E mi e mi e mi anà anà e a l'aia sciurtì a suà suà e ou coèu ou coèu ou coèu da rebellà fin a piggià piggià ou trèn ou trèn E io e io e io andare andare e uscire all'aria sudare sudare e il cuore il cuore il cuore da trascinare fino a prendere a prendere il treno il treno E 'nta galleria gentè 'a l'intra au scùu sciòrte amarutia loèugu de 'n spesià e 'ntu strèitu t'aguèitan te dumàndan chi t'è a sustansa e u mestee che pe liatri viagià nu l'è E nella galleria la gente entra al buio esce ammalata cesso d' un farmacista e nello stretto ti guardano ti domandano chi sei il patrimonio e il lavoro che per loro non è viaggiare Poi te tucca un purtè lepegusu e una stansia luvega e 'nte l'àtra stànsia è bagàsce a dà ou menù e ti cu'na quàe che nu ti voèu a tià a bibbia 'nta miàgia serrà a ciàve ànche ou barcùn e arensenite sùrvia ou coèu Poi ti tocca un portiere viscido e una stanza umida e nell'altra stanza le bagasce a dare il menù e tu con una voglia che non vuoi a tirare la Bibbia nel muro chiudere a chiave anche la finestra e a ciambellarti sopra il cuore Uh mègu mègu mègu mè megùn Uh chin-a chin-a zù da ou caregùn Uh medico medico medico mio medicone Uh vieni vieni giù dal seggiolone 'Na carèga dùa nèsciu de ' n turtà 'na fainà ch'a sùa e a ghe manca'a sa tùtti sùssa rèsca da ou xàtta in zù se ti gii 'a tèsta ti te vèddi ou cù Una sedia dura scemo di un tortaio una farinata che suda e le manca il sale tutti succhiatori di lische dal pappone il giù se giri la testa ti vedi il culo e a stà foèa gh'è ou repentin ch'a te tùcche 'na pasciùn pe 'na faccia da madònna ch'a te sposta ou ghirindùn ùn amù mai in esclusiva sempre cun quarcòsa da pagà na scignurin-a che sùttu à cùa a gh'a ou gàrbu da scignùa e a star fuori c'è il rischio che ti tocchi una passione per una faccia da Madonna che ti sposta il comò un amore mai in esclusiva sempre con qualcosa da pagare una signorina che sotto la coda ha il buco da signora Uh mègu mègu mègu mè megùn Uh chin-a chin-a zù da ou caregùn Uh che belin de 'n nolu che ti me faièsci fa Uh ch'a sùn de piggià de l'aia se va a l'uspià Uh medico medico medico mio medicone Uh vieni vieni giù dal seggiolone Uh che cazzo di contratto mi faresti fare Uh che a forza di prendere aria si va all'ospedale E mi e mi e mi nu anà nu anà stà chi stà chi stà chi durmì durmì E mi e mi e mi nu anà nu anà stà chi stà chi stà chi asùnàme E io e io e io non andare non andare stare qui stare qui stare qui dormire dormire e io e io e io non andare non andare stare qui stare qui stare qui sognare Uh mègu mègu mègu mè megùn Uh chin-a chin-a zù da ou caregùn Uh medico medico medico mio medicone Uh vieni vieni giù dal seggiolone Mègu megùn © 1990 Fabrizio De André/Ivano Fossati "Mègu megùn" is, according to De André, the story of a guy who lived as a shut-in for years, without human contact and with no experience of the outside world. Feeling bad, he decides to go to a psychologist, who quickly assesses the problem and tells his patient he needs to go out into the world, visit places, meet people, get some air into his lungs and his brain. He follows the advice but after a while realizes that it's worse than before and he decides to return to his isolated life where, safe between the walls of his house, he can do two things - sleep and dream. |
And I and I and I, going, going and heading outdoors sweating, sweating, and the heart the heart the heart to drag along until taking, taking the train, the train. And in the gallery people enter into the darkness, go back out sick – pigsty of a pharmacist – and in the straits they watch you, they ask you who you are, your heritage and your work, which for them isn't traveling. Then a smarmy doorman touches you, and a humid room, and in the other room the sluts for giving the menu, and you with a desire you don’t want, to throw the Bible at the wall, to lock up the window, even, and to curl up over the heart. Oh doctor, doctor, doctor, my doctor. Oh come, come down from the high chair. A hard chair, fool of a cake maker, a flatbread that sweats and lacks salt, all bone suckers from pimps on down. If you turn your head around you’ll see your ass. And staying outside there’s the risk that you are touched by a passion for a Madonna face who moves your chest of drawers, a love never exclusive, always with something to pay for, a young lady who under the tail has the hole of an older one. Oh doctor, doctor, doctor, my doctor. Oh come, come down from the high chair. Oh what bullshit contract would you make me do? Oh by getting some fresh air one goes to the hospital. And I and I and I, not going, not going, staying here, staying here, staying here, sleeping, sleeping. And I and I and I, not going, not going, staying here, staying here, staying here, dreaming. Oh doctor, doctor, doctor, my doctor. Oh come, come down from the high chair. English translation © 2014 Dennis Criteser It took six years after the tremendous success of Creuza de mä for De André to release his next studio album, Le nuvole (The Clouds). In the meantime, he and Mauro Pagani explored several avenues of musical collaboration which did not come to fruition. De André had this to say about Le nuvole: "I realized that people are just pissed off, and since Le nuvole is a symbol of this dissatisfaction, the transference, the intermediary for this general discontent, I would say that the album was welcomed almost as a banner, like an emblem of the anger in the face of a nation that is going to the dogs, and certainly not through any fault of the citizens." Additionally, Mauro Pagani said the album was a fantastic description of Italy in the 1980s, with parallels to Europe in the early 1800s: "Italy in the early 1980s was like Europe in 1815: the Congress of Vienna, the fall of the Napoleonic empire, the sharing of the goods among the winning powers, social classes built on wealth instead of aristocracy, a society of fake Christianity . . ." The title of and inspiration for the album came from the comedy of the same name by Aristophanes, whom De André greatly admired. |
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.
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Le nuvole:
Mègu megùn - Doctor, Doctor
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