Nella Fantasia

I have a fairly wide, eclectic taste in music, ranging from Rock to Classical, from Folk to House, from Alternative to Emo, Jazz to … About the only thing that I will absolutely not tolerate is Rap that is about killing cops and rape. It may be a genre of poetry (another of my pleasures), but it’s beyond vulgar and simply offensive to my sensibilities.

Back to the music. One of the genre’s that I enjoy very much is classical vocal (or whatever the “correct” name for it is), and what I call “Popular Opera”, especially sung by some of the new generation of performers such as Russell Watson and Sarah Brightman.

There is a song, Nella Fantasia, that strikes me as one of the most beautiful that it’s been my pleasure to listen to. Of course, I’m sure there are those that can’t stand it, but it’s one of my “guilty pleasures”. I say guilty pleasures because … Perhaps a word of background about me. I suffer from what’s called by my doc as Treatment Resistant Severe Clinical Depression. So what does that have to do with Nella Fantasia? Well, I use the song as sort of a guage for just how depressed I really am at any given time. If I’m “OK”, I simply enjoy the song. If I’m moderately depressed, I get a bit teary listening to it but can control it. If I’m really depressed, meaning my “happy pills” simply no longer work for me (a regular occurance), or I’ve not taken them for a couple weeks (another fairly regular occurance), well then I cry through the entire song and I cannot control it, at least easily. I’ve even been known to play it over several times because it moves me so much. Not easy for a man to admit, but there it is.

And all that was going on before I ever bothered to look up the lyrics. Finally, a few months ago, I bothered to look the lyrics up, and was pleased to see that while not particularly memorable in themselves, the words do express an idea (and ideal) that is quite close to my heart. I’ve never heard it performed in English, only Italian, until today, when I found a version of it on YouTube by “Il Divo” (a quartet that I enjoy listening to), first sung in English then in Italian.

If you like, you can hear, and see, the song on YouTube.com. Here are three versions, first by Russell Watson, then by Sarah Brightman, then the English/Italian version by the vocal quartet Il Divo. This blog hosting service won’t allow me to embed the video’s here, but following are the links to play them:

• Russell Watson: youtube.com/watch?v=HaHa_9d2y5s
• Sarah Brightman: youtube.com/watch?v=jB_SxxqZB7A
• Il Divo: youtube.com/watch?v=62VkIFB1Rlk

So. Here are the lyrics, in both Italian and an English translation:

Nella fantasia io vedo un mondo giusto,
li tutti vivono in pace e in onesta.

lo sogno d’anime che sono sempre libere,
come le nuvole che volano,
pien’ d’umanita in fondo all’anima.

Nella fantasia io vedo un mondo chiaro,
li anche la notte e meno oscura.

lo sogno d’anime che sono sempre libere,
come le nuvole che volano,
pien’ d’umanita in fondo all’anima.

Nella fantasia esiste un vento caldo,
che soffia sulle citta, come amico.

lo sogno d’anime che sono sempre libere,
come le nuvole che volano,
pien’ d’umanita in fondo all’anima.

A TRANSLATION.

In my mind I imagine a world of justice,
where everyone lives peaceful and honest lives.

I dream of hearts that are always free,
free as the clouds in the sky,
full of a deep humanity.

In my mind I imagine a world of light,
where even the nights are not so dark.

I dream of hearts that are always free,
free as the clouds in the sky,
full of a deep humanity.

In my mind there’s a warm breeze that
breathes over the towns like a friend.

I dream of hearts that are always free,
free as the clouds in the sky,
full of a deep humanity.

~ by Thor on August 29, 2007.