ALBUM EXPLANATION
Introduction:the entire album is not a concept, but at the same time the lyrics/stories are set in an ideal time frame that could go from 1400 to 1700.
For this album, a more poetic form was sought for writing the lyrics, and some metaphors. So some parts could be confusing, like in the previous EP, therefore it was not possible to translate the lyrics literally. A small legend has been added at the end of the translation, to facilitate understanding the text.
CROXARA
El sołe gera alto
so ła croxara del convegno
i tre omani xe 'ndai
a prestar giuramento
a catar lù vestio de roso
a far el pato del pòso
De 'na tera el confin i pretendeva
altro de pì no i vołeva
suo finché i canparà
tre giose de sangue
sangue so ła caredà
Se ła grama anema daxì
In vita e in morte
paroni sarì
Tre cornace
sora i poderi voła 'ncora
łe tende ła so tera
sensa sosta e sensa ora
TRANSLATION
The sun was up
at the convention crossroads
the three men are gone
to take an oath
to find him dressed in red
to make the pact of “what I can”
They claimed the border of a land
nothing more they wanted
his as long as they live
three drops of blood
blood on the road
If the poor soul you will give
in life and in death
you will be masters
in life and death
Three crows
over the property still flying
they control their land
non-stop and timeless
"Croxara" is based on a legend, a story handed down orally (there are several versions in various areas of Veneto).
The story tells of men who, being in dispute with neighbors or other landowners, make a pact with the devil asking to have that land "forever". By doing this, they ensure a successful outcome of the dispute so that they can work the land as if it really were their right.
Once dead, the devil turns them into ravens forcing them to watch over their land for eternity.
Thus, as usual, the devil mocks people and deceives mortals with quibbles by respecting the pact of "forever", so even after death!
The pact of "pòso" therefore implies the pact of "being able" to work the land, and "lù vestio de roso" is none other than the demon, the devil, historically always represented in red (see also the salbaneło, massariol, martoreło and other diabolical entities or simply extraneous to the world of mortals, who are often represented dressed in red...the name sanguaneło refers to the vermilion color of the blood).
The song title literally means crossroads. "Croxara" is nothing more than a crossroads, designated by these men precisely to be able to meet the devil.
This goes to underline how important it was for poor people (or in any case those of a lower class) to own something, especially land. This blind greed and desire to "possess" leads them to sell their soul without too many second thoughts, obsessed with the possibility (however little) of entering in the upper class society.
I assume the original moral of this tale was to warn people against the craving for more and more. Often, in fact, in order to get what one wants, irreparable mistakes are made (see also fratricides, patricides by inheritance, etc.).
SUMAN
Suman
S-cioca ła scuria
sbreghi so'l Suman
el dì pì fredo
vegnarà l'ultimo pagan
Procesion de lumi
risałe łe vie
vien pa' punir co' i roghi
chi conose łe so 'rexie
Se scuote in costa
de ramenghe luxi un mar
rubesteghe onbre
tra łe frasche va star
Mòre nubi, turbie
sofega el vento
de un destin gramo
pien de sgomento
A l'inbrunir, i foghi se sòra
e del Suman l'anema
se sente el sigo 'ncora
Crack the whip
gashes on the Suman
the coldest day
the last pagan will come.
Procession of lights
goes up the streets
he comes to punish by burning
who knows his heresies.
shakes on the coast
of wanderers lights a sea
bashful shadows
among the branches they go to stay.
Black clouds, murky
choke the wind
of a bad fate
full of dismay.
At dusk the fires cool down
And the Suman's soul
The cry is still heard.
As in the other texts, a form of poetic writing and some allegories have been sought. Here are some parts that might be confusing:
"Crack the whip" are the thunders;
"Gashes" are the flashes;
The "Coast" is understood as the coast, or slope of the mountain.
"Suman'' is none other than the name of Mt. Summano which, positioned at the entrance to the Astico valley, dominates the plain with its 1296 meters of height. It has always been a place of worship since ancient times. Archaeological finds attest to the presence of pre-Roman pagan cults. A text found in a church annal contributed to the drafting of the passage. There it is said that during a Via Crucis which started from the church at the base of the mountain to the one located at its summit (yes, there are two on the same mountain) the faithful and the clergymen, having left in good weather, later they found themselves in the middle of a real storm of lightning, wind, pouring rain that does not allow them to get to the church located on the top. As if Mt. Summano, historically pagan, was rebelling against christianity!
Combining these two topics, enriching, romancing, and adding other historical notions relating to the period, the result was a text that speaks of a fictitious story: to eradicate the pagan cults still persistent on the slopes of the mountain, the local people one morning, still when the humble peasants were asleep, took people who clearly professed non-christian religions from house to house, and with a torchlight vigil they went through the towns and streets going up the Summano, bringing with them the heretics, well aware of the fate they were going to meet and the why. At dusk, when by now all the pagans had been burned at the stake, a frightening storm hit the "Suman", with thunder, lightning and a stormy wind.
The mountain is described as an entity that lives thanks to those who profess pre-christian cults on its slopes, handing down its spirit from generation to generation since ancient times. Therefore capable, like a deity, of perceiving and becoming angry when, at the behest of the clergy and the ignorance of the common people, those who were essentially his own soul are burned alive.
Given that an abstract entity ceases to exist when no one believes in it anymore.
This is why, when "i foghi se sòra" (sórare means to cool, and therefore "the last pagan" has also been eliminated):
"del Suman l'anema / se sente el sigo 'ncora"
a cry that echoes in the valleys. Almost an echo of a time that was and has now vanished for eternity. The cry of the pagans burned alive at the stake, humble people who simply professed cults (perhaps it would be better to call them rural traditions?) handed down from generation to generation, which from their perspective seemed in reality much closer, belonging to a purely rural "world" and strictly related to natural cycles.
1575
Trista ła morte
de chi conose a so sorte
De sbiego l'onbra
indrio in 'vanti 'ndava
sensa i dente
ła Morte sganasava
Come 'na pitima
un frasigoło a voxe traxeva
volta a dar l'ultima matada
a chi dała vita pì gnente vołeva
trista ła morte
morte
Bogołi so ła rosta
xe i pensier de chi ghe sosta
dal cor levro e straco
pien de sgranfo china el capo
Sideway the shadow
back and forth she went
without teeths
Death was laughing
Like a pitima
A voice like a stone was thrown
to deliver the final blow
to those who wanted nothing more from life
Sad death
of one who knows his fate
Whirlpools on the canal
are the thoughts of those who stop there
with a sick and tired heart
filled with affliction he bows his head
During the period of the Serenissima the "pitima" was a person paid by creditors to constantly follow their debtors and humiliate them in public (see "Pittima" ).
"frasigoło" literally means "slingshot". In this case, a figure of speech to describe a painful blow inflicted quickly, almost without realizing it.
"matada" is the blow with which an animal is killed at the slaughterhouse.
"levro" literally "leper", is used to describe a thing fully/totally covered in a negative sense, so for example: "go visto i peoci so chel can, l'era levro" translation "I saw lice on that dog, he was covered in them." So contextualized in the passage it means "full of afflictions".
"sgranfo" literally "cramp" but is mainly used to describe that feeling of discomfort and blockage in the stomach when one is afflicted by a strong psychological upset or pain.
The text of this passage speaks of the plague, in fact in 1575 (actually between 1575 and 1578) there was a large epidemic of the black plague in Vicenza. However, we wanted to look at the thing from a slightly more psychological aspect, that is, how the idea of the plague could influence the mind, the state of mind and the perception of "being".
Most of the people had a hard life, without comfort, a lot of work, and low life expectancy. The plague was an incomprehensible catastrophe and not associated with a disease but with a real divine punishment. Also in this text many metaphors have been used, a death which, almost amused by the death of men, continues to inflict its punishment.
The meaning of the text is enclosed in the last verse when, comparing the chaos of the mixing of thoughts of this poor subject crushed by despair, to the whirlwinds created by the water flowing between the stones of a stream that he himself stares in astonishment, we understand that he will take his own life.
kusomiso