09/06/2007: "Goodbye, Luciano"

music: . . . a time for keeping a distance . . .

The great Italian Maestro Luciano Pavarotti passed away today. One of the most inspiring moments in my life was the first time I heard Miss Sarajevo by the U2 side project The Passengers in which Pavarotti belts out a beautiful verse in Italian. I never bothered to find a translation of his lyrics till years later, though the impact of the song's new meaning was still profound. Watch the video. Lyrics will be posted in the comments section.

EDIT

Here's the music video version of Miss Sarajevo. Back in high school I used to tape 120 Minutes every Sunday night and every Monday morning I would scan through the VHS before school to see if there were any highlights. This was one of the few videos I stopped to watch in the morning.



And here's the raw concert footage of the performance. Pavarotti doesn't sound as deep as he does on the studio recording, but it's still a powerhouse of a performance.



The Miss Sarajevo single has one of the best live recordings of "One" performed by Bono, The Edge and Brian Eno for a War Child benefit in Modena, Italy. Unfortunately Youtube doesn't have the clip, so here's an inspiring performance of One by Bono as part of the Pavarotti and Friends concert of 2003.



Luciano Pavarotti, 1935 - 2007

Replies: 1 Comment

on Thursday, September 6th, terry said

Is there a time for keeping your distance
A time to turn your eyes away
Is there a time for keeping your head down
For getting on with your day

Is there a time for kohl and lipstick
A time for cutting hair
Is there a time for high street shopping
To find the right dress to wear

Here she comes
Heads turn around
Here she comes
To take her crown

Is there a time to run for cover
A time for kiss and tell
Is there a time for different colours
Different names you find it hard to spell

Is there a time for first communion
A time for east 17
Is there a time to turn to mecca
Is there time to be a beauty queen

Here she comes
Beauty plays the clown
Here she comes
Surreal in her crown

Dici che il fiume
Trova la via al mare
E come il fiume
Giungerai a me
Oltre I confini
E le terre assetate
Dici che come fiume
Come fiume...
Lamore giunger
Lamore...
E non so pi pregare
E nellamore non so pi sperare
E quellamore non so pi aspettare

( its said that a river
Finds the way to the sea
And like the river
You shall come to me
Beyond the borders
And the thirsty lands
You say that as a river
Like a river...
Love shall come
Love...
And Im not able to pray anymore
And I cannot hope in love anymore
And I cannot wait for love anymore)

Is there a time for tying ribbons
A time for christmas trees
Is there a time for laying tables
And the night is set to freeze