Alex Britti
Again, it could only happen in Italy: a pop/blues singer pens a love song to his parents.
| Hey, papa’, stammi a sentire, | Hey, Dad, listen to me | |
| ti ricordi quella volta che siamo andati a pedalare | Remember that time we went pedalling | |
| con le biciclette stanche, | With our tired bicycles | |
| con le mani sporche e vuote | With our hands dirty and empty | |
| eravamo come fratelli, | We were like brothers | |
| uguali come due ruote | Equal as two wheels | |
| ti ricordi la domenica mi portavi con te allo stadio | Remember on Sundays you took me with you to the stadium | |
| quella volta che m’hai preso in braccio | That time you took me in your arms | |
| con la curva sotto assedio | With the curve* under siege | |
| la gente che scappava, | People running away | |
| sembrava una guerriglia | It seemed like guerilla warfare | |
| io sembravo un’ostrichetta | I was like a little oyster | |
| e tu la mia grande conchiglia | And you my big shell | |
| hey, papa’, la sera in televisione | Hey, Dad, the evenings with the TV | |
| si guardava d tutto e niente col tuo zapping da campione | We watched everything and nothing with your champion channel-surfing | |
| e mamma che sbuffava, | And Mom who snorted | |
| e noi litigavamo, | And we argued | |
| eravamo così uguali eppure non ci capivamo | We were so much alike and yet we never understood each other . | |
| noi, confusi dalla vita e dal lavoro, | We, confused by life and work | |
| da una vita che non si è scelta ma che ci sembrava d’oro | By a life we hadn’t chosen but which seemed golden to us | |
| bianco & nero come un film degli anni ’30 | Black and white like a 1930s film | |
| anche se me ne hai fatte tante, | Even if you did a lot to me | |
| la mia fiamma non si è spenta | My flame hasn’t gone out | |
| e sto qui a cantare col tuo sangue nelle vene, | And I’m here singing with your blood in my veins | |
| me ne hai fatte tante ma ti voglio bene | You’ve done a lot to me, but I love you | |
| hey, mamma, guardami adesso, | Hey, Mom, look at me now | |
| sempre lo stesso figlio anche se non parliamo spesso | Always the same son even if we don’t talk often | |
| come quando da bambino che sembravi mia sorella | Like when I was a child and you seemed like my sister | |
| ti vedevo in mezzo agli altri ed eri sempre la piu’ bella | I saw you among the others and you were always the most beautiful | |
| mi ricordo che stavamo praticamente sempre insieme, | I remember that we were practically always together | |
| tua unica missione era farmi stare bene | Your only mission was to make me happy | |
| anche quando invece non era tutto a posto, | Even when, after all, not everything was fine | |
| mi guardavi sorridendo e soffrivi di nascosto | You looked at me, smiling, and suffered in hiding | |
| e quando arrivava l’estate andavamo sempre al mare | And when summer came we always went to the sea | |
| con la macchina senza radio pensavamo noi a cantare | With our car without a radio – we took care of singing | |
| le canzoni d Bennato, Battisti e de Gregori | The songs of Bennato, Battisti, and de Gregori* | |
| eravamo sull’asfalto ma sembrava in mezzo ai fiori | We were on the asphalt but it seemed we were among flowers | |
| e poi la sera non volevo mai dormire | And then at night I never wanted to sleep | |
| e tu anche se eri stanca mi venivi a coccolare | And, even if you were tired, you came to cuddle me | |
| e ancora adesso che non stiamo tanto insieme, | And even now that we aren’t together much | |
| penso a quei momenti d’oro se ho bisogno di star bene | I think of those golden moments if I need to feel happy | |
| passa il tempo, | Time passes, | |
| siamo grandi in un istante | We grow up in an instant | |
| e sei ancora la mia voce piu’ importante | And you’re still my most important voice. | |
| quante volte vi ho pensato nei momenti piu’ importanti | How many times I’ve thought of [both of] you in my most important moments | |
| quando solo sopra un palco e affrontavo i miei giganti | When, alone, I go up on a stage and confront my giants | |
| quando in macchina di notte con l’europa da scoprire, | When in a car at night, with all of Europe to discover | |
| fare finta di star bene per non farvi preoccupare | I pretend to be happy so as not to worry you | |
| quante volte ho detto basta ma chi me lo fa fare? | How many times I’ve said “Enough, who’s forcing me to do this?” | |
| però poi pensando a voi non riuscivo mai a mollare | Then thinking of you I could never manage to give up | |
| questa vita d speranze ma piena di emozioni | This life [built on] hopes but full of emotions | |
| questa vita che racconto spesso nelle mie canzoni | This life that I often recount in my songs | |
| qualcosa che va oltre la realta’ e che non finira’ mai | Something that goes beyond reality and that will never end. | |
Curva: The rabid and dangerous fans (called tifosi – literally “infected with typhoid”) of football/soccer teams tend to gather in the curves of their home team’s stadium. Sometimes minor wars break out between the fans of opposing team, or they throw fireworks, bottles, and whatever else they can lay hands on (a motor scooter, once). Innocent people get hurt, and even die. One of many reasons I don’t go to live games.
Giants: Britti is a fantastic blues guitarist and has played with Ray Charles. We saw Alex Britti in concert years ago.
