La Fisarmonica di Stradella [English translation]

What is the Po Valley1

after 6 PM

a fog that makes you feel like

you are inside a glass

of water and anise liquor, really.

I heard it on the radio and it's true

it's past 1 AM and in this car

I feel I'm alone

because you aren't talking to me.

You fell asleep

as soon as you got into the car.

After our Sunday evening dance

it happens every time.

And I have to

take you

home and kilometers

seem longer because

the road is grey and the light is grey

and Broni, Casteggio and Voghera2

are grey too.

There's only a red traffic light up there.

In the heart, in the heart of Stradella3,

the town where

all the accordeons4 of this plain

were born and someone plays them this way,

the engine is idling and I hear

that sound through the air.

I watch you sleep

you look different

very different, I know.

With the sweet sound

of the Stradella accordeon

you look even more beautiful

than you are.

And I like

driving you around

in the night

all night

tonight, this way

and always this way.

1. the largest plain in Italy, where thick fog is common, especially in winter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Po_Valley 2. towns in the Po Valley near Pavia 3. another town near Pavia, which was once famous for the production of accordeons. It now hosts a museum dedicated to accordeons which was inaugurated by the author of this song. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stradella,_Lombardy 4. here, "armoniche" may be a shortened form of "fisarmoniche" (accordeons); alternatively it may refer to harmonics as properties of sound waves (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonic)

• Artist:Paolo Conte