La risposta al ragazzo della via Gluck [English translation]

This is the story of a boy from a suburban street, and well, maybe in the end he is a little like the boy from via Gluck1, although his problems are entirely different...

He was a boy like many others

he worked, he made ends meet,

and he would humbly wait

for his wage at the end of the month

Providing for his mother, in a two-room flat

second-hand furniture bought in installments,

in a fairly shabby building,

shared washrooms, with rent control

But that apartment, but that apartment

is no longer there

but that apartment, but that apartment

they tore it down

After his mother's death, living alone

he's mind is on the wedding, on his fiancée

who is already taking care of her bridal dress

and of the household linens

for that apartment, with rent control

3000 Lire a month, expenses included,

he would look at it with delight

and breathe in the smell of concrete

But that apartment, but that apartment

is no longer there

but that apartment, but that apartment

they tore it down

Everything's ready: the wedding banns,

the ceremony, the best men,

when suddenly an abstruse guy appears,

moustache, beard, and an eviction notice in his hand

and that fairly shabby building

must be demolished to make room for a public lawn

Our friend loses his home

because of a "Green Plan"'s law

But that apartment, but that apartment

is no longer there

but that apartment, but that apartment

they tore it down

Having lost his apartment, with rent control,

his fiancée broke up with him

Love is a beautiful thing, but is' not all,

and to get married you need a roof on your head

Now that lown is frequented

by a few dogs and a few young couples

and he nostalgically thinks back

to the apartment he loved so much

But that apartment, but that apartment

is no longer there

but that apartment, but that apartment

they tore it down

It's about time we stop tearing down condos to make lawns, what do we need lawns for? Look at this guy, he was about to marry, they tore down his home, of course, now he can't get married. This is madness. I don't get why don't they tear down those high-rises downtown, now they are the bad ones, not the suburban condos, look at that, the usual problems that never make sense....

1. reference to Celentano's famous song against urbanization: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/il-ragazzo-della-gluck-boy-gluck-boy-gluc...

• Artist:Giorgio Gaber
• Album:Prima del Signor G