Cover [English translation]

12

In the beginning was the Word, gerund: Innuendo.

The well-trained juggler of the planets3

created the Earth, fragile like the one by Yes:4

Legend, like Bob in the ‟very best of”.5

Then, man and woman, naked, Two Virgins,6

nine months and the ostetrician is like: «Come on, push!».

From the shared and unknown pleasure,

my heart pulsates, like the pulsar of Joy Division.7

The swimming pool delivery went well, you know,

I even found Nevermind’s dollar there.8

My first journey was for comics:

«Mrs. Janis, would you give me the Cheap Thrills strips, please?».9

In the classroom I eat a banana giving me

fifteen minutes of underground fame, Velvet.10

Group photo, but you won't see any rapper,

my school's name is Sgt. Pepper's.11

Cover.

I was born and I grew up,

I was dead under the cover.

I raise my head and I realize

that all my life was on a cover.12

Growing up becomes a torture like voodoo,13

I have the little kid from War’s eyes, U2:

less dreamy, more disillusioned, sadder.14

The world has turned its back on me, like Bruce Springsteen.15

Fear of the dark that doesn't give in,

demons on the trees like Iron Maiden,16

during the damned adolescence which now depicts me

as a dickhead in jeans, Sticky Fingers.17

All I know is that I crave the microphone from the Eminem Show,18

playing music for the masses

from red loudspeakers like Depeche Mode’s,19

I'd make concerts so cool that I would rewatch them,

between rock and circus, Doors, Strange Days.20

Hot Rats: «Curly hair, where did you jut out from?»,

I don't know, but I exploded, Green Day, Dookie.21

Cover.

I was born and I grew up,

I was dead under the cover.

I raise my head and I realize

that all my life was on a cover.

Cover.

Cover over me.

Adults are fat and melancholy,

they often make a blunder, more than Prodigy,

but I'd break my back in each kermesse

in order to take a step beyond like Madness.22

I have a good sound, but then I lose it

and I spend my Summer feeding goats, Pet Sounds.23

Unhappy, I get aboard one of these Boeings,

which will crash, piloted by the Beastie Boys,24

indeed it's losing altitude and I risk putting on

an expression like the one from King Crimson's first album.25

I start praying,

but since 1984 my angel is outside, smoking with Van Halen.26

In case you were looking for me,

I'm among the corpses of Master of Puppets,27

but like a ghost I will watch over you

from the dark side of Pink Floyd's moon.28

Cover.

I was born and I grew up,

I was dead under the cover.

I raise my head and I realize

that all my life was on a cover.

cover.

Cover over me.

1. Comment by Caparezza:

‟Tanti sono gli artisti che hanno permesso alle loro opere di diventare copertine di dischi. La banana di Warhol sull’album dei Velvet Underground è stata il Big Bang di questo mio viaggio lisergico attraverso le cover più celebri di tutti i tempi.”

{Many are the artists who let their works become album covers. Warhol’s banana on the album by Velvet Underground was the Big Bang of this lysergic trip of mine among the most famous covers of all times.}

Every song in the album Museica has a reference piece of art; this song has Banana by Andy Warhol, which was used as the cover of the unnamed album by The Velvet Underground & Nico.

The cover of Museica is a painting too, by Italian painter Domenico Dell’Osso:

http://www.artsblog.it/post/68349/caparezza-museica-la-copertina-e-della...2. This song is a metaphor for the life of an artist.

He is born, grows up, struggles to do something valuable and get recognition.

He has peaks of creativity and crises of creativity, until the moment he dies, physically and/or artistically.

But his art will outlive him.3. In the Bible, verb is a synonym for word. The Italian Bible still uses the (outdated) form ‟verb”.

It is a quotation from (John 1:1): ‟In principio era il Verbo, il Verbo era presso Dio e il Verbo era Dio”. {In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.}

In Italian, the gerund (-ing form) has a -ndo ending, so Innuendo looks like a gerund. And Innuendo actually comes from a Latin gerund, from innuere {hint at}.

God is like a skilled juggler playing with the planets when he is creating the universe.

Innuendo is a 1991 album by Queen. Its cover depicts a juggler playing with planets (a color version of an illustration by J.J. Grandville).

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/e4/99/8c/e4998c675e3527c0c4cde...4. Fragile is a 1971 album by Yes. Its cover depicts a planet with a crack splitting it in two; a fragile planet.5. These first lines are about the myth - the legend - of the creation of the world.

Legend is a 1984 anthological album by Bob Marley & The Wailers, collecting their ‟best of”.6. After creating the Earth, God creates man and woman, who were still naked and virgin.

Unfinished Music no.1: Two Virgins is a 1968 album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Its cover is a photo of Lennon and Ono naked.7. The song moves away from the creation to the life of the artist.

First, he is conceived through a sexual intercourse between naked people, which is made of shared love (between the parents, and towards the baby) and of ‟unknown” love both because it’s a private matter and because it’s still unknown to the yet-to-be-born baby.

This act of love gave life to the baby, life that is symbolised by the pulsating heart.

Unknown pleasures is a 1979 album by Joy Division. Its cover was inspired by the radio signal emitted by the first pulsar ever discovered (CP 1919).

A pulsar (pulsating star) is a kind of star emitting electromagnetic radiation in a certain direction; since it’s spinning, the radiation becomes visible only when it’s emitted towards the Earth, so it appears as ‟pulsating”8. Some women decide to give birth in a dedicated pool, because it’s less stressful for the mother and the baby.

Nevermind is a 1991 album by Nirvana. Its cover depicts a newborn baby under water, with a 1-dollar bill hooked to a fishing line.9. The artist is now a kid and is passionate about comics (Caparezza loves comics).

So he goes out to buy one. He addresses the newspaper seller Mrs. Janis to get it.

‟Mrs. Janis” is actually Janis Joplin, who was the singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company when their 1968 album Cheap Thrills came out. Its cover is a comic-like representation of the band members.10. The artist goes to school now, and eats a banana during a break.

Many artists have just a very brief fame (a ‟15-minutes” one), then they go back to being ignored by the audience.

The Velvet Underground & Nico relesed an unnamed/eponymous album in 1967. Their producer and pop artist Andy Warhol created the cover for the album: a banana which could be peeled to reveal a pink ‟banana” inside.

A famous aphorism by Andy Warhol is ‟In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes”11. The kid also appears in class photos (in Italy, it’s more common to have group photos rather than individual photos in the yearbook).

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is a 1967 album by The Beatles. Its cover depicts the four members of the band together with tens of famous people: writers, actors, musicians, gurus, etc., but no rapper (rap was not born yet).

Initially, Caparezza belonged to the hip hop genre, though he moved away from it, personally and artistically.

His main influences come from rock, not from rap; that’s why you won’t find rappers in his ‟school”.

Foto di gruppo is an album by Italian rapper Bassi Maestro, but it’s not part of the albums cited in this song, both because its cover is not cited (while everyone else is) and because it’s not an album belonging to the personal hall of fame of Caparezza).12. An artist lives for his art. He almost becomes a slave of art, all his life is ‟on a cover”, it's on concerts and albums and recordings. So, there’s the risk of becoming trapped into the artist’s figure, behind the public mask, and lose the man’s identity.13. Adolescence is a hard age for many people; the same goes for Caparezza and the protagonist of the song.

Voodoo is an African-American religion which comprises rites involving magic. For example, a doll shaped like an enemy can be tortured with needles, and the same pain will be felt by the enemy person himself.14. War is a 1983 album by U2. Its cover shows a kid hardened by the horrors of war: his look is disillusioned, he’s not young and innocent anymore.

While growing up, people gets frustrated and lose hopes and dreams.15. Born in the U.S.A. is a 1984 album by Bruce Springsteen. Its cover shows him turning his back to us.

Teenagers often feel isolated and misunderstood, as if the whole world were against them.16. Fear of the Dark is a 1992 album by Iron Maiden. Its cover depicts a monster/demon intertwined with a tree.

Kids fear the dark, and teenagers may be full of insecurities too.17. Sticky Fingers is a 1971 album by The Rolling Stones. Its cover depicts a man wearing jeans, zooming in on his groin. The skin-tight jeans let you see the shape of a big penis. The sexual innuendo is in the title of the album too.

cazzone = big dick.

cazzone = dickhead, slacker, dumbass.

Caparezza is sometimes seen as a slacker wearing jeans, because artist ‟do not have a *real* job” and because jeans were and are part of his clothing, as they are for many rappers.18. Even if the world is against him and he is still young, the artist/Caparezza has already clear in his mind that he wants to be an artist, he wants to perform in front of a microphone.

The Eminem Show is a 2002 album by Eminem. On its cover, there is Eminem on stage, alone with a microphone.19. Music for the Masses is a 1987 album by Depeche Mode. The cover shows red loudspeakers.20. Strange Days is a 1967 album by Doors. The cover depicts circus performers.

Caparezza mixes the circus of the cover and the rock of the album because his music is mainly influenced by rock and during his concerts he has colorful sceneries, and performs gags using elaborate props, so they resemble a circus performance mixed with music.

He likes this way of making concerts so much that he would like to see the recordings of the event, while many artist don't like to watch themselves.21. Hot Rats is a 1969 album by Frank Zappa (who is probably the most appreciated singer by Caparezza). Its cover shows Zappa with long curly hair (just like Caparezza's) emerging from an empty pool.

Dookie is a 1994 album by Green Day. Its cover depicts a city hit by a bomb (‟exploded”).

Caparezza remained completely unknown to the wide audience until the huge and sudden success of Fuori dal tunnel. This song became famous especially in the discos and in TV, exactly the places that were despised by the song itself, proving that lyrics have absolutely zero impact on the commercial success of songs, at least in Italy.

So, his success was sudden (‟exploded”) and unexpected (‟where did you come out from?”).22. The Fat of the Land is a 1997 album by The Prodigy. Its cover depicts a crab.

prendere un granchio {catch a crab} = make a blunder.

grasso {fat} refers both to people and to the title of the album.

kermesse = show.

One Step Beyond… is a 1979 album by Madness. Its cover shows the band members lined up, bending backwards; they are bending so much that their backs might break.

fare un passo avanti = make a step forward.

Caparezza would break his back (work extremely hard) for music, even if other people don't appreciate him.

Grown up people are fat, unhappy, and tend to think bad of other people, but they are wrong in doing so.

An artist tries and keep as ‟childish” as he can, to be imaginative.23. Sometimes artists make good music and reach success, but then lose their inspiration or just lose their fame, so they metaphorically go back to a countryside life.

Caparezza actually retreats to a quiet and private life when he’s not making concerts.

Pet Sounds is a 1966 album by Beach Boys. The cover depicts the band members feeding goats. The album is named after the fact that they used many real animal sounds in its songs.24. Boeing is an aircraft manufacturer.

Licensed to Ill is a 1986 album by Beastie Boys. On its cover, there is a Boeing 727 (with a ‟Beastie Boys” sign on its tail) that crashed into a cliff.

Every new project or album is a challenge for an artist; he fears it might be a total failure, and at times he might feel like giving it up.25. In the Court of the Crimson King – an Observation by King Crimson is a 1969 album by King Crimson (their debut album). Its cover depicts a face with a scared-to-death look.

The artist is frightened by its new music project going bad, going to crash to the ground.26. 1984 is a 1984 album by Van Halen. Its cover depicts a baby angel smoking.

The artist calls on his guardian angel, but no one is going to help him (the angel is busy smoking).27. Master of Puppets is a1986 album by Metallica. Its cover depicts a cemetery with rows of white crosses.

The artist is artistically/biologically dead; he’s among the corpses of Master of Puppets.28. The Dark Side of the Moon is a 1973 album by Pink Floyd. Its cover shows a prism deflecting light, decomposing it into its spectrum of colors (like in the famous experiment by Newton).

Even after the artist has died, his ghost - his spirit - will linger on Earth, by means of the songs he left us.

spettro = ghost.

spettro = spectrum.

• Artist:Caparezza
• Album:Museica