O mia bela Madunina [English translation]

1

They say song-writing was born in Naples2

and certainly they are not that wrong:

Surriento, Margellina, all the nations3

must have sung them a million times at least.

I hope nobody will get offended

if we talk a bit about us too.

Oh my beautiful little Madonna shining in the distance,

all golden and tiny, you overlook Milan,

beneath you, people live their lives, they never have idle hands.4

They all sing ‟away from Naples, you’re gonna die”,5

but then they come here in Milan.6

Now we have the song about magical Rome,

about Nina, the Big Dome, and Rugantino;7

they throw themselves into the Tiber, that’s tragic stuff;

they exaggerate a little bit, I think.

Let’s hope that no fad will spread

of singing ‟My Milan”.8

Oh my beautiful little Madonna shining in the distance,

all golden and tiny, you overlook Milan,

beneath you, people live their lives, they never have idle hands.

They all sing ‟away from Naples, you’re gonna die”,

but then come here in Milan.

~ ~ ~

Come on, let’s come here without fear: we’ll hold out our hand;

it’s a small world, we all agree on that,9

yet Milan is a great Milan!

1. Madonnina is the golden statue of the Virgin Mary which is placed on top of the Milan Cathedral.2. Naples has a long and renowned song-writing tradition, both in Neapolitan and Italian.3. Sorrento and Mergellina are famous places nearby Naples, which are often extolled by songs.

This song is from 1934, and it refers to songs such as:

’O mare ’e Margellina {The Sea of Margellina} by Califano and Falvo, 1914 (video)

Serenata a Surriento {Serenade in Sorrento} by Califano and Gambardella, 1907 (video)

(songs about Sorrento)4. Milan is the Italian leading business center. According to the cliché, people in Milan are always busy, while southern Italians work little.5. People from Naples have a tight bond with their city and suffer from homesickness when they have to leave.6. Milan and other northern cities have been the destination of many Italian migrants from southern Italy, starting from the late 1800s; migrations are still going on.7. The big Dome is that of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Rugantino is a traditional character of Rome’s puppet theatre, and it was created (or brought to fame) by the puppeteer Gaetano Santangelo (also known as Ghetanaccio) in the early 1800s, and made even more famous by the comedy Rugantino in 1963 (way after this song).

Nina (also known as Rosetta) is Rugantino’s girlfriend.

In some versions of the story, Nina marries Rugantino but then commits suicide by throwing herself into the Tiber river.

(see also here).

These lines are ironically sung with a fake Romanesco accent.8. ‟Malano” is a fake-southern pronunciation of ‟Milano”, to make fun of Neapolitan songs talking about their own city, because these songs are considered too mushy.9. tutto il mondo è paese {all the world is village} = people all over the world have more things in common than it might be thought at first.