His songs are short, and he’s a poet and he knows it.
At the age of 69, Vasco Rossi is the living legend from Emilia-Romagna (infatti, Modenese), and creator of the iconic Italian tunes from the golden ages past.
I’ve been listening to Vasco Rossi through my best friend, Viola, who is a die-hard fan; to put it in to context, she was one of the first ticket buyers of his 2021 concert, bearing in mind that the current highest-attending ticketed concert of all time was Vasco Rossi’s. ‘Fan-girl’ would be the appropriate reaction here. In fact, she’s known in campus for having great music taste and for preferring Italian songs over more international pop hits.
The early stages of our friendship revolved around Vasco Rossi: “senti il testo,” she’d say while smoking after supper as we would often eat together during early January in campus. Part of it was out of convenience – we both wanted some human interaction (all the Italians were studying for mid-term exams, apart from Viola, it seemed), and she was gearing up to implore me to help her with her English-language certificate exam. So, after these meals together, (when I still couldn’t speak much Italian to maintain engaging conversation about anything), she would smoke, and I would look up the lyrics of all these songs she played from her one and only playlist she has on Spotify.
Our staple moments together have involved Vasco Rossi, whether it be because Viola would cite a meaningful lyric, or because we were listening to one of his songs at an appropriate moment. I’m learning more Italian and about the subjunctive through Vasco Rossi than I am through my 250€ Italian course that I paid for… there are a million and one resources out there that don’t involve rote-learning the conjugation of verbs (although this is recommended as a starting point); listening to music and ‘sentendo il testo’ is a good way to start. The worthwhile part being that you don't just learn new vocabulary, but also music, culture, and having a new topic of conversation to talk about which usually is received enthusiastically by natives.
Vasco’s innate poetic nature brings many to consider him a real artist from which no lyrics such as his have ever been heard before. In fact, Vasco’s fanbase skyrocketed during the '80s where the pervasive feeling of disillusionment in the lives of many Italian youth was transformed into inspiring ballads, fused with bombastic guitar riffs. The real Vasco-mania lies in Vasco’s sincere lyrics which evoke powerful emotions and an opportunity for escapism, not just for his fanbase in the '80s, but for everyone up to the modern day.
My Vasco Rossi song recommendations would be the following:
• Non l’hai mica capito
• T’immagini
• Una canzone per te
• Vita spericolata
• Come Nelle Favole
• Una canzone d’amore buttata via
• Sally (questa è devastante)
• Ogni volta (questa è pazzesca) droga
• Albachiara (la più famosa di tutte)
• Gli angeli
• Un senso
• Ciao
In the way that music can take you back to moments, places, and people, Vasco Rossi’s music symbolises a turning-point in my year abroad upon which I will always look fondly.
Take this as a suggestion to listen to Vasco Rossi! You won’t regret it!
- Goya Verity Gelabert