Lyrics for “Tu scendi dalle stelle” can be found on Google.
Here’s more on winter & Christmas in Italy:
Category Archives: Italian songs
Learn Italian in Song: Balla Linda
Another classic from Lucio Battisti.
Dance Linda
ritornello      refrain
Balla Linda balla come sai      Dance, Linda, dance as you know how
Balla Linda, non fermarti      Dance, Linda, don’t stop
Balla Linda, balla come sai      Dance, Linda, dance as you know how
Occhi azzurri belli come i suoi      Blue eyes like hers
Linda forse non li hai      Linda maybe you don’t have
Ridi sempre, non parli mai d’amore      You always laugh, you never speak of love
Pero’ non sai mentire mai.      But you never know how to lie
Mh Mh      Hmm hmm
Bella sempre, dolce come lei      Always beautiful, sweet as she
Linda forse tu non sei      Linda perhaps you aren’t
Tu non dici che resti insieme a me      You never say you’ll stay with me
Per non mi abbandoni mai      But you never abandon me
Tu non mi lasci mai      You never leave me
Ti cerco e tu, e tu ci sei      I look for you, and there you are
Ti cerco e tu mi dai quel che puoi      I look for you, and you give me what you can
Non fai come lei, no non fai come lei      You don’t do like her, no you don’t do like her
Tu non prendi tutto quello che vuoi.      You don’t take everything you can.
(repeat)
Learn Italian in Song: A Casa d’Irene
At Irene’s House
Nico Fidenco
I giorni grigi sono le lunghe strade silenziose         The gray days are the long, silent streets
Di un paese deserto e senza cielo         of a deserted country without a sky
(ritornello)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â (refrain)
A casa d’Irene si canta si ride         At Irene’s house [people] sing and laugh
C’e gente che viene, c’e gente che va         There are people who come, people who go
A casa d’Irene bottiglie di vino         At Irene’s house bottles of wine
A casa d’Irene stasera si va         Tonight [people] go to Irene’s house
Giorni senza domani e il desiderio di te         Days with no tomorrow and the desire for you
Solo quei giorni che sembrano fatti di pietra         Only those days which seem made of stone
Niente altro che un muro         Nothing else but a wall
Sormontato da cocci di bottiglia         topped with shards of broken bottles
(ritornello)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â (refrain)
E poi, ci sei tu a casa d’Irene         And then there’s you at Irene’s house
E quando mi vedi tu corri da me         and when you see me you run to me
Mi guardi negli occhi, mi prendi la mano         you look into my eyes, you take my hand
Ed in silenzio mi porti con te         and in silence you take me with you
(ritornello)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â (refrain)
Giorni senza domani e il desiderio di te         Days with no tomorrow and the desire for you
Nei giorni grigi io so dove trovarti         In the grey days I know where to find you
I giorni grigi mi portano da te         the gray days take me to you
A casa d’Irene, a casa d’Irene         At Irene’s house, at Irene’s house
(ritornello)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â (refrain)
Learn Italian in Song: Certi Momenti
Certain MomentsPierangelo Bertoli, 1980 A song in favor of a woman’s right to choose, from a time when either choice to be made for an unwanted pregnancy resulted in social stigma. Unfortunately, the song is relevant still today. For the moment (2008), abortion is legal in Italy, but the political right wing and the Catholic church are doing what they can to make obtaining an abortion – or even birth control – more difficult. Teenage pregnancy has not been a big phenomenon in Italy to date, but at this rate… A year or two ago we went out to dinner at Taverna ai Poggi, a restaurant near our home in Lecco. The only table left was in the basement, alongside a large (pre-arranged) banquet of some sort. We were a merry little bunch, and the restaurant staff kept apologetically asking us to quiet down so we wouldn’t disturb the other group. Perforce, we listened to them, and were astonished to hear a long recital of vitriolic anti-abortion poetry. Had I had my wits about me, I should have replied with this song. |
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| Anna che hai scavalcato le montagnee hai preso a pugni le tue tradizioni lo so che non é facile il tuo giorno ma il tuo pensiero é fatto di ragioni i padri han biasimato la tua azione la chiesa ti ha bollato d’eresia i cambiamento impone la reazione e adesso sei il nemico e cosi’ sia ritornello: Credo che in certi momenti il cervello non sa piu’ pensare e corre in rifugi da pazzi e non vuole tornare poi cado coi piedi per terra e scoppiano folgore e tuono non credo alla vita pacifica non credo al perdono Adesso quando i medici di turno rifiuteranno di esserti d’aiuto perchÉ venne un polacco ad insegnargli che é piu’ cristiano imporsi col rifiuto pretenderanno che tu torni indietro e ti costringeranno a partorire per poi chiamarlo figlio della colpa e tu una Maddalena da pentire. (ritornello) Volevo dedicarti quattro righe, per quanto puo’ valere una canzone credo che tu abbia fatto qualche cosa anche se questa é solo un’opinione che lascerai il tuo segno nella vita e i poveri bigotti reazionari dovranno fare senza peccatrici saranno senza scopi umanitari (ritornello x2) |
Anna, [you] who have climbed the mountainsand have beaten up your traditions
I know your day isn’t easy but your thought is made up of [correct] reasons The fathers have censured your action the church has declared you a heretic change requires reaction and now you’re the enemy, and so be it. refrain: I believe that in certain moments the brain doesn’t know how to think anymore and runs into crazy refuges and doesn’t want to return then I fall with my feet on the ground and lightning and thunder explode I don’t believe in the peaceful life, I don’t believe in pardon. Now that the doctors on duty will refuse to help you because a Polack* came to teach them that it is more Christian to impose oneself by refusal They will expect that you turn back and they will force you to give birth to then call him “child of shame” and you a Magdalene to repent. (refrain) I wanted to dedicate four lines to you, for whatever a song may be worth I believe you have done something, although this is only an opinion, that will leave your sign in life and the poor reactionary bigots will have to do without [female] sinners they will be without humanitarian aims. |
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| * Polacco in Italian is not a pejorative term. It merely connotes a male citizen of Poland, in this specific case, Karol Wojtyla, aka the late Pope John Paul II. However, I think the context justifies using the pejorative English term rather than the neutral (and potentially confusing, in spite of capitalization) “Pole”. | |||
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if you find this useful and want more, let me know! |
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Learn Italian in Song: Il Campo Delle Lucciole
The Field of Fireflies*Ligabue |
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| Questa è la tua prossima fermatadove io t’aspetto gia da un po’dove sta tranquilla che non ci sarà nessuno
so che arriverai emozionata e mi hai detto solo “perché no?” voglio che mi balli una canzone nuova nuova proprio qui che si può ritornello: nel campo delle lucciole ci siam gia detti tutto tacendo nel campo delle lucciole tutte le luci che vanno e vengono nel campo delle lucciole sotto la vigna a fare la pace con Dio siamo proprio fuori dalla festa ma la festa vera siamo noi dicono che il premio lo prendiamo un’altra vita voglio che ci ridi in questo posto perché qui le stelle contano e l’erba è solamente una parte del [ritornello] dicon tutti che la vita è corta basta che ti giri un attimo e capisci che non riesci a farci stare tutto ma questa è la tua prossima fermata dove io ti aspetto un altro po’ dove se ti porti dietro te sarà perfetto proprio qui che si può [ritornello] non va più via |
This is your next stopwhere I’ve already been waiting for you for some timewhere you can relax because there will be no one
I know you will arrive excited and you said only “Why not?” I want you to dance a song for me new, new right here because you can refrain: In the field of fireflies where we already said everything silently In the field of fireflies all the lights that come and go In the field of fireflies beneath the vine to make peace with God We’re certainly crazy but the real party is us they say we’ll get the prize – another life I want you to laugh here because here the stars count and the grass is only part of the [refrain] They all say that life is short it’s enough that you turn around for a moment and you understand that you can’t fit in everything but this is your next stop where I will await you a while longer where if you bring [only] yourself it will be perfect right here where we can [refrain] don’t go away again |
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| * Lucciole is also slang for prostitutes, I suppose because they shine at night.if you find this useful and want more, let me know! | |||
