Indeed, for his audience, very different from that of artists like Renato Zero, much more niche, his eventual coming out would have been a very strong shock.
Personally, I believe that his career would not have been as incredibly successful as it deserved to be.
In this sense, the lyrics of the song sung by Mango (for which Dalla also wrote the music) take on a completely different meaning than it seems at first glance.
Certainly not a farewell song to the happiness of a night of love on the beach, but rather to his inability to love her because of his homosexuality.
In fact, the boy is addressing the girl who has fallen in love with him :
È solo un addio, credimi, io non ci penso mai. Vedo che hai pianto, tu lo sapevi, ma da quando ?
You knew I was gay, for how long ?
…and he answers her for the first time :
Bella d’estate vai via da me
And then he answers her. He explains his emotional and sexual life as a gay man.
Piccoli fuochi
So very brief relationships and passions, consummated on the spot and in the instant.
Noi siamo zingari di periferia
Parking lots, highway rest areas, parks : in short, the very shady places where a lot of gay men go in search of companionship.
I nostri son giochi, che durano poco, la notte se li porta via
Another reference to fleeting sexual encounters repeated several times during the night.
This is why he keeps telling the girl to leave.
Bella d’estate vai via da me
Because what is enough for him :
Ti credevo felice così, proprio così tra le mie braccia
This is definitely not enough for her, who would like to have him as a sexual partner instead.
