Per un piccolo eroe [English translation]

They gave you a medal

because you won a battle

and they said that you were great.

When you lost your arms and legs

and, thanks to this your victory,

they wrote about you as part of history.

Then, they erected you a monument

against the dust of time.1

A "was"2 hero,

and a "was" guy is not alive anymore.

But they never wrote about

all your little troubles,

and that, in your life, everything

slipped through your fingers.

All the promises you made, before you

changed your mind, every night.

And that, one day, you were screaming

in pain for love.

A "was" hero,

and a "was" guy is not alive anymore.

I want to erect you a monument

for all your gone bad dreams.

And I want to make you a general

for all your lost battles.

I want to make you a general.

They didn't write about

those days when you were poor

and you were nobody

among people,

you felt like a shard,

you were like a rug.

Then, in order to have a meaning,3

you looked for the right opportunity.

And that's why you are a "was" guy, now,

and a "was" guy is not alive anymore.

I want to erect you a monument

for all your gone bad dreams.

And I want to make you a general

for all your lost battles.

I want to make you a general.

I want to erect you a monument

for all your gone bad dreams.

And I want to make you a general

for all your lost battles.

I want to make you a general.

I want to make you a general.

1. To prevent the 'dust of time' from getting people to forget about you. As time passes, many old things are forgot and 'covered by dust'. That monument will prevent that from happening.2. 'Was' is used as kind of adjective, meaning that he is someone who "was", who lived in the past, so he's dead.3. He looked for the meaning of his life, in the end. He wanted to find a meaning for being alive.

• Artist:Umberto Bindi
• Album:Con il passare del tempo (1972)