Written by Ron in 1990 and sung by Lucio Dalla, “Attenti al lupo” is one of the most famous pieces of Italian song. How many times have we sung it transported by its pressing rhythm, by the assonances, by those timeless images. A song, but also a nursery rhyme that takes us back to the fairytale scenarios of when we were children. But behind the apparent lightness of this song lies a profound meaning, which has to do with growth, death and the anguish of separation. “Anna and Marco” by Lucio Dalla: the manifesto of young people of all time
“Anna and Marco” by Lucio Dalla and the song about two boys who are doubtful and restless about their future Beware of the wolf
There are elements that come back in fairy tales all over the world, beyond the place of origin and the culture that created them. The first to guess the universal morphology of fairy tales was a Russian linguist and anthropologist named Vladimir Propp. One of the recurring elements identified by Propp was precisely the figure of the antagonist, who in various cultures was represented by the figure of the wolf. The bad wolf is the representation of evil and danger and we find it in some famous fairy tales, such as Little Red Riding Hood, Pierino and the Wolf and the Three Little Pigs. Dalla’s song which is structured like a fairy tale re-proposes the topos of the bad wolf, which in this is the personification of the dangers that the protagonist– such a small woman – is likely to meet on her way through the woods. Where the forest represents life, in its complicated and sometimes intricate being, where one wanders cautiously. But as in any self-respecting fairy tale there is an object to be protected or brought to safety. This time it’s a dream and it’s kept in a little hat like that. Life and a chain
In the refrain the “little woman like this” addresses her in love with her, urging him not to worry about her. Life is a chain, a cycle in which the strongest eats the weakest, but, despite the wolf hiding around the corner, a sense of acceptance of life and its inexorable circle also emerges. To cross the tangle of the forest and the dangers that lurk there, one cannot help but accept the possibility of death and entrust oneself to “the good Lord”. But crossing the wood, you come across a small clearing, where the song of cicadas and an eternal summer refresh the anguished souls of those who have crossed the wood . A symbolic place of existence, the place of love and carefree, where the protagonists of the song make love and, overwhelmed by a sense of happiness, seem to take flight. The text
There is such a small house
With many colored windows
She is a little woman like this
With two big eyes to look at
And there is a little man
like that Who always comes back late to work
And she has a small hat like this
With a dream to realize inside
And the more she thinks about it, the more she can’t wait
My love you don’t have to to be in pain
This life is a chain
Sometimes it hurts a little
Look how peaceful I am
Even if I go through the woods
With the help of the good god
Always beware of the wolf
Beware of the wolf
Beware of the wolf
Living together
Living together
Over there there is and a small meadow like this
With a great noise of cicadas
And a sweet scent like this
My love summer has arrived
My love summer has arrived
And the two of us lying here making love
In the midst of this sea of cicadas
This love so small
But so big that it seems to me to fly
And the more I think about it the more I don’t know wait
My love you don’t have to worry
This life is a chain
Sometimes it hurts a little
Look how calm I am
Even if through the woods
With the help of the good god
Always beware of the wolf
Beware of the wolf
Beware of the wolf
Living together
Living together
