Bocca di rosa [English translation]

They called her Bocca di Rosa

she put love, she put love

they called her Bocca di Rosa

she put love above everything.

As soon as she got off at the station

in the little village of Sant’Ilario

everybody knew at a glance

that she wasn’t a missionary.

There are those who make love because of boredom,

those who choose it as a profession.

Bocca di Rosa did neither,

she did it for passion.

But passion often leads

to the satisfaction of one’s own desires

without investigating whether the object of ones lust

has a free heart or a wife.

And so it was that from one day to the next

Bocca di Rosa attracted

the fatal fury of the bitches

from whom she had taken the bone.

……..

And the bitches went to the chief of police,

saying, without mincing their words,

"That dirty woman has already too many clients,

even more than a food shop".

And four guards arrived

with their plumes with their plumes

and four guards arrived

with their plumes and their weapons.

A soft heart is not a quality

for which the carabinieri are noted,

but on that occasion they unwillingly

accompanied her to catch the train.

Everybody was at the station, from the

chief of police to the sacristan

everybody was at the station

with red eyes and their hats in their hands.

To say goodbye to someone who for a little while,

without pretention, without pretention,

to say goodbye to someone who, for a little while,

brought love to their village.

There was a yellow board

with black writing on it, saying:

"Farewell Bocca di Rosa

you take spring away with you".

But unusual news

doesn’t need a newspaper:

it quickly flies from mouth to mouth

as the arrow shoots from the bow.

And at the following station were

many more people than when she left

some blowing a kiss, some throwing a flower,

some booking a couple of hours.

Even the priest who doesn’t despise,

whilst saying a prayer of mercy or the last rites,

the ephemeral good of beauty,

wants her near him in the procession.

And with the Virgin at the front

and Bocca di Rosa close by

he leads through the village

love both sacred and profane!

• Artist:Fabrizio De André
• Album:Volume I (1967)