Brividi is Italy's entry into the Eurovision Song Contest in 2022. Mahmood and BLANCO performed a beautiful love song on the Eurovision stage in their native country, putting it in position 6th in the entire competition. The song contains rich and complex themes of love that should intrigue any viewer.
A Song of Failed Love
Brividi starts by evoking the feeling of lost love. It is the longing for the love that the persona used to experience. He wondered if he could have done anything at the time in order to save their broken relationship. He lamented that he realized that love was already gone, that the feeling of it being gone is no longer a sentiment, but a fact.
Naked With Chills
“Nudo con i brividi” is the translation of the phrase that implies “naked with chills.” In English, the adjective “nudo” can mean “naked,” but it also means “barren.” It also implies that the persona's life was barren of love, it was once full of it, but now, it was gone. It was removed from him like a garment.
Love may be thought of as a coat, something that keeps a person warm. Without love, life becomes cold in the cold of loveless times. He is shivering (con i brividi) because the warmth of love has vanished, and he is naked because the love that wrapped him has vanished.
Saving the Love That Was Lost
The persona's effort to rekindle the love dominated the rest of the chorus. He blamed himself for its ruin, but he saw himself to be always wrong (ti vorrei amare, ma sbaglio sempre) as a result. He was willing to make additional efforts in order to see his partner once more and reconcile.
The sentence "pagherei per andar via" is an interesting one. According to the English subtitles, the word "andar" does not imply that he will pay to depart, as in for a vacation. He meant that he was willing to do anything to keep on going because he wanted to. Both ways were equally acceptable, and he was willing to do everything (pagherei) to obtain any of those outcomes.
The Smothering Toxicity of a Poorly-Expressed Love
Both parties should be upfront with their intentions, and should express their needs and themselves well for a lasting relationship. That is the message of the bridge. BLANCO's four lines in the bridge was a complaint that he was imprisoned (vivo dentro una prigione) and that prison can be thought of as the loop of a never-ending cycle where he tried to stay close to his partner repeatedly but failed to achieve any goals.
This sense of "nothing is happening" is caused by his partner's lack of expressiveness (non so dirti che provo, è un mio limite). This interaction showed that, sometimes, one party would request attention, desperately even, but the other would not be able to provide it, causing the demanding party to lose faith in them.
Diamond-Material Bicycle
In the beginning and near the end of the song, a bicycle of diamonds was mentioned. This represents their hopes in love: freedom to express themselves, freedom from the limitations, fears, and destructive thoughts that come from a poorly-expressed love. Mahmood came closer to his partner, declaring that he was still willing to ride the diamond bike with him.
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