Music is more than just leisure, entertainment, and relaxation. It challenges the status quo and questions the way we conceptualize our society. It also engages with pressing contemporary issues such as civil rights, environmental pollution, and other pertinent matters. Like other cultural artefacts—literary productions, artistic performances, and films—music can prompt us to reflect on our way of thinking, prompting us to consider potential solutions to current issues.

Music as a form of political engagement

It is challenging to incorporate diverse topics, such as environmental pollution, the deterioration of the local environment, the battles fought over a piece of land, and the decline of the health of those living in this space, into a single song. Furthermore, the adverse health effects caused by pollution created by a steel factory and the lust of the money-driven industry, which does not care about the health and safety measures of either its employees or the people living next to it, are also issues that, although they have been addressed by the media, have not yet reached the political realm or the wider awareness of society.

Can a song have the capacity to address all of the aforementioned issues and effect societal change? In this regard, the song "La mia terra [My Land]" by Diodato, which was awarded the Amnesty International Italia Prize in 2024 for its merits, serves as an exemplary case study. It effectively integrates engaging lyrical content with a compelling narrative that addresses pertinent social issues.

“La Mia Terra”: a call to action

The song is set in the Italian city of Taranto, located in the southern region of Apulia. The city's industrial area is home to the steel factory Ilva, which has attracted negative attention due to its perceived detrimental effect on the local population. The factory is believed to have caused a number of serious health problems, including cancer, and has been identified as one of the primary sources of pollution in the area.

The opening lines of the lyrics evoke the image of rain falling from a clear sky. This could be interpreted as an allusion to acid rain caused by smoke emitted from the steel factory chimney. The rain is described as resembling tears, suggesting a sense of sadness about the future of the “Terra” that may be or is already in jeopardy. The Italian word "Terra" is a particularly evocative term, encompassing not only the physical aspects of soil, ground, and land but also the metaphorical concept of Earth. In the opening verse of the song, the singer not only references his own environment but also the planet Earth as a whole. This makes it clear that the environmental challenges facing the city of Taranto are not isolated phenomena, but rather, are representative of broader global issues. The song is not just about a local problem. It is a universal anthem for the entire planet.

The second verse opens with the assertive declaration, “Land. Over this land. For this land, we will fight”1. This could be interpreted as a general reference to conflicts over land, whether for political, environmental, or border zone reasons. It is, however, followed by a more local one that delineates the geographical position of the city of Taranto, situated in the middle point between two strong winds: “ Red mineral [land]. Between Scirocco and mistral” 2. The previous quote not only refers to the location of the city but also to the abundance of minerals in its soil. This may have contributed to the overexploitation of the land, but the colour red is associated with blood, war, and the battlefield. A few lines later, such war-reference is underlined with the lyric "now it is minefield" and a "war smoke colours the sky […] a smoke that eats the future"3.

The image of smoke consuming the future evokes a sense of foreboding, one that is difficult to escape from. This unfortunate situation, in which the land is found in a degraded state, is a consequence of people being unable or unwilling to fight to defend it. Nevertheless, the love for this land remains profound. This love for the land is so strong that it binds people to it, and it projects a dream-like future for which it is worth fighting: “This fairy-tale dream, which binds us to the land with all our love, has never been broken”4. The song is a call for action to protect what has been left. It is a plea to halt further exploitation of the land, soil, and people, as well as the creation of unnecessary battlefields over land. The song's emotional depth conveys a strong message to listeners: refrain from land exploitation and warfare. It advocates for the protection of the space we inhabit, not its sale to large industries that solely prioritize profit, often disregarding environmental and public health concerns. Instead, it calls for a non-violent approach to safeguarding the land, emphasizing the importance of peaceful conflict resolution.

Moving beyond greed: restoring the land

The song illustrates the profound impact of the Ilva steel factory's overexploitation of land and environmental pollution on the inhabitants' lives. Nevertheless, the song offers a glimmer of hope, as, although the land is a minefield, “beautiful flowers grow on it”5 and people need to recognise it to give the land its value. Love for the earth and for the land is precious and important if we want to protect the environment, the place we live in, and our future. As previously stated, the song's coverage extends beyond the town of Taranto. It encompasses all other regions, towns, and villages where pollution has resulted in significant and detrimental consequences for the local inhabitants and the environment. The song thus constitutes a call for action on a larger scale, namely to take care of the environment, nurture it, and refrain from overexploitation due to greed.

References

1 My own translation. The original is the following: “Terra. Su questa terra. Per questa terra faremo la guerra”.
2 My own translation. The original is the following: “Rossa di minerale. Tra scirocco e maestrale”.
3 My own translation. The original is the following: “Ora è un campo minato” and “Fumo di guerra che colora il cielo […] Fumo che mangia il futuro”.
4 My own translation. The original is the following: “Questo sogno fatato, che ci tiene legati con tutto l'amore alla terra, non si è mai spezzato”.
5 My own translation. The original is the following: “Su cui crescono fiori bellissimi”.