Gli amici [English translation]

My true friends, unfortunately or fortunately,

aren’t tramps nor bellyachers,1

fortunately or unfortunately, they care about their reputation:2

almost none of them whores or pimps.3

They’re not a ruling breed, they’re not grim-faced people,4

we’re vulgar, like couch grass.

I don’t know if being like this is a merit or a fault:

there are people who are at home in second class.5

Counting them one by one, they’re not many at all,

they’re like the teeth in the mouth of some old people;

however, exactly because they’re few, they’re good to the core,6

and always ready to chew the world.7

We’re not an artist’s breed, nor characters for the pillory,8

and those who are journalists are ashamed,9

not that we care about this fact; who doesn’t have

a sin or a corpse hidden somewhere?

We don’t seek glory; instead, our ambition

is aging well – very well, I’d rather say.

To [find] what’s enough for us, we don’t need to go far,

and we have a plan of ours, stuck in our head:

if and when we die – though the fact is uncertain –

we’ll have a tailor-made paradise,

similar in all respects to our usual pub,

except that drinks are for free, and aren’t bad for your health.

And we’ll go there forcefully, without paying the price

for conjugating God too often:10

I don’t want to meddle in someone else’s troubles and problems,

but it was Him who shoved us into this world.

So, He should endure us, He should leave us to our games

– something that few people in this world have done –11

I’d like to see whom He chooses, among so many contestants,

between sad saints and us funnier people;

to see who is taken up to heaven – though with a thousand [different] reasons why –

between us and the crowd of assholes…12

1. abbaialuna {moon-barker} = a person who complains pointlessly.2. tenere alla propria faccia {to care about one’s face} = to value one’s dignity and respectability.3. battere {to beat [the road]} = to be a prostitute.

magnaccia = pimp, procurer.4. Lit. “They’re not a master race”, meaning they do not behave like members of the nobility.5. Serie B {B series} is the second division of the Italian football championship. It also indicates low-quality stuff or suboptimal conditions.

essere di casa {to be of home} = to be at home [in a place or situation]; to frequent often.

squadra di casa is the home team in a sports match.6. (meglio) pochi ma buoni {(better) few but good} is often used in relation to a small group of close friends: having good friends is more important than having many.7. masticare = to chew (up); to be familiar with sth, to be at ease with sth.8. maschera {mask} = stock character, stereotypical kind of person in a theatrical play.9. Guccini was not on good terms with various music critics, at least at the time.

See also his song L’avvelenata.10. That is, without retaliation for taking God’s name in swearing. This kind of swearing, in various forms, is among the most common curses in Italian, though it’s considered more rude than other forms of swearing.11. This might be another jibe towards music critics, for judging Guccini’s songs as not being “impegnate” {vocal about social/political issues} enough; whereas to him, music is just a pastime. Again from L’avvelenata:

Però non ho mai detto che a canzoni

si fan rivoluzioni, si possa far poesia.

Io canto quando posso, come posso,

quando ne ho voglia, senza applausi o fischi.

{But I’ve never said that through songs

you can make revolutions, you can do poetry.

I sing when I can, the way I can,

when I feel like it, without applause or boos.}12. rompicoglioni {testicle breaker} = a person who is a pain in the ass, annoying and persistent.

• Artist:Francesco Guccini
• Album:Guccini (1983)