America the Favored

Italia d'oro

by Pierangelo Bertoli

Read my translations on lyricstranslate

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lyrics

the translation

America the Favored

They tell the stories of all of their victories,
Finally the judges respect the true past,
Justice is now with the rich and the righteous
and kicks to the curb humanity's ass.

Please tell me now if All Lives really Matter,
Murder is criminal, worthy of death,
Why the most powerful interests give praise
to all the murders protecting their cash?

Billionaires whisper the new rules like thunder,
The voices of fairness and liberty still,
while the books of the wolves down on Wall Street are clean
of the blood of the peasants who pay all the bills.

America the favored, fruit of all our labors, crowned above our neighbors,
Why are so many poor?
America the cold, old glory 'round your shoulders, feed us your leftovers
Swept up off the floor,
Eat up all that you wish while you still choose the dish.
You never pay the bill.
No!

Everything's lost in the glare of the rockets
Hiding the blows that keep falling at home
Over the streets of the weak and forgotten.
War machines never will grind themselves down.

Talking heads parrot the thoughts and the prayers,
Tears of our leaders who cry for the poor,
While greasing the door between Wall Street and Washington,
Claiming their freedom to win with our dough.

I only hope to stay on the side of humanity,
Casting bright light on the billionaires' lies,
Not hiding in ignorant, moderate lives,
I'm hoping we'll change the ones who decide.

America the favored, fruit of all our labors, crowned above our neighbors
Why are so many poor?
America the cold, old glory 'round your shoulders, feed us your leftovers
Swept up off the floor,
Eat up what you wish while you still choose the dish.
You never have to pay.
Never!

Oh, say does the star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Oh, say does the star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

original lyrics with literal and poetic translations

Italia d’oro

Italy the Golden

America the Favored

Racconteranno che adesso è più facile
They'll tell you that now it's easier than ever
They tell the stories of all of their victories,
che la giustizia si rafforzerà
To see justice is done,
Finally the judges respect the true past,
che la ragione è servire il più forte
That reason serves the strong
Justice is now with the rich and the righteous
e un calcio in culo all'umanità
and kicks humanity's ass.
and kicks to the curb humanity's ass.

Ditemi ora se tutto è mutevole
Tell me now, if everything can change,
Please tell me now if All Lives really Matter,
se il criminale fu chi assassinò
If the criminal was the murderer,
Murder is criminal, worthy of death,
poi l'interesse così prepotente
Then why do the powerful interests
Why the most powerful interests give praise
che conta solo chi più sterminò
only praise the one who killed the most.
to all the murders protecting their cash?

Romba il potere che detta le regole
The rule making powers thunder
Billionaires whisper the new rules like thunder,
cade la voce della libertà
The voice of freedom falls
The voices of fairness and liberty still,
mentre sui conti dei lupi economici
While the accounts of the economic wolves
while the books of the wolves down on Wall Street are clean
non resta il sangue di chi pagherà
Are clean of the blood of the people who will pay.
of the blood of the peasants who pay all the bills.

Italia d'oro frutto del lavoro cinta dall'alloro
Italy the golden, fruit of the laborers crowned with laurels,
America the favored, fruit of all our labors, crowned above our neighbors,
trovati una scusa tu se lo puoi
Excuse it if you can.
Why are so many poor?
Italia nera sotto la bandiera vecchia vivandiera
Italy the black, under the old flag, Barkeeper
America the cold, old glory 'round your shoulders, feed us your leftovers
te ne sbatti di noi
that doesn't give a shit about us,
Swept up off the floor,
mangiati quel che vuoi fin quando lo potrai
Eat up while you can,
Eat up all that you wish while you still choose the dish.
tanto non paghi mai
You never have to pay the bill.
You never pay the bill.
mai.
Never.
No!

Tutto si perde in un suono di missili
Everything gets lost in the sound of missiles
Everything's lost in the glare of the rockets
mentre altri spari risuonano già
While other blows resound already
Hiding the blows that keep falling at home
sopra alle strade viaggiate dai deboli
Over the streets traveled by the weak,
Over the streets of the weak and forgotten.
la nostra guerra non si spegnerà
Our war will never put itself out.
War machines never will grind themselves down.

E torneranno a parlarci di lacrime
And they'll come back and tell us, crying,
Talking heads parrot the thoughts and the prayers,
dei risultati della povertà
About the sadness of poverty,
Tears of our leaders who cry for the poor,
delle tangenti e dei boss tutti liberi
About the bribes and crime bosses all freed
While greasing the door between Wall Street and Washington,
di un'altra bomba scoppiata in città
By another bomb in the city.
Claiming their freedom to win with our dough.

Spero soltanto di stare tra gli uomini
I only hope to remain among men,
I only hope to stay on the side of humanity,
che l'ignoranza non la spunterà
That ignorance won't dull us,
Casting bright light on the billionaires' lies,
che smetteremo di essere complici
That we won't be accomplices,
Not hiding in ignorant, moderate lives,
che cambieremo chi deciderà
That we will change who decides.
I'm hoping we'll change the ones who decide.

Italia d'oro frutto del lavoro cinta dall'alloro
Italy the golden, fruit of the laborers crowned with laurels,
America the favored, fruit of all our labors, crowned above our neighbors
trovati una scusa tu se lo puoi
Excuse it if you can.
Why are so many poor?
Italia nera sotto la bandiera vecchia vivandiera
Italy the black, under the old flag, Barkeeper
America the cold, old glory 'round your shoulders, feed us your leftovers
te ne sbatti di noi
that doesn't give a shit about us,
Swept up off the floor,
mangiati quel che vuoi fin quando lo potrai
Eat up while you can,
Eat up what you wish while you still choose the dish.
tanto non paghi mai
You never have to pay the bill.
You never have to pay.
mai.
Never.
Never!

Fratelli d'Italia, l'Italia s'è desta
Brothers of Italy, Italy arms itself
Oh, say does the star-spangled banner yet wave
dell'elmo di Scipio s'è cinta la testa.
with the helm of Scipio bound 'round its head.
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Fratelli d'Italia l'Italia s'è desta
Brothers of Italy, Italy arms itself
Oh, say does the star-spangled banner yet wave
dell'elmo di Scipio s'è cinta la testa.
with the helm of Scipio bound 'round its head.
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

sheet music and chords

Italia d'oro by OldYogre

the original

comments

Pierangelo Bertoli wrote a song that won 4th place at the San Remo music festival in 1992. It is one of his most popular, from a career spanning decades and well over a dozen albums. Yet there isn't a translation for it on lyrics translate.com into any language. To be fair, lyricstranslate skews to new popular music, since it's powered by volunteer translations, but the rest of his 5 or 6 most popular songs have translations, many into English. I thought, maybe I can contribute something! This was even one of the most famous Italian protest songs, so it was one of the reasons I discovered Bertoli.

Then I read the lyrics. I understood all the words, after looking up a couple, but I had no idea what it meant. So I started reading backward looking news stories praising the song and telling its context. “Italia d'oro” came out near the beginning of 'tangentopoli' and 'Mani Puliti' and 'Italia d'oro' and 'Napoli d'oro' and the like. It was experienced by many as profetic of what would unfold in the next years.

You probably feel as enlightened as I did. So I dived into the Wikipedia rabbit hole of 1990s Italian history. I'm still not sure I've put it all together right, but I'll share what I took away:

Government and businesses in Italy had formed hidden partnerships
All across the country, businesses bribed politicians and politicians gave them lucrative government contracts and regulations.
Over several years, or maybe a decade, starting in the 1980s, investigative journalists and some dedicated members of law enforcement and the judiciary, carefully and quietly collected evidence about the corruption.
In the early 1990s, with the most memorable and traumatic events happening in 1993, I think, they started to act on the information they had collected. Politicians were brought down. Mafia bosses were tried and convicted. Scandals were everywhere.
At least one judge, other less prominent figures, and too many innocents, were killed in Mafia violence, including bombings, against the efforts to hold them to justice.
The main ruling parties in the Italian parliament lost power, new parties began, and Italian politics was drastically changed.
I think 'Italia d'oro' was a reference to the politicians and corrupt businesses enriching each other at everyone else's expense.
'Mani Puliti', meaning clean hands, was a movie quote, and was actually said by one corrupt politician, telling people that his hands were clean of the horrible wrongs done by the Mafia, all while he had been taking bribes for years.

All this history, and I'm sure more that I don't have a clue about, but is known to all Italians, shows up in the lyrics of Bertoli's song. No wonder no one had translated the song. You could translate all the words, and half the song would still make no sense.