Q: Hey, long time no see! It’s cool that me, myself and I meet up again with these words.
A: Ciao bella! This lovely hello should be a prosperous beginning for our next monologue about my Italian.
Q: Please wait. I’m still confused about some points. May I rewind to pick them back?
A: Keep calm and go ahead. Take this chance when I’m in a merry mood or hesitate for some seconds and I’ll change my mind. “La donna è mobile, qual piuma al vento…” (Woman is unstable like a feather in the wind…)
Q: Phew… I’ve been preparing myself for a tougher context indeed. What are you really doing? Can you clarify the related answer?
A: Not a great news. I’m quite busy these days with new things and if I fulfill my duties I can have time to think about writing song or other interesting personal activities.
Q: Would you tell me something more about songwriting?
A: Song ideas come to me more spontaneously than intentionally. Once a sentence appears in my mind, I develop lyrics and melody but when the melody is born first, especially at night, it usually slips away and I can’t call it back again. It’s a defect of an amateur like me but this sweet pressure doesn’t disturb me much. Someday it’ll return, hopefully (or at least it nourishes myself temporarily).
Q: How long does it take you to complete a song?
A: The shortest period of time I’ve spent to complete a song is one day but many of the rest took several weeks, among them there are even some pending ones for 7 or 8 years. These challenges dance in my mind, but I don’t oppress myself with any deadline: it’s a privilege, a happiness of enjoying the freedom I create on my own.
Q: Then what is the biggest challenge you have ever experienced?
A: It’s a version based on “Nel blu dipinto di blu” by Modugno. As I respect every creative work, first of all I searched for information about his inspiration to understand more deeply and tried to transfer into my mother tongue not only its appearance but also its emotion: in other words, to translate “spiritually”, to merge a meaningful poetry into existing musical notes. When I knew “Le coq rouge” of Chagall had inspired him, I became more excited and continued to search for Chagall’s artworks to immerse myself inside his blue world. For the next step, I had to compound logic but emotional elements: melody, rhythm, verse…, facing huge differences between these two languages (for example, the first original sentence means “Perhaps a dream like this will never come back again” while mine “Suddenly a so marvellous thing has come like a fabulous dream” because Italian is polysyllabic while my mother tongue is monosyllabic; in terms of content, I think my version is double in length).
Q: You must have felt great!
A: Of course, after finding the last word on road on a beautiful windy day immersed in fresh air, blue sky and everything was splendour under the sunlight, I felt over the moon and I even wanted to give roses to anyone I would meet.
Q: On road? Where do new ideas usually appear on your mind?
A: Yeah, when riding my motorcycle or having a shower. I feel most freedom there, I guess.
Q: That means you would drench in inspirations in front of the sea and on the mountain?
A: Nice question, but you know, the sea is so large and the mountain is so high that my soul suspends itself in space speechlessly and breathlessly like a dewdrop; what I can write after is taken from memories.
Q: Do you have any other version on existing music?
A: One more. If “Volare” is a challenge, “Blue river” is an obsession to me: I have never liked writing lyrics on other people’s music but the melody of The Blue Danube Waves kept jumping in my mind like a mischievous child without any pause in December 2013. I was reluctant to satisfy that child and calm him.
Q: Was it difficult?
A: Not really; as it’s a tune without lyrics, I let my emotions flow along the melody and the words got extracted. It’s about the melancholy of a girl who was waiting for her fiancé for many years.
Q: You said you have written different genres of music, so your emotions must be various?
A: I think so. And I’m lucky to have lyrics harmonious with music in every song, like they have been in love with each other long ago and I’m the one who helped them to match. Listen: “Once upon a time there was a princess who loved birds, forest and morning sunshine…” with Waltz, “You come to me softly like a breath, sweetly like a classic girl who curves towards lilies and shyly talks…” on Tango or “The starry night contains so many desires/ Having wondered in sunset, we orient towards sunrise to be alight/ We overcome high cliffs to liberate miracles/ Regardless of who other people think to be, we are who we are” must absolutely be Rock.
Q: In what period did you write the most?
A: When I was a student, living by myself in a room for which I paid 80% of the amount my parents gave me each month, though my brother tried to insist me to move to a university dormitory for safety.
Q: Why didn’t you do so?
A: I wanted to avoid falling into the middle of too many girls/women.
Q: Really?
A: It’s like an investment, I pay for what makes me feel most comfortable and can help me to have a good return. Chatchits, phone calls, clothes and meals are secondary.
Q: Ah oh, and you prefer talking with boys/men?
A: Yeah, talking and working also. My nature and experience can assure you of that. Don’t ask for a reason why, I won’t give you the answer. Ah no no, just kidding, I forgot that you are female as well.
Q: Feel free, we’re simply sincere. In what period did you write the least?
A: When I was working in a big company. No songs for six years.
Q: Why?
A: It was slightly a desperation while working as a rusty robot without any inspiration; then for many reasons, I quitted the job and unexpectedly found my inspiration to write again. “The last dance” marked my “return” to songwriting after “Amore” since 2006 and it’s also the second one in my series “The Mermaid” tribute to this literary work of Andersen.
Q: How about the third one? Have you finished it?
A: Not yet. I’m difficult to myself and everything I make. “No no, this word can’t reflect the mood of a girl who believes in miracles…”, “Not sensual enough, try again…”
Q: Apart from that period, how can you harmonise this independent work with the paid one?
A: First of all, I need to love my paid one as well, more or less. Each thing I do has its own material and spiritual value, depending on certain internal and external factors. The matter is how to choose and arrange my tasks: there are things that 7 billions people, 3 billions, 1 million, 10 thousand, 1 thousand, or only me, can do. My arrogance may stay elsewhere, not here. Every individual, animal or object is unique: even an industrial product that looks and tastes exactly the same as millions of other ones is actually different in terms of time and space. However, that uniqueness is at a same level while ours are distinguished by much more complicated criteria; to obtain efficiency and effectiveness we need to be aware of our abilities. If you can do things that only 10 thousand people in the world can do, just do less things that 1 million can do. Then don’t let people control you by the time you’re present in the office; you work but you’re not a worker who focuses on the quantity of products or his speed to assure the continuity of the production line (but he can easily be substituted). Your position is like a jigsaw puzzle piece that has certain special characters to match with other special ones. Of course nothing is perfect but coherence is required for a sustainable position and development. Until you don’t feel uncomfortable anymore, you should talk frankly with your colleagues or your boss to find a better solution because it’s a common question, not only a certain impact on your private life, a responsibility for a whole team, not only on your own…
Q: Stop torturing me with a headache!
A: I got a headache too, I’m still confused with “efficiency, effectiveness” and “doing the right thing, doing the thing right”.
Q: Ok ok… Can we close that topic here and cure our headache with your love for Italian?
A: Bam!!! A mosquito! It took my inspiration away! See you again in the next part!