Il pescatore

Il pescatore ["The fisherman"] is a song by Fabrizio De André, with lyrics by himself and music by composers Gian Piero Reverberi and Franco Zauli.

[2] Its popularity was significantly boosted by a 1979 live remake, with PFM backing De André in a new rock arrangement.

[1] One of De André's narrative songs, typical of his early production, "Il pescatore" is about an elderly fisherman, whose peaceful slumber on the shore is interrupted by a convicted killer on the run, approaching him and waking him up, then asking him to break his bread and pour his wine (identifying the fisherman with a Christ-like figure through a passing mention of the Eucharist).

[1][3] The new version, mainly arranged by Franz Di Cioccio, features prominent keyboards, drums, percussion, electric guitars and a country fiddle, played by Lucio Fabbri, while the whistled melody is joyously sung by the entire band as a "la-la-la" choir.

[8] It depicts the killer in the song as a (younger) fisherman himself, running from the police in order to reunite with his 10-year-old son; he keeps his crime hidden from the child, but the latter does find out the truth in the end.