Parco Sempione is a whirlwind comedy sketch turned protest anthem. At first it zooms in on a quiet reader who just wants to chill in Milan’s Parco Sempione, but his peace is shattered by a dreadlocked bongo player hammering out an awful pim-pam-pum. Their spat escalates from eye-rolling complaints about bad rhythm to full-blown insults, giving us a hilarious portrait of urban intolerance, generational clash, and the eternal struggle between “I need silence” and “I’m free to make noise.” The repeated line “l’Africa avrà pure tanti problemi, ma di sicuro non quello del ritmo” pokes fun at lazy clichés while exposing the hypocrisy of the self-appointed music police.
Just when you think it is only a quarrel about bongos, the song flips into sharp social commentary. Elio e le Storie Tese reveal that the real racket is the city itself: politicians and builders who, while citizens are away on holiday, bulldoze precious green spaces to erect yet another skyscraper. The comic fight in the park becomes a metaphor for how easily public good can be smashed when people focus on petty annoyances instead of bigger threats. Between punchlines and Milanese dialect, the band serves a warning: protect your parks, respect each other’s freedom, and keep an ear out for who is drumming up the true noise in your city.