Cantautori is music that hits you with its lyrics first. Over acoustic guitar, piano, and sometimes a string orchestra, the singing is closer to storytelling than belting, unspooling narratives like poems. The musical range runs from folk to pop to prog, but the constant is carefully crafted language and a gaze turned toward love, death, and the margins of society. It carries the calm emotion of grown-up song.

It began around 1958 in Genoa with a circle of young writers later called the 'school of Genoa.' Influenced by French chanson, especially Georges Brassens, it spread as intelligent song that set itself apart from the commercial Sanremo pop machine, with Fabrizio De André as its spiritual anchor.

Even without Italian, follow the speech-like phrasing and the pauses to feel the narrative. Compare the singers' distinct personalities: De André's low, settled voice, Battisti's inventive arrangements, and Dalla's operatic swell.

Lucio Dalla's 'Caruso' (1986) has the most accessible melody and is the ideal entry point. To taste the depth of the lyrics, hear Fabrizio De André's 'La Canzone di Marinella' (1964).

De André, sometimes called 'the Italian Brassens,' sang of prostitutes, fishermen, and the marginalized with dignity. After his death, a foundation in his name was established in his native Genoa.