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Having to Be

Except for Gabbani. I just could not help my curiosity at seeing how his performance would go and which I re-watch with the utmost pleasure. I suggest you listen to this before reading on ⤵︎

I’m also including a translation of the lyrics which this charming, guitar-piano-bass-drums player co-authored:

Occidentalis Karma

To be or to have to be

Hamlet’s doubt

Contemporary like the Neolithic man

In your 2×3 cage, make yourself comfortable

Intellectuals in cafes

Internetology

Honorary members to the group of anonymous selfists

Intelligence is out of fashion

Easy answers

Useless dilemmas

Ah Ah Ah wanted (search yes)

Stories from grand final night

Hope (hope yes)

Whatever happens panta rhei

And singing in the rain

Nirvana lessons

There is the Buddha in single file

For everyone an hour of air, of glory

The crowd shouts a mantra

Evolution stumbles

The naked monkey dances

Westerners’ Karma

Westerners’ Karma

The naked monkey dances

Westerners’ Karma

Chanel drops are raining

On aseptic bodies

Save yourself from the smell of your fellowmen

All web scientists

People’s Coca

Opium of the poor

Ah Ah Ah wanted (search yes)

Virtual humanity

Sex appeal (sex appeal)

Whatever happens panta rhei

And singing in the rain

Nirvana lessons

There is the Buddha in single file

For everyone an hour of air, of glory

The crowd shouts a mantra

Evolution stumbles

The naked monkey dances

Westerners’ Karma

Westerners’ Karma

The naked monkey dances

Westerners’ Karma

When life is distracted, men fall

Westerners’ Karma

Westerners’ Karma

The monkey gets up

Namasté (alé)

Nirvana lessons

There is the Buddha in single file

For everyone an hour of air, of glory

The crowd shouts a mantra

Evolution stumbles

The naked monkey dances

Westerners’ Karma

Westerners’ Karma

The naked monkey dances

Westerners’ Karma

Om

In a nutshell, Gabbani slams the superficiality of our instant-click of a button knowledge which we do not bother to source or question; our obsession with image, with self and with self-orbiting; our seeking an hour of westernized, watered-down version of Eastern philosophies to soothe our weariness but which fails to do so; the anonymity in having rendered ourselves uncritical clones of each other; our disdain for who does not fit the bill of sameness; our so-called sophistication which exposes us as naked as the naked ape who dances alongside him.

That Gabbani says all this while giving more than a nod to Desmond Morris’s The Naked Ape, morphing Hamlet’s ‘to be or not to be’ into ‘to be or to have to be’, mocking the adoring crowd he works up to enthusiastically dance along with him is an ironic peak that I feel is difficult to equal. The allusions together with the reflective opening and closing notes sandwiching one of the most instantly-make-you-feel-good songs ever dished out tickle me pink. I even love the slight details of having the dancing ape wear a bright bowtie to emphasise his nakedness and the deliberate grammatical mistake in the song’s title. Although his lyrics and gestures more than poke fun at all of us, Gabbani refrains from stinging sneers. Nor does he seem upset that the message of his song cannot register with a non-Italian speaking throng.

Why comment on the lyrics now you may ask? Well, the song’s message is as relevant as when it first hit the airwaves.

Don’t agree? Namasté. I am sure that you will still sway along with the naked ape.

#Superficial

#Superficiality

#Virtual humanity

#Irony

#Song as social comment

#Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)

#Occindentalis Karma – Francesco Gabbani

#Gabbani Francesco

Noemi Zarb
Noemi Zarb
Writing, teaching, marketing. I have pursued three totally different career paths with the power of words serving both as link and lynchpin. Now I dedicate most of my time to writing - a never-ending romance. Typical of content writing I have been and am still responsible for scripting webs, advertorials as well as full-length articles. As a feature/opinion writer, I have over 600 articles published in Malta's leading newspapers and magazines (and still counting) - an experience which honed my interviewing skills when I interviewed countless painters and people involved in the performance arts. I also have over two decades of teaching English Literature and Critical Thinking via Textual Analysis under my belt having prepared students for the IB Diploma in English Language and Literature as well as MATSEC, IGCSE and SEC examinations in English language and English Literature. TEFL sometimes punctuated my summer holidays. Dealing with young people keeps you young and I have truckloads of cherished memories of my past students My current writing continues to be inspired by what life throws at me together with my critical thinking of what goes on (or doesn’t) around me firing my sense perception and vice versa. Being immersed in the corporate world gives me endless opportunities to observe facets of human behavior which invariably have me brood over. Learning and thinking over what I learn is still my way forward.

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6 CONVERSATIONS

  1. Noemi, you have an incredible vocabulary thal allows you to write in a very unique style. You have a passion it seems for reading as you have exposed yourself to work of various authors I never knew existed. You are incredible when it comes to interpretation. Not everybody (certainly not me) can this. Each article you write challenges readers to read each sentence thoroughly to properly absorb what you wrote. This is my mind is a good thing. Thank you, Noemi, for writing and sharing your literacy with all of us. Please consider writing more.

  2. Wonderful article, Noemi! I love how you weave together so many marvelous references: literature, lyrics and your own special perceptions! Please keep writing; I greatly anticipate all from your pen! My best, Ellen Fisch

    • Thank you ever so much, Ellen. Somehow Jane Austen and Francesco Gabbani gelled magically. Hope you danced with the naked ape!

    • As with all truly great artists, Austen and Gabbani prod us into pondering mood -always an enriching experience. No rush Larry. The best things in life are to be savoured not gulped.
      Many thanks, Larry, for your time and appreciation.

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