E l'era tardi - And It Was Late

E l'era tardi, l'era tardi In quella sera stracca Che m'è vegnü bisogn d'un mila franc Per quatà una trata Dumandà mi gh'avevi vergogna Dumandà e savé no a chi l'é ... Gh'era il Rino, l'è vera, il Rino Suldà insema in d'i bersaglier Ma l'era tardi, l'era tardi In quella sera stracca E distürbà la gent spusà de poc Col lavurà ch'el fiaca "La me scüsa, sciura, gh'è il Rino? La ghe disa che gh'è il bersaglier" El vien giò d'i scal in camisa Mi suridi, lü nanca un vers. "Ciao, Rino, scusa, el su, l'è tardi, ma ma in questa sera stracca - te vedet vurevi salüdatt, e po' ciamà i bei temp de la guera, vacca! Quant'è seret sensa murusa - te ricordet! Quand andavum a ciapà i ciucch ... Sì ma, Rino, gh'è sarìa un'altra roba ... Non andar via, Rino, ciao Rino ... Ohé!" E mi'l savevi l'era tardi Per disturbà la gent Ciapà magari a fa' l'amur La gent che la gh'ha i so impegn. Sì, ma em fa anca la guera insema Sott ai bumb, cuntra i füsilàd ... Val püssé in cö un bel mila lira in sacocia desmentegà ... E l'era tardi © 1964 Enzo Jannacci

And it was late, it was late, on that tired evening that I needed a thousand lira to cover a loan. To ask, I was ashamed, to ask, I didn’t know whom . . . There was Rino, it’s true, Rino, soldier with me in the sharpshooters. But it was late, it was late on that tired evening, to disturb people married not that long, with a job that tires. “Excuse me, ma’am, is Rino in? Tell him there’s a sharpshooter.” He comes down the stairs in a shirt, I smile, he doesn’t even nod. “Hi, Rino, excuse me, I know, it’s late, but, but in this tired evening, look, I wanted to say hi to you, and then to remember the good times of the war, shit! When you were without a sweetheart, you remember! When we went out to get drunk . . . Yes but, Rino, there’s another thing . . . Don’t go away, Rino, hi Rino . . . Hey! And I knew it was late to disturb people taken perhaps to make love, people that have their commitments . . . Yes, but we also made war together under the bombs, against the shots fired . . . It means more today a fine thousand lira in the pocket, forgotten . . . English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser La milano di Enzo Jannacci was released in 1964. Most of the songs are in the local dialect of Milan. Jannacci studied music at the Milan Conservatory, and he subsequently fell in love with jazz, and played piano with Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, and Chet Baker. He also was part of the early rock 'n' roll scene in Italy, playing in Adriano Celentano's Rock Boys in 1957 and then forming his own duo with Giorgio Gaber in 1959, I Due Corsari. He really found his artistic voice when he started performing at the famed Derby Club in Milan in 1963, collaborating with others (like Dario Fo) in a very vibrant and diverse creative scene. This first album, reflecting cabaret and French chanson influences, is a real gem and was followed by a couple dozen more over the subsequent decades.