Today at 10.00 o’clock the ticket sales have started for the concert in Paradiso. I will be there when they will play again in my city. The concerts in Paradiso I have attended are the best ones I have seen. The concert this year on January 26 is certainly one of them. Finally they were standing there, more than six years after the concert in Vredenburg, Utrecht. And had we, the Dutch fans, been nagging at them, asking them at every opportunity we had in all those years: “When will you come and play in the Netherlands?”

My last attempt was in Bastia, at the end of August, after the final concert of the Giru. By accident I slept in the same hotel as the band, and Shelly, the manager, saw them off. In between times I discussed with her the possibilities of a concert of I Muvrini in The Netherlands. These possibilities were scarce. It would hardly be profitable, because how would we manage to get the concert halls filled if publicity for I Muvrini in the Netherlands was almost nil and there was no way to get through in the Dutch radio and television world? And Shelly also had to deal with an administrative burden of tax forms, and much more, and she was definitely not waiting for more of that. When I concluded that it was simply impossible, I decided to leave. What is impossible, is simply impossible, I thought.

But then suddenly in September the names of the Dutch cities Amsterdam, Groningen and Tilburg were on their calendar. It became a glorious mini tour, with sold out venues, a frenzied crowd, and an I Muvrini who were a bit overwhelmed, because they had not expected that it would to be that successful. They promised to come back next year, and they are keeping that promise now by playing next year on February 28 in Groningen, March 1 in Amsterdam, and March 2 in Tilburg. Please check the “Concerts” to find out how to buy tickets and to have access to an itinerary with Google Maps. To get there, click on the name of the street of the location.

On days like this it is nice to think back to the moment that my love (or is it madness?) for the music of I Muvrini started. I had known them already much longer, but when on Christmas Eve 2006 I received the live DVD, simply called “I Muvrini live” with the registration of a concert in Forrest National in Brussels, I knew this was the best I had ever seen. The simplicity of the show, the emotions in the songs, the beauty of the melodies, touched me. And then they sang that beautiful language, standing on stage in their jeans and meaning every word they said. I knew: this is it!

One of these songs is “Fate”, the imperative of “Fà”, which means “to make, to do”. This should not be confused with the English “Fate”. And the song does not urge to do something, but just to fail to do something. “Fate chì ma più” means ”Do not do this again to me”. But in fact I did not find the meaning of the words that important for loving the song. No, the words, the sounds of the language seduced me into thinking: “It must be wonderful to be able to pronounce these words every day”. So I decided to sit and learn the song until I knew it by heart.

On this video you can see almost the whole band playing, but at the concert in January they played it as an encore with only Achim Meier on the piano and Jean-François playing his little acoustic guitar, and it was also wonderful. Because no matter which instruments accompany it, the strong melody, the glowing part-song of the brothers, in which Alains voice in the chorus is climbing almost fast to meet the voice of Jean-François in the higher parts of the refrain, all this makes me believe that this is simply the best you can get.

Fate

Quandu a notte si cala quì
Ogni abrucata chì Diu sà
Sottu à l’alivu a vecu andà

À listessa ora un fiore à dà
Cumu un abbracciu à l’al di là
In lu so core quale hè chì sà

Quandu a notte si mette à dì
Va forse à vede s’è tù ci sì
Ghjè a so spera pè ciò chì fù
A so preghera à u celu sù

Ùn more nimu senza ferrì
A vita conta più ch’è cusì
Ùn more nimu senza traì
Senza tumbà ciò ch’è tù sì
Fate, fate
Fate chì ma più

Quandu a notte vene à vighjà
À core bassu sentu marchjà
À core bassu chì circarà

Sola una donna puderà dì
Quant’ella brama di benedì
L’ultima grana chì pò fiurì

Quandu a notte si mette à dì
Va forse à vede s’è tù ci sì
Quandu a notte ancu di più
Tesoru caru li manchi tù

Ùn more nimu senza ferrì
A vita conta più ch’è cusì
Ùn more nimu senza traì
Senza tumbà ciò ch’è tù sì
Fate, fate
Fate chì ma più

© GF Bernardini

Do

When the night is falling
As the sun is setting I know that she will go
Leave there a flower there by the olive tree

At the same hour flower to give
As an embrace to hereafter
Her heart maybe

When the night comes whispering in
She is destined to look for you
Her memories of what has been
It’s a prayer to what is above

No-one takes life without pain
Life is worth more than they all know
No-one takes life without deceit
Without deny of what they are
Do that,do that
Do that, do that never again

When the night there still lingers on
I hear her heart slowly walking
Slowly walking

Only women will be telling
How much they dream of revering
The final seeds which comes to life

When the night comes whispering in
She is destined to look for you
When the night is still full and deep
She misses you, dearest beloved

No-one takes life without pain
Life is worth more than they all know
No-one takes life without deceit
Without deny of what they are
Do that, do that
Do that, do that never again