And this is the song of the 1st of May band1
that usually performs under the sun in the afternoon
with an out-of-tune acoustic guitar, the pitch's too low
shirtless dancers can't even hear it.
A guy runs into the community center2
A policeman runs to catch him
A metalworker runs wielding a piston rod
A pierced girl runs and she's not very beautiful
1st of May band,
1st of May band,
you have a fair amount of courage, I'll give you that.
1st of May band,
1st of May band,
when I hear you, I feel I am feeling uneasy.
And suddenly, a song in the style of Bregovic... Bregovic!
Balkan music busts my chops
It's nice and everything but in the long run, it busts one's chops.
Surely, I'd have a very different opinion about it
if I was from the Balkans, if I was a balcony
But since I am not Croatian, nor a Balkan balcony
I don't understand why everyone insists
on playing this shitty music,
but anyway... Before you sing a Balkan-ey song
remember to do one thing:
crack into a rant against capitalism!
"Hey, we'd like to dedicate this song against capitalism, because. It's time to say stop to a job market that exploits everyone. They have to understand that the ruling class pissed us off, because the working class... Hey, I can't hear you! Let me hear it from you! There's so many of you!"
A guy runs into the community center
A policeman runs to catch him
A metalworker runs wielding a piston rod
A pierced girl runs and she's not that beautiful
1st of May band
with two lead singers
and both of them would like to be alone on the stage
I am not referring exclusively to Linea 773
but Linea 77 is an excellent example.
And suddenly, a song in the style of Linea 77:
"I'll sing!" "Nooo, I'll sing"
"It's my turn, you have sung already" "That was a shorter refrain!"
"Don't stand in front of me! Don't sing when I am singing!" "I suggest you leave"
"I respect your decision to step aside" "Nooo I'll step aside"
And here is the band that promotes their home region
they learn four chords and build a repertoire on them
and without good reason, there's a Ghanian percussionist
who has been reassigned to a band from Apulia.
And suddenly, there's song in the style of Van de Sfroos4
"The master's daughter wanted to make love
with three laid-off workers on the dresser5
But the master cooked an omelette
and doesn't share it with the laid-off workers6
From his nice white trousers he digs out no money for them7"
But before you sing a Vandesfroos-ey song
remember to say one thing:
"The 1st of May is full of joy, but also of boredom"
"Excuse me, sir, we are a very poor band
go to Piazza San Giovanni for the 1st of May concert
of course, take part in the concert,
we'll go to your place, rob your house and shit on your bed,
thanks, everyone!"
Band from Southern Italy, band from Southern Italy8
you'll find that on the 1st of May you'll perform around noon
Bregovic-style band, Bregovic-style band
you'll find that on the 1st of May you'll perform in the early afternoon
Band with two lead singers, such as Linea 77,
sing one at a time and everyone wins
Home region band, home region band,
learn another four chords and you'll double your repertoire.
More influential bands of the 1st of May [concert],
such as Negramaro and Jovanotti,
rest assured that you are the big fish
and little fish perform before you do.
1. on May 1 (International Workers' Day), a large concert organised by labour unions is held in Rome in Piazza San Giovanni 2. Reference to "Curre curre guaglio'" by 99 posse 3. Italian nu metal band: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linea_77 4. Davide Van De Sfroos, whose songs are written in western Lombard dialect 5. A rhyme used to play eenie meenie miny moe. The original text has "three owls on a dresser that want to make love with the doctor's daughter" 6. "Crapapelada", a folk song from the Milan area: http://lyricstranslate.com/en/crapa-pelada-crapa-pelada.html 7. "Sciur padrun da li beli braghi bianchi", a folk song from Piedmont/Lombardy. It was sung by (mostly female) workers in the paddy fields. The refrain (in the local dialect) is: "Master, sir, with your nice white trousers, dig out the money because we want to go home"8. in Italian, "Mezzogiorno" means noon but is also used to indicate the southern part of the Italian peninsula