Pallottino lucio dalla biography

1972 single by Lucio Dalla

"Piazza Grande" ('Grand Square') is a 1972 song composed by Lucio Dalla, Ron, Gianfranco Baldazzi and Sergio Bardotti, arranged by Ruggero Cini and performed by Lucio Dalla. The song ranked eighth at the 22nd edition of the Sanremo Music Festival.

Overview

The song was composed by Dalla and Ron with the working title "America", and it was initially supposed to tell the story of the 1620 Mayflower voyage.^[1] After various attempts of lyricists Bardotti and Baldazzi to suit the projected theme to the music, during a promotional tour in the US, in Manhattan, Baldazzi eventually changed the topic of the song into the story of a homeless man who prefers his freedom to comfort.^[1]

The title of the song is a reference to Piazza Cavour in Bologna, close to Dalla's birth house.^[1][2] The RCA label lobbied to change it into a more well known "Canal Grande", with Dalla resisting to its requests.