The Sanremo Festival at the (second) time of Covid (almost) ignores Covid. Not in the safety and prevention measures, but in the lyrics of the 25 songs that the big names will present from 1 to 5 February on the Ariston stage. A lot of love and little or no coronavirus, at least with direct reference to the pandemic, which no artist calls by name, recalled only by Dargen D’Amico in the invocation “what an ugly end to the masks” and more widely by the List Representative when he exclaims “that fear around … it is the end of the world “observing that” while I read a stupid newspaper, the world war has broken out in the city “. Ceto, wanting to act from the imagination, extrapolating single phrases from the texts and sometimes even going beyond the intentions of the authors, a bit like you do with painters by ‘reading’ in their paintings ideas that may have escaped the artists themselves, you can find many phrases that apparently they may have something to do with the current situation. A few examples? Rkomi and “You taught me to fight even when the urge to cry was suffocating me”; or Gianni Morandi in Jovanotti’s text for which “by dint of believing that evil will pass, I am passing and he remains” … But let’s go back to the love that reigns, even if it is no longer time to rhyme with heart, other, since for Achille Lauro “love is an overdose”, for Rkomi “love is electricity, I’m immersing myself in the current”, for Ditonellapiaga and Donatella Rettore “it’s a question of chemistry”. Giusy Ferreri assures that “love does not go away, it flies away but then comes back to you”; Michele Bravi exhorts “let’s flower now, ahead of time, even if it’s winter”; and by the way, Irama promises that “if you have time, I’ll wait for you forever” but Noemi admits that “it will take a little luck to better understand who we are, I can go to the moon but I love you I can’t say”. Much more indulgent Aka 7even: “you are perfect like this, in your flaws, imperfections, you are perfect like this”. Emma complains: “I’m tired of feeling suspended and fragile but with you it’s like this every time”. Between Shibari and Holofernes, Highsnob and Hu invite: “Take care of yourself”, reversing the more reassuring “I will take care of you” by Franco Battiato. Iva Zanicchi shows to be satisfied: “take you as you are, without much philosophy; I want to love you and not just ‘for love’ …”. Sangiovanni is also satisfied: “I can’t be in a better place, if not in your arms”. But Yuman sees “a curvy road, between the heart and the head, without maps, shortcuts or a rest area”. And for Mahmood and Blanco, “sex is not the escape from the bottom”. Matteo Romano is convinced: “love reappears, goes on trend and goes back up, becomes viral” (again a recall, involuntary ?, to the virus …). But the Vibrations protest: “But what love, too many times we pretend not to remember the name that then gets confused on the skin”. The group is denied by Fabrizio Moro: “it is you who crosses my oxygen when you touch me, you are the world that passes through my eyes”. Confirmation comes from Elisa: “I would understand you if I didn’t say a word, a single glance would be enough.” Even if it is true, as Giovanni Truppi recalls, that “to live we do a thousand stupid things, to survive we simplify as much as possible; but what is simple? My love, than laugh”. Tananai’s invitation is much more explicit: “Let’s find a home and never end up in casual sex anymore; but know that in a year, one day I won’t have figured out what you need yet.” And then, as Ana Mena suggests, all that remains is to “love each other an hour before and then let yourself go”. And speaking of going, Massimo Ranieri goes far: “America far beyond the sea, love you see: this sea is so dark, too big not to tremble”. The singers will also tremble, as tradition claims, when they take the stage of the Ariston for the 72nd ‘Sanremo Festival’. (by Enzo Bonaiuto)