Quaderni IRCrES 27 – Capitolo 3

Capitolo 3

Segni del tempo e quadri sociali: la narrazione dell’invecchiamento nella musica leggera italiana*
Signs of time and social frameworks: Narrating ageing in Italian popular music

Isabella Maria Zoppi
CNR-IRCrES, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Ricerca sulla Crescita Economica
Sostenibile, strada delle Cacce, 73, 10153 Torino, Italia

corresponding author: isabellamaria.zoppi@cnr.it

Abstract
This chapter examines representations of ageing in Italian popular music from 1951 to the present, treating songs as both unconventional historical sources and symbolic devices that shape individual and collective imaginaries. Developed within the PNRR-funded Age-It project, the research adopts a mixed-method approach combining broad-spectrum collection strategies with targeted author-based sampling, resulting in a provisional corpus of approximately 250 songs. The analysis is structured around a seven-phase periodization of contemporary Italian history and identifies six recurring thematic clusters: the passage of time, archetypal figures of old age, everyday social characters, historical and literary personae, family relationships, and memory. Drawing on examples from multiple genres and generations – from classic singer-song writers to contemporary pop music – the chapter highlights the plurality of registers through
which ageing is narrated: elegiac, critical, ironic, and intimate. The resulting map reveals the cultural complexity of Italian attitudes toward ageing, showing that popular music not only reflects social changes but also functions as a site of symbolic elaboration and identity construction. The chapter presents preliminary findings of an ongoing project and outlines future directions for exploring the interplay between age, cultural imaginaries, and musical expression.

Keywords: ageing representations, Italian popular music, cultural imaginaries, song writing and identity,
sociology of ageing.

DOI: 10.23760/2499-6661.2026.27_03

ISBN: 978-88-98193-42-4

ISSN (online): 2499-6661

How to Cite

Zoppi, I.M. (2026). Segni del tempo e quadri sociali: la narrazione dell’invecchiamento nella musica leggera italiana. In Bramanti, D., Errichiello, L., Falavigna, G., & Nanetti, S. (cur.). Quale futuro per un invecchiamento sano e attivo? Alcuni spunti di riflessione dalle ricerche del progetto Age-It e prospettive future (pp. 39-56). Quaderni IRCrES 27. CNR-IRCrES. http://dx.doi.org/10.23760/2499-6661.2026.27_03

———————–
* Questo lavoro è stato realizzato nell’ambito del progetto finanziato da Next Generation EU – “Age-It – Ageing well
in an ageing society” (PE0000015), CUP B83C22004880006 – Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza (PNRR) – PE8
– Missione 4, Componente 2, Intervento 1.3. Le opinioni espresse sono esclusivamente degli autori e non riflettono
necessariamente quelle dell’Unione Europea o della Commissione Europea. Né l’Unione Europea né la Commissione
Europea possono essere ritenute responsabili dei contenuti qui riportati.