{"id":329401,"date":"2026-07-14T20:53:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T18:53:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/italien.news\/uncategorized\/rimmel-de-gregori\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T13:08:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T11:08:35","slug":"rimmel-de-gregori","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/italien.news\/en\/musik\/rimmel-de-gregori\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00abRimmel\u00bb by Francesco De Gregori: Meaning & Lyrics"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t

A love that is coming to an end\u2014told not through grand lamentations, but through the imagery of a deck of cards and the last trace of smudged mascara. \u00abRimmel\u00bb by Francesco De Gregori is one of the most tender and, at the same time, most perceptive farewell songs in Italian music. In 1975, the song finally made the Roman cantautore a star. Here you\u2019ll learn how the song came to be, what it\u2019s about, and why it\u2019s still considered a milestone today.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t

\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n

\u00abRimmel\u00bb \u2013 Profile<\/h4>\n
    \n
  • Artist:<\/strong> Francesco De Gregori<\/li>\n
  • Published:<\/strong> 1975 (Title track from the album *Rimmel*, RCA)<\/li>\n
  • Lyrics\/Music:<\/strong> Francesco De Gregori<\/li>\n
  • Genre:<\/strong> Italian cantautore folk with pop influences<\/li>\n
  • Special features:<\/strong> The title track of the best-selling Italian album of 1975 and one of De Gregori's best-known songs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
    <\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
    \n\t
    \n\t\t
    \n\t\t\t

    The Story Behind \u00abRimmel\u00bb<\/h2>\n

    In the mid-1970s, Francesco De Gregori was in his early twenties and still an insider\u2019s tip on the Roman folk scene centered around the legendary Folkstudio. That changed overnight with \u00abRimmel\u00bb: The album of the same name was released in early 1975 on RCA; De Gregori produced it together with his friend Lucio Dalla\u2014and it became the best-selling Italian album of the year. With that, the title track \u00abRimmel\u00bb broke out of the inner circle of connoisseurs and became a song for everyone.<\/p>\n

    The song\u2019s origins are a little anecdote in themselves: According to legend, De Gregori wrote the verses in a dressing room at the RAI television station while waiting to go on stage. He didn\u2019t finish the chorus until about half a year later in a hotel room in Milan. From these fragments emerged a song that is still considered one of the masterpieces of Italian cantautorato.<\/p>\n

    The title, too, was chosen with care. \u00abRimmel\u00bb refers to mascara\u2014and De Gregori has hinted several times that the album is about exposing \u201etrucchi\u201c: a word that in Italian means both \u201emakeup\u201c and \u201etricks.\u201c So even the title plays on the double meaning of a beautiful exterior and what lies beneath it.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t

    \n\t\t
    \n\t\t\t

    What is \u00abRimmel\u00bb about?<\/h2>\n

    At its core, \u00abRimmel\u00bb tells the story of the end of a love affair\u2014of a woman who has moved on and a man who stays behind to take stock. What makes it special is the tone: no self-pity, no grand accusations, but rather an almost sober, wide-awake melancholy. De Gregori doesn\u2019t describe a scene; instead, he strings together images that stand on their own and yet all speak of the same loss.<\/p>\n

    Two motifs drive the song. There\u2019s the card game, which turns love into a contest where someone bluffs and tricks; and there\u2019s the mascara, which remains as a trace of the past\u2014both a pretty facade and an illusion. It is from this tension between tenderness and disillusionment that the unique maturity emerges for which \u00abRimmel\u00bb is still loved today.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

    \n\t
    \n\t\t\n\t\t
    \n\t\t\t
    \"Four<\/div>
    Photo: Tony Wu \/ Pexels<\/figcaption>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
    \n\t
    \n\t\t
    \n\t\t\t

    \u00abRimmel\u00bb: Lyrics & Meaning<\/h2>\n

    The text was written by Francesco De Gregori and is protected by copyright. For this reason, we will not reproduce it line by line, but will instead explain the key images and their meanings.<\/p>\n

    The Beginning (What Remains).<\/strong> The song begins with one of his most famous ideas: something remains between the light and the dark sides\u2014a metaphor for memory, which is made up of both beautiful and painful moments. De Gregori himself later described the verse as somewhat convoluted, yet it is precisely its mysterious candor that has made it immortal.<\/p>\n

    The card game (the four aces).<\/strong> Perhaps the most powerful passage turns love into a game at the card table. The image of four aces \u201eof a single suit\u201c suggests that the hand was rigged from the start\u2014that the other person is bluffing and wins with a steady hand, while the narrator realizes the rules too late. Here, love appears as a game in which people deceive one another without batting an eye.<\/p>\n

    The Rimmel (mascara).<\/strong> The \u201cRimmel\u201d in the title represents what remains of beauty once the illusion has faded: a trace of makeup, pretty to look at but still only skin-deep. The song draws all its bittersweet power from this detail.<\/p>\n

    The striking spot (the photo at the end).<\/strong> At the end, the woman asks him to return an old photo to her\u2014as if that were all that remains of their time together. This cool, unsentimental ending is typical of De Gregori: He forgoes any grand finale and lets the emptiness speak for itself.<\/p>\n

    All of this is underpinned by simple, elegantly understated music\u2014acoustic guitar, subtle arrangements, and plenty of space for the lyrics. It is precisely this simplicity that makes \u00abRimmel\u00bb so compelling.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

    <\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
    \n\t
    \n\t\t
    \n\t\t\t

    \u00abRimmel\u00bb Live: Francesco De Gregori<\/h2>\n

    As much of a studio classic as it is, \u00abRimmel\u00bb also truly comes alive on stage. This live recording of \u00abRimmel\u00bb by Francesco De Gregori shows just how enduring the song has remained over the decades: The familiar, slightly raspy voice brings the imagery even closer, and the audience has long since been singing along to the famous lines. It\u2019s a beautiful testament to why this song has lost none of its power in half a century.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t

    \n\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t