This short paper describes one of the greatest singer-songwriters of Italian music under a new light compared to the traditional one conveyed by newspapers and television. Using the biography by Giangilberto Monti and Vito Vita, the aim is to represent how public figures like Franco Califano can become witnesses of intergenerational narratives, while they survive despite the harshness of life. These narratives are handed down over time not only in terms of fame, which does not compensate for death, but rather in the poetic unfolding of words that remain and leave their mark.