Ma mi - But Me

Serom in quatter col Padola, el Rodolfo, el Gaina e poeu mi: quatter amis, quatter malnatt, vegnu su insemma compagn di gatt. Emm fa la guera in Albania, poeu su in montagna a ciapà i ratt: negher Todesch del la Wermacht, mi fan morire domaa a pensagh! Poeu m’hann cataa in d’una imboscada: pugnn e pesciad e ‘na fusilada… Ma mi, ma mi, ma mi, quaranta dì, quaranta nott, A San Vittur a ciapaa i bott, dormì de can, pien de malann!… Ma mi, ma mi, ma mi, quaranta dì, quaranta nott, sbattuu de su, sbattuu de giò: mi sont de quei che parlen no! El Commissari ‘na mattina el me manda a ciamà lì per lì: “Noi siamo qui, non sente alcun- el me diseva ‘sto brutt terron! El me diseva – i tuoi compari nui li pigliasse senza di te… ma se parlasse ti firmo accà il tuo condono: la libertà! Fesso sì tu se resti contento d’essere solo chiuso qua ddentro…” Ma mi, ma mi, ma mi, quaranta dì, quaranta nott, A San Vittur a ciapaa i bott, dormì de can, pien de malann!… Ma mi, ma mi, ma mi, quaranta dì, quaranta nott, sbattuu de su, sbattuu de giò: mi sont de quei che parlen no! Sont saraa su in ‘sta ratera piena de nebbia, de fregg e de scur, sotta a ‘sti mur passen i tramm, frecass e vita del ma Milan… El coeur se streng, venn giò la sira, me senti mal, e stoo minga in pee, cucciaa in sul lett in d’on canton me par de vess propri nissun! L’è pegg che in guera staa su la tera: la libertà la var ‘na spiada! Ma mi, ma mi, ma mi, quaranta dì, quaranta nott, A San Vittur a ciapaa i bott, dormì de can, pien de malann!… Ma mi, ma mi, ma mi, quaranta dì, quaranta nott, sbattuu de su, sbattuu de giò: mi sont de quei che parlen no! (gridando) Mi parli no! Ma mi © 1959 Fiorenzo Carpi and Giorgio Strehler

We were four with Padola, Rodolfo, Gaina and then me: four friends, four low-born, grown up together, cohort of cats. We did the war in Albania, then up into the mountains to take the rats: black Germans of the Wermacht, they make me die just thinking about it! Then they took me in an ambush: punches and rails and a shotgun . . . But me, but me, but me, forty days, forty nights, at San Vittore Prison taking the beatings, sleeping like dogs, full of ailments! But me, but me, but me, forty days, forty nights, banged up above, banged up below: I’m one of those who don’t talk! The Chief one morning sends for me right then and there: “We are here, no one is listening,” this ugly southerner was telling me. He told me, “Your companions, we are taking them without you . . . but if you talk, I’ll sign for you here your amnesty: freedom! Foolish you are if you are content to be alone, locked up here inside . . .” But me, but me, but me, forty days, forty nights, at San Vittore Prison taking the beatings, sleeping like dogs, full of ailments! But me, but me, but me, forty days, forty nights, hit above, hit below: I’m one of those who don’t talk! I’m locked inside this rat’s den full of fog, of cold and of darkness. Beneath these walls the trams pass by, commotion and life of my Milan . . . The heart constricts, night descends, I feel sick and I hardly stay on my feet, crouched down on the bed in a canton I seem to be just a nobody! It’s worse than remaining on earth in war: freedom is worth being spied on! But me, but me, but me, forty days, forty nights, at San Vittore Prison taking the beatings, sleeping like dogs, full of ailments! But me, but me, but me, forty days, forty nights, hit above, hit below: I’m one of those who don’t talk! (shouting) I don’t talk! 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.