Cristiano Malgioglio's Poetics of Desire

How The Italian Lyricist Made Heightened Emotions Universal

Yearning is one of the key behaviors outlined by trend-forecasting agency WGSN this past spring. “Yearning is a subset of authenticity––a specific type of authenticity that comes from wanting. It’s the thing that we turn to after too easily “having” causes us to lose our way. Yearning isn’t like wellness [...] because it often feels like unwellness, but then it also feels like healing,” wrote Daisy Alioto in Dirt last year. 

And in Italian music, nobody did yearning like Cristiano Malgioglio.

A lyricist, a musician and a singer, Cristiano Malgioglio was unparalleled when it came to penning lyrics detailing both physical and mental desire. His writing style was uninhibited and quintessentially modern in the 1970s, and was beloved by female performers and queer, male performers alike. Some deem his lyrics “camp” or even “trash” (in Italian pop culture, trash denotes a type of camp that falls short of its intentions)  but they are unique in the way they speak about yearning and longing. In fact, while sometimes cheeky and ambiguous, Malgioglio’s lyrics are not afraid of being sentimentally direct, and they are written in a way that can apply to all genders and demographics, as they describe fairly universal situations. He is an integral part of Italy’s pop-cultural legacy: outsized sentimentality and unbridled desire aside, he is a notable prose stylist endorsed by the likes of singer-songwriters Fabrizio De André, Luigi Tenco and Gino Paoli and the Brazilian Roberto Carlos.

Most notably He penned lyrics for notable female singers. In 1972, he was instrumental in having Iva Zanicchi win the Sanremo music festival with “Ciao cara, come stai?”. “Forte forte forte,” written for Raffaella Carrà, details the dynamics of a relationship rooted in power play and control, vaguely BDSM in tone. It got a remix by Bob Sinclar, which was not sanctioned by Malgioglio. Unlike most of the uptempo and bubbly songs of the singer’s repertoire, this one is a lush, sensuous ballad that, in the final chorus, trades yearning for pure, unrestrained emotional expression. 

Mina performed and interpreted several songs written by Malgioglio. The 1975 song “L’importante è finire” (what matters is finishing), notable for its a funk and bossanova bassline, talks about erotic climax, and was first banned due to its lyrics, but soon it gained its due airtime again. The relationship depicted in the song is far from idyllic. The character embodied by Mina sings about being uncertain whether or not to dump her lover but, during a lovemaking session she recounts in the song, she remarks on how he “is good at [it]” and regardless of what the future holds for the pair, “finishing is what matters.” Allusions to orgasming as a type of death abound too. “Amante Amore,” written by Pino Presti with Lyrics by Malgioglio, is quintessentially disco, and describes an encounter with a stranger. In this case, the lover is a little rough (“irruento”), and she beckons him to treat her well, lest he injures her.

Then we have “Ancora Ancora Ancora ” the 1978 Mina song that, as of last year and via a Mark Ronson remix, became synonymous with the new Gucci phase helmed by Sabato De Sarno, was written after she rejected Malgioglio’s original proposal. “She wanted something more sensual,” he told Sorrisi.com. Randomly, that same night, he got a phone call from an old love, who asked him whether he was still in love (ma tu mi ami ancora?). “I said yes, and then again their voice went ‘tell me again, again, and again’ (dimmelo ancora, ancora, ancora).”  This exchange, which awakened in him feelings he had buried for a long time, allowed him to write the lyrics that same night. Mina approved the lyrics, and the lovers reunited, albeit for a finite amount of time. In that same interview, Malgioglio claims that Liza Minnelli had expressed interest in the song, even as a duet with Mina. We believe they could still pull it off, with an added touch of gravitas and wistfulness. In 2014, the song was also covered by dance/electronica diva Róisín Murphy as part of an EP dedicated to iconic Italian songs revisited through her unique interpretations.

“Cocktail d’Amore,” performed by Stefania Rotolo, is the closing number for tv variety show Tilt, and the precursor of a potential full-length album for the showgirl-turned-singer. It describes a person attending clubs to find someone to love, where the generalities do not matter as far as they are a good lover. The refrain explains what a “cocktail of love” entails: it’s something that gives love, causes suffering and even death (if they so wish). A cocktail of love is refreshing to the mind, but it’s also an all-or-nothing affair; it can be important but also only last an instant. 

Another notable collaboration includes “Che Mi Succede Adesso,”, one of the early recordings by Giuni Russo with a distinct disco flavor, published in 1976, anticipating the imminent disco trend thanks to the arrangements of maestro Vince Tempera. 

On a partially tangential note, Malgioglio was also involved in Alessandra Mussolini City Pop- Italo Disco hybrid Amore exclusively released in the Japanese market in 1982. Three of the tracks, “Insieme insieme,” “E stasera mi manch” and “L’ultima notte d’amore” were penned by Cristiano Malgioglio. Music history resource Orrore a 33 Giri deems them “among most insignificant lyrics he ever penned, clear rejects that the label bought at a low price.” However the history of music shows how lyrics can also have the role of accompanying a great melody or arrangement, without necessarily a purpose or a meaning. 

He was a prolific singer himself. He wrote the B side for the Gay Guys’ only record “Forever,” namely “Sweet Memories of Yesterday.” His 1977 song “Scandalo” can be interpreted both as a recount of a queer and a straight love story. So what’s so scandalous? Depending on how you interpret it, the scandal lies in portraying someone like him, who never hid his orientation, in a heteronormative context. 

In the manifesto-like “Sbucciami,” from the 1979 album of the same name, he begs to be peeled like a piece of fruit in order to satiate the listener’s hunger, and to be drunk in order to quench their thirst; it’s a ballad rich in languor, longing, and mutual destruction. 

“Ernesto”, written for the movie of the same name by Franco Samperi and based on Umberto Saba’s novel, references the source material’s story of middle-class adolescent Ernesto and an older, hypermasculine day laborer as they engage in a passionate relationship.

“M’arrapa l’idea” (the idea [of__] turns me on) lists a series of scenarios that the speaker in the song finds arousing, including “catching you with her,” “playing with the gays”, only to end up warning his listeners not to step on his feet, lest they want to get hurt. “Io a...,” written with Giuni Russo, lists what the speaker plainly loves: what is “not right for all of you,” “the one who then shoots themselves for me,” and “ a perfectly executed makeup.” 

 “Mentre fuori piove,” (while it’s raining outside) embodies yearning in that it recounts the speaker’s waiting for someone to meet them at home with two glasses of wine, but, even during the actual climax that is described via imagery equating a zipper fly to train tracks, he is met with coldness and indifference.

He also put his trademark yearning on the Italian covers of English-language songs such as Moroder’s “Take My Breath Away” (“toglimi il respiro”, which is the opening line rather than the chorus, which goes “portami con te”), The Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody” and  Black’s “Wonderful Life,” which becomes “l’amore addosso” (love on [one’s] skin) and contains lines such as “Nella bocca ho te” (I have you in my mouth) and “mi scoppiano i sensi” (my senses are bursting).

In the 2010s and the 2020s, he fully returned to the Italian music scene thanks to appearances as a Eurovision commentator and participation to the VIP version of Italy’s Big Brother, and with songs like “Fernando” (alas, not a cover of the Abba song of the same name) and “O maior golpe do mundo (mi sono innamorato di tuo marito),” a cover of both O Maior Golpe Do Mundo, by Deny e Dino e Mi sono innamorata di mio marito, by  Catherine Spaak. 

Understanding and appreciating the poetic practice of Malgioglio is a window on Italian queer culture, which, as we said, straddles the line between euphoric expression and Catholicism-mandated repression, creating unique products that influenced the arts on a mainstream level.