Sanremo has now accustomed us to everything. Over the course of 72 editions we have seen talents of sunsets and north-east explode and meteors pass as rivers (of words) would pass. We witnessed the drama of those who told us from that stage Hello love, hello for the first and last time. And then we’ve seen careers go by at full speed, in an absolutely reckless way like certain lives that have reminded us that rankings, all in all, count for very little. And then there are the beautiful fairy tales, like that of Tananaithat with his Tangowhose meaning we are going to dissect today, tells us ugly tales in a wonderful way.
The Tale of Tananai
When he presents himself among the big names of Sanremo 2022, Tananai is virtually unknown. It’s there why Amadeus had the intelligence to understand that to rejuvenate the Festival it is necessary to rebalance the age of the singers in the competition, and therefore throw in the three finalists of Sanremo Giovani 2021. The youth competition is held in December and he takes it home Yuman, who takes first place with an out of the ordinary vocality, leaving Tananai and Matteo Romano to fight for second place. It doesn’t matter though: all three end up in the shortlist of the big names of the February festival.
In truth, the intuition of launching the winners of Sanremo Giovani among the big names would be Claudius Baglioni, which for its second Sanremo announces, amidst the skepticism of the dinosaurs, the new formula. Initially the novelty is not too appreciated by the traditionalists: “that the young people make their way up”, someone argues. The fact is that Baglioni, one who usually responds with songs and not with press conferences, will take his revenge. Yes, because on the stage of Sanremo 2019, directly from Sanremo Giovani 2018, he presents himself Mahmoodthat Sanremo wins it with Money. But that’s another story for another time. Now let’s go back to Tananai.
The Tananai that is presented at Sanremo 2022 is awkward but certainly exuberant. Little vocal technique and very indecisive. The song is called Casual SexThat in the final standings he manages to place himself even below Ana Mena, that in the cover evening she had managed to kill Jimmy Fontana and Alan Sorrenti in the same medley. Double artistic homicide with armed voice. In short, at the end of the Sanremo week Tananai is last (but Ultimo is not Tananai).
However, the singer, as has already happened for others before him, takes his revenge in the ratings. Just before summer its Baby Goddamn, which was released the year before, explodes for no real reason. It is the symptom of something big that is about to happen and unlike Vascowe won’t have to wait too long.
At Sanremo 2023 Amadeus calls him back and he, mindful of the previous year’s disaster, is ready not to make the same mistakes again. This time the song is called Tangoa poignant song with a very deep meaning, with which Tananai close to the podium. But the rankings, once again, count for little: Alberto (because this is his real name) has literally melted the hearts of Italians.
The Meaning of Tananai Tango
Despite the title, Tango it’s not a song to dance to. Not in a festive sense at least. The structure, however, is typical of the ballad. Indeed, we could say that Tango it is the first true Italian ballad of the 1920s, a time in history characterized by speed, frantic beats and choruses tailored to TikTok videos. In short it is a song from another time, elegant and sumptuous, which however tells the tragic contemporaneity.
In the background there is the war in Ukraine which turns the lives of two young lovers upside down. His name is Maximelei Olga. They are two Ukrainian boys of about 35 years old. Olga escaped to Italy together with Liza, their daughter, while Maxime had to stay in Ukraine to fight the Russian invasion. Aided by technology, the two exchange messages, photos and videos. They try to fight loneliness and try to make each other stronger.
When Tananai discovers their story has already begun to write the text of what will become Tango. However the image of Olga, Liza and Maxime overwhelms him. He decides that the piece will be about them, their forced separation and their desire to embrace each other again. But most of all will talk about the strength of feelings who, even at a distance, are able to instill courage and strength in her in a foreign country and in him who risks his life every day.
In an interview for Sky Tg24 Tananai said:
“Tango is not a song about war, but about love and its power. The text tells the story of Olga, Maxim and Liza. I understood that it is important to tell people’s simple lives, even when bad events like a war happen“.
Tananai Tango – Inside the Text
There is no love without a crying girl
There is no more telepathy
I’ve been waiting for you for an hour
I didn’t want to tell you on the phone
We were at my place, we put the Police
It was nice until the police knocked
The piece begins with the story of the two long-distance lovers. The two now live different lives and, despite the technology, it is not easy to keep in touch. He’s on the front, and talking on the phone isn’t always easy or safe, just as it’s not easy to say certain things to each other on the phone.
As in a sort of flashback, Tananai tells us about when the two were happy together, listening to The Police, before the Russian invasion that turned their lives upside down.
You, take me back to the night I met you
So I don’t buy you a drink and I haven’t met you
The situation is difficult, to the point that he would even prefer never to have known her, to spare her the pain of forced separation.
But now goodbye, it’s okay my love
You are nobody else’s
And none of me
I know how much you miss me
But who knows why God
It hits us like a tango
And it makes us say
Amore
It’s time to say goodbye again, the time for the phone call is over. The two swear unconditional love, reiterating the absurdity of the situation: two who love each other forced to stay apart. And there is no one who can change this situation.
Among the buildings on fire
Your voice I recognize
We are not like them
It’s beautiful, it’s beautiful, it’s beautiful
It’s nice to be like this
In front of you on my knees
Under the neon sign of a sex shop
Here Tananai is very good at showing us the scene: he talks to her on the phone, he hears and recognizes her voice, but all around there are only rubble and burning buildings. “We are not like them”, says the song, which seems to repudiate war in all its forms. Such a disastrous and disastrous scenario that even being together in front of a seedy sex shop sounds like something romantic in comparison.
If loving each other lasts more than a day
It’s better, it’s better
You better not stay here
I will be back on a Monday
The chorus ending probably refers to the physical separation of the two. He convinces her to run away to Italy, with the promise of a soon return. The last refrain instead reiterates that “it’s never Monday”. Their reconciliation has been postponed several times, and probably will be until the end of the conflict.
How do you save a love if it’s so far away?
The poem is over
It’s been a year since you lost me
It’s who I am, I didn’t want to be
We were at my place, we put the Police
We laughed at you disappearing into my jeans
Time passes. More than a year has passed since their separation, and that Monday has never arrived. Then the two begin to ask themselves a crucial question: How do you save a love in these conditions? Maybe with hope. And then other flashbacks of beautiful moments with the Police in the background. Also in this verse Tananai does not fail to criticize the war conflict, reiterating that the protagonist would have gladly done without taking up arms (“What I am, I didn’t want to be”).
The history and meaning of Tananai’s Tango video
If the song itself is heartbreaking, the official video is even more so. The two boys we see are in fact the real Olga and Maxime. Upon learning of the story, Tananai got in touch with the girl who, having heard the song, agreed to make available the various mobile phone footage shot by the couple.
The video opens with the dedication: “To Olga, Liza and Maxime”. Then we see the happy moments of the couple, before the outbreak of the conflict. Then the inevitable parting. The two of them embracing and saying goodbye, with him already in his military uniform. And then again the escape to Italy and their separate lives, told through videos shot with a cell phone which, we repeat, represent reality. This is not a scripted play, but a dramatic story told by Tananai’s incredible vocal expressiveness and the real protagonists of the story.
Yes, we repeat, this by Tananai is the first real ballad of the 20s. And to prove it is the impact this song is having on people’s lives.
tananai that even at a dj set he “can’t” sing tango because the voices of the whole disco dominate him..❤️🩹 pic.twitter.com/dAAH1oesvu
— 𝓻ache! lost in the night (@colcapslock) July 2, 2023