Le Mantellate - The Mantellate

Le Mantellate son delle suore A Roma son soltanto celle scure Una campana sona a tutte l'ore Ma Cristo non ce sta dentro a 'ste mura Ma che parlate a fa' Ma che parlate a fa' Qui dentro ce sta solo infamità Carcere femminile ci hanno scritto Sulla facciata d'un convento vecchio Sacco de paglia al posto del tuo letto Mezza pagnotta e l'acqua dentro ar secchio Le Mantellate son delle suore A Roma son soltanto celle scure Una campana sona a tutte l'ore Ma Cristo non ce sta dentro a 'ste mura Ma che parlate a fa' Ma che parlate a fa' Qui dentro ce 'sta solo infamità Nell'amore abbi fede ci hanno detto Domenica mattina alla funzione Tre mesi che me svejo e che t'aspetto Cent'anni che s'è chiuso 'sto portone Le Mantellate son delle suore A Roma son soltanto celle scure Una campana suona a tutte l'ore Ma Cristo no ce sta dentro a 'ste mura Ma che parlate a fa' Ma che parlate a fa' Qui dentro ce 'sta solo infamità Le Mantellate © 1959 Giorgio Strehler and Fiorenzo Carpi In the late 1950s, a genre of songs became popular in Italy that dealt with the criminal underworld. "Le Mantellate" was first recorded in 1961 by Ornella Vanoni, the Milanese artist most associated with these canzoni della mala. Gabriella Ferri was Vanoni's Roman counterpart in the genre. The best known prison in Rome is Regina Coeli; in the late 1800s a complex was added as a women's prison and called the Prison of the Mantellate, the latter being a congregation of sisters also called the Servants of Mary.

The Mantellate are some sisters, in Rome they’re only dark cells. A bell chimes at all hours, but Christ doesn’t fit here inside these walls. But what are you saying to do? But what are you saying to do? Here inside there’s only infamy. “Female prison” they wrote on the face of an old convent. A pile of hay in the place of your bed, half a loaf, and water inside a bucket. The Mantellate are some sisters, in Rome they’re only dark cells. A bell chimes at all hours, but Christ doesn’t fit here inside these walls. But what are you saying to do? But what are you saying to do? Here inside there’s only infamy. “Have faith in love,” they told us, Sunday morning at the function. Three months that I wake up and wait for you, a hundred years that this gateway is closed. The Mantellate are some sisters, in Rome they’re only dark cells. A bell chimes at all hours, but Christ doesn’t fit here inside these walls. But what are you saying to do? But what are you saying to do? Here inside there’s only infamy. English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser Gabriella Ferri was released in 1966, Ferri's first album as a solo artist. About half of the songs are classics from the canzone romana tradition, and the other half were written by Ferri.