"A forced move dictated by woke culture". Ruggeri criticizes Fiorella Mannoia over changes made to "Quello che le donne non dicono"

Enrico Ruggeri has criticized the changes that Fiorella Mannoia has long been making to “Quello che le donne non dicono”, the song he and Luigi Schiavone wrote for her for Sanremo 1987. According to the Milanese singer-songwriter, changing lines like the famous “ti diremo ancora un altro sì” – today often replaced by Mannoia with “forse”, “se mi va” or even “no” – is nothing but “a forced move dictated by woke culture”. Ruggeri argues that the original lyrics tell the story of a relationship's disappointed hopes, and that the uncertainty was already built into the writing: “Le donne parlano ai loro uomini: torna quello di una volta e ti diremo ancora un altro sì”.

In any case, says Ruggeri, “I believe I've written at least ten songs about women of a higher caliber than that one. But you can't have everything in life, and people decided otherwise, partly thanks to Fiorella, who was a trailblazer, singing it at Sanremo in '87”.

For years Fiorella Mannoia has performed a slightly modified version of the song in concert, altering two passages she doesn't feel are fully her own. The first concerns the line “Cambia il vento, ma noi no e se ci confondiamo un po'”, which she turns into “Cambia il vento, ma noi no e se ci trasformiamo un po'”. As she explained in the past – a statement reported by Wikipedia – in the original wording she senses “an admission of weakness” that she doesn't consider fitting. Getting confused happens to anyone, she notes, but that line sounds to her like a sign of inferiority, almost a way of justifying taking a stand: “Scusate se ci siamo ribellate, ma è perché non riusciamo a comunicare più con voi”.

The second point concerns the closing of the choruses, “ti diremo ancora un altro sì”, to which Mannoia sometimes adds a “se mi va” or a more cautious “forse”. During a performance on Radio Italy she explained why: the answer doesn't necessarily have to be yes. Hence her appeal to the audience – and especially to parents – to teach their children that refusal is not an affront to masculinity, but a right to be recognized and respected. When a woman says no, she stresses, it's always a no, regardless of context, circumstances or clothing. On other occasions she has gone so far as to replace “sì” directly with “no”. As she told Repubblica, while singing it she realized that having that consent taken for granted bothered her: why should it be mandatory? It could be a maybe, or indeed a no. And if a woman says no – she reiterates – it's a no in any circumstance.

Ruggeri, recalling that at the time the song was also offered to Fiordaliso and Lena Biolcati, acknowledged the decisive role played by Mannoia's choice and her performance, which helped turn the song into a classic.

In another interview, with Rolling Stone, the Milanese singer-songwriter pointed out that, over time, many critical readings of the song's supposed stereotypes have struck him as excessive: “'Quello che le donne non dicono' is a child of 1987, another era, and like many songs from those years it may contain ambiguities that are read differently today”.

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