Munasterio 'e Santa Chiara [English translation]

Tomorrow? But I wish I could leave tonight!

I can't stand being far away any longer!

They say all it's left is the sea,

which is the same ad before, that sea of blue...

Monastery of Saint Chiara,1

my heart is so dark,2

but why? Because every night

I think of Naples as it used to be,

I think of Naples as it is now!

Fountain of Capodimonte,

this heart of mine break

when I hear people saying

that this city has gone bad,

but why?

No, it isn't true!

No, I can't believe it!

And this urge to go back to Naples is killing me,

but what can I do?

I'm afraid to go back.

Afraid, yes... what if it was really so?

What if people were telling the truth?

All of Naples' richness was its heart:

they say that's lost, too!

Monastery of Saint Chiara,

confined among four walls

so many honest women,

if they lost their love,

took Jesus as their husband.

Fountain of Capodimonte,

now, if they lose a lover,

they have one hundred more,

so that an innocent woman,

so people say, is nowhere to be found anymore.

No, it isn't true!

No, I can't believe it!

And this urge to go back to Naples is killing me,

but what can I do?

I'm afraid to go back.

Monastery of Saint Chiara,

my heart is so dark,

but why? Because every night

I think of Naples as it used to be,

I think of Naples as it is now!

1. A religious complex in the centre of Naples, severely damaged by a bombing in 19432. A play on words with the name "Chiara", which in Italian means 'light, pale'.

• Artist:Roberto Murolo