Spiffero literally means 'draft' or 'breeze', often referring to a cold current of air coming through a crack.
In Ligabue's song, he uses it metaphorically in the line "C'è uno spiffero nell'anima" (There's a draft in the soul). This evokes a sense of vulnerability, a subtle but persistent discomfort or weakness that makes one susceptible to emotional 'illness', as he continues with "Ci si ammala facilmente quando c'è corrente" (One gets sick easily when there's a current). It's a unique and evocative image for emotional fragility.
"Essere Umano" ("To Be Human") is Ligabue's list of the small contradictions that come with just being a person. The verses move fast between opposites: catching the first apple and everything that follows it, crying and hurting, staying well dressed on the outside while something else is going on underneath, asking the stars for answers while shining with a light you don't even notice yourself giving off.
The chorus turns that idea into a simple list of roles. One day you're the nail, the next you're the hammer. One day you take off, the next day you're the one everyone laughs at. Ligabue isn't ranking any of these. He's just naming how fast a person can move from one part to the opposite part and back again, sometimes in the same day.
By the end the song lands on something plain: being human means holding fear and wonder at the same time, laughing as hard as you can get away with, and accepting that some days are a win and others are a mess. That's not something to fix. It's just what being human looks like.
Ligabue, whose full name is Luciano Ligabue, is one of Italy's most beloved rock singers. Born in 1960 in Correggio, a small town in the Emilia-Romagna region, he started his music career with his self-titled debut album in 1990 and has been a major force in Italian rock ever since.
His 1995 album "Buon Compleanno Elvis" made him a household name, and his song "Certe Notti" is still considered one of the defining Italian songs of the 1990s. In 2005, he played a legendary concert in his hometown area that drew around 180,000 fans, setting a European record at the time.
Beyond music, Ligabue is also a writer and filmmaker. He wrote and directed the film "Radiofreccia," which won several major Italian film awards, and he has published acclaimed short stories as well.
More than three decades into his career, he remains one of Italy's most popular rock artists, known for lyrics that mix everyday emotion with a rebellious, working-class spirit.