Blind Boy De Vita — Versu Nord

“Versu Nord” (Heading North) begins as a quiet, mysterious guitar séance and turns into a tamburello trance dance in the final third. The change in mood is no coincidence: it captures the scene when Blind Boy De Vita’s grandmother explains to her son (Blind Boy De Vita’s father) that she has to help the grandfather work in Switzerland and leave her child behind at boarding school. At that time, children were prohibited from joining their parents. A sad story about the migration of Italian immigrants to the North, which left its mark on everyone involved. Separation, bravery and longing on the one hand, a new era of prosperity on the other – but at what cost? That of leaving one’s country, one’s customs, one’s culture and even one’s identity behind? A difficult decision in favour of a better (?) future, internalised in a moving song sung in Italian and English, as a sign of past and future: “To know your future, you must know your past.” (George Santayana)