# taz.de -- Rock icon Nannini about „Amore Gigante“: „Italy needs a woman“
> She's a rebel-rockstar, a feminist, a doctor of philosophy. Italian
> musician Gianna Nannini about her new album against hatred, her
> pansexuality and #MeToo.
(IMG) Bild: „Unfortunately, in my job prostitution was a standard situation of women during the last decades“
taz: Gianna Nannini, you're famous for your Rock'n' Soul roar – you've got
the voice of a big lady tiger but in some of your love songs you suddenly
sound like a very fragile tiger.
Gianna Nannini: I'm a tigre fragile? (Laughs) That's nice …
When we really mean it, love makes us strong and fragile, doesn't it?
Yes. But I also like this because I think ‚fragility‘ is a Rock expression.
In a way, the weak point in a human being is also the strongest. Sometimes
when you write songs it makes no sense to hide your weak point.
You made a world career in your mother tongue, in Italian.
Why always sing in English? You see, Europe itself is fragile in this
language respect. It's very difficult to hit the emotion just right in a
language that's not your own. In Italian we come more from the roots of the
folk tradition. That's another reason why I got to this point of only
singing in italiano. The song is much better in Italian because we use more
vowels in our language.
You yourself became famous for being this Italian feminist rebel with a
giant voice, a big heart and lots of courage. But it wasn't always easy,
was it?
When I was 18, I wanted to escape from home and my home town Siena. So I
went to Milano. For my music. I also worked to help some patients in mental
hospitals but we soon discovered that we had more problems than the people
in the hospital! (Laughs) It was always my dream to work in psychology. On
my first album I dedicated a song to a woman who was in a psychiatric
hospital. We had a big anti-psychiatric movement in Italy in the 70ies. Do
you know Franco Basaglia?
I do! Basaglia fought to open the asylums. But, you know what, today we are
going backwards, now psychiatrists are even promoting electroshocks again
in Germany.
What? No!
They call it „electroconvulsive therapy“. You should do a new version of
your song „Scandalo!“
I will sing „Scandalo“ on my new tour, yes, but I really didn't know that
electroshocks are again practised in Germany – today. That's terrible! In
2016 I wrote a book that has not been translated yet. It's called „Cazzi
miei“ like „Here's my own shit“. The book explains what happened to me in
1979 when I was recording in Cologne: I went out of my mind. Really. With
the help of a lot of people I came out of my problems but it was quite
heavy, it was very difficult to come back. And it was a big experience. But
if I had been sent to a normal psychiatric place at the time – I would have
been probably given electro shocks. (Pause) Anyway … What else would you
like to know about me?
You call yourself pansexual.
I don't want this branding of homosexual or heterosexual. The word
pansexual just means all kinds, all types of love. We have heterosexism,
ageism – the world is full of these prison words. Words can imprison you!
For me pansexual is so big that you cannot touch it. You can't put it in
one corner. Don't ever put love in a corner! Because if you do, with your
words, you corner real people – you divide.
Janis Joplin was one of your biggest inspirations and you once said that
you would have loved to save her because everybody jumped on her drug abuse
but she was not appreciated as a singer as much as she deserves.
She wasn't appreciated enough as a musician! If we say she's a singer, we
talk about her as an interpreter. But we should fully value her as a
musician and as an author. For the poetry she wrote.
You wrote about Janis in your thesis in philosophy and music about the
relationship between the voice and the body in female cultures, didn't you?
Yes, Rock music was one example and I took Janis Joplin. I worked on
several ethnic cultures: Nepal, Napoli, Morocco, Mali and Senegal. I
basically tried to find out how the gesturality of the movement influences
the singing. You need to be fit to be sure of your voice, you need to be
your body. I do a lot of sports but there's a big difference whether you do
sports or a tribal dance! I analysed the movements of Janis Joplin in a
tribal context. Remember „Cry baby“? Listen: Tryyyyiiyyeieieiyyy.
Wow, you really sound like Janis's sister!
The drama was influenced by her voice, of course, but she moved all parts
of her body – she gave action to the sound. And this action made her sing
with a different attitude. It's very important to come back to your own
culture to understand how you can move.
„Amore Gigante“, the title song of your new album, could be the headline
for all of your music.
Well, we are living in a situation where hate and the haters are growing
big again. „Amore gigante“ is talking about this big chance we still have –
we can be on the same planet with all our different colours! Have respect
for all people of the world! We don't have to go for this racism, sexism,
this homophobic place. The spirit of „Amore Gigante“ wants to stop this
fight of one against the other. It must happen in our mind. Open your mind!
Freedom of spirit – that's our chance!
The mindset in international politics is currently closing down on freedom.
What do you expect from the Italian elections?
Too much marketing, like in my song: [1][bla, bla, bla] … We don't have a
real political culture at the moment. I think Italy needs a woman – just to
change this political culture! We need a change of vision. We have to
understand that no culture is better than any other! Look, I went to Iraq .
At the time of the war, because I wanted to know the truth. And I saw the
truth: It was a war to make business, a war about oil and petrol, which
killed people and the culture.
You supported some Iraqi artists, didn't you?
Yes. See, all the museums and artist places were destroyed in the war. All
the universities were burning and I said: Why are they burning all the
books?! The children have nothing to study! So we went back to Italy and
collected some books and computers to help at least a little.
And then you fell in love with the desert.
It's so peaceful in the desert … I was in Iraq twice during the war, but in
the desert I felt at peace.
In your autobiography you wrote that people told you at the beginning of
your career: You have to jump into bed with a good producer, sorry, but
that's the way it goes. And you said: ‚No way! My grandmother told me not
to do this!‘ Today, 40 years later, we finally have a #MeToo campaign.
In my job prostitution was a standard situation of women during the last
decades. Now it's different but sometimes women are still stuck. It's so
important to understand that you must not be afraid! I personally think
women always have to decide for themselves. If you want to sell yourself …
sell yourself! But the woman herself has to decide.
28 Feb 2018
## LINKS
(DIR) [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJTUxrSNYa4
## AUTOREN
(DIR) Gaby Sohl
## TAGS
(DIR) taz international
(DIR) Schwerpunkt #metoo
(DIR) Feminismus
(DIR) Sexuelle Freiheit
(DIR) Italien
(DIR) Rock
(DIR) Musik
(DIR) Psychiatrie
(DIR) Schwerpunkt #metoo
## ARTIKEL ZUM THEMA
(DIR) Gianna Nannini über Lebenskrisen: „Die Frau muss entscheiden“
Vor 40 Jahren erlangte sie Ruhm als feministische Rebellin und Rockstar.
Jetzt hat Gianna Nannini ein neues Album – und Kritik an der Wahl in
Italien.
(DIR) Echo-Verleihung in Berlin: Früher war alles besser
Während ihrer Selbstinszenierung bei der Verleihung des Echos schwelgte die
Musikbranche über lange Strecken in Erinnerungen. Die Preisträger waren
vorhersehbar.
(DIR) Kommunismus-Debatte: Das böse Wort mit K
Der Traum von einer anderen Gesellschaft bleibt aktuell. Der Begriff
"Kommunismus" aber gehört entsorgt: Gianna Nannini ist K., Wikipedia ist K,
"Tiere essen" von Jonathan Safran Foer ist K.