Gabbiano means "seagull" in Italian. It's a charming and somewhat whimsical word that isn't as common in everyday conversation as more basic nouns.
In the song, the narrator imagines a fantastical origin story for his beloved, where she receives "un passaggio da un gabbiano" (a ride from a seagull) to be brought down to Earth. This imagery adds a poetic and dreamlike quality to the lyrics, making gabbiano a memorable and evocative word.
Italian singer-songwriter Fabio Concato turns the arrival of a newborn into a fairytale in "Fiore Di Maggio" (May Flower). Instead of a cold hospital room, he imagines the baby picking her parents from the sky: "E ci hai visto su dal cielo / Ci hai provato e piano sei venuta giù" (And you saw us from up in the sky / You gave it a try and slowly came down). She hitches a ride on a seagull—"Un passaggio da un gabbiano" (A lift from a seagull)—which gently sets her down on a sea cliff right into the world.
The lyrics mix sweet seaside memories with funny, dizzy confusion. Concato remembers a whole village celebrating with songs and wine, but his memory gets totally scrambled: "O forse sei nata tu / O a casa di mio fratello non ricordo più" (Or maybe that was when you were born / Or at my brother's house, I can't remember anymore). By calling her "Sole di primavera" (Spring sun) and a flower blooming on a cliff ("Su quello scoglio in maggio è nato un fiore"), he keeps the whole song warm, light, and wrapped in bright Mediterranean sunshine.
Fabio Concato was born in Milan in 1953 into a house full of music: his father was a jazz guitarist who wrote about jazz, and his mother was a journalist and poet. He started out in 1974 in the Milan cabaret scene with the trio I Mormoranti, playing the famous Derby club, then went solo with the album Storie di sempre in 1977, whose single A Dean Martin got plenty of radio play.
His big break came in 1982 with Domenica bestiale, a sunny, easygoing song that climbed the Italian charts. The 1984 album Fabio Concato went double platinum and gave him Guido piano, Rosalina and Ti ricordo ancora. His songs sit on soft jazz chords and a gentle, almost whispered voice, and they are usually about small everyday moments rather than big statements.