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About the song

The song Bella Ciao was sung by the left anti-fascist resistance movement in Italy, a movement by anarchists, communists, socialists and other anti-fascist partisans. The author of the lyrics is unknown, and the music seems to come from an earlier folk song sung by riceweeders in the Po Valley. Another interpretation has been given following the discovery in 2006 by Fausto Giovannardi of the CD “Klezmer – Yiddish swing music” including the melody “Koilen” played in 1919 by Mishka Ziganoff.

The song has been recorded by various artists in many different languages including Italian, Russian, Bosnian, Kurdish, Croatian, Serbian, Serbo-Croatian, Hungarian, English, Spanish, Finnish, Kabyle, German, Turkish, Japanese, Tagalog, Breton and Chinese.

Lyrics

Bella Ciao

« Una mattina mi son svegliato,
o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
Una mattina mi son svegliato
ed ho trovato l’invasor.

O partigiano, portami via,
o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
O partigiano, portami via,
ché mi sento di morir.

E se io muoio da partigiano,
o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
E se io muoio da partigiano,
tu mi devi seppellir.

E seppellire lassù in montagna,
o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
E seppellire lassù in montagna
sotto l’ombra di un bel fior.

E le genti che passeranno
o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
E le genti che passeranno
Mi diranno «Che bel fior!»

«È questo il fiore del partigiano»,
o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
«È questo il fiore del partigiano
morto per la libertà!» »

The sexy folk rock band 21 Love Hotel plays “Be… (more)
Added: June 29, 2007
The sexy folk rock band 21 Love Hotel plays “Bella Ciao” at le Triptyque (Paris, France) in march 2007
I woke this morning and all seemed peaceful
Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
I woke this morning and all seemed peaceful
But oppression still exists.

Oh freedom fighter, I want to fight too
Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
Oh freedom fighter, I want to fight too
Against their living death.

And if I die, a freedom fighter,
Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
And if I die, a freedom fighter,
Then you’ll have to bury me.

Let my body rest in the mountains
Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
Let my body rest in the mountains
In the shadow of my flower.

And all the people who will pass by there
Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
And all the people who will pass by there
Will show that lovely flower.

This is the blossom of those that died here
Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
This is the blossom of those that died here
For land and liberty.

dal sito partigiano

Translation

Goodbye, my Beautiful

One morning I woke up
goodbye my Beautiful, goodbye my Beautiful, goodbye my Beautiful, goodbye
one morning I woke up
and I found the invader.

Oh partisan take me away
goodbye my Beautiful, goodbye my Beautiful, goodbye my Beautiful, goodbye
oh partisan take me away
that I’m feeling like dying

And if I die as a partisan
goodbye my Beautiful, goodbye my Beautiful, goodbye my Beautiful, goodbye
and if I die as a partisan
you must bury me

You will bury me over there, on the mountain
goodbye my Beautiful, goodbye my Beautiful, goodbye my Beautiful, goodbye
you will bury me over there on the mountain
under the shadow of a wonderful flower

And all the people passing by
goodbye my Beautiful, goodbye my Beautiful, goodbye my Beautiful, goodbye
and all the people passing by
will say “what a wonderful flower!”

And this is the flower of the partisan
goodbye my Beautiful, goodbye my Beautiful, goodbye my Beautiful, goodbye
dead for our freedom
and this is the flower of the partisan
dead for our freedom