Morti per niente
Giorgio Canali & Rossofuoco| Originale | English translation / Traduzione inglese / Traduction anglaise... |
| MORTI PER NIENTE | Dead for Nothing |
| L'autorevole compagno guarda in camera dice di armarsi, sì, ma di di pazienza poi con fare solenne imposta la voce e rende onore alla Resistenza sia ben chiaro solo a quella di ottant'anni fa | An influential comrade looks into the camera Says you’ve to arm yourself, yes, but with patience Then pitches his voice with solemn gestures And pays tribute to the Resistance movement Well, of course, just that of eighty years ago |
| E sventola come un trofeo il fiore secco del partigiano O bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao (1) | And he waves like a banner The withered flower of the Partisan O bella ciao, yes, good bye, bella ciao [1] |
| Impiccati sui viali a Bassano Spazzati via dai panzer a Montefiorino ad Alba duemila anime diventano duecento Per chi suona la campana quando fischia il vento? | Hanged to avenue trees in Bassano Swept away by tanks in Montefiorino Two thousand turned into two hundred in Alba For whom the bell tolls when the wind blows |
| Bersargli facili al poligono a Bologna braccati e accoppati in montagna traditi, rastrellati, fucilati, torturati in via Tasso e poi finiti | Easy targets in Bologna firing ground Hunted down and killed in the mountains Betrayed, shot, tortured and then finished in via Tasso [2] |
| Morti per la Libertà perché senza Libertà si muore morire per un sogno, un'idea una medaglia postuma al valore | Dead for Freedom Because you die without Freedom Dead for a dream, for an idea, A posthumous medal for valour |
| Poi alle cave l'odio cieco che esplode anche a Sant'Anna e Marzabotto si uccide Si muore a Vinca, Fucecchio, Cavriglia vestiti di nero i fantocci di paglia | And then, blind hatred exploding in the Caves Massacres in Sant’Anna and Marzabotto Slaughters in Vinca, Fucecchio and Cavriglia The straw puppets were all dressed in black |
| Rappresaglie di ferocia impunita Ma fa niente, dai, si ritorna alla vita Ma poi a Portella i banditi di Scelba sparano sulla folla a Reggio Emilia i boia di Tambroni cantano in coro boia chi molla | Savage and unpunished reprisals But doesn’t matter, life retakes its course But, then, in Portella della Ginestra, Scelba’s bandits shoot into the crowd And in Reggio Emilia, Tambroni’s butchers Sing in choir “Death to traitors” [3] |
| Morti per la libertà ché la libertà è spesso un sogno un'illusione come la democrazia quella che tu festeggi ogni 2 giugno | Dead for Freedom Well, Freedom often is a dream, An illusion, like democracy The thing you celebrate every June 2nd [4] |
| Saltano treni, banche e stazioni E chi non salta è Berlusconi e gli anarchici che non saltano dalla finestra ingozzati forzati a mangiar la minestra | Trains, banks and stations are blown up And, look! While you’re jumping, Berlusconi stays unexploded. [5] And the Anarchists who don’t jump down out from the window Are stuffed with this bitter, bitter soup [6] |
| Con quella faccia un po' così quell'espressione incredula che abbiamo noi che vi abbiamo visti a Genova (2) che abbiamo visto voi, nazisti senza svastica nei rastrellamenti di chi faceva ginnastica | With that iffy face And that iffy expression We have after seeing you in Genoa [7] You, yes you, fascists without swastikas In the roundups of runners and gym exercisers [8] |
| Eh già il fascismo è sempre là non è mai stato spazzato via è un cancro dentro ogni Stato e ogni stato è uno stato di polizia | Well cuz fascism is still there It’s never been wiped out It’s a cancer inside any State Any State is a police state |
| Morti per niente morti per niente morti per niente morti per niente | Dead for nothing Dead for nothing Dead for nothing Dead for nothing |
[1] (Ironic) reference is made to the famous Italian partisan song (see link). These first eight verses are taken word for word from another song by Giorgio Canali, Circondati (2020). [2] In Via Tasso 145, in Rome, there was a prison, used by the SS and their Italian fascist accomplices, through which approximately two thousand people passed during the German occupation: partisans, soldiers, ordinary citizens (among them approximately 300 women), anti-fascists and their relatives. The prison in Via Tasso is sadly famous also because the Jews rounded up from the Ghetto were locked up there before deportation to German concentration camps.  The SS prison in via Tasso 145, Rome [3] The expression “Boia chi molla” (lit. “Whoever gives up is a hangman”) is an Italian fascist slogan. Happily enough, there’s no exact rendering in English or other languages.  [4] The Italian national feast, celebrating the day (June 2, 1946) when the Republic was proclaimed. [5] A common Italian derogatory slogan for enemies (originating in stadiums) is: “Chi non salta, [XXX] è”. The crowd starts jumping howling the occasional enemy’s name. Peter Punk: Chi non salta Berlusconi è! Silvio Berlusconi: "Chi non salta nerazzurro (= FC Inter supporter) è! "Chi non salta comunista è! (the crowd at Berlusconi's burial ceremony) There’s an untranslatable joke here: while the crowd is jumping (“saltare” in Italian; = "exploding"), Berlusconi is not (“saltare” means also “explode, blow up” in Italian, just like French sauter). [6] The Italian idiomatic expression: “O mangiar questa minestra, o saltar dalla finestra” (lit. “Eat this soup, or jump down from the window”) means that you are obliged to do something, by force and willy-nilly. Reference is made here to the death of the Anarchist Giuseppe Pinelli (December 15, 1969), who fell from a 4th floor window in Milan police headquarters after being falsely accused to be among the authors of Piazza Fontana bombing, is expressed through this bitterly ironical idiom that cannot be rendered in any way in English. [7] These verses are slightly paraphrased from a well know song by Paolo Conte, “Genova per noi”: Reference is made to the events of July 20-22, 2001. [8] During the 2020 “pandemics” lockdown, the Italian police forces ruthlessly hunted anyone who left their homes without permission (runners, gym exercisers, bikers, people walking dogs etc.), often using disproportionate means. |
(2) citazione di Paolo Conte, "Genova per noi" :