Songs Dedicated To Swallows

Their arrival, which coincides with spring, certainly explains why there are so many songs dedicated to swallows. These small birds, with a quick and precise flight , love the company of men. And to them, perhaps, singers and composers have wanted to entrust a personal artistic message. If you love music and animals, then, don’t miss this article.

The most beautiful songs dedicated to the swallows

These passerine birds have always represented very strong emotions. For example, because they are migratory animals, linked to travel, farewell, exile. But also to the memories of childhood, of the days that will never return. In short, the swallows have served as inspiration and to allow many authors to exploit their characteristics to speak to men.

Many of these songs have become classics and are part of the soundtrack of several generations. Some were written many years ago, others have become famous thanks to their interpreters, such as Claudio Villa, Lucio Dalla or even Pavarotti.

Here are 6 songs dedicated to the swallows that you probably did not know, inspired by these small migratory birds that sail the skies of the world.

1. The swallows (Lucio Dalla)

Inserted in the 1990 album “Cambio”, the same as the famous single “Attenti al lupo”, this song strikes you for its great emotional charge . Although one of the least known of Dalla’s repertoire, the Bolognese singer-songwriter had a predilection for this piece. To such an extent that, on the day of his funeral, the text was read by his companion, Marco Alemanno. It is the story of a small swallow that, secretly, slips into the universe of humans and observes them with amazement:

” I would like to turn the sky like swallows / And every now and then stop here and there / Have a nest under the roofs in the cool of the arcades / And like them when it is evening / Close your eyes with simplicity. “

2. Swallows fly (Gigliola Cinquetti)

Also sung by other famous Italian voices, such as Orietta Berti, “Volano le rondini” was included by Gigliola Cinquetti in her 1969 album , entitled “The train of love”. In this song, the Veronese singer regrets her childhood, the spring of life, in which everything seemed cheerful, fun and playful.

“ Look, look, look / The swallows fly, free in the sky, they are like you / Fly with the thought but don’t get caught / After life everything will change. Maybe you don’t know / That the best years are the ones you have. “

3. The white swallows (Armando Stula)

This is probably one of the most famous Italian anti-war songs  . The Romagna singer Armando Stula wrote it in 1968, dedicating it to Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. The Aldo ei Falisci group also produced a more rhythmic version, even if the original is more melodic and intimate.

“Le rondini bianca” was launched by Renzo Arbore and soon gained widespread acclaim, to the point that even Pope Paul VI and President Giuseppe Saragat will write letters of praise to the artist.

“The white swallows fly in the black sky /  and the guns now shoot at souls / the soul has no color, the swallows are white / when they fly against the sun and the sky has no color.”

4. Swallow at the nest (Vincenzo de Crescenzo)

Composed in 1926 by Vincenzo de Crescenzo, it is one of the few examples of Neapolitan music, but sung in Italian. It was interpreted, for the first time, by the famous tenor Francesco Albanese, famous for his warm and expansive voice. Over the years, however, there were several singers, pop and lyric, who measured themselves with this beautiful piece. In particular we remember the versions of Claudio Villa and the great Luciano Pavarotti.

“He returns every year / always on the same date / mountains and seas he climbs to return / Fly swallow / when he runs away he goes far / I hope in vain but never come back.”

5. And the swallows grazed the wheat (Giampiero Artegiani)

This 1986 song tells the story of the Roman singer’s adolescence. Giampiero Artegiani presented it during the Sanremo Festival that same year, winning the third place.

“ It was nice to be silent for hours watching / The distant country / Waiting for the rainbow / With my chin on my hand / And the swallows grazed the wheat / Garrivano and grazed the wheat “.

6. Rondinella Forestiera (Carlo Buti)

This song, beautiful and intense, also belongs to a distant past. The Florentine singer Carlo Buti introduced it in 1942, right in the middle of World War II. The piece, taken up later by Claudio Villa and others, shows a poignant, melancholy text dedicated to an impossible love, now lost forever.

“Goodbye, beautiful stranger / little swallow that leaves tonight / Your faraway nest may be splendid / but the heart with my chained heart will remain”.

These were some of the songs dedicated to the swallows. Did you like them?