Cristiano De André and his father Faber
I honestly don't know how many times I've written about Fabrizio De André. Considering also the brief, banal thoughts that I wrote in my diary starting from middle school and that spoke of his songs or only about portions of them, there will be hundreds. I have always written about the artist, never about the man since never having known him, what could I have written? I would only pick up thoughts, collected here and there, from friends, colleagues and family. But many times I have asked myself a question, which can be valid for Fabrizio De André as well as for any other great public figure. What will it have been like in private life? How will Fabrizio De André have been husband or partner, father or friend?
His son, Cristiano De André
I happened to read interviews of your eldest son several times, Cristiano De André, the last a few days ago. And scrolling through those words of her with her eyes, I almost imagined him first as a child and later as an adult, next to his father. I wondered what his childhood, his adolescence and his youth was like having a father with such an important surname, in many ways even uncomfortable. How much, in such important periods of his life, was his father figure present and if so, to what extent. In the words of Cristiano De Andrè, all the infinite love towards father Fabrizio shines through, but also all the difficulty of bearing a surname which in many moments can be more of a heavy burden than a splendid cloak with which to cloak.
His dream? Follow in the father's footsteps
Cristiano who, for his part, dreamed ever since he was a child of becoming a musician, of following in his father's footsteps and father Fabrizio who instead tried to dissuade him because, he told him, that with that surname it would not be easy. In fact, for Cristiano De André it was not easy at all. Even that extraordinary physical resemblance and those vocal tones that are so reminiscent of the great Faber, certainly did not help him. For years the confrontation was inevitable, but at the same time mercilessly cruel. Because it is not easy to be the children of a genius, even more so if you decide to follow the enormous footsteps that he has left imprinted. But Cristiano De André was stronger than the weight of the surname he carries.
The great legacy
From that11 January 1999, the day that Fabrizio De André's eyes and voice died forever, he inherited its enormous artistic heritage. He re-read it, revisited it and made it known to the new generations, to those who have never known his father. And that surname is always there, with his force breaking him. But over the years it has lightened up. From a heavy burden that it was it has become a splendid cloak with which to cloak and under that cloak there is a great musician that his father would have liked to be a veterinarian for the family farm in Tempio Pausania. Fortunately, Cristiano did not listen to father Fabrizio and today we can enjoy another De André musician. The only, true, authentic heir to a musical gold mine.
Though: "However, bearing the surname De André is a great responsibility and is not always easy”, Words and music by Cristiano De André.
