Bottiglie Vuote Lyrics in English by Pinguini Tattici Nucleari
Postille translates to "footnotes" or "annotations". It's a less common word in everyday Italian, making it intriguing and unique within a song's lyrics.
In the song, the line "Hai letto la mia lettera, era piena di postille" (You read my letter, it was full of footnotes) suggests a letter that is not just a simple message, but one filled with extra details, explanations, or perhaps even hidden meanings, inviting the listener to delve deeper into the narrative.
Pinguini Tattici Nucleari open this one at the seaside, at an hour when nobody else is there: "Vorrei portarti al mare alle quattro di notte" (I'd like to take you to the sea at four in the morning). The person he is singing to has been pinned in place by other people, "Ti hanno legata al mondo per le caviglie" (they tied you to the world by the ankles), and her answer is to keep her dreams where nobody thinks to look, "Ma nascondi i sogni nelle bottiglie vuote" (but you hide dreams in empty bottles). It is a message in a bottle with the sending part removed. She is not aiming it at anyone. She is only hoping he happens to find it.
The writing keeps reaching for odd, specific references and somehow they land. The night sky is "In questo cielo dipinto di nero Anish Kapoor" (in this sky painted Anish Kapoor black), after the sculptor who bought the exclusive rights to the blackest pigment ever made. He describes himself as "Sono un figlio di Troia però pure di Achille" (I am a son of Troy but also of Achilles), the city and the man who burned it, in one line. Then the song puts all of that down and goes back to being fourteen at an ice cream stand, "E a fumare una cannuccia come fosse una Lucky Strike" (and smoking a straw as if it were a Lucky Strike). The last verse is the one that gets you: "Noi sconosciuti ieri, ma oggi già famiglia" (us, strangers yesterday, already family today).
