Ma Ormai...

So recently I have gotten really into old Italian music. This all started a few weeks ago when a couple of friends and I ended up at this pub on a random Thursday night during their "70s Trash Night" and ended up dancing the night away to horrible Italian hits from the 70s played by a DJ who was not only rocking out, but singing along to every word. Since then, I've been casually looking up old artists and finding funny songs to share with friends.

This whole process of discovering classic Italian music culminated last Saturday night when, instead of going out, my friend and her Italian roommate and I got pizza and sat in their kitchen for hours sharing old Italian hits by classic singers such as Paolo Conte and Luigi Tenco and attempting to decipher the lyrics for my friend who speaks very little Italian.

For anyone that knows anything about modern Italian music, you know that it isn't the best. haha. We're spoiled in the U.S. with our quality of the music industry. Yes, we have plenty of bad music, but in general, I love American music. But Italian music? Italian music, at least in my opinion, for the most part is lackluster. There are, of course, a few exceptions such as "Ti Vorrei Sollevare" by Elisa and "Indietro" by Tiziano Ferro. So when I discovered these Italian artists from the 60s-70s that are actually good, with beautiful voices and interesting lyrics, I was ECSTATIC.

One of my favorite new discoveries is a singer songwriter named Luigi Tenco from the 1960s. He doesn't have much music because he died in 1967 after his song "Ciao Amore Ciao" lost at the San Remo Music Festival. There's some debate as to whether he committed suicide or was actually murdered, but clearly the Italian police at the time completely messed everything up, so we'll never know. His music is interesting and sad. His songwriting approach to love is definitely very steriotypically Italian, but yet complex. And I just love how he sings. "Io Si'" is a hauntingly beautiful melody in which he sings about all of the love he would have given this woman that he is in love with, but unfortunately she has a failure of a boyfriend and now it's too late for him. The way he uses "ma ormai" is just perfect. In this situation, it means something along the lines of "but unfortunately now no..." I leave you with the lyrics and the youtube video of the song. Enjoy!!!

Io sì,
Che t'avrei fatto vivere
Cna vita di sogni
Che con lui non puoi vivere.
Io sì..
Avrei fatto sparire
Dai tuoi occhi la noia
Che lui non sa vedere,
Ma ormai...

Io sì,
T'avrei detto il mio amore
Cercando le parole
Che lui non sa trovare.
Io sì,
T'avrei fatta invidiare
Dalle stesse tue amiche
Che di lui ora ridono...
Ma ormai...

Io sì,
T'avrei fatta arrossire
Dicendoti "ti amo"
Come lui non sa dire.
Io sì,
Da te avrei voluto
Quella tua voce calda
Che a lui fa paura,
Ma ormai...

Io sì,
T'avrei fatto capire
Che il bello della sera
Non è soltanto uscire.
Io sì,
Io t'avrei insegnato
Che si comincia a vivere
Quando lui vuol dormire,
Ma ormai....

Io sì,
Che t'avrei insegnato
Qualcosa dell'amore
Che per lui è peccato.
Io sì,
T'avrei fatto sapere
Quante cose tu hai
Che mi fanno impazzire,
Ma ormai...