Rino Gaetano is one of the most important songwriters in the history of Italian music. This artist has been quite misunderstood throughout his career, as his songs are often seen as disengaged and fun. In fact, Rino Gaetano has often used several very intelligent rookies to criticize society and the political class between the lines and beyond. There are many examples that show social criticism and policies in the songs of this songwriter. An example of this can be Nuntereggae more, in which Rino Gaetano explicitly cites many names, harshly and with great irony criticizing a series of characters. A strongly critical song is Berta Filava, highly successful work that still amazes us today. But what is yours meaning?
At the time Berta was spinning
The song was released in 1976 as a single along with My brother is an only child, already released together with The violets faded. The combination of these two songs was remarkably successful and both are Rino Gaetano’s workhorses.
Berta filava resumes a said particular present in our culture with different regional variations. The woman the phrase refers to could be the queen Bertrada in Laon, wife of the king of the Franks Pippin the Short and mother of Charlemagne, but it is not a sure hypothesis. In general, many fairy tales and legends were born around the figure of this woman. The first merit of Rino Gaetano’s song is therefore that of having wanted to transpose an expression of our culture into a title.
The meaning of the song
In reality, however, this saying is nothing more than a metaphor. Behind the spinning and therefore the weaving, there is a person: Aldo Moro. So Rino Gaetano himself explained its meaning during a concerto in San Cassiano, as Isabella Insolia reports:
I would like to remember a great character who was born a few steps from here, was born in Maglie. He is one of the biggest shoemakers. He is someone who made shoes all over Italy. He is someone who has the white arrow on his head. He invented several terms. He is a great philologist. […] Last year I wrote something even more dispersed, dedicating it to these big figures from the world of politics and other worlds. This evening I want to dedicate it to this character who made shoes all over Italy.
This is how we understand the singer-songwriter’s writing technique: Berta filava looks like a song nonsense, as well as there are several in the production of Rino Gaetano, yet it is not. It hides something more.
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