Bella ciao
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Bella ciao" ("Goodbye beautiful!") |
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| Music by | Traditional |
|---|---|
| Lyrics by | Anonymous |
| Language | Italian |
"Bella ciao" is an Italian partisan song of World War II.
Contents |
[edit] History
The song Bella Ciao was sung by the left-wing anti-fascist resistance movement in Italy, a movement composed of anarchists, communists, socialists and also by militant anti-fascist partisans. The author of the lyrics is unknown, and the music seems to come from an earlier folk song sung by riceweeders. Another interpretation has been given following the discovery in 2006 by Fausto Giovannardi of the CD "Klezmer – Yiddish swing music" including the melody "Koilen" played in 1919 by Mishka Ziganoff.[1] The song was used as part of the soundtrack for Yugoslavian Film MOST in 1969.
[edit] Lyrics
Note: rhymes are not rendered in English in the translation below, and several short Italian words (bella, ciao) translate into long English words (beautiful, goodbye), without keeping meter.
Also, there are several verses which differ in the Italian version, i.e. different ways to sing those verses. Those are written in brackets.
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[edit] Alternate translations
Alternate, less literal and more "singable" translation – which also makes explicit some aspects that are left implicit in the Italian text:
- SWEETHEART GOODBYE
- One morning when I awakened
- Oh beauty bye, beauty bye, beauty bye-bye-bye!
- One morning when I awakened
- I found invaders all around
- Oh partisan, come take me with you
- Oh beauty bye, beauty bye, beauty bye-bye-bye!
- Oh partisan, come take me with you
- Because I feel ready to die
- If I die fighting as a partisan
- Oh beauty bye, beauty bye, beauty bye-bye-bye!
- If I die fighting as a partisan
- You must come and bury me
- Bury me there, up in the mountains
- Oh beauty bye, beauty bye, beauty bye-bye-bye!
- Bury me there, up in the mountains
- Shade my grave with a lovely flower
- So all the people who pass that way
- Oh beauty bye, beauty bye, beauty bye-bye-bye!
- So all the people who pass that way
- Will say "Oh see that lovely flower! – "
- "Ah that's the flower of the partisan fighter – "
- Oh beauty bye, beauty bye, beauty bye-bye-bye!
- "Ah that's the flower of the partisan fighter
- who died for freedom's sake!"
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- Anita Lane's Translation:
Anita Lane's version is unique, as it is both literal, and singable. She has kept "Bella Ciao" phrase untranslated, and this helps the translation to mirror the original theme of the song.
- And in one morning I was awakened
- oh Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
- and in one morning I was awakened
- and found the enemy was here.
- Oh Partisan, take me from this place
- oh Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
- oh Partisan, take me from this place
- because I feel I'm dying here.
- And if I die, up on that mountain
- oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
- and if I die, up on that mountain,
- then you must bury me up there.
- Bury me high up, up on that mountain
- oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
- bury me high up, up on that mountain
- and let the flowers mark my grave.
- Oh Partisan, take me from this place
- oh Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
- oh Partisan, take me from this place
- because I feel I´m dying here.
- Ciao Ciao Ciao
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- Chumbawamba interpretation:
- This is the version sung by the english band chumbawamba
- The world is waking outside my window
- Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
- Drags my senses into the sunlight
- For there are things that I must do
- Wish me luck now, I have to leave you
- Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
- With my friends now up to the city
- We're going to shake the Gates of Hell
- And I will tell them – we will tell them
- Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
- That our sunlight is not for franchise
- And wish the bastards drop down dead
- Next time you see me I may be smiling
- Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
- I'll be in prison or on the TV
- I'll say, "the sunlight dragged me here!"
[edit] International versions
In addition to the original Italian, the song has been recorded by various artists in many different languages, including Arabic, Bosnian, Breton, Chinese, Croatian, Danish, English, Esperanto, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Japanese, Kabyle, Kurdish, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Slovenian, Spanish, Tibetan, Tunisian, Turkish and Tagalog.
- The song is sung in a slightly different manner by Norwegian socialists. This Norwegian version describes the oppression of workers on the rice fields, and speaks of the freedom to come.
- Azerbaijani singer Muslim Magomayev performed the song at some of his concerts and he stated that it was Brezhnev's favorite by him. [1]
- Bella Ciao is the end theme song for the Yugoslav World War II movie Most (The Bridge, The Savage Bridge).
- A rewritten version of the song can be heard on Chumbawamba's acoustic album "A Singsong and a Scrap".
- Another version of the song was recorded by the punk rock band Dog Faced Hermans[2] on the album "Every Day Time Bomb."
- Former Yugoslav punk rock bands KUD Idijoti and later Goblini recorded their versions of the track.
- Hungarian punk rock band Aurora has performed the song.
- Boston, Ma based band HUMANWINE performed a version of the song based on Chumbawamba's rewrite at their 27 June 2009 concert at the Paradise in Boston and has closed many shows since then with this number.
- Finnish hardcore punk band Riistetyt recorded a version of the song for their Proloaded Millenium album.
- Finnish glam punk band Pyhät Nuket, a later incarnation of hardcore punk band Riistetyt, recorded a version of the song on their Enkelit Sulkivat Silmänsä album.
- The German hip-hop group Chaoze One has recorded an electronic version of the song with opera singing on their album "Neue Kreise."
- Renowned filk musician Leslie Fish has written and performed several versions of the song, one of which can be found on the album "Smoked Fish".
- Folk artist Mirah lent her voice to this song on her 2004 album To All We Stretch the Open Arm.
- Anita Lane recorded a version in English for her 2001 album "Sex O'Clock".
- Breton folk punk band Les Ramoneurs de menhirs recorded a version in Breton and French but called it BellARB.
- Titubanda, a brass marching band from Rome, performed Bella Ciao on Wall Street during the 2008 financial meltdown at a rally with the Billionaires for Bailouts formerly known as Billionaires for Bush.[3]
- This song is used in internet motion to protest against the censorship that was applied in Tunisia in Ben Ali regime. The censor was called in Tunisia as a funny way "Ammar 404"[4] until the freedom of internet access with the Jasmine Revolution
- During the manifestation after Iranian election of June 2009 , the mixed video of this song with the pictures of protests and killed persons , made it a symbol for Iranian Green movement.
- Turkish protest music band Grup Yorum has performed the song around 1980, under the name "Çav Bella".
- Danish psychedelic rock group Savage Rose have recorded a version of this song on the albums "En Vugge Af Stål" from 1982 and "Ild Og Frihed" from 1989.
- Mexican punk band La Plebe perform Bella Ciao on their album Brazo en Brazo.
- Spanish ska-punk band Ska P commonly performs the song live, especially at concerts in Italy.
- Singer Manu Chao has also recorded a version of the song.
- American folk/rock band Foolproof Four recorded a version of Bella Ciao in 2011, available for free download on their Facebook page.[5]
- Nino Burjanadze used bella ciao at meetings in Tbilisi, 2011.
- Spanish punk band Boikot have incorporated a Spanish translation of "Bella ciao" into their song "No Pasarán".
- In September 2011, during the so-called Arab Spring, an Arabic version appeared on YouTube sung by an amateur in Syrian dialect.[6]
- Kurdish singer Ciwan Haco has included the song in his album Çaw Bella 1989 – Bochum – Germany.[7]
- The tune has been adopted in a song in the Tollywood movie Business Man starring Mahesh Babu, Music by S.S.Thaman.
[edit] See also
- Fischia il vento – another song associated with the Italian partisans
- Alexandrov Ensemble – one of the performers of this song
- Alexandrov Ensemble soloists – some of whom recorded this song
- Alexandrov Ensemble discography – which includes this song
- Hungarian version of the song – a dal Magyar változata.
[edit] References
- ^ Magomayev interview at "Russian Week", 2005.
- ^ Pyduc.com
- ^ TituBanda suona BELLA CIAO in WALL STREET – youtube
- ^ 404 error
- ^ Foolproof Four's Facebook page
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOOs4qTV7mI
- ^ http://ciwan-haco.net/2008/09/02/caw-bella/
[edit] External links
- A slightly different Italian version[dead link] from the website of the Associazione Nazionale Partigiani d'Italia
- Rimini.it Bella Ciao and other partisans songs from the website of the Associazione Nazionale Partigiani d'Italia section of Rimini
- Text of Bella ciao in 30 languages, with commentaries
- Alternative histories of Bella ciao
- Ma Belle Adieu, translated and sung in French by Laurence Biasizzo with Pavos Rojos
- Bella ciao – Gómez Naharro at YouTube.com
