| Originale | Traduzione italiana / Italian translation / Traduction italienne... |
| IRISH WAYS AND IRISH LAWS | USANZE E LEGGI IRLANDESI |
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| Once upon a time there were | C'erano una volta |
| Irish Ways and Irish Laws | Usanze e leggi irlandesi |
| Villages of Irish blood | Villaggi di sangue irlandese |
| Waking to the morning | Che si svegliavano al mattino |
| Waking to the morning | Che si svegliavano al mattino |
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| Then the Vikings came around (1) | Poi arrivarono i Vichinghi |
| Turned us up and turned us down | A sconvolgere le nostre vite |
| Started building boats and towns | Cominciarono a costruire navi e città |
| They tried to change our living | Tentarono di cambiare il nostro modo di vivere |
| tried to change our living | Tentarono di cambiare il nostro modo di vivere |
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| Cromwell and his soldiers came (2) | Cromwell e i suoi soldati arrivarono |
| Started centuries of shame | Iniziarono secoli di vergogna |
| But they could not make us turn (3) | Ma non riuscirono a cambiarci |
| We are a river flowing | Siamo un fiume che scorre |
| We're a river flowing | Siamo un fiume che scorre |
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| Again, again the soldiers came | Ancora e ancora i soldati sono venuti |
| Burnt our houses stole our grain | A bruciare le nostre case e a rubare il nostro grano |
| Shot the farmers in their fields | Ad uccidere nei loro campi i contadini |
| Working for livings | Che lavoravano per vivere |
| Working for a living | Che lavoravano per vivere |
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| 800 years we have been down (4) | Per 800 anni siamo stati dominati |
| The secret of the water sound | Il segreto del suone dell'acqua |
| Has kept the spirit of a man | Ha tenuto lo spirito di un uomo |
| Above the pain descending | Fuori dal dolore dominante |
| Above the pain descending | Fuori dal dolore dominante |
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| Today the struggle carries on | Oggi la lotta continua |
| I wonder will I live so long | Mi chiedo se vivrò sufficientemente a lungo |
| To see the gates being opened up (5) | Per vede i cancelli aprirsi |
| To a people and their freedom | Ad un popolo e alla sua libertà |
| A people and their freedom | Ad un popolo e alla sua libertà |
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| Once upon a time there was | C'erano una volta |
| Irish Ways and Irish Laws | Usanze e leggi irlandesi |
| Villages of Irish blood | Villaggi di sangue irlandese |
| Waking to the morning | Che si svegliavano al mattino |
| Waking to the morning | Che si svegliavano al mattino |
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(1) The first documented Viking landing took place in 795. Until the Anglo-Norman invasion in 1170 the Vikings would play an important role in Ireland, both politically and economically. They created trade routes, founded kingdoms, and built the first towns in Ireland, including Dublin, Cork and Limerick.
(2) Oliver Cromwell landed in Ireland in August 1649 at the head of a huge army, by May 1650 he had crushed opposition in all but the West.
(By 1652 the Irish population had fallen to .7 m. In 1641 it had been 1.5 m. By 1660 .5 m cattle were being exported annually to England.)
(3) Both Cromwell's and subsequent colonisation campaigns used the twin techniques of "planting" English and Scotish settlers and forcing some locals to change or "Turn" their religion to the Protestant faith. So here he uses the ambiguity of the term "turn" to echo both the image of the unbowed Irish peasant and a metaphor for Irish History flowing like a un-turnable river.
(4) Since the first English invasion in 1170
(5) "Gates" here evokes both images of the be-sieged walled cities of the 17th century and also of the present day prison camps in the North of Ireland which at the time the song was being written (in the late 1970's early 1980's) were the subject of much political campaigning
including Hunger Strikes by the inmates.
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