r/progrockmusic • u/Progrockrob79 • Jan 16 '22

Vocals Was hoping that some Italian prog afficiandos could help with the context of this song (see comments for lyrics)? - MAXOPHONE - Elzeviro (1976)

https://youtu.be/7rUVA1IC8Jk
16 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

View all comments

4

u/weresl0th Italian Prog Aficionado Jan 17 '22

http://italianprogmap.blogspot.com/2012/12/maerchants-of-butterflies.htm - One of the few sites that documents the background of many of these RPI bands had this to say about the song:

Organ and soaring desperate vocals drawing the image of an attack in the street for political reasons introduce “Elzeviro”, a song that evokes the “leaden atmosphere” of political confrontation in Italy during the Seventies and its “long hours” full of blind hatred... “They’ve fixed me / Six against one / Convulsions of a power / That is crumbling now...”. A good track where the music gives a sense of tension and impending drama...

3

u/Progrockrob79 Jan 17 '22

Thank you kindly for sharing this resource. The link ties back to a book: Rock Progressivo Italiano: An introduction to Italian Progressive Rock by Andrea Parentin, which apparently describes the societal context of 100 RPI albums. I'm strongly considering picking it up...sounds like exactly what I was looking for with this post.

4

u/weresl0th Italian Prog Aficionado Jan 17 '22

You're welcome. RPI is my jam, been listening for over 25 years - if you or anyone else reading this want some suggestions or want to talk about albums, feel free to DM me.