by Franco Battiato
This song seems to be largely nonsense, but when I first heard it, it occurred to me that the chorus expresses something many people feel - unfortunately. Though the song is by Battiato, who is shown in the video here, musically I much prefer the Neri per Caso cover.
Centro di Gravità Permanente
Permanent Center of Gravity
Una vecchia bretone con un cappello e un ombrello
An old Breton [woman] with a hat and an umbrella
di carta di riso e canna di bambu`
of rice paper and bamboo cane
capitani coraggiosi
Captains courageous
furbi contrabbandieri macedoni
Clever Macedonian smugglers
gesuiti euclidei
Euclidean Jesuits
vestiti come dei bonzi per entrare a corte
Dressed like Buddhist monks to go to the court
degli imperatori della dinastia dei Ming.
of the Emperors of the Ming dynasty.
ritornello:
refrain :
Cerco un centro di gravita` permanente
I'm seeking a permanent center of gravity
che non mi faccia mai cambiare idea
That won't make me ever change my mind
sulle cose sulla gente
About things, about people
avrei bisogno di...
I would need...
Over and over again.
[surely you don't need me to translate this line!]
Per le strade di Pechino erano giorni di maggio
On the streets of Peking there were days of May
tra noi si scherzava a raccogliere ortiche
We joked among ourselves gathering nettles
non sopporto i cori russi la musica finto rock
I can't stand Russian choruses, fake rock music,
la new wave italiana il free jazz punk inglese
the Italian New Wave, free jazz, English punk
neanche la nera africana.
nor even the black African.
(ritornello)
(refrain)