1947

Da quella volta Non l'ho rivista più Cosa sarà Della mia città Ho visto il mondo E mi domando se Sarei lo stesso Se fossi ancora là Non so perché Stasera penso a te Strada fiorita Della gioventù Come vorrei Essere un albero, che sa Dove nasce E dove morirà È troppo tardi Per ritornare ormai Nessuno più Mi riconoscerà La sera è un sogno Che non si avvera mai Essere un altro E, invece, sono io Da quella volta Non ti ho trovato più Strada fiorita Della gioventù Come vorrei Essere un albero, che sa Dove nasce E dove morirà Come vorrei Essere un albero, che sa Dove nasce E dove morirà 1947 © 1969 Sergio Endrigo Sergio Endrigo was born in Istria, which was annexed by Italy after World War I. After World War II, it became part of Yugoslavia with the signing of the Paris Peace Treaties in 1947. But already with the fall of Fascism in 1943, a campaign of violence and extirmination had been started by Yugoslav Partisans against the Italian population in Istria, resulting in four main periods of exodus, the largest of which was in 1947, the year when Endrigo's family left their native Pula along with most of the rest of the Italian population of the city.

From that time on I never saw it again. What will become of my city? I’ve seen the world and wonder if I would be the same if I were still there. I don’t know why this evening I think of you, flowery road of youth. How I would like to be a tree that knows where it’s born and where it will die. It’s too late to return now. No one, any more, would recognize me. The evening is a dream that will never come true again, being someone else and, instead, I am me. From that time on I never found you again, flowery road of youth. How I would like to be a tree that knows where it’s born and where it will die. How I would like to be a tree that knows where it’s born and where it will die. English translation © 2021 Dennis Criteser "1947" was the B-side of a single released in 1969.