Bella ciao
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bella ciao is an Italian partisan song of the World War II. The origins of the song are uncertain. The music seems to come from a predating folk song and the author of the lyrics is unknown. The song has been recorded by various artists in many different languages including Italian, English, Spanish, German, Kurdish, and Turkish.
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[edit] Italian Lyrics
- Una mattina mi son svegliato,
- o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
- Una mattina mi son svegliato
- ed ho trovato l'invasor.
- O partigiano, portami via,
- o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
- O partigiano, portami via,
- ché mi sento di morir.
- E se io muoio da partigiano,
- o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
- E se io muoio da partigiano,
- tu mi devi seppellir.
- E seppellire lassù in montagna,
- o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
- E seppellire lassù in montagna
- sotto l'ombra di un bel fior.
- E le genti che passeranno
- o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
- E le genti che passeranno
- Mi diranno «Che bel fior!»
- «È questo il fiore del partigiano»,
- o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
- «È questo il fiore del partigiano
- morto per la libertà!»
[edit] English translation
Note: rhymes could not be rendered in English, and several short Italian words (bella, ciao) translate into long English words (beautiful, goodbye), so that the result is quite "heavier" than in the original version.
- This morning I awakened
- Oh Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye! bye! bye!
- This morning I awakened
- And I found the invader
- Oh partisan carry me away
- Oh Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye! bye! bye!
- Oh partisan carry me away
- Because I feel death approaching
- And if I die as a partisan
- Oh Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye! bye! bye!
- And if I die as a partisan
- Then you must bury me
- Bury me up in the mountain
- Oh Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye! bye! bye!
- Bury me up in the mountain
- Under the shade of a beautiful flower
- And those who shall pass
- Oh Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye! bye! bye!
- And those who shall pass
- Will tell me what a beautiful flower it is
- This is the flower of the partisan
- Oh Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye! bye! bye!
- This is the flower of the partisan
- Who died for freedom
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
Sweetheart goodbye, oh goodbye, oh goodbye-bye-bye!
One morning when I awakened
I found invaders all around
Oh partisan, come take me with you
Sweetheart goodbye, oh goodbye, oh goodbye-bye-bye!
Oh partisan, come take me with you
Because I feel ready to die
If I die fighting as a partisan
Sweetheart goodbye, oh goodbye, oh goodbye-bye-bye!
If I die fighting as a partisan
You must come and bury me
Bury me there, up in the mountains
Sweetheart goodbye, oh goodbye, oh goodbye-bye-bye!
Bury me there, up in the mountains
Shade my grave with a lovely flower
So all the people who pass that way
Sweetheart goodbye, oh goodbye, oh goodbye-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 -"
Sweetheart goodbye, oh goodbye, oh goodbye-bye-bye!
"Ah that's the flower of the partisan fighter
who died for freedom’s sake!"
[edit] Chumbawamba Remake
The Anarchist punk/pop group Chumbawamba released a contextually similar song for the anglosphere with the same refrain and title (in Italian), but completely different structure and lyrics. This musical adaptation was based on anarchist peers Dog Faced Hermans version, released as single in 1988, though the lyrics was sung as the original in Italian.
Tom Frampton and Mark Gunnery, members of the Riot Folk collective, have each done their own version of the song as well, based on the lyrics by Chumbawamba.
[edit] Grup Yorum's version
The Turkish Communist folk music group, Grup Yorum released the Turkish version of the song and named it "Çav Bella" (written the way it's pronounced) in their "Haziranda Ölmek Zor/Berivan" released in 1988 as the outro of the album. The song is very famous especially amongst the leftist Turks and Kurds.
[edit] Music file
English re-write, Mark Gunnery (mp3) (same tune, lyrics very loosly based on original)
[edit] External links
- Collection of Bella Ciao mp3s
- A slightly different Italian version from the website of the Associazione Nazionale Partigiani d'Italia
