Gli zingari - The Gypsies

Fu quando gli zingari Arrivarono al mare Che la gente li vide Che la gente li vide Come si presentano loro Loro, loro gli zingari Come un gruppo cencioso Così disuguale E negli occhi Negli occhi impossibile Impossibile poterli guardare E allora gli zingari Guardarono il mare E restettero muti Perché subito intesero Che lì non c'era niente Niente da dover capire Niente da stare a parlare Niente da stare a parlare C'era solo da stare Fermarsi e... e ascoltare Sì perché, perché il vecchio Proprio lui, lui il mare Parlò a quella gente Ridotta, svilita Parlò ma, ma non disse di stragi, di morti, di incendi Di guerra, d'amore, di bene e di male, non disse Lui li ringraziò solo tutti Di quel loro muto guardare E allora lui, il vecchio, lui Sì, proprio lui, il mare Parlò a quella gente Bizzarra, svilita E diede al suo corpo un colore anormale Di un rosso tremendo Qualcuno a star male Qualcuno a star male Questo... Fu quando gli zingari arrivarono al mare © 1968 Enzo Jannacci Canzonissima was an annual television variety show cum song competition that ran from 1956 to 1975. Jannacci made it to the finals in 1968 and wanted to present "Ho visto un re," but the network RAI thought it was too political. Jannacci fell back on "Gli zingari," a song much different from the songs that had charted, a song more delicate and earnest. The public didn't take to this serious side of Jannacci, and his disappointment in the results led him to spend the next four years in pursuit of his medical training, with music more of a side gig.

It was when the Gypsies were arriving at the sea that the people see them, that the people see them, as they present themselves, they, they, the Gypsies, like a ragged group, so different, and into their eyes, into their eyes, impossible, impossible to look into them. And then the Gypsies looked at the sea and remained silent because they immediately understood that there was nothing there, nothing to have to understand, nothing to stay and talk about, nothing to stay and talk about, there was only to stay put and . . . and to listen. Yes because, because the old man, that very one, him, the sea, spoke to that people, diminished, debased, spoke but, but he told not of slaughters, of death, of fires, of war, of love, of good and evil, he didn’t tell. He only thanked them, all of them, for that silent watching of theirs. And then he, the old man, he, yes, that very one, the sea, spoke to that people, strange, debased, and gave to their bodies an abnormal color, of a terrible red, someone falling ill, someone falling ill, this . . . It was when the Gypsies were arriving at the sea. English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser La mia gente is Jannacci's fourth studio album, released in 1970. After being disappointed by his showing at the 1968 Canzonissima song competition, Jannacci decided to distance himself from the world of show business and dedicate himself instead to further training in his chosen field of study, medicine. However, he was still under contract to RCA and owed them more albums. La mia gente reflects some of the bitterness and disillusionment that Jannacci felt in those years about the music world.