Italy ITALY 2022 - Mahmood and Blanco - Brividi

[escYOUnited]

​

Ho sognato di volare con te
Su una bici di diamanti
Mi hai detto: "Sei cambiato, non vedo
Più la luce nei tuoi occhi"

La tua paura cos'è?
Un mare dove non tocchi mai
Anche se il sesso non è
La via di fuga dal fondo

Dai, non scappare da qui
Non lasciarmi così
Nudo con i brividi
A volte non so esprimermi

E ti vorrei amare, ma sbaglio sempre
E ti vorrei rubare un cielo di perle
E pagherei per andar via
Accetterei anche una bugia

E ti vorrei amare ma sbaglio sempre
E mi vengono i brividi, brividi, brividi

Tu, che mi svegli il mattino
Tu, che sporchi il letto di vino
Tu, che mi mordi la pelle
Con i tuoi occhi da vipera

E tu, sei il contrario di un angelo
E tu, sei come un pugile all'angolo
E tu scappi da qui, mi lasci così

Nudo con i brividi
A volte non so esprimermi

E ti vorrei amare, ma sbaglio sempre
E ti vorrei rubare un cielo di perle
E pagherei per andar via
Accetterei anche una bugia

E ti vorrei amare ma sbaglio sempre
E mi vengono i brividi, brividi, brividi

Dimmi che non ho ragione
E vivo dentro una prigione
E provo a restarti vicino
Ma scusa se poi mando tutto a puttane e

Non so dirti ciò che provo, è un mio limite
Per un "ti amo" ho mischiato droghe e lacrime
Questo veleno che ci sputiamo ogni giorno
Io non lo voglio più addosso

Lo vedi, sono qui
Su una bici di diamanti, uno fra tanti
Nudo con i brividi
A volte non so esprimermi

E ti vorrei amare, ma sbaglio sempre
E ti vorrei rubare un cielo di perle
E pagherei per andar via
Accetterei anche una bugia

E ti vorrei amare, ma sbaglio sempre
E mi vengono i brividi, brividi, brividi​

​

 

[nudiecrudi]

Best lyrics for Mahmoud and Blanco this year.

 

[nudiecrudi]

https://mobile.twitter.com/Cinguetterai_/status/1524400468549681153?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1524405993580474370%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd-13255499813433462096.ampproject.net%2F2204292129000%2Fframe.html

 

[Uto]

Blanco and Mahmood win the Eurovision "Best Lyrics Award". Last year the Måneskin.

Blanco e Mahmood vincono il 'Best lyrics award' dell'Eurovision. Lo scorso anno i Måneskin

La coppia premiata per il testo di 'Brividi'

www.google.com

This award is handed out by what is essentially a tiny closed fansite. Like you and I could start a blog, hand out an award for best shoelaces, and if Italy wins it twice it would be in the press because why not?

Not to say the lyrics to Brividi are bad, they do seem quite poetic and evocative (can't be a proper judge of it as obviously some shit is lost in translation), but the value of this award should be taken with some reservations, especially as Maneskin won it last year with lyrics that were rather pedestrian compared to Brividi.

 

[nudiecrudi]

This award is handed out by what is essentially a tiny closed fansite. Like you and I could start a blog, hand out an award for best shoelaces, and if Italy wins it twice it would be in the press because why not?

Not to say the lyrics to Brividi are bad, they do seem quite poetic and evocative (can't be a proper judge of it as obviously some shit is lost in translation), but the value of this award should be taken with some reservations, especially as Maneskin won it last year with lyrics that were rather pedestrian compared to Brividi.

It was just something to point it out about this song. Two persons, as you said, organized a poll and Brividi has, for the persons who voted, the most beautiful lyrics. Maneskin won last year, and the lyrics of that song are beautiful too.
Nothing less nothing more.
2nd place on Ogae rankings, 3rd place on Europoll, 4th in odds, 2nd on eurovisionworld, 1st best lyrics
All those numbers, maybe, show to us Brividi fans that this song is appreciated.

 

[Zerocalcare]

This award is handed out by what is essentially a tiny closed fansite. Like you and I could start a blog, hand out an award for best shoelaces, and if Italy wins it twice it would be in the press because why not?

Not to say the lyrics to Brividi are bad, they do seem quite poetic and evocative (can't be a proper judge of it as obviously some shit is lost in translation), but the value of this award should be taken with some reservations, especially as Maneskin won it last year with lyrics that were rather pedestrian compared to Brividi.

Your reasoning is not wrong. I appreciate your point of view but we need to make some important considerations. If we were to criticize everything that was awarded by a "small fansite" we would also have to consider prizes such as France Football's "Golden Ball" or the Spanish Don Balón ranking irrelevant. We should also not accept all the jury results (as they are part of a small group) and the Marcel Becencon Awards results (always voted by an internal jury). You could tell me "The ESC juries are official" and I would reply by saying "Even the "fansite" that awarded Mahmood and Blanco is official". Those who awarded "Brividi" are part of a jury made up of former ESC artists, journalists, writers, poets and international fans.

The juxtaposition between Måneskin (consolidated ESC success in the world after ABBA and Celin Dion) and Mahmood and Blanco is forced. Last year the protest message won and this year a romantic poem. They are two different but equally beautiful things that have managed to emerge from the mass of other European songs.

In conclusion, as the great Josè Mourinho says "The important thing is not to stay with Zeru Tituli"

 

[Uto]

Your reasoning is not wrong. I appreciate your point of view but we need to make some important considerations. If we were to criticize everything that was awarded by a "small fansite" we would also have to consider prizes such as France Football's "Golden Ball" or the Spanish Don Balón ranking irrelevant. We should also not accept all the jury results (as they are part of a small group) and the Marcel Becencon Awards results (always voted by an internal jury). You could tell me "The ESC juries are official" and I would reply by saying "Even the "fansite" that awarded Mahmood and Blanco is official". Those who awarded "Brividi" are part of a jury made up of former ESC artists, journalists, writers, poets and international fans.

Juries in ESC have a particular role, which is to act as a cushion against extreme attention whoring and trollvoting etc etc, so I will disregard those as an argument here, but what you say about some other awards is indeed correct. When it gets decided based on the opinions of a few there is no proper shield against bias and the award is nothing more than a nice nod (and/or a cynical attempt of a fansite to gain recognition in this particular case). Like no one I know actually believes that Modric was at any one point the best footballer on earth.

I mean we shouldn't get to a point where the Italian fans are running amok claiming that Italy always has the best lyrics pointing towards the opinions of a silly fansite. You know how this topic gets sometimes, especially as you yourself are prone to beating your own chest regarding Italy. One can rightfully claim Italy in ESC tends to have very good lyrics.

The juxtaposition between Måneskin (consolidated ESC success in the world after ABBA and Celin Dion) and Mahmood and Blanco is forced. Last year the protest message won and this year a romantic poem. They are two different but equally beautiful things that have managed to emerge from the mass of other European songs.

Don't see why one can not compare the two in terms that are objective enough regardless of theme. But whatever, opinions be opinions.

 

[Zerocalcare]

Honestly, I don't think Italian lyrics are the best. Anywhere in the world anyone can write wonderful lyrics. Italy, I just say this without beating my chest, is just one of the countries that pays more attention to the creation of their own musical lyrics and what does this often lead to? To the now famous "typical Italian ballad". The deep and emotional lyrics, in fact, find fertile ground mainly in the ballads.

Extreme care in the choice of our words, which are often beaded with romantic and passionate doodles, is part of our way of being. This sort of specialization, of always choosing the most evocative word to express our emotions, leads people to feel connected with us.

My mother always tells me that she hates musical competitions because every song carries with it an emotion and a message; each song is beautiful and each song fits a specific public. Music is like love... "What is beautiful is not beautiful but what one likes is beautiful". You don't have to think at all that Italy's victory makes "De Diepte" (one of my favorite songs of 2022) less fascinating.

Regarding football, an unpopular opinion, the best players in football history were Cruyff (for football intelligence) and Garrincha (for pure improvisation and fun). The 300,000 Golden Ball on by Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi will never make me change my mind. It is not uncommon that a prize does not establish the best. There are Italian players, for example, like Francesco Totti and, especially, Bruno Conti (who drove the Brazilian great players crazy in 1982) who have never won a Golden Ball. Maradona himself did not win it and Pelé did not win it.

How many beautiful words and concepts I have expressed... perhaps a girl I know, a dear friend of mine, is right, who one day wrote to me "You Italians are good with words and at making people feel special but then ...". At least you ... trust me!

A warm greeting!

 

[Hook2Hook]

 

[Uto]

Honestly, I don't think Italian lyrics are the best. Anywhere in the world anyone can write wonderful lyrics. Italy, I just say this without beating my chest, is just one of the countries that pays more attention to the creation of their own musical lyrics and what does this often lead to? To the now famous "typical Italian ballad". The deep and emotional lyrics, in fact, find fertile ground mainly in the ballads.

Extreme care in the choice of our words, which are often beaded with romantic and passionate doodles, is part of our way of being. This sort of specialization, of always choosing the most evocative word to express our emotions, leads people to feel connected with us.

Most people have absolutely no idea what is sung in these Italian songs. I think the 'extreme care in the choice of [your] words' is lost on most. As such the conclusion that the connection is based on the words doesn't fit with the phenomena I witness. Not saying people don't connect, but it's for different reasons.

My mother always tells me that she hates musical competitions because every song carries with it an emotion and a message; each song is beautiful and each song fits a specific public. Music is like love... "What is beautiful is not beautiful but what one likes is beautiful". You don't have to think at all that Italy's victory makes "De Diepte" (one of my favorite songs of 2022) less fascinating.

Regarding football, an unpopular opinion, the best players in football history were Cruyff (for football intelligence) and Garrincha (for pure improvisation and fun). The 300,000 Golden Ball on by Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi will never make me change my mind. It is not uncommon that a prize does not establish the best. There are Italian players, for example, like Francesco Totti and, especially, Bruno Conti (who drove the Brazilian great players crazy in 1982) who have never won a Golden Ball. Maradona himself did not win it and Pelé did not win it.

How many beautiful words and concepts I have expressed... perhaps a girl I know, a dear friend of mine, is right, who one day wrote to me "You Italians are good with words and at making people feel special but then ...". At least you ... trust me!

A warm greeting!

You seem to think you have a way with words and congratulate yourself for it, but the truth is you are just extremely verbose. This isn't a crime, but it's also often not clear what your point or your intent is. This turns the verbosity into something rather annoying half the time. I have to wade through many unnecessary words and end up guessing what I am supposed to take away from it. Like the football part is just exposition expanding on my Modric comment. That is clear enough and that part is appreciated by me (and yes Garrincha and Cruijff are often named by older Dutch people as the absolute legends of the era). But the paragraph where you mention the Dutch song? That one only makes sense to me if I assume that you think I'm annoyed that the Dutch song didn't win a prize for best lyrics. But I just said that I think the prize is unimportant. I can't think of a song this year that would even be in contention for such a prize besides Italy and maybe Serbia. So are you projecting thoughts on me or do I misunderstand you? If it's the first that's not good, comes across as rather narcissistic. If it's the latter your words miss their mark and your role as an author is impacted negatively. What I think you really just want to say is that while you are happy the Italian songs are lyrically sound you don't want to imply that others are unable to do the same. But you dodge that, you say that this is what your mother says. So what are you trying to express there? It could be much clearer. Or if thought of as an artform: Is the true masterpiece not that which brooks no further removal of elements?

And yes I do see the irony of criticizing verbosity with something verbose.

 

[Grinch]

The song has no appeal and that "sad gay lovers" act looks quite fake.
Predicting something around #16-17

 

[Zerocalcare]

Most people have absolutely no idea what is sung in these Italian songs. I think the 'extreme care in the choice of [your] words' is lost on most. As such the conclusion that the connection is based on the words doesn't fit with the phenomena I witness. Not saying people don't connect, but it's for different reasons.



You seem to think you have a way with words and congratulate yourself for it, but the truth is you are just extremely verbose. This isn't a crime, but it's also often not clear what your point or your intent is. This turns the verbosity into something rather annoying half the time. I have to wade through many unnecessary words and end up guessing what I am supposed to take away from it. Like the football part is just exposition expanding on my Modric comment. That is clear enough and that part is appreciated by me (and yes Garrincha and Cruijff are often named by older Dutch people as the absolute legends of the era). But the paragraph where you mention the Dutch song? That one only makes sense to me if I assume that you think I'm annoyed that the Dutch song didn't win a prize for best lyrics. But I just said that I think the prize is unimportant. I can't think of a song this year that would even be in contention for such a prize besides Italy and maybe Serbia. So are you projecting thoughts on me or do I misunderstand you? If it's the first that's not good, comes across as rather narcissistic. If it's the latter your words miss their mark and your role as an author is impacted negatively. What I think you really just want to say is that while you are happy the Italian songs are lyrically sound you don't want to imply that others are unable to do the same. But you dodge that, you say that this is what your mother says. So what are you trying to express there? It could be much clearer. Or if thought of as an artform: Is the true masterpiece not that which brooks no further removal of elements?

And yes I do see the irony of criticizing verbosity with something verbose.

Comments are the shadow of our thinking. If se express ourself in an informal and free from schemes, as I did, we are verbose when instead we are too technical we are too serious and we kill subjectivity

I have grasped the meaning of your words: the prize that has been won is not important and being happy about it is stupid (or a sign of ostentation of superiority). Too bad that this thought can be extended to everything. Winning the ESC is also not important. Many will go on to say that the winner was overrated or that they don't like it. Here my mother's words cling. Art competitions are stupid, what matters are emotions

However, if Italy continues to like it and continues to win (even useless prizes), it means that we are good with words and at expressing warmest feelings (virtue of all Latin peoples) it is true

Want to know what I think about "Brividi"? It's a good song it can win but it would be a "bad winner". For me, there are songs that sound better. It is a song that compared to "Grande Amore", "Fai Rumore" and "Zitti e Buoni" is a step backwards. But... if Italy were to win I would not be so happy about the victory but because for the first time it is Italy that has stolen. I would feel satisfied that "the scam of the millennium", the lack of victory of "Grande Amore", has been counterbalanced

 

[NeoTen]

What was noticed during rehearsals, is that Mahmood uses a little bit more air, so they need to put his total output a little bit lower in the mixing, as it was 50/50% in the studio version. That would get them 2nd.

 

[Kairit]

Italy did it again This song won my heart from the very first time I heard it, and they can be very proud of the 6th place! Especially as the host country.

 

[Preuss]

Seems like 6th place it is for my favorite this year. I found the performance beautiful, and just another great great great entry from Italy

 

[mup]

Now that this Eurovision is over I hope I can say my opinion without getting essay-style replies

I believe this song won Sanremo based on the power of two big combined fanbases, just like in 2018. I never got the appeal of Brividi and never listened to it after the national festival, I would have placed them lower in my scoreboard.

Still, M&B had tons of streamings, coming from abroad too, so the song worked for those who voted for it. Mahmood and Blanco probably did better in the jury rehearsal and that explains the larger amount of jury points. They seemed there to have fun and to enjoy the event, without focusing on the competitive part of it.

 

[Zerocalcare]

Now that this Eurovision is over I hope I can say my opinion without getting essay-style replies

I believe this song won Sanremo based on the power of two big combined fanbases, just like in 2018. I never got the appeal of Brividi and never listened to it after the national festival, I would have placed them lower in my scoreboard.

Still, M&B had tons of streamings, coming from abroad too, so the song worked for those who voted for it. Mahmood and Blanco probably did better in the jury rehearsal and that explains the larger amount of jury points. They seemed there to have fun and to enjoy the event, without focusing on the competitive part of it.

Sooner or later, I will write my review but in principle I agree with you.

Even if the musical composition and the staging were well elaborated, I have never been connected with Mahmood's voice, I have never felt any thrill in listening to "Brividi" compared to our other entries of the past and I have always seen the our singers a little listless (they participated in the ESC to achieve a minimum result).

Top 10 deserved. Maybe I would have seen them better seventh, eighth or ninth position (not a few Italians think like us). I'm always sincere in my opinions.

 

[Uto]

Comments are the shadow of our thinking. If se express ourself in an informal and free from schemes, as I did, we are verbose when instead we are too technical we are too serious and we kill subjectivity

I understand, but English is English. It's a language normally used for precise declarative sentences. The poetry is in the nuances shifting the meaning, not the lack of clarity. You do with my feedback what you want, just understand that I mean well.

I have grasped the meaning of your words: the prize that has been won is not important and being happy about it is stupid (or a sign of ostentation of superiority). Too bad that this thought can be extended to everything. Winning the ESC is also not important. Many will go on to say that the winner was overrated or that they don't like it. Here my mother's words cling. Art competitions are stupid, what matters are emotions

However, if Italy continues to like it and continues to win (even useless prizes), it means that we are good with words and at expressing warmest feelings (virtue of all Latin peoples) it is true

Thank you for the clarification.

There are interesting things to say here. See the problem I have here is that you say that expressing ones warmest feelings is a virtue of Latin people, but surely you can understand that Germanic people are able to do the same. It's just much more subtle than one would expect and impossible to ever translate because while the more common fields of science and commerce are low in context (and therefore annoyingly need to be quite precise, which leads to me misunderstanding your layered prose) the field of romance is the total opposite. There are a million ways in which to say 'I love you' without changing a word to the sentence. Think it's fair to say that in Latin languages these things are more balanced, allowing for the usage of all sorts of vocabulary to make it more flowery so to speak. This is great, but if I translate Brividi word for word in Dutch it comes across as rather whiney and childish. Dutch just doesn't work in the same way Italian does. Neither does English. Mind you, I'm not saying this heavy layer of context doesn't exist in Italian, it probably does, but you don't need that understanding of the context to experience the poetry of Italian. You really do need it for the Germanic languages in the majority of cases.

Example. There's this Dutch song. Lyrics in the chorus are "Lief, ga nou mee, en omarm me. Omarm me, en neem me nergens heen." This translates in English as "Love, come along, and embrace me. Embrace me and take me nowhere." It is impossible though to get from any of this what the extreme depth is of all that is said here. It can't convey the desperation, it can't describe the nihilistic understanding of the futility of romance but the sheer will to still choose it over anything else. It just won't translate, because this meaning was never in the words to begin with, it existed in a context that can't be explained. Poetry in Germanic languages is a treasure chest with the keys locked inside.

Other example would be the lyrics to the Japanese national anthem:

"
May your reign
Continue for a thousand, eight thousand generations,
Until the tiny pebbles
Grow into massive boulders
Lush with moss
"

We can see this is poetry, we can have a sense of the beauty of the words and the meaning in general. I won't for a second assume that I have this one figured out though. The context is what gives it power and I have no idea about any of that. Indeed a Brit tried to distill from context extra meaning and came up with a poetic translation:

"
Thousands of years of happy reign be thine;
Rule on, my lord, until what are pebbles now
By ages united to mighty rocks shall grow
Whose venerable sides the moss doth line.
"

But none of this is in the actual words.

Want to know what I think about "Brividi"? It's a good song it can win but it would be a "bad winner". For me, there are songs that sound better. It is a song that compared to "Grande Amore", "Fai Rumore" and "Zitti e Buoni" is a step backwards. But... if Italy were to win I would not be so happy about the victory but because for the first time it is Italy that has stolen. I would feel satisfied that "the scam of the millennium", the lack of victory of "Grande Amore", has been counterbalanced

We agree here, except that Grande Amore is a crime against humanity. Opposite side of the equation we have the case where I couldn't fight the tears when Fai Rumore was played during semi. Covid hit Italy so hard, it all came back to me. It's such an anthem and the lyrics fit oddly well. It's a shame ESC2020 never happened.

 

[Preuss]

Has it lost its momentum with the fanbase? Best host entry since Sabina ten years ago…

I for once think Italy did a beautiful staging

 

[lacrymea]

It was my favorite and I hoped for a top 5 finish. Guess it sort of lost its momentum when the time came.

Still a beautiful song and Italy once again showing me why they're my favorite ESC country.

 

[Zerocalcare]

I understand, but English is English. It's a language normally used for precise declarative sentences. The poetry is in the nuances shifting the meaning, not the lack of clarity. You do with my feedback what you want, just understand that I mean well.




Thank you for the clarification.

There are interesting things to say here. See the problem I have here is that you say that expressing ones warmest feelings is a virtue of Latin people, but surely you can understand that Germanic people are able to do the same. It's just much more subtle than one would expect and impossible to ever translate because while the more common fields of science and commerce are low in context (and therefore annoyingly need to be quite precise, which leads to me misunderstanding your layered prose) the field of romance is the total opposite. There are a million ways in which to say 'I love you' without changing a word to the sentence. Think it's fair to say that in Latin languages these things are more balanced, allowing for the usage of all sorts of vocabulary to make it more flowery so to speak. This is great, but if I translate Brividi word for word in Dutch it comes across as rather whiney and childish. Dutch just doesn't work in the same way Italian does. Neither does English. Mind you, I'm not saying this heavy layer of context doesn't exist in Italian, it probably does, but you don't need that understanding of the context to experience the poetry of Italian. You really do need it for the Germanic languages in the majority of cases.

Example. There's this Dutch song. Lyrics in the chorus are "Lief, ga nou mee, en omarm me. Omarm me, en neem me nergens heen." This translates in English as "Love, come along, and embrace me. Embrace me and take me nowhere." It is impossible though to get from any of this what the extreme depth is of all that is said here. It can't convey the desperation, it can't describe the nihilistic understanding of the futility of romance but the sheer will to still choose it over anything else. It just won't translate, because this meaning was never in the words to begin with, it existed in a context that can't be explained. Poetry in Germanic languages is a treasure chest with the keys locked inside.

Other example would be the lyrics to the Japanese national anthem:

"
May your reign
Continue for a thousand, eight thousand generations,
Until the tiny pebbles
Grow into massive boulders
Lush with moss
"

We can see this is poetry, we can have a sense of the beauty of the words and the meaning in general. I won't for a second assume that I have this one figured out though. The context is what gives it power and I have no idea about any of that. Indeed a Brit tried to distill from context extra meaning and came up with a poetic translation:

"
Thousands of years of happy reign be thine;
Rule on, my lord, until what are pebbles now
By ages united to mighty rocks shall grow
Whose venerable sides the moss doth line.
"

But none of this is in the actual words.



We agree here, except that Grande Amore is a crime against humanity. Opposite side of the equation we have the case where I couldn't fight the tears when Fai Rumore was played during semi. Covid hit Italy so hard, it all came back to me. It's such an anthem and the lyrics fit oddly well. It's a shame ESC2020 never happened.

I really appreciated your words, Uto.

I like reading these comments. These are the comments that I think make people grow, that leave something to think about.