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recorded by Rita Pavone 
Written by Verde / Canfora Another silly song from the sixties. |
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Il Ballo del Mattone |
The Dance of the Brick/Tile |
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| Non essere geloso se con gli altri ballo il twist, | Don’t be jealous if with the others I dance the twist | ||||
| non essere furioso se con gli altri ballo il rock: | Don’t be furious if with the others I dance rock | ||||
| con te, con te, con te che sei la mia passione | With you, with you, with you who are my passion | ||||
| io ballo il ballo del mattone. | I dance the dance of the tile | ||||
| Non provocar la lite se con gli altri ballo il twist, | Don’t provoke a fight if with the others I dance the twist | ||||
| non provocar scenate se con gli altri ballo il rock: | Don’t cause scenes if with the others I dance rock | ||||
| con te, con te, con te che sei la mia passione | With you, with you, with you who are my passion | ||||
| io ballo il ballo del mattone. | I dance the dance of the tile | ||||
| Lentamente, guancia a guancia, | Slowly, cheek to cheek | ||||
| io ti dico che ti amo | I say that I love you | ||||
| tu mi dici che son bella | You tell me that I’m beautiful | ||||
| dondolando, dondolando sulla stessa mattonella! | Rocking, rocking on the same tile! | ||||
| (ripetere) | (repeat) | ||||
Category Archives: Italy
Aggiungi un Posto a Tavola: Peccato Che Sia Peccato
It’s a Shame That It’s a Sin
This song, the second in the show, is built around a pun. Peccato means “sin,” but the phrase Che peccato is used like the English “What a shame!”
The singers are Don Silvestro, the priest, and Clementina, the mayor’s daughter, who has a crush on him (which he, secretly, reciprocates) and goes daily to confess sins that she hasn’t actually committed, just to have an excuse to talk to him.
Continue reading Aggiungi un Posto a Tavola: Peccato Che Sia PeccatoAggiungi un Posto a Tavola: Buttalo Via
Aggiungi un Posto a Tavola – An Italian Musical
Add Another Place at the Table
I’m a huge fan of musical theater, grew up singing along with The Music Man, Camelot and Oliver. The first show I saw on stage was You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, in what must have been a local or travelling production, in San Francisco, when we were on home leave in 1969. I knew all these shows by heart, and by now know (and have seen) many more – most recently, Spamalot.
Continue reading Aggiungi un Posto a Tavola – An Italian Musical
Flowers and Male Strippers to Celebrate International Women’s Day
Many countries throughout the world (but not the US) celebrate March 8th as International Women’s Day, in Italy known as the Festa della Donna.
Everyone is supposed to show their appreciation for women’s achievements on this day. Men take their female colleagues to lunch and give them flowers. In Italy, the flower of choice for this is the mimosa. I have in the past cynically speculated that the reason for this choice is that, at least in northern Italy, mimosas are not yet in bloom as early as March 8th, so the flowers must be imported – on March 8th, everybody from street hawkers to greengrocers has little sprigs of mimosa to sell at ridiculous prices.
This year, global warming has foiled the profiteers: our neighbors’ mimosa trees are already in luscious full bloom, perfuming the air with their sweet scent, and enlivening the scenery with feathery foliage and bright yellow blooms like tiny pom-poms.
This is unfortunate for me, because I am dreadfully allergic to mimosa. And someone always gives me some for the Festa della Donna. I gracefully acknowledge (and truly appreciate) the gesture, then get rid of the flowers as quickly as I can. I would prefer red roses and dark chocolate, but I guess that would have been more appropriate for Valentine’s Day.
As with most holidays in this day and age, la Festa della Donna has become commercialized, with bars and restaurants offering what the Brits would call “hen nights” – male strippers, drinks and music, and a fixed menu including a cake called mimosa – a white cake base with lots of whipped cream, decorated with fluffy little yellow balls of something that look like mimosa blooms. (Also not my favorite – give me devil’s food any day.)
What will I do to celebrate this year? Probably what I do on this day every year, and what women mostly do all year round: work. I’m not feeling very celebratory. On top of premature spring allergies, I have my usual drug-resistant long-running sinus infection which refuses to go away after more than month. I’m on my second round of antibiotics now, plus aerosol etc. to try to clear out the gunk. Another effect of global warming (I suppose) has been an unusually dry winter, so Milan’s pollution is worse than ever. Between that and the boss’ cigars, going in to the office has become hazardous to my health.
Mar 9, 2008 – Read something about the origins of La Festa della Donna that I never knew!
