A few years ago in Barga during the summer months appeared overnight a series of messages scrawled on the walls of Barga Vecchia announcing to all who would read than they should “smile at strangers”. These enigmatic messages were written in chalk and so disappeared as soon as the first wet weather of the autumn swept through Barga.
Nobody was really sure just who had shared their innermost thoughts with Barga or just to the message was intended for. After all it was written in English, so was the message aimed at strangers or if the message was for the Barghigiani then why was it not written in Italian?
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This morning Barga woke up to a continuing enigma as the low-tech graffiti is adorning some of the walls of Barga Vecchia once again. The three word message has not changed – it is still a simple “smile at strangers” but the reasons behind it are just as unclear as before. It is now the second week in August and the silly season has officially started.
Hmm, just remembered that the last time this graffiti was in Barga some wag rubbed out the first two letters of the last word changing the whole meaning of the phrase to a much more Scottish – smile at rangers. Could it just be that the renewal of the chalked message had something to do with the many Barga – Scots now enjoying their annual holidays in Barga ?
Among them is our very own Paolo Nutini, taking full advantage of the peace and quiet of the city for a few days before once again setting out on his hectic tour season – playing in Germany, Belgium and the Holland before once more returning to the USA and then back to the UK during October.
After “sunny side up” his second album – maybe “Smile at Strangers” would be a great name for this third one.
Wow, what a continuing mystery. We have been intrigued by those enigmatic messages since our first visit to Barga, and now the same message has been spotted in Virginia, USA. Weird.
Also: Paolo tore it up in at least two of his U.S. concerts (We live near D.C., and we just happened to be in Minneapolis-Saint Paul on other business). Many of Barga’s blues-soul musicians would approve of the covers Paolo included in his sets, by the way. A Willie Dixon-Little Walter song, “Mellow Down Easy,” for example, and a nod to Cab Calloway (if you pass Paolo on the street, say, “Hidee, hidee, hidee hi!”
Let’s all be thankful, Dan the man, that the graffitista didn’t stoop to scrawling happy faces.