Notes and identities. The deepest one, the one that defines the very essence of being Italian. The one that several alternative musicians – or, indeed, identity-based – have translated into songs dedicated to the Italians of Istria and Dalmatia. Among them, first of all, the Compagnia dell'Anello, who wrote songs that are not just words, but poetry of the roots in an Italy that has forgotten the exodus and the suffering endured by thousands of compatriots.

“We were the first – says Mario Bortoluzzi, voice and historical member of the group, in an interview with Barbadillo.it – also for reasons of cultural and geographical proximity, to contribute to remembering the drama of the foibe and the exodus, in years when only the MSI spoke about it. Today those events are also officially remembered by the Italian State through the institution of the Day of Remembrance”. Then there was Simone Cristicchi, who toured Italy and beyond with his “Magazzino 18”. In the show, among other things, a song of the Company is also remembered: “even the stones speak Italian”, Cristicchi recites at a certain point. It is the poetic and evocative verse of the refrain of “Di là dall'acqua”, one of the most famous songs of the Paduan group. Chosen among other things as the title of this column precisely because it is a perfect synthesis of the history of Istria, Fiume and Dalmatia and of its importance for Italy as a whole. A song that school teachers have student choirs perform. “Every time – Bortoluzzi continues – we manage to get emotional”.

Emotion then. The same one you feel when, singing “Di là dall'acqua” and various other songs that the Compagnia dell'Anello and others have dedicated to the very Italian lands of Istria, Fiume and Dalmatia, you close your eyes. In those intense moments it almost seems like you are in those regions. And you can perceive their strength, their dignity, their pain. But also and above all their love. The kind that can still be read in the eyes of exiles and survivors. The kind that lives in those who, every day, do not forget “how much the Istrian people have suffered”. Who live in a land where “even the stones speak Italian”.

The songs then. “Whistled, sung, repeated. Which – concludes Bortoluzzi – make you reflect, make you understand slowly, slowly what happened in those lands. Having contributed to lifting the veil was an honor for us”. Continuing to pass on and remember is a duty.

The song

Ship that takes me on the Istrian route,
ship how many ports have you seen, Italian ship,
ship crossing the gulf of Venice,
agile you move forward even if only by inertia.

Take me quickly to the Polesine coast,
run faster like a fox to the den,
and you, beautiful lady, will no longer be alone:
we will dance together in the Pula Arena.

Listen in silence to the voice of the waves
will surely bring you deep truths
because in Istria it doesn't seem strange to you:
even the stones speak Italian,
even the stones speak Italian.

We are in Kvarner and ever closer
only the dance of dolphins surrounds us.
And then Arbe and Veglia watch us pass by,
even after fifty years it cannot be forgotten.

Listen in silence to the voice of the waves
will surely bring you deep truths
because in Dalmatia it doesn't seem strange to you:
even the stones speak Italian,
even the stones speak Italian.

Ship that takes me on the Junger route,
ship how many people escaped from Fiume
think of the fools on television
they call Dubrovnik Ragusa the beautiful.

Listen in silence to the voice of the waves
will surely bring you deep truths
because in Italy we do not forget
how much the Istrian people suffered,
because in Italy we do not forget
how much the Istrian people are suffering