Come due canne sul calcio del fucile come due promesse nello stesso aprile come due serenate alla stessa finestra come due cappelli sulla stessa testa come due soldini sul palmo della mano come due usignoli pioggia e piume sullo stesso ramo. Titti aveva due amori uno di cielo uno di terra di segno contrario uno in pace uno in guerra Titti aveva due amori uno in terra uno in cielo insomma di segno contrario uno buono uno vero. Come le lancette dello stesso orologio come due cavalieri dentro il sortilegio e furono i due legni che fecero la croce e intorno due banditi con la stessa voce come due risposte con una parola come due desideri per una stella sola. Titti aveva due amori uno di cielo uno di terra di segno contrario uno in pace uno in guerra Titti aveva due amori uno in terra uno in cielo insomma di segno contrario uno buono uno vero. Una storia sbagliata © 1980 Fabrizio De André/Massimo Bubola "Titti" was written as the B-side for "Una storia sbagliata." One of the least well-known of De André's songs, it was inspired by the novel Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands by Jorge Amado. |
Like two dogs on the butt of a rifle, like two promises in the same April, like two serenades at the same window, like two hats on the same head, like two soldiers on the palm of one hand, like two nightingales, rain and feather on the same branch. Titti had two loves, one of heaven, one of earth, of opposite signs, one of peace, one of war. Titti had two loves, one on earth, one in heaven, in short, of opposite signs - one good, one true. Like hands of the same clock, like two horsemen inside the sorcery. And there were two woods that made the cross, and ‘round about two thieves with the same voice, like two answers with one word, like two desires for one single star. Titti had two loves, one of heaven, one of earth, of opposite signs, one of peace, one of war. Titti had two loves, one on earth, one in heaven, in short, of opposite signs - one good, one true. English translation © 2014 Dennis Criteser |
Fabrizio De André, the revered Italian singer/songwriter, created a deep and enduring body of work over the course of his career from the 1960s through the 1990s. With these translations I have tried to render his words into an English that reads naturally without straying too far from the Italian. The translations decipher De André's lyrics without trying to preserve rhyme schemes or to make the resulting English lyric work with the melody of the song.
Monday, September 1, 2014
Titti
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