Volume III: La guerra di Piero - Piero's War

Dormi sepolto in un campo di grano non è la rosa non è il tulipano che ti fan veglia dall'ombra dei fossi ma son mille papaveri rossi lungo le sponde del mio torrente voglio che scendano i lucci argentati non più i cadaveri dei soldati portati in braccio dalla corrente così dicevi ed era inverno e come gli altri verso l'inferno te ne vai triste come chi deve il vento ti sputa in faccia la neve fermati Piero , fermati adesso lascia che il vento ti passi un po' addosso dei morti in battaglia ti porti la voce chi diede la vita ebbe in cambio una croce ma tu no lo udisti e il tempo passava con le stagioni a passo di giava ed arrivasti a varcar la frontiera in un bel giorno di primavera e mentre marciavi con l'anima in spalle vedesti un uomo in fondo alla valle che aveva il tuo stesso identico umore ma la divisa di un altro colore sparagli Piero, sparagli ora e dopo un colpo sparagli ancora fino a che tu non lo vedrai esangue cadere in terra a coprire il suo sangue e se gli sparo in fronte o nel cuore soltanto il tempo avrà per morire ma il tempo a me resterà per vedere vedere gli occhi di un uomo che muore e mentre gli usi questa premura quello si volta , ti vede e ha paura ed imbracciata l'artiglieria non ti ricambia la cortesia cadesti in terra senza un lamento e ti accorgesti in un solo momento che il tempo non ti sarebbe bastato a chiedere perdono per ogni peccato cadesti interra senza un lamento e ti accorgesti in un solo momento che la tua vita finiva quel giorno e non ci sarebbe stato un ritorno Ninetta mia crepare di maggio ci vuole tanto troppo coraggio Ninetta bella dritto all'inferno avrei preferito andarci in inverno e mentre il grano ti stava a sentire dentro alle mani stringevi un fucile dentro alla bocca stringevi parole troppo gelate per sciogliersi al sole dormi sepolto in un campo di grano non è la rosa non è il tulipano che ti fan veglia dall'ombra dei fossi ma sono mille papaveri rossi. La guerra di Piero © 1964 Fabrizio De André "La guerra di Piero" was the B-side of a single released in 1964, and it received little notice. However, in 1968 the song became an anthem to militant anti-war students in Italy and achieved the stature of Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind." The song has its origins in stories told to De André by his uncle, who served in World War II in the Albanian campaign and spent almost two years at the Mannheim concentration camp as a prisoner of war. He never recovered from the wartime trauma, and his stories made an indelible impression on the young De André. Even though credited only to De André, the music of the song was co-written with guitarist Vittorio Centanaro. "La giava," translated as "square dance," was in fact a fast waltz popular in France after World War I, considered by some an indecent dance because it involved touching the hips of the girl (gasp!).

You sleep buried in a field of grain. It’s not the rose, it's not the tulip that stands vigil over you by the shadow of the trenches, but a thousand red poppies. Along the banks of my stream I wish the silver pikes would swim past, no more the cadavers of soldiers carried in the arms of the current. Thus you were saying, and it was winter. And like the others, towards the inferno you go, sad as one who must. The wind spits snow in your face. Stop Piero, stop now, let the wind pass over you a bit, bring to you the voice of the battle dead - whoever gave his life had a cross in exchange. But you didn’t hear it, and time passed with the seasons at the pace of a square dance, and you arrived to cross the frontier on a beautiful day in spring. And while marching, shouldering your spirit, you saw a man down in the valley with the very same mood as yours, but the uniform of a different color. Shoot him, Piero, shoot him now, and afterwards fire a shot at him again until you don’t see him, lifeless, falling to the ground to cover his blood. And if I shoot him in the forehead or in the heart, he’ll only have time to die. But time will remain for me to see, to see the eyes of a man who is dying. And while you give him this consideration, he turns, he sees you and is afraid and, his artillery raised and aimed, he doesn't return the same courtesy to you. You fell to the ground without a cry and were aware in an instant that there would not be enough time for you to ask pardon for every sin. You fell to the earth without a cry and realized in an instant that your life was ending that day, and there would be no return. My Ninetta, dying in May takes way too much courage. Beautiful Ninetta, straight to hell I would have preferred to go in winter. And while the grain stood to hear you, in your hands you were gripping a rifle, in your mouth you clenched words too cold to melt in the sun. You sleep buried in a field of grain. It’s not the rose, it's not the tulip that stands vigil over you by the shadow of the trenches, but a thousand red poppies. English translation © 2014 Dennis Criteser Volume III, released in 1968 just three months after the release of Tutti morimmo a stento, included four new songs along with re-recorded versions of other songs released previously as singles. The new songs weren't originals, however: two translations of Georges Brassens songs, a 13th century Italian sonnet set to music, and a traditional 14th century French song. The lack of originals and the timing of the release points to the fact that De André's label wanted to release something on the heels of the huge success of the Mina cover of "Marinella" that was released at the end of 1967. Volume III had strong sales for two years following its release.

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