Rarely you get two interesting hints in a single interview with a musical artist on the italian press. Mostly is all the usual bullshit about the new album coming out, assorted gossip, what's the meaning of a song and other silliness.
This time, reading-yawning a recent interview with Paolo Conte (alas, from La Repubblica) in occasion of the new coming out live CD and DVD of this great songwriter and interpreter, I managed to be awakened by two passages, not bad considering the many poignant things he would say, if ever interviewed by a non-lobotomized journalist.

...Days ago I was reading a writing by Campigli [see artcyclopedia], who is one of my favorite painters. He used to write wonderful confessions as an artist: I know myself, he said, I know my paintings only through my mistakes. And so I am, in pain listening to my musics, I know where are mistakes even though they're not apparent to the others. And I suffer. But mistakes, if well managed, make the Style. (...)

You are so mindful with words: aren't you suffering these times when the word seems to have lost its integrity?

I don't give a damn, I am not suffering for the downfall of our literary gusto. As I always say, if you have to speak about being poetical, it has to be conceded not only to the literary field, but also to music. Music must be poetic, interpretation must be poetic, the relationship established with the public must be poetic. What is disturbing with writing, a part of the scarce plasticity of the italian language, is that many times, writing in oneself language, one picks the words that give absolute certainty: and this certainty sometimes is annoying, because the artistic dream is very abstract.
Sure, sometimes the cake turns out good, you really used the words that couldn't be changed with others. But in other cases the words control you: the artistic discourse is made of doubts, influences. Read more (in italian)

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