Scavando col badile - Digging with a Shovel

Scavando col badile Mi sono trovato improvvisamente al centro della terra E vidi cose incredibili Cose pazzesche Fatti stranissimi Cose che fanno accapponare la pelle C'era un bove Seduto all'ombra di un ciliegio Che fumando la pipa Sbirciava il suo uomo che arava E nella scuderia il cavallo attaccava al calesse Un bellissimo uomo da trotto I coccodrilli usavano la pelle della donna per fare le scarpe Per fare le borsette e le valigie I maiali tritavano la carne umana per fare i salami Le bistecche ed i roastbeef All'ingresso del castello dei Principi Bulldog Un serpente suonava il flauto E l'uomo da una cesta Lentamente si allungava E con gli occhi di ghiaccio Il serpente mi fissava Ed il suo sguardo mi ipnotizzava E per paura io Cominciai a miagolare E a quattro zampe Lungo i muri cominciai a strisciare Cercando di non farmi notare Finché m'avvicinai al mio scavo Per salire in superficie Ma no - non è possibile Mi son dimenticato la scala Scavando col badile © 1974 Juri Camisasca

Digging with a shovel, I found myself suddenly in the center of the Earth. And I saw incredible things, crazy things, the strangest facts, things that make your skin crawl. There was an ox seated in the shade of a cherry tree who, while smoking a pipe, peeped at his man who tilled. And in the stable, the horse attached to the buggy a most handsome trotting man. Crocodiles used the skin of women to make shoes, to make purses and suitcases. Pigs chopped human meat to make salami, steaks, and roast beef. At the entrance to the castle of the Bulldog Princes, a snake played the flute, and a man from a basket slowly extended out, and with icy eyes the snake stared at me and his gaze hypnotized me. And out of fear, I began to meow, and on four paws along the walls I began to sneak, trying to avoid being noticed. Until I moved closer to my shovel, to go back up to the surface. But no – it’s not possible, I forgot the ladder. English translation © 2021 Dennis Criteser La finestra dentro (The Window Within) was released in 1974 on the independent Bla Bla label, known for its progressive rock and avantgarde releases. Juri Camisasca met Franco Battiato during their military service, after which Battiato used Camisasca on a couple of projects and introduced him to the recording world. This album shows how the boundaries of traditional Italian pop music were being obliterated in pursuit of more personal, idiosyncratic, and non-commercial musical expressions. The songs themselves are in the singer/songwriter vein, but the lyrics are well outside the mainstream, and Camisasca's vocal experimentation and explorations take this album into another realm, with Camisasca expressing the existential discomfort that he felt in the years prior to his discovery of Christ and his becoming a Benedictine monk. The album was produced by Franco Battiato and Bla Bla's founder, Pino Massara.