With the notable exceptions of “Jamin-a”, inspired by De André and Pagani’s then-recent trips to Africa and the Middle East, and “Sidún”, focusing on the 1982 Lebanon war, all songs are about Genoa. In particular:
“Crêuza de mä” is about the hard working life of sailors and fishermen in Genoa, but also displays their serene mood when gathering together for dinner. The lyrics mention various traditional Genoan dishes (as well as some unrealistic, invented ones), which are allegedly served in “Andrea’s house” [i.e. a tavern] – Andrea being a fantasy character “who is not a sailor”, possibly representing De André himself[c] as someone who is extraneous to the sailors’ world, and in whose world the sailors view themselves as misfits. The instrumentation featured in the song is mostly ethnic, with Pagani playing a recurring riff on a violin plucked with a guitar plectrum, referred to by the invented name of ‘ndelele; the chorus, built on a polymetric structure of three bars (respectively of 5/4, 6/4 and 4/4), is sung by De André and Pagani using meaningless words (eh anda, yey yey anda, yey yey yey anda, ayo), sounding more like Sardinian (another favourite language of De André’s) than Genoese, and the song ends with chants and hollers by fishmongers and seafood vendors, recorded live by Pagani in the Genoa fish market. In Dentro Faber, Pagani said he felt lucky for the fact that all vendors sang in a perfect D major key (the key of the main song), most of them without having the faintest idea of what a key is.
Pagani, you are one of my utmost heroes.
