Up Patriots to Arms [English translation]

The people's imagination that has come down to us

Doesn't come from the stars.

Stupid [people] to the rescue: the rivers are overflowing,

So you can manage to stay afloat!

It is not my fault if executioners do exist,

If imbecility does exists,

If benches are full

Of people feeling bad.

Up patriots to arms,

Join the army!

Contemporary music gets me down.

Ayatollah Khomeini: he's a saint for most.

You always bait the hook:

The barricades across the square – you do them on behalf of the bourgeois,

Creating false myths about progress.

By the hair that we wear – who do you think we are?

We are fireflies staying in the gloom.

Up patriots to arms,

Join the army!

Contemporary music gets me down.

The musical empire has come down to us

Full of fibs:

Let's send the artistic directors into retirement

[As well as the] cultural staff members.

It is not my fault if shows – with smudges

And laser beams – do exist,

If springboard are full

Of idiots moving.

Up patriots to arms,

Join the army!

Contemporary music

gets me down.

[It] gets me down...

Up patriots to arms,

Join the army...

• Artist:Franco Battiato
• Album:Patriots