that have been explained by Guccini himself. The narrator, Filemazio, who some critics believe to be a fictionalized Guccini, senses the decadence of his civilization and the coming of the end. The song was praised by critic Paolo Jachia, who described it as "moving and dreamlike". In 1981 Guccini was the co-author, along with Giorgio Gaber, Sandro Luporini and Gian Piero Alloisio, of the musical Gli ultimi viaggi di Gulliver. The eponymous song "Gulliver" was then included in Guccini's next album, Guccini, which dealt with the same themes found in Metropolis. Notable songs in the album include "Shomèr ma mi llailah?" ("Watchman, what of the night?", from Isaiah 21:11), "Autogrill", about a love only dreamt of, and "Inutile", which narrates a day two lovers spent in Rimini. The subsequent tour was the first in which Guccini performed with a backing band; previously, Guccini used to perform solo, or with just one or two guitarists. In 1984 the live album Fra la via Emilia e il West was released. It included live versions of many of his popular songs, recorded mainly at a concert held in Piazza Maggiore in Bologna, in which several guests performed alongside Guccini: Giorgio Gaber, Paolo Conte, I Nomadi, Roberto Vecchioni and Equipe 84.

In 1987 the album Signora Bovary was released. Several of the songs portray people from Guccini's life: "Van Loon" is his father, "Culodritto" is his daughter Teresa, and "Signora Bovary" is himself. Other songs include "Keaton", written with his friend Claudio Lolli, and "Scirocco", an award-winning song about an episode in the life of the poet Adriano Spatola, a friend of Guccini. In 1988 the singer-songwriter released a live album, ...quasi come Dumas..., which included some of his songs from the Sixties, in a rearranged version. The title is a homage to Twenty Years After, the novel by Alexandre Dumas.