“I will continue to sing his songs, and to thank him for giving us such moving moments. I will do so even though he probably wouldn’t be pleased about it. But I am grateful to him for the contribution he made to my personal development.” Between quotes and accusations: the complicated relationship between the Prime Minister and the singer-songwriter who died today

One might say that his music is full of life, yet it is a longing for a world long gone. His commitment was a misunderstanding: he never relinquished the snobbery, tinged with irony, with which he kept himself aloof from the pedestal. And for that era, it was heresy. A past that can never be repeated now haunts those who loved him

In a quiet Bologna in early August, the maestro’s voice can be heard on the streets. It is a courier’s van with the radio turned up loud. Passers-by pause to reflect, some shedding a tear. Guccini lived here until 2012

In 2004, ‘Odysseus’ was released, Guccini’s take on the Odyssey. Rather than recounting the return to Ithaca, the song tells the story of a ‘peasant’ Odysseus driven out to sea by a desire for knowledge. It is a reflection on the constant tension between the desire to set out and the desire to return, on nostalgia, on restlessness and on the impossibility of finding a permanent home. “From a lyrical point of view, one of the best songs I’ve ever written,” said Guccini

In a trattoria with Guccini, asking him which of his songs is the best and listening to him talk about trappers and icehouses. Those days that no one can give us back, when success paid for books and cigarettes. A meeting of internal rhymes, affection and other nonsense

The singer-songwriter’s family has announced this, emphasising that “in accordance with his wishes, the funeral will take place in the coming days and will be a strictly private affair”