La polvere e il dito

Registrare le prove è uno sbattimento non da poco. Quattro o cinque cavi in più da piazzare, uno o due microfoni, livelli da regolare.
L'altro ieri sono dovuto arrivare un'ora prima per attrezzare il tutto, ma ne è valsa la pena.



Una delle cose che abbiamo provato e registrato in diretta è Powderfinger. Una canzone sulla insensatezza dell'uso delle armi, in qualunque circostanza (*). La prova che una traduzione può essere all'altezza dell'originale. Un omaggio a Mimmo Locasciulli (oltre che ovviamente a Neil Young).
Forse Mirko non aveva proprio la chitarra giusta, ma davvero non si sente ...

(*) "Powderfinger": what does this word itself mean? Did Neil coin it himself? Is it a regional expression of some sort? My take is that it's nickname for a trigger happy kinda guy, who solves his problems with a gun. Come to think of it, it may well be a personification of or a metaphor for fate, even death, itself.[http://thrasherswheat.org/fot/powderfinger.html]

POWDERFINGER, di N.Young

Look out, Mama,
there's a white boat
comin' up the river
With a big red beacon,
and a flag,
and a man on the rail
I think you'd better call John,
'Cause it don't
look like they're here
to deliver the mail
And it's less than a mile away
I hope they didn't come to stay
It's got numbers on the side
and a gun
And it's makin' big waves.

Daddy's gone,
my brother's out hunting
in the mountains
Big John's been drinking
since the river took Emmy-Lou
So the powers that be
left me here
to do the thinkin'
And I just turned twenty-two
I was wonderin' what to do
And the closer they got,
The more those feelings grew.

Daddy's rifle in my hand
felt reassurin'
He told me,
Red means run, son,
numbers add up to nothin'
But when the first shot
hit the docks I saw it comin'
Raised my rifle to my eye
Never stopped to wonder why.
Then I saw black,
And my face splashed in the sky.

Shelter me from the powder
and the finger
Cover me with the thought
that pulled the trigger
Think of me
as one you'd never figured
Would fade away so young
With so much left undone
Remember me to my love,
I know I'll miss her.