Le nuvole

Side A

• "Le nuvole" ("The clouds") features an orchestral background written by Pagani and orchestrated by Piero Milesi, over which two Sardinian women, who were chosen for their age difference (the young Lalla Pisano and the elder Maria Mereu) recite a poem apparently about clouds; the real subects in the poem, which is inspired by Aristophanes's same-titled comedy, are in fact prominent figures who disturb and disrupt ordinary people's lives, namely politicians and powerful business managers.
• "Ottocento" ("Eight hundred", but with a pun on "1800s") is an intentionally funny song sung by De André in a mock-operatic style and inspired by his colleague and friend Francesco Baccini, which parodies the hustle and bustle of modern life. It also features a section in tempo rubato, where De André, singing normally, mocks the dramatic style and subject matter of his own early compositions, such as "La canzone di Marinella". All of the instrumentation in this song is orchestral, and it ends with a yodel section.
• "Don Raffaè" is a satirical/parody song about Italian Camorra boss Raffaele Cutolo, partly sung in Neapolitan from the point of view of a jailer in the Poggioreale prison where Cutolo is kept; by portraying the character as a close friend of the titular Raffaele's, De André uses references to the real Cutolo (such as the famous "maxi-trial" in the late Eighties, where he was sentenced to life imprisonment), never naming him explicitly, to spoof a number of well-known Italian stereotypes about Camorra, Naples and Neapolitans in general. An ironical footnote printed in the booklet after the lyrics says: "The facts and characters in this song are fictional. Any references to actual people are nothing but coincidences."^[3] In 1992 the song was covered by Roberto Murolo as a duet with De André; Murolo's cover is included in his album "Ottanta voglia di cantare", celebrating the singer's 80th birthday - the album's title being a pun on Ho tanta voglia (i.e. I feel like (singing) so much) and ottanta (i.e. eighty).^[4] For Murolo's cover, the arrangement was changed into a slightly slower and more traditionally Neapolitan-sounding tarantella beat, featuring additional keyboards and percussion.
• "La domenica delle salme" ("On Corpses Sunday", with a pun on Palm Sunday) describes the dissolution (and, more generically, the loss of importance) of the Communist ideology in Europe at the end of the 1980s, and the ensuing political chaos caused in Italy by such dissolution, again without explicitly mentioning anyone's names, but depicting a series of grotesque, highly stylized characters and situations. The music for this song, consisting of an almost-recited, low-key monologue over two intervals of no more than five notes each, and backed by a complex acoustic guitar accompaniment in 9/8, has been described by De André and Pagani at the time (namely, on the eighth and last DVD of Dentro Faber) as very forced and almost unsingable, as it was written after the lyrics and meant to adapt to them, rather than vice versa.

Side A also features two piano excerpts from Tchaikovsky's "The Seasons", before and after "Don Raffaé", played by pianist Andrea Carcano. Furthermore, the side opens and closes with the sound of grasshoppers singing, which symbolizes people talking endlessly and aimlessly.

Side B

• "Mégu megún" (literally "Doctor, great doctor") written in Genoese, is a satirical song about deficiencies and malpractice in the Italian health care system, personified by a greedy physician who cares much more about money than about his patients' well-being. The song has a world music feel, with Pagani playing several ethnic instruments and singing backing vocals in an invented, pseudo-Arabic language.
• "La nova gelosia" ("The new blind") is De André's rendition of a romantic anoymous song from 1700s Naples, which he learnt from Roberto Murolo (who recorded it earlier). The lyrics, written in a poetical, literary form of Neapolitan, are a lament by a young boy in love with a girl who has recently installed a new blind on her window; the boy implores the blind itself to stay open and let him see his loved one, otherwise he will die.
• "Â çímma" (literally "The rope"), in Genoese, is a very detailed description of a Genoan recipe for a traditional boiled stuffed veal dish. The preparation process and the ingredients are described at length in the lyrics, and the "rope" referred to in the title is actually the cotton thread used to tie the stuffed veal up. The lyrics also mention some ancient folk traditions, such as setting a broom upright in a corner in order to keep witches away from the kitchen; according to the tradition, if a witch comes into the kitchen by sliding down the chimney and the fireplace, she is compelled by the desire to count all of the bristles in the broom and won't stop until dawn, when she is forced to leave.
• "Monti di Mola" ("Mountains of Mola", the ancient name for the current Costa Smeralda), a song written in Gallurese, set in Gallura and inspired by a local folk tale, describes a love affair between a female donkey and a young shepherd. They fall passonately in love with each other and want to marry, but they are unable to, because their birth certificates reveal them to be first cousins. The song, like most of Side B, features a simple, folk-based arrangement, once again adorned by a variety of ethnic stringed instruments played by Pagani. Sardinian trio Tazenda sing backing vocals on the track.