Apologies for being largely absent the last week. As I said, orientation took up a lot of my time, so much so that I missed the last Song-Time Sunday. For this reason, I am giving everyone double the songs today!
First up we have a very popular partisan song, “Bella Ciao.” Because of its popularity, in fact, I have found a ridiculous number of versions, including one by Chumbawumba. What?
Lyrics:
- Una mattina mi son svegliata
- Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao Ciao Ciao
- Una mattina mi son svegliata
- Ed ho trovato l’invasor
- O Partegiano, portami via
- Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao Ciao Ciao
- O Partegiano, portami via
- Perche mi sembra di morir
- E se Io muoio sulla montagna
- Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao Ciao Ciao
- E se Io muoio sulla montagna
- Tu mi devi seppellir
- E tu mi devi seppellire
- Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao Ciao Ciao
- E tu mi devi seppellire
- Sotto l’ombra di bel fior
- E tutti quali che passerano
- Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao Ciao Ciao
- E tutti quali che passerano
- E poi diranno che bel fior
- E questo fiore da partegiano
- Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao Ciao Ciao
- E questo fiore da partegiano
- E il fior di liberta
- Translation:
- One morning I woke up
- Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao Ciao Ciao
- One morning I woke up
- And I found the invader
- Oh Partisan, carry me away
- Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao Ciao Ciao
- Oh Partisan, carry me away
- Because it feels like death
- And if I die on the mountain
- Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao Ciao Ciao
- And if I die on the mountain
- You must bury me
- And you must bury me
- Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao Ciao Ciao
- And you must bury me
- Under the shade of beautiful flowers
- And all those that pass
- Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao Ciao Ciao
- And all those that pass
- Will say what beautiful flowers
- And this flower of a partisan
- Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao Ciao Ciao
- And this flower of a partisan
- Is the flower of freedom
- Lyrics and translation found at: http://struggle.ws/songs/italian/BellaCiao.html
- I’ve been thinking about singing “Bella Ciao” for my show, actually. It’s a nice song, and very symbolic. I have mixed feelings about it, only because it does carry so much weight and it is so recognizable. We shall see.
- Okay, so to be fair this next song isn’t…entirely Italian. But I’ve been really into Italian-American immigrants, as you probably know. Sooooo…Dean Martin’s “Mambo Italiano!” Talk about stereotypes! Still, I love this song.
- Finding lyrics for this has been interesting, because nobody seems to be able to get the dialecty Anglo-Italian stuff. I’ve tried my best:
- A boy went back to Napoli
Because he missed the scenery
The native dances and the charming songs
But wait a minute, something’s wrong…. -
Hey, mambo! Mambo italiano!
Hey, mambo! Mambo italiano
Go, go, go you mixed up Siciliano
All you Calabrese do the mambo like you crazy with a -
Hey mambo, don’t wanna tarantella
Hey mambo, no more a mozzarella
Hey mambo! Mambo italiano!
Try an enchilada with baccala and then a – -
Hey compar’, I love a how you dance a rhumba
But take a some advice paisano –
Learn how to mambo;
If you gonna be a square
You ain’t a gonna go nowhere! -
Hey mambo! mambo italiano!
Hey mambo! mambo italiano!
Go, go, Joe, shake like a Giovanno
Hello, che se dice, “you getta happy in the feets-a”
When you mambo italiano -
And a hey ciagrol’ (?) you don’t a have to go to school
Just make-a with a big bambino,
It’s a like a vino –
Kid you good a lookin’ but you don’t a-know what’s cookin’ till you -
Hey mambo, Mambo italiano
Hey mambo, Mambo italiano
Ho, ho, ho, you mixed up Siciliano
it’s a so delish a ev’rybody come capische
How to mambo italianoooooo! - Okay…so I altered the lyrics from Rosemary Clooney’s version of the song, apparently (found here: http://www.lyricsdepot.com/rosemary-clooney/mambo-italiano.html), and it’s pretty challenging. I was a little stunned that this version didn’t have the “baccala” part correct – I thought that was pretty straightforward. Of course, many of the other version had Joe shaking like “tiavanna,” not “Giovanno,” so…. Moral of the story, Italian is difficult to understand when it’s smooshed in with English!
- Anyway, I hope you have all enjoyed this double Song-Time Sunday! I promise to try and be better about posting this next week – now that I don’t have morning to evening orientation to distract me from my Div III!
- A presto!