VOLUME THREE
Sometime in like 2007... I am waiting tables at an Italian restaurant in Perrysburg, Ohio called Biaggis.
Scene: *I drop off someones Rigatoni Bolognese*
Customer: Grazie!
Me: *a pause...*
Customer: Do you know how to say you're welcome in Italian?
Me: I.... don't. No. Sorry.
Customer: It's Prego. Now you know for next time!
Me: Ok! Thanks!
So, I remember this interaction so well because it set me on a course. A tiny, insignificant moment that literally changed everything.
That same day, on my break, I was curious so; I walked across the street to the Books A Million store and bought myself a book, "Teach Yourself Beginner's Italian" by Vittoria Bowles. I started teaching myself Italian. I didn't expect it to take me anywhere. I didn't expect anything from it. BUT I fell in love with the language. So much so I signed up for classes at BGSU the next semester. So much so that I signed up to study abroad in Italy the following summer. I took out a loan to do it. It took me a long time to pay off.
My time in Italy changed the course of my life. My time in Rome specifically.
I believe I moved to NYC after college because of my time in Rome. I believe I met my wife because of it. I believe it planted a wanderlust in my soul. I can't describe it. I just know that's where it started.
I have tried a bunch of times to write a song about Rome but they never felt right. They felt lacking in a way. Not that I feel I've finally "done it" or cracked the code mind you but I can see Rome for what it is to me now. 15 years later after a portion of my life has happened and I trace where I am from where I began. Rome is a friend to me. Rome will always hold a special place in my history and soul. I hope you can listen to the song and now maybe see where it came from inside my heart. Or not. Songs mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people.
LYRICS
Feet are tired cobble stone
The city floats into the window
Sun is high stucco lit up
Blue skies settle me as my mind goes
Off through the allies
Packed tight with bodies
Shuffling to an eternal song
Bright eyes look
Up in wonder
As a new memory is born
It's funny how all things change
And still forever stay the same
It's ancient to a fault and it's bursting with an honest pride
It fills up my heart, it's the city that changed my life
I'd visit anytime but I'll never go alone
I'll always have a friend in Rome
Always have a friend
Always have a friend
Young and naive no chaperone
Like I was living in a movie
Spent a summer like it was my last
And it sort of changed everything
What was I missing
Why wasn't I living
My soul seemed to long for more
I didn't know
How far I could go
Or what I could ask for
I was lost but I was so alive
And I've never really said goodbye
It's ancient to a fault and it's bursting with an honest pride
It fills up my heart, it's the city that changed my life
I'd visit anytime but I'll never go alone
I'll always have a friend in Rome
Always have a friend
Always have a friend
When you walk under la luna
Through the heart of Roma
It's like love on an endless night
The city draws you in
With a magic you can't deny
And stays until the day
That you die
It's ancient to a fault and it's bursting with an honest pride
It fills up my heart, it's the city that changed my life
I'd visit anytime but I don't think I'd go alone
Yea I'll always have a friend in Rome
Buy 'Rome' on Bandcamp and LJS gets 100%
Listen to Rome everywhere else!