I giardini di marzo

The song has at least two major themes. In the first part he's despondent, weary, shy around people, neurotic. His mom's death...oh, Lucio! what feeling, Lucio puts into this his entire soul, it's uncanny. The line where he sings about his mom's dresses: "il piu bello era nero coi fiori non ancora appassiti" can actually take your breath away, like some bittersweet, profound hurt. The part where he's thinking about his Mom, obviously in the past,..and the part about remembering her dresses, the prettiest one being, as I take it, the one she wore in her open casket (the prettiest dress was black, with the flowers still not wilted...),..he's on some park bench near a school, watching happy students, life is going on vibrantly all about, even an ice cream vendor is on scene. But this is no Saturday in the Park, by Chicago, because the protagonist is like an alien among the living. His life force has deserted him; neurotically he's "searching for the courage" to imitate the happy people around him, but he's too melancholy to do even that, and goes home "defeated" and more neurotic than ever. The second major theme is he's mulling over his love, starting off catatonically, like an Italian Hamlet....what year is this? what day is this? (what dreams may come...)...then he starts to revive, and pours out the most lovely love poetry ever written, full of natural force and human frailty at the same time. Le mie mani, come vedi, non tremano piu.... The entire song is a sublime Lucio Battisti tour de force.