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Go for it bro!Welcome back to the third chapter of the TP!
Today we are about to learn about one of the most insane, drunk, genious poets we have in Italy.
His name is Vinicio Capossela.
In all his colorful expression.
This man has the gift of storytellinga and plays... I don't know 10 different instruments?
I will try as much as I can to translate the beauty of his lyrics.
As his first song I chose (well you choose)
Il Ballo di San Vito
The song is a modern arrangement of the traditional dance
Pizzica , which is a
Tarantella , the most famous one is the one from
Naples .
The attentive Codexer would recognize
The Godfather one, which is, of course, Sicilian.
But Capossela went far south, in the heel of the boot (as we call Italy) to Puglia.
Puglia is a very appealing country, it has loads of history (everybody and I mean EVERYBODY occupied Puglia sooner or later), good food, powerful and yet well-balanced wines and beautiful women to boot.
I personally recommend this label!
So, as I was saying, Capossela decided to get the Pizzica , variation of the Tarantella or Tarantolata .
This dance is connected to one of the first legends that has to do with music. The name in itself is derived from the Tarantola . What happened was that the workers in the countryside were bitten and, since this nice fellow injects a neuro-toxin that gives tetany: "constant, strong, painful muscle contractions", people were thought to be histerical or possessed by the devil. Some musicians were believed to be able to soothe or heal this ailment by playing a certain rythm, especially with the use of the Tamburello.
To this day, when a child is excited and cannot stay put, parents would ask him if Ti ha morso la tarantola? "Did you get bitten by a tarantula?"
The nastie responsible for the whole mess!
The name of the song Il Ballo di San Vito (Saint Vito's Dance) refers to the way it was called when christianity merged the traditional and folkloristic beliefs of the populace into the faith, since Saint Vito is the patron of dancers and epilectics (apparently when Vito was no more than a child he healed one of his friends and died an adolescent).
Plain instrument or shamanic device?
Anyway, on with the song!
Salsicce fegatini
viscere alla brace
e fiaccole danzanti
lamelle dondolanti
sul dorso della chiesa fiammeggiante
vino, bancarelle
terra arsa e rossa
terra di sud, terra di sud
terra di confine
terra di dove finisce la terra
e il continente se ne infischia
e non il vento
e il continente se ne infischia e non il vento
Mustafà viene di Affrica
e qui soffia il vento d'Affrica
e ci dice tenetemi fermo
e ci dice tenetemi fermo
ho il ballo di S. Vito e non mi passa
ho il ballo di S. Vito e non mi passa
La desolazione che era neela ser
s'è soffiata via col vento
s'è soffiata via col rhum
s'è soffiata via da dove era ammorsata
Vecchi e giovani pizzicati
vecchie e giovani pizzicati
dalla taranta, dalla taranta
dalla tarantolata
cerchio che chiude, cerchio che apre
cerchio che stringe, cerchio che spinge
cerchio che abbraccia e poi ti scaccia
ho il ballo di S. Vito e non mi passa
ho il ballo di S. Vito e non mi passa
dentro il cerchio del voodoo mi scaravento
e lì vedo che la vita è quel momento
scaccia, scaccia satanasso
scaccia il diavolo che ti passa
scaccia il male che ci ho dentro o non stò fermo
scaccia il male che ci ho dentro o non stò fermo
A noi due balliam la danza delle spade
fino alla squarcio rosso d'alba
nessuno che m'aspetta, nessuno che m'aspetta
nessuno che mi aspetta o mi sospetta
Il cerusico ci ha gli occhi ribaltati
il curato non se ne cura
il ragioniere non ragiona
Santo Paolo non perdona
ho il ballo di s. Vito e non mi passa
ho il ballo di S. Vito e non mi passa
Questo è il male che mi porto da
trent'anni addosso
fermo non so stare in nessun posto
rotola rotola rotola il masso
rotola addosso, rotola in basso
e il muschio non si cresce sopra il sasso
e il muschio non si cresce sopra il sasso
scaccia scaccia satanasso
scaccia il diavolo che ti passa
le nocche si consumano
ecco iniziano i tremmori
della taranta, della taranta
della tarantolata...
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Sausages, livers
grilled entrails 1
and dancing torches
swinging gills 2
on the back of the flaming church 3
wine, food stalls
parched and red land
land of the south, land of the south
border-land
land of where the land ends.
and the continent doesn't give a damn
and not the wind
and the continent doesn't give a damn 4
and not the wind
Mustafa' comes from Africa
and here blows the wind of Africa
and he says hold me still
and he says hold me still
I have the Saint Vito's dance and is not going away
I have the Saint Vito's dance and is not going away
the desolation 5 that was in the evening
is been blown away by the wind
is been blown away by the rhum
is been blown away from where it was clamped 6
Young and old pricked
young and old pricked
by the taranta, by the taranta
by the tarantolata 7
ring that opens, ring that closes
ring that tightens, ring that pushes
ring that embraces and then chases you away 8
I have the Saint Vito's dance and is not going away
I have the Saint Vito's dance and is not going away
in the voodoo ring I hurl myself
and there I see that life is this instant
chase off, chase off Satan,
chase off the devil I hand you
chase off the evil I have inside or I won't stay still
chase off the evil I have inside or I won't stay still
we two dance the sword dance 9
until the red gash of dawn 10
nobody that waits for me
nobody that waits for me
nobody that waits for me or suspects me
the surgeon 11 has his eyes rolled back in his head
the curate is not caring 12
the accountant doesn't count 13
Saint Paul is not forgiving 14
I have the Saint Vito's dance and is not going away
I have the Saint Vito's dance and is not going away
this is the evil that I`ve been carrying on me for thirty years
I`m not able to stay still anywhere
rolls rolls rolls the boulder
rolls on me, rolls downwards
and the moss doesn't grow on the stone
and the moss doesn't grow on the stone 15
chase off, chase off Satan,
chase off the devil I hand you
the knuckles wear out
and the tremors begin
of the taranta, of the taranta
of the tarantolata
1 Italian cuisine has no qualms about eating, for example in my region we crumb and fry cow brains, livers, kidneys and other meat and vegetables in what we call Fritto Misto alla Piemontese (Piedmont's Mixed Fry).
2 not sure if right, Lamelle are the gills of a mushroom.
3 means that is sunset but he is using a poetic way to say it. I chose literal because the idea of the church enflamed by the sunset is precisely what it feels like in Italian.
4 Puglia is a promontory in Italy, it is a common belief that the rest of Italy cannot understand and therefore gives a fuck about what happens in there. The middle-south of Italy is split by the Appenini mountain range, the countryside of Puglia is very dry, especially if you compare it with Campania (where Naples is). I've been in the countryside near Taranto thanks to an Airforce honor guard to a wedding, and besides the blatantly saracen-style building of the church, it really feels you're not in Italy anymore, and you entered Turkey.
The Salento Coast
This feels like Turkey big time
5 Desolazione , but he refers to an emotive state so, grief?
6 Ammorsata is a technical term used for when the cars get the clamp because of an infraction, so not sure if clamped is fine, either way, it gives the idea.
7 If you are not sure, read my introduction again.
8 usually the Tarantella is danced in a ring, there are variations, since is a kind of spontaneous dance, but if the music is hectic enough, if the people have been drinking and eating like they should have been (at least as the song is putting it) there would be a good amount of staggering and stuff.
A very relaxed ring...or could be before drinking.
9 It is a different kind of Pizzica, particular of the southern part of Puglia. This is connected to the Sacra Corona Unita or equivalent (Puglian mafia), basically is a coded dance in where the two dancers use the fingers of their hands to stage a dagger fight. The meanings of the gestures are known only to those who received training in it and it is almost impossible to assist one. Capossela never shies from the dark side of Italy's culture and that is one of the reasons why I like his works so much, you'll see more in the other songs I want to translate.
10 This is insane poetry for me. The double meaning of the sword wound and the way that sunrise has to inflict a gash in the deep blue night sky.
11
Cerusico the translation is not really surgeon as the Italian name refers to the
medieval barber-surgeons that were considered below the physicians who at the time where only diagnosing and were all educated by universities. Of course, during the middle ages saracen medicine was advanced and all, but I'm digressing.
12 Cannot translate the wordplay: Curato has the same root as curare wich means caring. A curate is a parish priest and the play is this: he is not caring anymore.
13 Literal would be different: Ragioniere has the root in reasoning non ragiona is "is not reasoning" but in this one the double meaning works translated.
14 Well, considering that before becoming and apostle he was one of the most ferocious persecutors of christians (he was jew), this rhyme makes sense.
15 this comes from an Italian proverb: Sasso che rotola, non fa muschi o "A rolling stone gathers no moss", which means that if you can't settle down, a thing like slow growing moss (wealth, satisfaction, spiritual awareness) will never grow.
Well this was difficult!
Bonus Video:
For those who wanted to see the beautiful women, here is a traditional
Pizzica
Bonus Images:
This dance is *old*
Horrible place, amrite?
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Next song:
a)An upbeat song about a woman who is not an easy lay.
b)An electronic song about a girl dreams of becoming artificial (emo factor 5/10)
c)Capossela song about a tale of drug, death, shady people. the setting is my city of birth.
I have close to 30 songs to translate and I will translate all of them, so you get to choose the ones I'm in the mood to translate at this time.
