Il dito medio di Galileo [English translation]

1

You accept any precept without verifying it.

You think you're shrewd,

but you are just another one of the dullards,

and you wallow in it, and you wallow in it, and you wallow in it, and you wallow in it,

and you wallow in it, and you wallow in it, and you wallow in it, and you wallow in it...

A new plethora of sheep-men

go with the wolves, with no hesitation.

They lack an identity of their own, they are Lego-men,

whose rule is to obey like a real clan.

Dog shepherds lead them through the stages,

they fear Galileo's finger between their butt cheeks,2

they want barricaded minds - not like grappa at all -

and they don't let them know - like ampere.3

I have to overcome my diffidence:

let's go!, Florence Museum of Science.

Crowbars, rags tied together like pretzels:4

I'm Inside Man, like Denzel.5

This is the heist of the century, suddenly I boggle:

I've stolen the finger, are you ready for the exodus?6

You'll be free, there won't be a Middle Age ever again,

with Galileo's finger inside your bottom.7

Let's carry Galileo's middle finger.

(Ga-li-le-o Ga-li-leo)

Let's carry it at the head of the procession.8

(Ga-li-le-o Ga-li-leo)

Nobody will be called a dullard anymore,

if he sticks it up close to his perineum.910

Ga-li-le-o Ga-li-leo Ga-li-le-o Ga-li-leo.

Galileo's finger: assaulted [by fans] in the procession,

it has become a legend to some people, like George Clooney has.

Everyone must bend over, doggy style, with their asses pointing towards the apogee;

they lower their trousers, they pull up their sarongs.11

The alleged pop star doesn't stop by;12

kneeling people on the opposite side are just banging it,

they are not asking for money as with an exhibited corpse.13

Truth burns like bleach

but, you see, we have petroleum jelly here:

wet your fingers and bend over, yeah, yeah,

otherwise you'll be left out because of the sold out.14

A phalanx in there earns you a crust, all right,

someone will tell you that you are an apostate;

but take knowledge into your sphincter:

it's better than the prostatic exam.15

Let's carry Galileo's middle finger.

(Ga-li-le-o Ga-li-leo)

Let's carry it at the head of the procession.

(Ga-li-le-o Ga-li-leo)

Nobody will be called a dullard anymore,

if he sticks it up close to his perineum.

Ga-li-le-o Ga-li-leo Ga-li-le-o Ga-li-leo.

Galileo, those who opposed your genius

were wiler than the coyote in the canyon.16

If Church put you on the index,

well, what's wrong with that?, you put them on the middle.17

Your sheep get human,

who cares if they get hurt.18

You see how many asses you can penetrate,

you who could only see them through a spying glass before.19

Parochial culture is short-sighted,20

but you rock,

you make giant steps more than Coltrane,21

you unveil secrets more than Brokeback Mountain.22

And nobody can say you didn't lift a finger;

it's more than a finger, it's dynamite.

You will live, Galileo,

like that Galilean who was put on the cross before you.23

(before you, before you, before you, before you,

before you, before you, before you, before you...)

24

There were multiple charges against Galileo.

He read... he kept in his house and read forbidden books.

Galileo, in his last 18 months, never attended to Mass.

Galileo lives with a woman.

But, most of all, Galileo makes horoscopes for money.

He read... he kept in his house and read forbidden books.

Galileo lives with a woman.

Galileo, in his last 18 months, never attended to Mass.

And he never shrived.

Galileo read forbidden books.

Galileo never attended to Mass.

He never shrived.

Galileo lives with a woman.

Galileo...

...and the Pope gets terribly annoyed.

1. Galileo Galilei was the father of the scientific method.

He supported Kopernik's {Copernicus} theory according to which the Sun is the center of the Solar System, while the Earth revolves around it. He had to recant his views to avoid being executed by the Catholic Church.

Galileo's middle finger is preserved in the "Museo della Scienza di Firenze" (Florence Museum of Science), as a kind of secular relic. Being the finger of a great scientist, and being the finger used in the famous rude gesture, the song makes it the symbol of the liberation of rationality from dogmatic thought.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei2. Sheep are considered stupid, as they always do what they are ordered to do, without rebelling. Sheep are also one of the favourite metaphor for Christian believers, who are lead by the "good shepherd" (indeed, the Italian pastore means both "pastor" and "shepherd"). Here, the pastors are not called "cani pastori" {shepherd dogs}, but "pastori cani" {dog shepherds, dog pastors}, which is clearly offensive, saying they are just dogs.

They are leading the sheep into the darkness, afraid that the light of reason will wake people up, and make them abandon religion. Rationality is depicted as Galileo's finger thrust up the ass of the person: knowledge hurts at first, but then becomes very pleasant.

The sheep are the ones wallowing in their ignorance: "ti bei" {you wallow} sounds like "beeh" (the Italian onomatopoeia for bleating).

Lego minifigures: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_minifigure

(it means those people are just puppets)

Legoland: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legoland3. Grappa is an Italian hard liquor.

Barricarsi = barricade (here, it refers to extremely close-minded people: it's as if their mind were barricaded behind dogmas).

Grappa barrique or grappa barricata is a kind of grappa aged in barrique barrels.

In the song, minds are "barricaded" within dogmas; grappa has nothing to do with that.

Mettere al corrente = let someone know about something, inform someone.

Corrente = current (electricity).

ampere is the measurement unit of current (named after the French scientist André-Marie Ampère).

Again, current has nothing to do with the sheep-men.4. Pretzel is a typical German/Austrian kind of bread, tied into a knot.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretzel5. He has broken into the museum to steal the finger (now he's a man inside the museum).

He tied many rags together to climb down from a window, like people breaking out of prison.

Inside Man is a movie starring Denzel Washington.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Man6. He's stolen it and let it out of the museum, like the Hebrews were let out of Egypt's slavery with their exodus.7. Taking Galileo's finger inside your ass is a metaphor for acquiring knowledge: it hurts at first, but after all it's for your own good, and once you are used to it, it can be pleasant.8. The finger/knowledge has taken the place of relics/dogmatism; it is worshipped by the masses now.9. The refrain hides a subliminal (though not voluntary) message, disclosed by the singer himself.

If you play it in reverse, you can hear:

"Come vi rende dei servi: è la religione. Lo so, è profonda, ma il buio farà la sua luce."

{It enslaves you so much: it's religion. I know, it's deep, but darkness will make its light.}

" oe|ni|rep le|d i|sserp i|e|n a|relifni ol e|s, o|e|bbab ota|ma|i|k ui|p ara|s o|nussen"

" o e|ni|rep le|d i|sserp i|e|n a|relifni ol e|s, o|e|bbab ota|ma|i|k ui|p ara|s o|nussen"

"come|vi|rende |dei|servi |è|la |religione |so |è|profonda|ma|il|buio|farà|sua|luce"

Here you can listen to it: https://youtu.be/l7NearNKnzY10. Probably, it's hard for foreigners to hear it, but it's quite easy for an Italian, because of pareidolia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia11. The posizione a pecora or a pecorina {sheep position} or a 90 {at 90 (degrees)} is an intercourse position (doggy style), though here it is Galileo's finger the one carrying out the penetration, for a purely platonic reason (for the sake of philosophy, i.e. "love for knowledge").12. Other artists don't meddle in these things, maybe because such controversial songs are not good for popularity.

The pop star is "alleged" because he's probably not such a good artist, and because supposta means both "supposed/alleged" and "suppository".13. Sbattere = beat, pound.

Sbattere = (sex) screw, bang.

Genuflesso and inginocchiato both mean "kneeling", but genuflesso almost always apply to people kneeling while praying.

Catholics "ask for money by exhibiting a corpse" because they raise lots of money (though they are supposed to be poor) and their symbol is Jesus on the cross (who is dead, so it's a corpse). They also raise money with various relics worshipped by believers and pilgrims.

The finger worshippers do it for free instead: on the other side (the B side) of new acolytes, they stuff it up their back door, to instill knowledge in them.14. Petroleum jelly is a lubricant which makes for an easier penetration.

Wetting their fingers in a basin full of holy water, and then kneeling while making the sign of the cross, is the typical gesture of believers when they enter a church.

In the song, the finger's worshipper wet their fingers with vaseline and then bend over to "accept" the finger.15. Apostate = a person who abdicated his religious faith (for atheism or for another religion).

A prostatic exam is carried out in a similar manner: the doctor inserts his finger into the patient's rectum.16. Wile E. Coyote is a cartoon character.

People who opposed Galileo are "viler than ...".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wile_E._Coyote_and_The_Road_Runner17. The "index" was a list of books banned by the Catholic Church due to their "heretical" content.

Galileo's books were put on the index too.

Now he doesn't reply with his index finger, but with his middle finger.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_Librorum_Prohibitorum18. Sheep-people turn human again thanks to the knowledge they have received from the finger.19. Galileo was the first one to use a spying glass (invented in the Netherlands) to watch the sky and make astronomical observations.

When he was alive, he couldn't spread his views because of the opposition of the Church, but now his finger is taking its revenge.20. "Cultura" {culture} is pronounced "cul-tura" {stuff-ass}.21. Giant Steps is an album by John Coltrane [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Steps]

Fare passi da gigante {make giant steps} = make huge steps forward.22. I segreti di Brokeback Mountain {The secrets of Brokeback Mountain, Brokeback Mountain} is a movie about the impossible homosexual love between two cowboys.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brokeback_Mountain23. Galileo = Galileo/Galilean

Mettere (qlcn) in croce {put (sb) on the cross} = accuse someone in a very aggressive manner, condemn, hound.

The Galilean is Jesus, who was condemned by his contemporaries, just like Galileo was by his own people.

Jesus resurrected and now lives forever through his believers; in the same way, Galileo has taken his revenge and lives forever through people who believe in critical thinking.24. This is an excerpt from the DVD Beautiful Minds – I grandi scienziati raccontano la storia della Scienza {Beautiful Minds – Great scientists narrate the history of Science"}.

• Artist:Caparezza
• Album:Il sogno eretico