Let me sing
With the guitar in my hand
Let me sing
I'm an Italian
Good Morning, Italy with your spaghetti "al dente" [1]
And a partisan for President [2]
With the car radio always in the right hand [3]
And a canary over the window
Good morning Italy with your artists [4]
With too much America on the billboards [5]
With the songs, with love, with the heart
With more women less and less nuns [6]
Good morning, Italy
Good morning, Maria [7]
With her eyes full of melancholy
Good morning, God
You know that I'm here too [8]
Let me sing
With the guitar in my hand
Let me sing
A song slowly slowly
Let me sing
Because I'm proud of that
I'm an Italian
A true Italian
Good morning, Italy who is not afraid [12]
And with the mint shaving foam
With a pinstripe suit in blue
And the “moviola" on Sundays on TV [9]
Good morning, Italy with espresso coffee
The new socks in the top drawer
With the flag in the laundry [10]
a Seicento with an old bodywork [11]
Good morning, Italy
Good morning, Maria
With her eyes full of melancholy
Good morning, God
You know that I'm here too
Let me sing
With the guitar in my hand
Let me sing
A song slowly slowly
Let me sing
Because I'm proud of that
I'm an Italian
A true Italian
Let me sing
With the guitar in my hand
Let me sing
A song slowly slowly
Let me sing
Because I'm proud of that
I'm an Italian
A true Italian
Notes
[1] Spaghetti al dente means Spaghetti served not completely cooked; in Italy it is a long standing issue the problem of how long to cook spaghetti. In the south it is preferred to boil them not very much, while in the north they are boiled for a lot of time (spaghetti scotti).
[2] In the 80’s the President of the Italian Republic was Sandro Pertini; he was a partisan leader against the Fascism during the Second World War.
[3] In the nouveau riche Italy of the 80’s the car radio was a status symbol. In “right hand” because not left in the car, as highly risky to be stolen.
[4] It is well known that Italy is "the country of saints, poets, and sailormans"...
[5] The first of a series of verses full of political criticism: after the Second World War the Italian culture was invaded by the American myth, il mito Americano.
[6] There are two different meanings of this verse. The first one is related to a social analysis: in the modern Italy the number of nuns decreased due to secularization of the society. The second one is moral: women of our times forgot the holy principles of the ancient society; note that in Italy is usual to call suora, nun, a girl that doesn’t go with a man if he doesn’t have serious intentions (marriage).
[7] Maria is also the mother of Christ.
[8] The Author is frightened of God having forgot him.
[9] Moviola is the replay of the relevant moments of the football matches of the day, on Sunday evening. Football matches were played on Sunday but it was not possible to see them live on television, so Moviola was very popular.
[10] Another political verse: patriottism was not common in Italy after the fascism (the flag was “useless”). [
11] Seicento (600) was a very popular small car produced by FIAT Auto, the symbol of Italian industry (now in deep crisis). The fact the auto has an old bodywork is another symbol of the moral decadence of Italy in the 80’s.
[12] At that time in italy, a lot of people died because of terrorism. Also it was the decade of the “Mostro di Firenze”, a serial killer who at that time killed dozen of boys and girls, and terrorised Italy for a long time.
(from
www.caffeforum.it)
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