A-Infos (en) Italy, UCADI #211 - FRANCESCO GUCCINI (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

"If I were an academic, a master, or a doctor, I would robe you in 
fifteen honorary degrees. But I was poor at Latin in school, and pop 
music isn't for me; I'll grant you a diploma in song and wine, right 
here at Via Paolo Fabbri 43." - Via Paolo Fabbri 43 --- Writing about 
Francesco Guccini in the wake of his passing-and after hearing and 
reading all manner of commentary from both the Left and the Right-is 
somewhat difficult for me; I want to avoid the risk of being banal or 
joining the vast throng of newfound admirers and professional obituary 
writers. I am convinced that those who care about poetry, music, people, 
and souls have lost a friend-a wiser older brother-and that we all need 
time to stem the bleeding and let the wound that has opened within us heal.
I will therefore attempt to capture certain aspects of his poetics and 
thought by starting at the end: with the reinterpretation of the protest 
folk song found in his final, complex work-a return to poetry and to the 
impetuous restlessness of youth, defined by the protest songs of 
struggle. I begin with the anarchic spirit of the "railway engineer" 
who, in the late 19th century-a time of great ideals-decides to drive 
his locomotive at breakneck speed until it derails and ultimately 
explodes. It is an explicit metaphor: the anarchist hurling the 
locomotive against bourgeois power becomes a manifesto for the youth 
movements of the 1970s, particularly at the song's pivotal moment when 
"the proletarian bomb lit up the air, the torch of anarchy." To 
understand Guccini, one must start with that Bologna station illuminated 
by the explosion, with those Apennine mountains, and with the culture 
that shaped him. I once read a recollection of his: back in school, when 
the *Iliad* was part of the curriculum, many students sided with the 
Greeks; he, however, always stood with the Trojans-the losing side. Both 
his songs and his novels clearly reveal where his loyalties lay and show 
that he never hid his convictions. He has always been an anarchist-or at 
least sympathetic to that world-and it is into that world that he delves 
when he frequently exclaims "mah." By doing so, he urges us to always 
consider doubt-to embrace the certainty of doubt-because, after all, 
night still follows the day, and at the end of the night, there is 
still... something more. (To quote *Madame Bovary*.)
Francesco Guccini's political thought is not bound by rigid or militant 
ideology; rather, it looks to the romantic spirit of anarchism-a mindset 
bordering on the moralistic, akin to the historical perspectives of 
figures like Bakunin or Gaetano Bresci. It is a worldview defined by the 
pursuit of utopias, pure ideals, and a struggle against all forms of 
injustice. Guccini has often clarified that he was never a communist nor 
a member of any party with fixed doctrines; instead, he has asserted his 
staunch secularism, agnosticism, and anticlericalism. He rejected all 
ideological or religious ties, living his life in total 
freedom-frequenting taverns, cherishing the tales and stories of his 
native Emilia, and embracing the liberty to create.
He has always described himself as an "Actionist" (*azionista*)-aligned 
with the thought and ideals of the *Giustizia e Libertà* (Justice and 
Liberty) movement, with its strong anti-fascist character. In this 
regard, he shared a deep affinity and bond with his friend Fabrizio De 
André-an affinity rooted above all in radical intellectual independence, 
a rejection of dogmatism, and a commitment to defending the downtrodden 
and the rebels. Guccini's arrival on the Italian popular music 
scene-bringing with him the curiosity of a sharp mind, his erudition, 
and his irony-infused the genre with the texture of everyday life and 
philosophy, while his magical pen charted new trajectories for lyrical 
structure. When one adds to this a strong, clear, and captivating voice, 
the picture becomes complete.
Guccini is the quintessential artist-a figure I would call timeless-who 
commands attention and provokes reflection. He was the *Maestrone* 
(Great Master) and "Guccio" (as his tavern friends called him), a 
puppeteer of words who elevated the singer-songwriter's narrative style 
to the level of poetry. He drew heavily from the immense poetic stature 
of Bob Dylan-an artist he revered and initially emulated but soon moved 
beyond, asserting a need for purity and an awareness of the imperative 
to dismantle the negative values of that capitalist, warmongering 
America obsessed with profit and global hegemony.
Guccini experimented with new forms of storytelling laced with playful 
irony; he moved us with tales of loneliness and marginalization, and 
intoxicated us with village stories-blending current events, memories, 
and imaginative yarns with rhymes that were "vibrant, beautiful, and 
never purposeless" (as he described them)-all while refusing to jump on 
the bandwagon of passing ideologies or trends.

I believe this is why he was understood and loved by everyone, 
transcending all social, political, and generational divides. Mine is 
simply a modest invitation to everyone to revisit half a century of his 
songs-to discover and rediscover them, to read, listen, and share the 
emotions each song conveys, and to discuss the feelings each track evokes.

Jan Kadj Strummer

https://www.ucadi.org/2026/09/06/francesco-guccini/
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