Papaveri e papere [English translation]

12

One day, in a wheat field, I don’t know where exactly,

Little Duck was walking with her dad,

and there she saw some tall poppies shining in the sun,

and she was enchanted.

The duck asked her father:

«Dad, how do you gobble down poppies?»

‹Why do you want to gobble down poppies?› dad replied.

Then he added, pecking at the lettuce:

‹It can’t be helped… it’s how life is.›

‹You know that poppies are tall, tall, tall,

and you are short, and you are short.

You know that poppies are tall, tall, tall,

and you are short, it can’t be helped.›

One day, near a stream, I don’t know where exactly,

a poppy looked into the water,

and he saw the short yellow duck playing,

and he was enchanted.

Poppy said to his mum:

«Mom, how do you catch a duck?»

‹You can’t catch a duck›, mom replied.

‹If you let yourself be befuddled by her,

the whole world will no longer be able to say:›

‟You know that poppies are tall, tall, tall,

and you are short, and you are short.

You know that poppies are tall, tall, tall,

and you are short, it can’t be helped.”

And one day of May, I couldn’t tell you when exactly,

what everybody was thinking, happened:

Poppy waited for the duck in the moonlight,

and then married her.

But this romance was very short;

then came the sickle that reaped the wheat,

and a gust of wind took the poppies high up in the sky.

So Little Poppy was gone,

leaving Little Duck befuddled.

‟You know that poppies are tall, tall, tall,

and you are short, and you are short.

You know that poppies are tall, tall, tall,

and you are short, it can’t be helped.”

‟You know that poppies are tall, tall, tall,

and you are short, and you are short.

You know that poppies are tall, tall, tall,

and you are short, it can’t be helped.”

It can’t be helped.

1. This childish song about a duck and poppies is actually an allegory for politics, in which the tall poppies are powerful politicians and ducks are common people, who can’t meddle with them. There may also be a reference to the Communist party (whose symbol is the ‟hammer and sickle”) which after World War II was trying to defeat the conservative, Catholic party of DC (Democrazia Cristiana, Christian Democracy): the tall poppies are the powerful members of DC, who are being swept away by the sickle of Communism.

http://karahidden.blogspot.com/2011/01/papaveri-e-papere-storia-della-ca...2. In Italian, there is an idiomatic expression (not due to this song): ‟alti papaveri” {tall poppies} refers to very powerful people, those in charge of a party, a corporation, the army, etc. (it resembles a bit the ‟tall poppy syndrome” in English).

• Artist:Nilla Pizzi
• Album:Papaveri e papere