Volta la carta [English translation]

There’s a woman who sews the wheat,

turn the card over, you’ll see a peasant,

a peasant who tills the earth’s plain,

turn the card over, there comes a war,

for the war there are no more soldiers,

barefoot, they’ve all fled.

Angiolina walks, she walks

in her blue shoes.

A policeman charmed her,

turn the card over and he’s no longer there.

A policeman did charm her,

turn the card over and he's no longer there.

There’s a boy who climbs over a gate,

he pilfers sweet cherries and bird feathers,

he throws stones and has no sorrows,

turn the card over, there's the Jack of Hearts,

Jack of Hearts who's a flash in the pan,

turn the card over, the rooster awakens.

Angiolina at six in the morning

weaves some nettle leaves into her hair.

She has a necklace of peach stones

that she turns three times 'round her fingers.

She has a necklace of peach stones,

she counts it three times between her fingers.

My mother has a mill and an unfaithful son,

she sweetens his nose with an apple pie.

My mother and the mill were both born laughing,

turn the card over there’s a blond pilot,

a blond pilot, tops of silk,

cap of fox fur, smile of an athlete.

Angiolina seated in the kitchen,

who cries, who eats a mulberry salad.

A young foreign boy has a disc of an orchestra

that spins fast, that speaks of love.

A young foreign boy has a disc of an orchestra

that spins and spins, that speaks of love.

Madame Dorè lost six daughters

midst the bars of the port and its allures.

Madame Dorè knows the stink of a cat,

turn the card over and she pays the ransom,

she pays the ransom with the bags under her eyes,

full of photos of dreams interrupted.

Angiolina is cutting up magazines,

dressed as a bride, of victory she sings.

She calls forth her memories with their names,

turn the card over and it ends in glory.

She calls forth her memories with their names,

turn the card over and it ends in glory.

• Artist:Fabrizio De André
• Album:Rimini (1978)