Maria Salvador [English translation]

[Intro — Il Cile]

Oh Maria Salvador,

te quiero, mi amor.1

[Stanza 1 — J-Ax]

The alarm rings, I’m starving.

I go downstairs: coffee pot, radio, (joint).

I go upstairs: teeth, shower, shave.

I read my iPhone sitting on the toilet;

sell, buy, Dow Jones, Nasdaq,

pay taxes, broker, bank.

A lot of fame, so much stress.

I take a break, no more hassles, (joint).2

To avoid seeing my enemy, it’s enough to close down my Mac:

his gals all have "jpeg" as their surname.

I smoke and read your comments, yeah, just for fun;

you’re obsessive like a nerd — The Big Bong Theory.3

The Russians, with their money, go shopping at Trussardi’s;

they were zars once, now they have become posers.

They are all worked up from envy towards other people;

we need to keep cool using the Bob Marley method.4

[Refrain — Il Cile]

Oh Maria Salvador,

te quiero, mi amor.

Tetrahydro-revolution

to the tune of this song.

It’s not only the envy devouring society

that is green,

green is a vibrating leaf too;

short commercial break.5

[Stanza 2 — J-Ax]

I ignore the world and its distress;

loud headphones, ban, block.

Outside the studio: crowd,

photos, get in, roll up (joint).

Backing track, I write, I read, it rocks,

headphones, I sing, I listen, (joint).

Stylist, driver, personal assistant,

they feel sick, air the room.6

If I were clean, my face would be on People,

but I would have to hide my favorite vice,

like a gay singer playing the chain hetero,

instead I’ve come out even in front of the vice squad.7

[Even Customs Service and Interpol know I smoke,

they know I hired the same lawyer as Andreotti and Amanda Knox.

They say it’s gonna fry my brain;

as of now, I have three VAT numbers, a house, a boat, a bike, and a Porsche.]8

With my savings, I won’t buy myself a Porsche:

I need the lawyer of Andreotti and Amanda Knox.

They are addict even if they say they aren’t,

the people queuing up for two days for the new iWatch.9

[Refrain — Il Cile]

Oh Maria Salvador,

te quiero, mi amor.

Tetrahydro-revolution

to the tune of this song.

It’s not only the envy devouring society

that is green,

green is also a vibrating leaf;

short commercial break.

[Stanza 3 — J-Ax]

Outside: jungle, fang, eat,

push, spit, destroy, spam,

lie, swindle, steal, cheat;

I hate everyone, I need (joint).10

Lunch at mom’s, old room,

I open the window (joint);

to my neighbor who waters it while I’m away on vacation,

I said: "This is a new rosemary from the Netherlands",

and she cooked pasta for Easter lunch;

she took it to the parish church, they wolfed it down,

so, the priest put some CDs on and grandma was twerking,

it cured the rheumatism and depression of her sister-in-law.

I open my eyes: it’s just a dream, it’s still illegal here.11

[Pre-chorus — J-Ax]

Every vice is a conviction; what you love then kills you.

Black smoke, white maid, Rete 4, pasta, grappa.

But I enter my room, she’s already hot, I take off her skirt, t-shirt, thong,

she sweats, she screams, beer, (joint),

the war is won, (joint), beddy-bye.12

[Refrain — Il Cile]

Oh Maria Salvador,

te quiero, mi amor.

Tetrahydro-revolution

to the tune of this song.

It’s not only the envy devouring society

that is green,

green is also a vibrating leaf;

short commercial break.

Oh Maria Salvador (Maria Salvador),

te quiero, mi amor.

Te quiero.

(To the tune of this song.)

Oh Maria Salvador (Maria Salvador),

te quiero, mi amor,

te amo.

1. (slang) Maria, Maria Giovanna = marijuana

Maria Salvador (pseudo-spanish for "Mary the savior") is not the Madonna: it’s cannabis, seen as a savior because it heals, relaxes and helps in socializing, so it’s much better than other drugs or vices. The culture of legalization is seen in a very positive way; it will even save the world.2. avere un buco nello stomaco {to have a hole in one’s stomach} = to be starving

moka = the typical coffee pot for Italian coffee: (see here)

canna {joint} = cigarette made with cannabis

tazza, tazza del water, tazza del cesso, tazza del gabinetto {toilet seat} = where you sit to "do your business", in the bathroom (well, in the song, he also gambles on financial markets while sitting there, so he’s actually doing his business)

(slang) sbatta, sbatti, sbattimento3. The Big Bang Theory is a sitcom featuring four extremely nerd guys. Obviously, the situations and jokes are based on nerd matters, too.

bong = a smoking pipe which works with water (literally a "water pipe", though not of the plumbers' type), similar to a hookah, commonly used to smoke soft drugs.

(slang) tipa / tipo = girlfriend / boyfriend

The singer criticizes the haters on the net, who don’t have a life of their own (their girlfriends are just photos), so they rage against him.4. Trussardi is a very fashionable brand of clothing and accessories.

(slang) zarro, tamarro, tabbozzo, truzzo, ... = poser, person who acts as though they’re very important, with "exaggerated" look and behavior, looking down on you (just think about people from the Jersey Shore TV show)

(slang) preso male {(self-)taken badly} = disconcerted, stunned, annoyed, angry, upset; someone who overreacts

Newly-rich people have money, but they remain boorish, as they were before. Russian tycoons are a recent example of people who have just become rich; here he also means the common people who think they are better than everybody else.

The Bob Marley method includes smoking, of course.5. (Spanish) Te quiero, mi amor = I love you, my love.

tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) = the active principle of marijuana

In Italian, they say "green from envy" or "green like envy".

The cannabis leaf vibrates of a "positive vibration", that is, the property of music and some drugs to elicit positive emotions, either relaxing or stimulating.

piccolo spazio pubblicitario is an expression commonly used in Italy to talk about a commercial ad, which is always small or short, obviously, to prevent the audience from switching to another channel.6. (slang) bannare = to ban (from a website)

(slang) rollare = to roll up a cigarette paper, after you have placed tobacco and/or marijuana on it

(slang) spaccare {to break} = to rock; to be cool, very good, perfect

To evade from a frantic world - including his fans - the singer takes refuge in two things: music and cannabis.7. People is an American weekly magazine about celebrities

DIGOS (General Investigations and Special Operations Division) is a special police squad investigating on crimes about drugs and other things.

The singer isn’t ashamed of admitting his passion for this drug, even if this prevents him from entering the world of "respectable" celebrities; that’s unlike many gay singers, who sing songs about heterosexual love to be accepted by everyone.8. These lines are from the album version; the alternative ones are from the official videoclip.9. Guardia di Finanza is an Italian law enforcement agency; they mostly investigate on economic and financial crimes, as well as on weapon and drug illegal trading.

Interpol is an international police agency

Giulio Andreotti was an Italian politician from the past (3-time Prime Minister too), deeply involved with mafia; however, he always managed to get cleared of all charges.

Amanda Knox was indicted for the murder of Meredith Kercher in Perugia, central Italy. As soon as she could, she escaped to the US, and of course they always refused to expatriate her.

(slang) fottere il cervello {to fuck the brain} = to cause irreversible damage to the brain

partita IVA = VAT identification number. It is a code used by the tax office to identify a company. Usually, the term "partita IVA" is also used to refer to a "società di persone" {company of people} (as opposed to "società di capitali" {company of capital}), that is, a company made of a single person or a few persons. So, having a VAT number means that you’re working for yourself, not as an employee, so it’s supposed that you’re more successful and richer than "normal" people.

Having confessed "such a serious" crime, the singer needs one of the best lawyers around. Anyway, addictions are of many kinds, and there are worse ones among the legal ones.10. (slang) spammare = to spam

(slang) fottere = to swindle, to cheat, to steal

(slang) sgrammare = to take away (some grams from) something; so, it’s also "fregare", or cut away a part from a block of joint to crush it and mix it with tobacco to make a cigarette.

The world is a very bad place; to stand it, you need a bit of relax.11. (slang) scofanare = to wolf down, to eat voraciously, to ingurgitate with no restraint

(slang) twerkare = to twerk, to dance leaning forward and shaking your buttock in a ludicrous way.

The singer planted marijuana in a vase, and left it to his neighbor to water it, with the excuse that it was "rosemary" from Holland (I wonder why from that specific place).

So, the lady used it to prepare a tastier pasta for a lunch of pious people (who are obviously against drugs), with the result that priests and old ladies got over all their inhibitions for a day. It was good for the old people though, thanks to its (real) therapeutic properties.

This is all just a dream though, because Italy is light-years behind about laws on soft drugs, which were still illegal and even considered the same as hard drugs when the song came out. As of 2018, there’s been some progress, and now cannabis can be grown and sold under some rules; for instance, for medical reasons or (without active principle) reacreational use.12. (slang) fumo = smoke, soft drug to be smoked

(slang) nero {black} = a kind of smoke

Dama bianca {white maid, white lady} is the nickname of Federica Gagliardi, who accompanied Berlusconi to the G8 meeting in Canada in 2010 (we don’t know what her role was, but we can try and guess); in 2014 she was arrested in Fiumicino airport, Rome, with 24 kilos of cocaine in her baggage.

grappa is a kind of hard liquor, similar to schnapps

Rete 4 is an Italian TV channel, owned by the Mediaset group. It’s the quintessential "channel for old people".

(childish slang) fare la nanna = to sleep

At the end of the day, the singer has dinner in front of TV, and then he goes to bed with his girlfriend. Once again, cannabis is part of his every moment.

The "won war" is a wish of good luck for the future, when the battle for legalization will have been won; or maybe it’s just a reference to his performance in bed.

• Artist:J-Ax
• Album:Il bello d’esser brutti (2015)