L’italiano medio [English translation]

I remember Christmas charities 1

Wheat fields around county roads

The tragic Fantozzi, the social satire 2

Today I'm looking for Luttazzi, but I can't find him on TV 3

Anyway, I'm a good citizen

I've updated my cellphone ringtones 4

And a glass of wine with a sandwich 5

I feel happy if Costanzo does the conga 6

I've got a holy card in my living room

I pray him so I'll win the national lottery 7

I've got Gerry Scotti with his rice, but it's overcooked 8

He'll make me millionaire like Silvio 9

With Paolo's newspaper 10 and a lot of faith in Emilio 11

This year I've been hungry, but for two weeks

I've pretended to be rich in Porto Cervo 12

Feels good

But I remember Christmas charities

Wheat fields, now the wheat is rotten

Who cares, today I'll go to the mall

And my only problem is where to park

Oooh oooh

But I don't care too much

Oooh oooh

I'm Italian and I sing 13

And just give me Fiorello and Panariello on TV 14

I'm the average Italian, in the blue-painted blue 15

I'm a good, law-abiding citizen

In the morning I have a nice, spiked coffee 16

After dinner a [glass of] limoncello, 17 when I'm on vacation Tequila

The Gazzetta in winter and Novella 2000 in summer 18

The life of a star is so nice

Marina or Martina 19 or that of the "velina" 20

The brunette or the blonde 21 is good and round

As long as the boat goes, as long as the boat doesn't sink 22

And in the meantime I'm losing points on my driving license 23

And the car of an MP roars by 24

So wonderful

Oooh oooh

But I don't care too much

Oooh oooh

I'm Italian and I sing

Just give me a football and I won't bother you anymore

I'm the average Italian, in the blue-painted blue

But I don't want to have a dream like this ever again

I don't want to wake up ever again

I want to show you

That I'm a really good citizen

I've got Valentino's wallet

And the important thing is what I put inside of it

I go with the wind, left and right, saturday downtown

Until my soles are consumed

I dance to Spanish songs

So I don't have to remember the words 25

And I think about having sex, about Briatore's manor 26

About granma's [house] with no elevators, about the football player's woman

About which is the lesser evil

The honor

His Excellency the Bishop

We're still kissing hands 27

What a nice Italian miracle 28

Oooh oooh

But I don't care too much

Oooh oooh

I'm Italian and I sing

And just give me Fiorello and Panariello on TV

I'm the average Italian, in the blue-painted blue [x2]

1. I don't know if this is a reference to common Christmas charities (for poor people and such), or to a more specific tradition, now out of practice: at least in some regions of Italy, people used to give Christmas gift (or even just money) to certain professions, such as traffic policemen, family doctors etc.2. Ugo Fantozzi is the protagonist of nine Italian cult movies (from 1975 to 1999). He's the parody of the average Italian employee: unsatisfied with his work, his family and his life in general.3. Daniele Luttazzi is an Italian comedian, known for books, theater performances and TV sketches. In 2001, he hosted a TV show with ferocious satirical contents and shocking interviews that enraged the then-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who (during a State visit in Bulgaria, in 2002) managed to have him fired by the Italian public broadcasting company (RAI). Along with him, other two people (two famous Italian journalist, Biagi and Santoro) lost their jobs in RAI. This event, known as the "editto bulgaro" ("Bulgarian diktat") was considered by many as an attack against democracy.4. this song came out in 2003, when cellphone ringtones were on the rage.5. reference to the lyrics of a famous Italian song, "Felicità", by Al Bano & Romina.6. Maurizio Costanzo is a popular Italian journalist and anchorman. His long-running talk show is targeted to an elder audience and it is generally considered bleak and boring by young people. Someone (like the author of this song) criticise him for his lack of interest in more controversial topics and and mocks him for his appearances in more trashy TV programs. Around the time this song came out, he had recently partecipated in one of these shows, where he joined in a "conga" dance.7. the author mocks the Italian stereotype of praying God or some specific saint in order to win the lottery.8. another popular TV personality, Gerry Scotti, is known for being the face of the Italian rice company of the same name ("riso Scotti"). His surname is also a pun on one of the slogan used by the commercials: "the Scotti rice never gets overcooked", as "scotto" means "overcooked".9. Gerry Scotti is the anchorman of the Italian version of the show "Who wants to be millionaire". Silvio is obviously Silvio Berlusconi, at the time serving his second term as Italian Prime Minister.10. Paolo Berlusconi is Silvio's younger brother. In 1990 he was appointed by his brother publisher of the newspaper "Il Giornale", abiding by the newly approved Mammì law, which forbids anyone to own both a newspaper and a TV channel (and Berlusconi owned three of them: Rete 4, Canale 5 and Italia 1).11. pun on Emilio Fede's surname (which means "faith" in Italian). Fede has been director of the news program on Berlusconi's Rete 4 tv channel. He has been criticised for the evident lack of impartiality in his news and mocked for his almost fanatical devotion to Berlusconi.12. Porto Cervo is a seaside town in Northern Sardinia, centre of the Costa Smeralda, known for being one of the most exclusive and expensive tourist location in Europe.13. reference to the lyrics of a 1983 popular song by Italian singer Toto Cotugno, "L'italiano". The chorus goes like "let me sing, for I am proud, I'm an Italian, a true Italian".14. Rosario Fiorello and Giorgio Panariello are two Italian comedians and TV hosts. When this song came out, they were especially known for their one-man show on Italian TV's prime-time.15. reference to the lyrics of the 1958 Italian song "Nel blu dipinto di blu" by Domenico Modugno, known worldwide as "Volare".16. Italian people usually does NOT have spiked coffee in the morning, fyi.17. an Italian hard liquor, made from lemons. Although it has been widely commercialised, many people still produces the traditional homemade limoncello, especially in Southern Italy.18. respectively the "Gazzetta dello Sport", the most popular Italian sport newspaper, and "Novella 2000", a weekly gossip magazine.19. I'm not sure, but maybe this is a reference to Marina Graziani and Martina Stella, two Italian showgirls.20. the "velina" is a type of dancing showgirl popularised by an Italian satirical TV program called "Striscia la notizia". Even thought the intents of the show are to expose political scams and corruptions, it always also had a more trashy side (especially in recent years) and the dances of the two "veline" have been criticised as examples of female body objectification.21. the "veline" (see previous note) are always one blonde and one brunette.22. reference to the lyrics of a 1970 popular Italian song by Orietta Berti, "Finché la barca va".23. Italian driving license has a penalty point system: for every traffic offence, the drivers loses some of their default 20 points, until the license is suspended. The author mentions it as it was just been implemented in 2003, when this song came out.24. "auto blu" (lit. "blue cars") is the nickname given to official state cars in Italy. They're often considered to be a status symbol and their misusage for personal reasons is a recurring reason for protests against political privileges and tax money wasting.25. a reference to summer hits from Central and Southern America.26. Flavio Briatore, Italian businessman and millionaire, known for displaying his millionaire lifestyle and some controversial statements about luxury and poorness.27. these lines refers to mafia and ecclesiastic hierarchy, two controversial symbols of status, political power and wealth in Italy.28. the "Italian economic miracle" is a term used by scholars and mass media to refer to the economic boom that took place in Italy from the end of the second world war to the 1960s. It was popularised again since the 1990s by Silvio Berlusconi, who stated, in his propaganda, that a "new Italian miracle" was about to happen thanks to his political agenda.

• Artist:Articolo 31
• Album:Italiano Medio (2003)