Canzone della bambina portoghese [English translation]

An then, and then… people come here and tell you

they already know each law of things.

And everyone, you know, boast a blind pride

about truths made of void formulas…

And everyone, you know, can tell you how to do,

which laws to respect, which rules to observe,

what’s the true truth, and then…

And then, everyone, withdrawn in a cell,

tries to speak louder than others

not to say that stars and death

make you fear…

In the sun warmth,

the Portuguese little girl

went down to the sea;

there were no words,

only sounds

like surprised voices;

only the sea

and her first amaranth bikini,

the nicest things

and the delight of the warmth on her skin…

The friends next to her

seemed to be submerged

by the voice of the sea…

Were they dreams or were they visions,

something seized her

and she started to think.

She felt she was a dot

on the edge of a continent,

she felt she was a nothing

facing the immense Atlantic…

And in that fact, she felt

something great

that she couldn’t understand,

that she couldn’t grasp,

that she would have explained

if she'd understood

that endless ocean…

But the warmth caught her,

she felt herself dissolving

and went to sleep.

And she was alone in the sunlight,

like in the hands of the future;

only the sea remained,

and her amaranth bikini…

And then, and then…

if you find yourself reminding

you’ll realize

that you don’t care at all,

and you’ll understand

that an evening, a season

are like flashes,

lights switched on and then off.

And you’ll realize that the real ambiguity

is the life we are living,

is something that we call to be men…

And then, and then…

that the habit which will kill us

won’t be smoking or drinking,

but something you are carrying inside

that is living, living

and then, and then living

and then, and then living…

• Artist:Francesco Guccini
• Album:Radici