"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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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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