"Carlo Pernat" is a song, thanks to Francesco Baccini in his "Nomi e Cognomi 2"

Whose children are we? We're of the family in which we grew up, of the times we’ve lived through, of the images that shaped our childhood and youth. But also of the choices we’ve had the courage to make. This question inspired “Carlo Pernat”, the new single by the singer-songwriter from Genoa, Francesco Baccini, available starting June 26th on the radio and on all digital platforms via Azzurra Music.

The song is the fourth single from "Nomi e Cognomi 2" (Names and Surnames 2), the new album of previously unreleased tracks set to be released this fall as a perfect continuation to the original "Nomi e Cognomi" that, thirty-five years ago, marked one of the most successful and iconic moments of Baccini's artistic career.

Like the other tracks in the project, this one also bears a first and last name as its title: Carlo Pernat, a legendary figure in the MotoGP World Championship who's been team manager, talent scout, and agent for some of Italy’s greatest riders, from Valentino Rossi to Max Biaggi, from Loris Capirossi to Marco Simoncelli, and even Enea Bastianini. But even before he was a public figure, Carlo Pernat was simply Francesco Baccini's friend.
The two met about thirty years ago in front of the legendary Bar Lino in Piazza Alimonda in Genoa, a historic gathering place for soccer fans. Since then, they’ve shared a friendship, passions, and a certain idea of freedom. And that's precisely what inspired the song.

“Carlo is one of those people who never asked permission to be himself. With this song, I didn’t want to portray the manager or the public figure, but a man who has always lived his own way, without ever worrying about what others expected of him... someone who has never stopped having fun, jumping into new adventures, and enjoying life. Maybe that’s also why, to me, Carletto is above all a friend,” Baccini said.

More than a biographical portrait, the song, "Carlo Pernat", is the story of a generation told through the details that shaped its collective imagination: family, Saturday-night television, motorcycles, afternoon snacks, soccer, afternoons in courtyards, and first acts of rebellion. “We're children of the ‘borsello’ and ‘Canzonissima’ / roast chicken, Martellini, and Raffaella Carrà,” Baccini sings, evoking a wealth of shared images. And when he adds, “We're the children of an Italy that climbs its way up / super-seniors at the university caffè," his personal memory expands to tell the story of an entire country’s contradictions.

When he heard the song for the first time, Carlo said, "Wow, what a beautiful song! Those were our years, and I’m proud that Francesco has made me a witness to this fabulous generation.”

Yet the past, on its own, isn't enough to define us. The song doesn’t indulge in nostalgia or seek refuge in the presumed cliché of “things were better back then”. the world we come from, with its wonders and contradictions, is merely a starting point. What also makes us who we are, are the choices we’ve made and the way we decide to pass our time. 

Musically, "Carlo Pernat" recaptures the essence of a song that tells a story through a multitude of images and sounds. The rhythm is warm and sunny, infused with Latin influences that invite you to move, while the arrangement, by Mauro Ottolini, highlights an interplay among the musicians playing their instruments in the recording studio: guitars, bass, piano, percussions, accordion, and a cheeky kazoo bring to life a live recording, free of technological artifices, entrusted to the expertise of highly experienced musicians with strong personalities.

With a career spanning over thirty years, Francesco Baccini returns to what has always distinguished his songwriting: telling stories with a touch of irony, observing the present, and restoring the pleasure of storytelling to a songwriter's music.