Half a World Away, A Sun Devil Provides Reprieve in Face of Tumult
Arizona State University Athletics
Half a World Away, A Sun Devil Provides Reprieve in Face of Tumult Jeremy Hawkes
Football
Posted: March 31, 2020
by Jeremy Hawkes, Sun Devil Media Relations
Dilegua, o notte! Tramontate, stelle! Tramontate, stelle! All'alba, vincerò! Vincerò! Vincerò!
You have likely heard the lyrics, even if you don't initially recognize them or understand their meaning.
In a place looking for a glimmer of hope, the words belt out across Barcelona. The rich vibrato of a classic tenor echoes throughout an apartment-laden neighborhood in the Catalonia region of Spain.
The climactic finale of the aria "Nessun Dorma" from the final act of Puccini's Turandot is a message of the hope that comes with a new day. The song features in dozens of movies and television shows throughout the past several decades and is among the most recognizable pieces of opera in history.
Gus Farwell, a member of the 1996 Sun Devil Football program, was simply caught up in a moment of hope. It was an unscripted moment on a balcony, a brief moment of respite in a place ravaged by an insidious, faceless enemy.
And so, he sang.
"I'm just trying to do my part. I can't really do anything else to help," Farwell says. "So, if this makes everybody forget what's going on - even if it's just for a couple minutes – then I am happy to do that."
Just realized I haven't put any of this on Twitter. Just singing on my balcony in Barcelona trying to keep spirits up. We'll get through this! #ForksUp #COYS pic.twitter.com/wJHhC2VylH
— Gustaf Farwell (@GusFarwell) March 24, 2020
What started as a moment has turned into an international sensation as Farwell's impromptu "Quarantine Concerts" have now spanned over two weeks in a country essentially on lockdown, providing just the slightest moratorium for both Spain and the entire world from a seemingly endless barrage of anguish.
And with that, it seems Farwell could not have picked a better melody to debut with in a gesture that has evolved into something so much more. When looking to provide relief for a community, for a nation, and for humanity in these dark times, the words of "Nessun Dorma" strike an especially poignant chord as the world rallies together to battle this unseen foe.
Vanish, o night! Fade, you stars! Fade, you stars!
At dawn, I will win! I will win! I will win!
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It wouldn't be unfair to assume that the average Sun Devil Football fan might not be familiar with Farwell. His tale is not a football story.
Third on the depth chart on the 1996 roster, Farwell watched his roommate and friend guide ASU to a storybook run culminating with an appearance in the Rose Bowl. It was Jake Plummer's team that year, and the young quarterback out of Los Gatos, Calif., would have to wait for his moment. But that moment would never come.
Farwell appeared just twice, completing two passes for 16 yards in a couple blowout games. That was the extent of his contribution to Sun Devil statistical history. No, Farwell's tale is not a football story. But a strong case could be made that his tale began because of football.
Fittingly, it was a Luciano Pavarotti compact disc that piqued Farwell's interest in the opera. After all, he was one of the most commercially successful purveyors of the opera genre and it was his rendition of "Nessun Dorma" that rocketed to the No. 2 tune on the charts in the United Kingdom in 1990.
It was at a high school party and the kids were enjoying the music of the time on their parent's six-CD changer. But once those songs had run their course, the CD player flipped over to "the parent's songs". And for the first time, Farwell heard the voice that would take him down his path as the world-famous operatic tenor's Greatest Hits began to fill the room.
"It came on and I had this, just this reaction to it. It was like the room melted away and I got lost in the music," Farwell said. "Once I came out of it, I asked my friend what this was. And she said, 'Well, it's opera'."
Farwell would keep that CD and it remains in his possession to this day. When he arrived at Arizona State, he would drive around campus, down Mill Avenue or University Drive, listening to those songs and singing along with them.
His teammates quickly picked up on it and some even reminisce of Farwell singing his operatic melodies in the showers. While Farwell claims to not "remember" those instances, he did recall one night in which he let loose for all in the locker room to hear: the night the Sun Devils clinched a berth in the Rose Bowl.
If discovering that Pavarotti disc was the flint of Farwell's musical career, the Rose Bowl was the steel.
One of the customary team functions during the Rose Bowl event was a talent show for the players hosted at Universal Studios. However, the players did not find out about the event until the day before they would be expected to perform.
"Nineteen-year-old me starts thinking it a great idea that I'm going to sing opera for the talent show," Farwell said. "I didn't even have sheet music. All I had was the little leaflet inside the CD that had all the Italian and English (lyrics)."
Farwell performed another of Pavarotti's famous aria numbers, "Vesti La Giubba". At the time, he had no idea that piece wasn't even typically attempted by classically trained singers until they were well into their forties. A limited experience with musical theater in high school aside, Farwell had never performed in front of a crowd before. It was there in Los Angeles that Gus Farwell, the singer, was introduced.
That performance would be one of Farwell's lasting memories of his time at Arizona State. And one of his final ones.
Tragedy struck two weeks after that Rose Bowl appearance. One of Farwell's closest friends was killed by a drunk driver. Farwell's passion for the sport was gone. "I just kind of lost interest in everything," he said. "l walked away from football, I walked away from ASU."
Farwell spent time away from everything, coming to grips with the loss. He would eventually return to school, graduating from Santa Clara with his theater degree in 2002. Shortly after, he flew across the world by himself and spent two months in Europe. A month of that trek was spent in Barcelona, where he became smitten with a young woman named Claire at 2 a.m. in a nightclub – ironically introduced because they were the only ones there that spoke English.
It's a tale as old as time. Two travelers meet in a foreign country and 18 years later, well, you know the rest. He and Claire married and have since started a family. The couple and their two daughters spent time in the states before deciding to return to the place where it all started nearly three years ago to continue building their life in Barcelona.
Football did not define Gus Farwell, but football did lay the groundwork for his future.
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Farwell never etched his name in the Sun Devil record books. He never led miraculous comebacks on the grandest stages. His name will never be spoken in reverent tones by old-timers reminiscing on the glutton of historical Sun Devil standouts.
No, the average Sun Devil fan may never have heard of Gus Farwell. But a good number of those average fans have, quite literally, heard him.
Even the most casual Arizona State fan likely recognizes the piercing operatic melody played over the loudspeakers intermittently throughout football games. Three simple
words that resonate with all Sun Devil faithful.
"Gooooo, Devilllllls, Goooooooo!"
The histrionic melody has long been a rally cry for Sun Devil Athletics. Coined and made famous by the late musical comedian Ernie Stewart in the 1980s, the tune has seen its
iterations at Sun Devil sporting events for over three decades.
But Stewart passed away in 1996 and the iconic number simply lived on sporadically through fans for nearly 20 years. That was until former Sun Devil tight end Gary Knudson crossed paths with Farwell several years ago and pitched the idea of recreating the rally cry in a way that could be a part of Sun Devil tradition more permanently.
Since the 2015 season, the three words have rung out to 50,000 strong on a weekly basis and Farwell has subtly entrenched himself in Sun Devil history. Farwell only spent one season in Tempe. But one could say that Ernie Stewart handed him the torch upon his passing in that very same year.
It was only one season, but Farwell is a Sun Devil through and through. His bond with his "brothers" remains untouched. They have remained in constant communication over the past two decades and Farwell looks back fondly on his time between the Buttes.
"Looking back, I can just think of how lucky I was to be there at that time and to be a part of that group," Farwell said. "I was unbelievably fortunate and it's just such a great community. But it's all about those guys."
Farwell maintains that he stays in touch with numerous members from that fateful squad - something that gives him a sense of comfort during these tumultuous times in the world.
"Here I am here in Spain and if I needed help, I could call 20 guys right now that I could think of off the top of my head and they would come running and I would do the same for them." he said. "We all call each other 'brother', and we are."
Farwell recalled a recent conversation with Plummer in which the two looked fondly on the bonds that they made at Arizona State and the fact that those relationships have gone far beyond the confines of Sun Devil Stadium.
"We never really talk about what happened on the field. It's all about the stuff that happened off the field." he said. "For me to be a part of it, I feel so fortunate to have been a part of that and to still be a part of it in any way that I can."
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Silence and sirens.
Those are the sounds that have slowly begun to weigh heavily upon the people of Barcelona. At 1.6 million people, the second-most populous municipality in Spain is not a place that doesn't bustle. It is a place that thrives late at night. At times, it's not unheard to be turned away at a restaurant at 8:30 p.m. because one arrived too early.
But as COVID-19 swept over the nation, a conflagration with no regard for the individuals it's consumed, the corroboree of Barcelona has come to an eerie and quiet halt. "It's like being in a movie. But it's not a movie - it's reality," Farwell reflects.
Spain has been among the hardest hit nations in the world, ravaged by the novel coronavirus with nearly 90,000 cases and close to 8,000 deaths. The country faces the third- highest rate of cases internationally and the second-most deaths behind Italy. It has enforced its stay-at-home rules for over two weeks now, effectively placing Farwell in lockdown. The normally hurly-burly metropolis of Barcelona is now veiled in macabre silence, pierced only by the sounds of first responders and medical workers racing across communities in an effort to save as many as can be saved.
But Farwell's voice has helped to ease some of that silent spread of melancholy.
His efforts actually began as a result of recognition for those first responders and medical workers on the front line of the virus. Communities across the nation organized a mass but brief celebration of those heroes at 8 p.m. nearly 18 days ago, thousands of people gathered outside their domiciles with many taking to their balconies and an uproarious round of applause was shared amongst the communities to recognize those who are at the heart of this battle.
The moment struck Farwell and by the time the final salvo of "Nessun Dorma" left his lips on that first night, the applause had redoubled – a community looking to rally behind a source of light in the darkness.
"I was like 'Well, if people like it and if it's making people happy then we're just going to keep going with this'," Farwell said.
Every night at 8 p.m. over the more than two weeks of lockdown, the masses gather outside to applaud for five to ten minutes. When the applause subsides, Farwell takes to the balcony to begin his "concert".
"At first, I just had a little speaker that I put between my legs," he laughs. "And then I started to get really into it. I've completely dismantled all of my entertainment system from my TV and I've moved the whole sound system to the balcony. My wife just looks at me like, 'What are you doing?'."
And so each night, Farwell introduces a new tune to those onlookers - though he admits that his repertoire has been decimated over two weeks into quarantine.
"The problem is that so much of the opera repertoire is that there's either love and hope or it's super tragic," Farwell notes. "I don't want to do the tragedy. We've had enough of that. I want to sing the songs that uplift and are about remembering hope and love."
To combat that, Farwell has stayed busy by learning new pieces and searching with his wife for more songs to perform. He has begun to try his hand at numbers he has never attempted before. He is attempting songs live for the first time, knowing that the world is now watching though he notes that that's a trivial matter in the grander scheme of things.
"I don't care. It's not about me. I don't care if I screw up. I don't care if I say the words wrong. I'm just here to try and entertain people and keep the spirits up." Farwell never thought that his efforts would make the viral rounds in the manner that they have.
"We were shocked by the way that people responded to it," Farwell said. "The comment sections are what got me. A lot of people are scared. They don't really know what's going on. I understand that. But the comments that get me are the ones that say 'I needed that. I needed to have a release.'."
DAY 16...O Sole Mio!!! ?? Let there be light! Daylight savings here last night so for the first time, we can all see each other out on our balconies. The amount of people was overwhelming to say the least! Keep your heads up and your spirits high! This too will pass! ?????? ???? pic.twitter.com/lvl3MatdT2
— Gustaf Farwell (@GusFarwell) March 29, 2020
On March 29 – the 16th day of the quarantine and the day of his interview – daylight savings time had begun in Spain and the clocks moved forward an hour. As a result - and for the first time in over two weeks - there was still light upon Barcelona when Farwell assumed his perch.
In a time of darkness and uncertainty, Farwell performed for his community and to the world with a song of hope. The song he chose that particular evening eponymously suited the Sun Devil as he sought to provide a glimmer – even if just for a moment.
And so began the first verse of the globally known Neapolitan song, ''O Sole Mio" – the title in itself translating literally to "my sun" or "my sunshine".
Che bella cosa na jurnata 'e sole, (What a beautiful thing is a sunny day!)
n'aria serena doppo na tempesta! (The air is serene after a storm,)
Pe' ll'aria fresca pare già na festa... (The air is so fresh that it already feels like a celebration.) Che bella cosa na jurnata 'e sole. (What a beautiful thing is a sunny day!)
And as the expat American tenor's rich voice crescendoed to the climactic G5 note of the refrain, hundreds joined together in a moment of unity to applaud Farwell and to celebrate all those risking their lives in the line of duty. In that moment, Farwell had provided everyone with the words of inspiration to continue to press forward and to face a common enemy, knowing that soon a new day will dawn.
And when that sunny day arises, the world will be Onward to Victory. Copyright ©2020 Arizona State University Athletics