Goodbye, Luciano

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

Posted In: General on 9/6/2007

One Response to “Goodbye, Luciano”

  • terry says:

    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

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