venerdì 10 dicembre 2010

Ho visto un re ~ I saw a king

"I saw a king" is a famous song written by Dario Fo (Nobel Prize in Literature in 1997) and Omicron (pseudonym of master Eugenio Esposito) and singed by Enzo Jannacci. It was published in the music album "Vengo anch'io. No, tu no!" ("I come too. No, you not!) in 1968 (ARC ALPS 11007).
This song became very popular after Jannacci sang it with famous italian comedians like Dario Fo, Paolo Rossi and Cochi & Renato.
The lyrics are almost in italian, but some parts are in milan dialect (I'll write in italic those parts.). The song represents a dialogue between a group of farmers. In black the sentences sung by the main singer, in blue the sentences sung by chorus.

Italian lyrics:

Dai, dai, cunta su...
Mi?
Sì, propri ti!
Ah, beh... Sì, beh... Ah, beh... Sì, beh...
Ho visto un re.
Sa l'ha vist cus'è?
Ho visto un re!
Ah, beh... Sì, beh...
Un re che piangeva seduto sulla sella
piangeva tante lacrime
ma tante che
bagnava anche il cavallo!
Povero re!
E povero anche il cavallo!
Sì, beh... Ah, beh... Sì, beh...
È l'imperatore che gli ha portato via
un bel castello...
Ohi, che baloss!
...di trentadue che lui ce n'ha.
Povero re!
E povero anche il cavallo!
Sì, beh... Ah, beh... Sì, beh...
Ho visto un vesc...
Sa l'ha vist cus'è?
Ho visto un vescovo!
Ah, beh... Sì, beh...
Anche lui, lui, piangeva,
faceva un gran baccano,
mordeva anche una mano...
La mano di chi?
La mano del sacrestano!
Povero vescovo!
E povero anche il sacrista!
Sì, beh... Ah, beh... Sì, beh... Cunta su, dai.
È il cardinale che gli ha portato via
un'abbazia...
Oh, poer crist!
...di trentadue che lui ce n'ha.
Povero vescovo!
E povero anche il sacrista!
Sì, beh... Ah, beh... Sì, beh... Dai, cunta su...
Ho visto un ric...
Sa l'ha vist cus'è?
Ho visto un ricco! Un sciur!
Sì... Ah, beh... Sì, beh...
Il tapino lacrimava su un calice di vino
ed ogni go... ed ogni goccia andava...
Deren't al vin?
Sì, che tutto l'annacquava!
Pover tapin!
E povero anche il vin!
Sì, beh... Ah, beh... Sì, beh...
Il vescovo, il re, l'imperatore
l'han mezzo rovinato
gli han portato via
tre case e un caseggiato
di trentadue che lui ce n'ha.
Pover tapin!
E povero anche il vin!
Sì, beh... Ah, beh... Sì, beh... Dai, cunta su, dai, dai, cunta su!
Vist un villan.
Sa l'ha vist cus'è?

Un contadino!
Ah, beh... Sì, beh...
Il vescovo, il re, il ricco, l'imperatore,
persino il cardinale, l'han mezzo rovinato
gli han portato via:
la casa
il cascinale
la mucca
il violino
la scatola di kaki
la radio a transistor
i dischi di Little Tony
la moglie!
E po`, cus'è?
Un figlio militare
gli hanno ammazzato anche il maiale...
Pover purscel!
Nel senso del maiale...
Ah, beh... Sì, beh...
Ma lui no, lui non piangeva, anzi: ridacchiava!
Ah! Ah! Ah!
Ma sa l'e`, matt?
No! Il fatto è che noi villan...

[ everybody: ]

Noi villan...
E sempre allegri bisogna stare,
che il nostro piangere fa male al re.
Fa male al ricco e al cardinale:
diventan tristi se noi piangiam!
E sempre allegri bisogna stare,
che il nostro piangere fa male al re.
Fa male al ricco e al cardinale:
diventan tristi se noi piangiam!
Ah, beh!!

English translation:

Come on, tell us...
Me?
Yes, just you!
Oh, well... Yes, well... Oh, well... Yes, well...
I saw a re.
What did you saw?!
I saw a king!
Oh, well... Yes, well...
A king was crying sitten on the saddle
He had so tears
so many that
he also wetted the horse!
Poor king!
And also poor horse!
Yes, well... Oh, well... Yes, well...
The emperor carried away from him
a beautiful castle...
Oh, he was evil!
...from thirtytwo he owns.
Poor king!
And also poor horse!
Yes, well... Oh, well... Yes, well...
I saw a vesc...
What did you saw?!
I saw a bishop!
Oh, well... Yes, well...
He also was crying,
he made real noise,
he also bitted a hand...
Whose hand is it?
The verger's hand!
Poor bishop!
And also poor verger!
Yes, well... Oh, well... Yes, well... Come on, tell us!
The cardinal carried away from him
an abbey...
Oh, poor man!
...from thirtytwo he owns.
Poor bishop!
And also poor verger!
Yes, well... Oh, well... Yes, well... Come on, tell us...
I saw a ric...
What did you saw?!
I saw a rich person! A lord!
Yeah... Oh, well... Yes, well...
That poor man was crying on a glass of wine
and every drop... and every drop went...
Into the wine?!
Yes, they diluted it!
Poor poor man!
And also poor wine!
Yes, well... Oh, well... Yes, well...
The bishop, the king, the emperor
they almost ruined him
they carried away from him
three mansions and an apartment house
...from thirtytwo he owns.
Poor poor man!
And also poor wine!
Yes, well... Oh, well... Yes, well... Come on, tell us, tell us!
I saw a villan.
What did you saw?!
A farmer!
Oh, well... Yes, well...
The bishop, the king, the lord, the emperor,
also the cardinal, they almost ruined him,
they carried away from him:
the house
the farm
the cow
the violin
the box of persimmons
the radio
Little Tony's discs
the wife!
No, really! And then?
His son became a conscript soldier,
they also killed his pig...
Poor hog!
We're meaning the pig!
Oh, well... Yes, well...
But he didn't cry, rather he was laughing!
Ah! Ah! Ah!
What? Is he crazy?
No! The fact is that all we farmers...

[ everybody: ]

All we farmers...
We always have to be  cheerful,
'cause if we cry, the king becomes sad.
Also the rich person and the cardinal:
they become sad if we cry!
We have to be always cheerful,
'cause if we cry, the king becomes sad.
Also the rich person and the cardinal:
they become sad if we cry!
Oh, well!!


Comment:


This song appears off-the-wall, stupid and nonsense, but if we read it carefully, we can see that it is full of political and social metaphors.

The singer (a farmer) are telling to his farmers friends that he saw a lot of powerful men, and all of them are crying because someone more powerful stole something from them, and they are crying even if they own a lot of other things (for example the bishop lose an abbey, but he owns othe thirtyone abbeys!)

The person with less power than everyone else is the farmer, and he is the person who lose everything (the house, the farm, the cow, etc...) and he has no other things, but even if he became the more ruined person, he can't cry because the powerful people doesn't want to, because they want to stay quiet and safe, in fact they actually are afraid of the real poor people because they know that all their power is given them by poor people. Otherwise, the poor people doesn't know that they have the power to revolt against the powerful men, quite the opposite they obey the rules written by the powerful men.

Also the list of things stolen by the powerful men can be analized:


The house and the farm: a farmen has only one house and one farm, he hasn't 32 houses and 32 farms! so it's tragic if the powerful men steal them, 'cause he hasn't others.
The cow and the pig: in country, they are the two most important animals in the farm. The assure milk and meat, and for a farmer they are the worse thing to lose, worst than an abbey or a castle! You don't need a castle if you're sterving...
The violin, the radio, Little Tony's discs: the only things a farmer can use to have fun. A farmer can play music, can listen to the music and to the radio, he has not enough money to have fun with other stuff.
The box of persimmons: picked in autumn, they're one of the few fruit a farmer could eat in winter. They're very cheap fruits but the rich and powerful men are so greedy that they don't care.
The wife: you can imagine... :)
His son became a conscript soldier: a real tragedy for a aged farmer: he loses a important (and free!) helper in cultivating the farm.

Losing all this things are a real tragedy for a farmer, but he can't cry. Only when he'll understand that he can rebel against the powerful men, he'll can have freedom.
Because of these meanings, this song was censored in public television, but it became a hymn used by demonstrators (students and working class) in riots of 1968.

2 commenti:

  1. I can't speak italian and I wanted to understand the song so thank you very much.A friend from Thessaloniki ,Greece.

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