| Alex Britti
This was a big summer hit a few years ago. |
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| Appuntamento a mezzogiorno in piazza
La macchina l’ho controllata gia’ Quest’anno sara’ proprio grande vacanza e’ un anno che l’aspetto e tra un’ora si va In quattro amici destinazione mare Maschera e pinne non ci servono Camicie giuste per andare a ballare Che tanto il vero mare non si vede piu’ Ma quei locali visti sulle riviste Leggende metropolitane o no? Si era parlato di 6000 cubiste E questo è tutto quello che per ora so. Ma quell’amico un po’ più grande aveva detto “State in campana che non è proprio così Io ci sono già stato e allora vi consiglio Se fossi in voi ci andrei organizzato così ritornello: Io con la ragazza mia, tu con la ragazza tua Lei con il ragazzo suo e a te con chi ti pare a te La prima sera subito in discoteca Madonna qui che atmosfera c’è Non sono mai stato meglio neanche a una partita Mi sembra proprio questo il posto giusto per me Mentre ballavo si avvicina una tipa Mi guarda e penso già che è pazza di me Mi sento grande in questo mondo formica Ci parlo due minuti e tutto viene da sé Ma quell’amico grande mi tornava in mente Diceva è inutile che andate fino lì Vi divertite ma non conquistate niente Secondo me è meglio organizzati così… (ritornello) Arriva il punto di restare da soli Le dico prendi le tue cose e via Andiamo fuori mia regina di cuori Continuiamo a bere nella stanza mia Prendo le chiavi e avverto gli amici Mezzo minuto poi mi giro e non c’è Mi guardo intorno e dopo un attimo vedo Che parla con un altro grosso il doppio di me Vi giuro che non ho potuto fare niente M’ha rovinato le vacanze quello lì Che con la scusa dell’amico intelligente Mi ha portato sfiga e adesso canto così… (ritornello) |
Appointment at mid-day in the piazza
I’ve already checked the car This year it’ll really be a great vacation I’ve been waiting year for it, and in one hour we go. Four friends, destination: sea We don’t need masks or fins [just] The right shirts to go dancing In any case, you don’t see the real sea anymore. But those clubs seen in magazines Urban legends or not? They speak of 6000 go-go dancers And that’s all I know for now. But that slightly older friend had said: “Be careful that it’s not really like that I’ve already been there and I therefore advise you If I were you I’d go organized like this:” refrain: Me with my girl, you with your girl She with her guy and you with whomever you like The first evening immediately to the disco Madonna, what an atmosphere! I’ve never felt better, not even at a [soccer] game This really seems like the right place for me. While I was dancing a girl came up She looks at me and I already think I feel big in this world of ants I talk to her for two minutes and everything comes on its own [naturally] But that older friend returned to mind He said: “It’s useless to go all the way there You’ll have fun but you won’t conquer anything, I say it’s better to go organized like this…” (refrain) The moment arrives [for us] to be alone I tell her “Get your things and we’ll go Let’s go out, my queen of hearts We’ll keep drinking in my room.” I get the keys and tell my friends, Half a minute, then I turn and she’s not there I look around me and after a moment I see She’s talking to another guy, twice as big as me. I swear to you I couldn’t do anything That guy ruined my vacation With the excuse of the intelligent friend He brought me bad luck (refrain) |
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if you find this useful and want more, let me know! |
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Category Archives: Italian songs
Learn Italian in Song: First Me, Second Me
| This song is an interesting challenge. It was pointed out to me by Rocco Tanica, songwriter and keyboardist with Elio e le Storie Tese, as “a song we wrote to make a joke about Italians pretending to speak English (just like me) with a literal translation of the Italian words (example, quanti anni hai? = “how many years you have” instead of “how old are you”).” | |||
| FIRST ME. | |||
| I would like to writing and singing a song in english, | |||
| tongue that I’ve studied at the medium school. | In Italian lingua is used for “tongue” both in the sense of the one in your mouth and one that you speak. Which is also true in English, but “tongue” for “language” is somewhat archaic these days. Medium = media, which is also used for middle school (scuola media). | ||
| I’d surely find the way to recreate the original sound | |||
| of the wonderful Beatles english. | |||
| I would pick up a girl and | |||
| – thank you to the original sound of the wonderful Beatles english – | |||
| I would conquer her, | In Italian conquistare is used (also) in the context of a romantic conquest. | ||
| I would marry her and together we will farrow so many much childs. | They were thinking of the Italian word sgravare (roughly: “de-pregnantize”), which is used for the act of giving birth but (at least in polite company) only when referring to animals. Farrow is the English word used for sows giving birth to piglets. And of course a classic mistake on the irregular plural of “child”. | ||
| So we would live until the late age (her), | i.e., she will live to a tarda eta’ (“advanced age”), while the speaker, being immortal… | ||
| while I would never die just like Highlander; | |||
| but not like Sean Connery, better like Christopher Lambert: | |||
| young through the centuries but without cut the head. | |||
| So every night I dream my unrealizable, unreasonable, | |||
| unrecognizable, unjamestaylorable, unstatesmanlike dream come true. | |||
| This video only contains the second half of the song – sung by James Taylor! – but it very helpfully includes both the English and Italian lyrics. | |||
| SECOND ME (THE PEAK OF THE MOUNTAIN). | Secondo me could literally be translated as “second me,†but it actually means “according to meâ€. | ||
| How you call you? How many years you have? | |||
| From where come? How stay? | Come stai = “How are you?” | ||
| Not to be sad: | |||
| the life is a thing wonderful and I am here for make it wonderfuler. | |||
| Not see the my love for yourself? | “The my love†because in Italian all nouns usually take an article (the, a, an). In Milan (at least), names are treated the same way, so you will hear people refer to la Paola or il Daniele. | ||
| For force, not is visible. | For force = per forza, which would be better translated “perforce†| ||
| Not hear the sound of the my guitar? | |||
| Is play from me; is play for you, is play for we. | A classic abuse of a preposition in suonato da me. Da would often be translated as “from†in English, but in this case it should be “byâ€. To be fair, prepositions are hard to get right; the usages are so different in every language. | ||
| Oui, je t’aime, je t’aime – yes -, must to be the my girl; | |||
| come on the my car that I bring you at make one tour. | Another preposition confusion in vieni sulla mia macchina. In Italy you don’t ride in a car, you ride on it. Ti porto a fare un giro would be better translated as “I’ll take you for a rideâ€. | ||
| What think of the my car? | |||
| Is much beautiful, second me | Molto can be translated as very, much, or many. | ||
Learn Italian in Song: Guarda Come Dondolo
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Look How I SwingAnother evergeen hit from the early 60’s for Edoardo Vianello. Hasn’t got much in the way of lyrics and the video is lame (he’s dancing and we can’t see his feet!), but it’s catchy.
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| Guarda come dondolo, | Look how I swing | ||
| guarda come dondolo con il twist, | Look how I swing with the twist | ||
| con le gambe ad angolo, | with my legs at an angle | ||
| con le gambe ad angolo ballo il twist. | with my legs at an angle I dance the twist | ||
| Sarà perché io dondolo, | It must be because I swing | ||
| saranno gli occhi tuoi che brillano, | It must be your eyes that shine | ||
| ma vedo mille mille mille lucciole | but I see a thousand thousand thousand fireflies | ||
| venirmi incontro insieme, insieme a te! | coming towards me together, together with you! | ||
| … | |||
| Le ginocchia scendono, | The knees go down | ||
| le mie gambe tremano, | my legs tremble | ||
| forse sono brividi, brividi d’amor! | Perhaps these are shivers, shivers of love! | ||
Learn Italian in Song: I Giardini di Marzo
The Gardens of Marchmusic and lyrics by Lucio Battisti |
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| Il carretto passava e quell’uomo gridava ” gelati “ | The cart passed and that man shouted “ice creams” | ||
| al ventuno del mese i nostri soldi erano già finiti | By the 21st of the month our money was already finished | ||
| io pensavo a mia madre e rivedevo i suoi vestiti | I thought of my mother and saw [again] her dresses | ||
| il più bello era nero coi fiori non ancora appassiti | The most beautiful was black with flowers that had not yet wilted | ||
| all’uscita di scuola i ragazzi vendevano i libri | At the exit of the school the kids sold their books | ||
| io restavo a guardarli cercando il coraggio per imitarli, | I stayed watching them, seeking the courage to imitate them | ||
| poi sconfitto tornavo a giocar con la mente e i suoi tarli | Then, defeated, I returned to play with my mind and its woodworms | ||
| e la sera al telefono tu mi chiedevi perché non parli. | And in the evening on the phone you asked me “why don’t you speak?” | ||
| ritornello: | refrain: | ||
| che anno è, che giorno è | What year is it, what day is it? | ||
| questo è il tempo di vivere con te, | This is the time to live with you | ||
| le mie mani come vedi, non tremano più | my hands, as you can see, no longer tremble | ||
| e ho nell’anima in fondo all’anima | and I have in my soul, in the depths of my soul | ||
| cieli immensi e immenso amore | immense skies and immense love | ||
| e poi ancora, ancora amore amor per te, | And then again, again love, love for you | ||
| fiumi azzurri e colline e praterie | Blue rivers and hills and fields | ||
| dove corrono dolcissime le mie malinconie | where my melancholies run sweetly | ||
| l’universo trova spazio dentro me, | the universe finds room inside of me | ||
| ma il coraggio di vivere, quello, ancora non c’e’. | but the courage to live, that is still lacking. | ||
| i giardini di marzo si vestono di nuovi colori | The gardens of March dress themselves in new colors | ||
| e le giovani donne in quel mese, vivono nuovi amori | and the young women in that month live new loves | ||
| ” tu muori se mi aiuti, son certa | “You die if you help me, I’m sure | ||
| che io ne verrò fuori “ | that I will come out of it” | ||
| ma non una parola chiarì i miei pensieri | but not a word cleared my thoughts | ||
| continuai a camminare lasciandoti attrice di ieri. | I kept walking, leaving you actress of yesterday | ||
| che anno è, che giorno è. | what year is it, what day is it? | ||
Learn Italian in Song: Gianna
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Gianna
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| Gianna Gianna Gianna sosteneva, tesi e illusioni | Gianna Gianna Gianna supported theses and illusions | ||||
| Gianna Gianna Gianna prometteva, pareti e fiumi | … promised walls and rivers | ||||
| Gianna Gianna aveva un coccodrillo, ed un dottore | … had a crocodile, and a doctor | ||||
| Gianna non perdeva neanche un minuto, per fare l’amore* | …never wasted a minute in making love * | ||||
| Ma la notte la festa è finita, evviva la vita | But at night the party’s over, hurrah for life | ||||
| Chorus: | |||||
| La gente si sveste e comincia un mondo | People get undressed and a world begins | ||||
| un mondo diverso, ma fatto di sesso | A different world, but made of sex | ||||
| e chi vivrà vedrà … | And who lives, will see. | ||||
| Gianna Gianna Gianna non cercava il suo pigmalione | …wasn’t searching for her Pygmalion | ||||
| Gianna difendeva il suo salario, dall’inflazione | …defended her salary from inflation | ||||
| Gianna Gianna Gianna non credeva a canzoni o UFO | …didn’t believe in songs or UFOs | ||||
| Gianna aveva un fiuto eccezionale, per il tartufo | …had an exceptional nose for truffles | ||||
| (chorus) | |||||
| Ma dove vai, vieni qua, ma che fai? | But where are you going, come here, what are you doing? | ||||
| Dove vai, con chi ce l’hai? Vieni qua, ma che fai? | Where are you going, who are you mad at… | ||||
| Dove vai, con chi ce l’hai? Di chi sei, ma che vuoi? | …Whose are you, but what do you want? | ||||
| Dove vai, con chi ce l’hai? Butta la’, vieni qua, | …Throw it there, come here, | ||||
| chi la prende e a chi la da! Dove sei, dove stai? | Who takes it and who gives it! Where are you, where are you staying? | ||||
| Fatti sempre i fatti tuoi! Di chi sei, ma che vuoi? | Always mind your own business!… | ||||
| Il dottore non c’e’ mai!Non c’e’ mai! Non c’e’ mai! | The doctor’s never here! He’s never here! Never here! | ||||
| Tu non prendi se non dai! Vieni qua, ma che fai? | You don’t get if you don’t give! Come here, but what are you doing? | ||||
| … | |||||
* This line can be interpreted in at least three different ways:
I had originally thought of the first two possible interpretations, with my daughter supporting number two. Then my husband came up with twist number three, because he interprets the song to mean that Gianna does it for money. Rino Gaetano is long dead, so we can’t ask him… |
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