April 24, 2009

Eros.

When I was growing up in Sweden, Europe was a slightly different place than it is now. Although unified in some way, borders with passport controls still separated each country. Traveling held a completely different magic then. Crossing from one state to another meant such a vast change; the political system might have been different as well as the currency. So was the language, the culture, the mentality of people, the cuisine and even some of the history. Everything was new and exotic.

As was the music.

Very few performing artists have managed to gain success in most of Europe with songs sang in their native language. Most pop artists would sing in English and managed to enter the European charts, despite the country of their origin. But very few singing in any other language could enjoy any extended success and most of them ended up as one hit wonders, soon to be forgotten.

There has been one exception, however. The charismatic Italian singer Eros Ramazzotti, whose unique voice has been sounding in the aether for almost thirty years. His music is to me everlasting, never to age at all. There is something very romantic, captivating and utterly pensive about his sound. His style is abundant with candid humility, exceedingly removed from any flamboyance.
Looks and charisma aside, to me it has always been about his music. I am not so familiar with much of what he has done in the past decade, although it has always been easy to follow his productivity by the multitude of his hits and duets with other famous performers, that has received constant airplay over the years.

To this day, I still love to listen to his absolutely early work, which brings back the memories of my teens. It moves me back to the time, when my imagination was still very vivid and the future full of promises of adventures in far away, exotic lands.

15 comments:

Jill from Killeny Glen said...

Lovely!!!!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Diane said...

And he has a really cool name ;)

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing this on your blog. I so agree about the wonder and mystery of visiting another country yet now it feels as though you are just stepping into another area.

CJ xx

Beverlydru said...

I enjoyed this artist. And your review of his music should be in a magazine. Well written!

Mahmud Yussop said...

Absolutely wonderful voice. Thanks for sharing.

Snowbrush said...

Here in the U.S. a person can drive for days and only the scenery changes. Otherwise, it is the same language, same stores, same restaurants...

If life is, as you say, a problem to be solved, then what is that problem?

swenglishexpat said...

I remember those days too, borders etc. I agree with you that he is one of the few who has made it across the borders, and is a good example of modern Italian pop. He's got that sandpaper voice, influences from British and American music and not too many mandolins! ;-)

Taking Notes said...

I agree. Travelling and border-crossing is different now, the world has become 'smaller' to a certain extent but still a joy. Coincidentally, my post today is also about Italy, or more specifically, Sicily.
Eros has a great voice and a great name too!
x

Betsy Brock said...

Oooh..pretty! Don't you just love those songs from your teens! The ones that spoke to you then...and the feelings all come back even years later! :)

Keera Ann Fox said...

I have an Eros Ramazotti album. It's one of my few foreign language artist albums. No, wait, it's my only one. (Norwegian and English and Swedish don't count as "foreign" because I understand what they're singing.) And it's odd how I get so much feeling out of his songs without understanding a word.

I'm not satisfied with the one song on your blog. So now my Eros album is playing on my computer. :-) Thanks!

Zuzana said...

=Jill,
thank you and likewise.;)))

=Diane,
I agree, who would not love to have a name of the god of love;)) Hope you are having a great weekend.;))

=Crystal Jigsaw,
thank you for stopping by and for leaving such a lovely comment.;))

=Beverlydru,
thank you for such a kind compliment; glad you enjoyed this music.;) Hope you are having a great weekend.;))

=Mahmud,
I am happy you liked his voice, that is what made him famous.;))

=Snowbrush,
yes, I recall when I lived in the US, how amazing it was to me that I could drive for days and days and the only thing that changed somewhat was the nature and landscape. I could still stay in the same kind of hotels and eat the same food and talk English.;)) It was magical too, in some way.;)
In regards to the quote, if you read it again it might make more sense; I think you missed a "not".;)
Thank you for stopping by.;)

=swenglishexpat,
I knew you, if anyone, would share this sentiment of how Europe once was. Glad you too like Eros and I agree with you on his style.;))

=Jeanne,
yes, you are so right; I guess we can not stop this change. I will be right over to read your post.;))
Yes, his name is very easy to remember, isn't it? I hope your weekend is going well.;))

=Betsy,
so right you are, amazingly I still find the music I listened too then just as exciting.;)) Always glad when you stop by;)))

=Keera,
how exciting that you have his album! And I am happy this inpired you to listen to it again. I tend to listen more to Latin music when the weather gets warmer; his CD is now on constantly in my CD player.;)) Hope you are having a great weekend and that Norway is as warm and sunny as Denmark is.;))

Shelly's Style Shop said...

Thanks for sharing this with us! Such beautiful music!

xoxo, Shelly

Zuzana said...

=Shelly,
glad you enjoyed some old, romantic Italian pop.;))

Noelle Chantal said...

I do like to listen to other musics even though the language is different. Eros sounds a really great musician. The romantic sound and different words (though I cant understand) are still captivating to me. :)

Zuzana said...

=Noelle,
glad you liked Eros, his voice is very airy and romantic, so true.;)
I don't either understand the lyrics, which makes the song even more exotic.;)