Canzone del maggio [versione alternativa] [English translation]

1

Even though our May

had to make do without your courage;

though your fear of looking

made you look down;

though you quickly decided

that it wasn’t your war;

you didn’t stop the wind:

you just wasted its time.

And if you told yourself

«nothing’s happening:

factories will open again,

they’ll arrest some students»,

being convinced that it was a game

we would play for a short time;

you were the instrument

to make us waste a lot of time.

If you handed it to

the professionals of billy clubs,

to get rid of us scoundrels,

of us punks, of us rebels;

letting us — in good faith —

bleed on the sidewalks;

even though you don’t give it a thing now,

you, you were there that night.

And if, in your neighborhoods,

everything has stayed the same as yesterday;

if even the stones of your driveways

have remained in place;

if you have bought into

the truths of your newspapers;

you have no argument left

to make us waste time any longer.

We know your progress very well,

your commandment

‟love your consumption as yourself”;

and if you’ve abided by it

all the way to absolving those who shot on us,

we’ll come to your doorsteps again,

and we’ll shout out even louder:

You can’t stop the wind:

you can only waste its time.

You can’t stop the wind:

you can only waste its time.

You can’t stop the wind…

1. This song is a translation of a French song dating back to the events of May 1968: Chacun de vous est concerné {you are all involved} by Dominique Grange.

This version is closer to the original than the one included in the album Storia di un impiegato {story of an office worker}.