Oct 15, 2011

I don’t feel Italian

Recently an Italian singer, Daniele Silvestri, made a cover of the song Non mi sento italiano (I don’t feel Italian), by Giorgio Gaber, singer-songwriter, actor and playwright, (groundbreaker of the musical genre known as teatro canzone (song theatre). This is one passage  of the song: "Excuse me, President," sings Gaber, "It's not my fault,/ But this country of ours,/ I don't know what it is./ Excuse me, President/ If I am so impudent/ As to say that I don't feel/ Any sense of belonging,/ And despite Garibaldi/ And other glorious heroes,/ I don't see any reason/ to feel proud." Below an English translation of the lyrics by Cristina Caimotto.
I do not feel Italian
I was born and live in Milan.
I do not feel Italian
but thankfully or unfortunately I am.
Excuse me President
It’s not my fault
But I dont' know what it means
to have patriotic feelings.
Maybe I am wrong
Maybe it’s a good idea
But I fear it may turn into
An ugly poem.
Excuse me President
I don’t feel the need
Of the national anthem
Of which I feel a bit ashamed.
As for football players
I don’t want to judge
Our players do not know it
Or maybe they have more decency.
I do not feel Italian
but thankfully or unfortunately I am.
Excuse me President
If I'm impudent enough
To state that I do not feel
Like I belong to anything.
Apart from Garibaldi
And other glorious heros
I don’t see any point
In being proud.
Excuse me President
But I have in mind the exaltation
Of black shirts
At the time of Fascism.
From which one fine day
This democracy was born
And you need a lot of fantasy
In order to praise it.
I do not feel Italian
but thankfully or unfortunately I am.
This wonderful Country
Full of poetry
Is well pretentious
But of our western world
It is the outskirt.
Excuse me President
But this Government of ours
That you represent
Seems to me a bit wrecked.
It is even too clear
For people to see
That everything is calculated
And nothing works.
It’s maybe that Italians
By long tradition
Are too keen to engage
in any kind of discussion.
Even in parliament
The atmosphere is incandescent
They slit each other’s throat
And then nothing changes.
I do not feel Italian
but thankfully or unfortunately I am.
Excuse me President
You must admit
That we should talk about
The shortcomings we have.
But apart from defeatism
We are what we are
And we also have a past
That we do not forget.
Excuse me President
But maybe us Italians
to other people are only
spaghetti and mandolini.
Then I get pissed off
I’m proud and I show off
I throw in their faces
What the Rinascimento stands for.
I do not feel Italian
but thankfully or unfortunately I am.
This wonderful Country
Is maybe not too wise
It has confused ideas
But had I been born in other places
It could have been worse.
Excuse me President
Now that I’ve said so much
There’s something else
That I believe is important.
Compared to foreigners
We believe less
But maybe we have understood
That the world is a puppet theatre.
Excuse me President
I know you’re not too happy
If people shout “Italia, Italia”
Only at a football match.
But in order to survive
Or maybe as a joke
As we’ve made Europe
Let’s make Italy as well.
I do not feel Italian
but thankfully or unfortunately I am.
I do not feel Italian
but thankfully or unfortunately
thankfully or unfortunately
thankfully
thankfully I am.

No comments:

Post a Comment