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L'elemento umano (English translation)

Artist: Jovanotti
Song: L'elemento umano •Album: Ora (2011)
•
1 translation
English

English translationEnglish

/Italian

A A

The Human Element

Click to see the original lyrics (Italian)

We win, we lose

We step on shit

that gets in between the grooves on the sole of our shoes

We live, we die

We feel pain from which

there is no thought

that can comfort us

we speak to dogs, we shake hands

we often pretend to be something

we watch the sunset, we arrive late

the debris of ruined lives rains down upon us

we have children,

we dream dreams

we make sandcastles on beach towels

we thread glass pearls onto necklaces and plan an escape

We are the human element in the machine

And we are free under the clouds

We are the human element in the machine

And we are free under the clouds

We are the human element in the machine

And we are free under the clouds

We are the human element in the machine

And we are free under the clouds

We are the human element in the machine

And we are free under the clouds

We search for work, we build up stress

that then explodes in a spontaneous change of scene

we search for something that will make

two dove wings sprout from our backs

we accuse others, we put salt in our meals

we go down to take out the rubbish

we smooth wrinkles, we harvest wheat

we make deals with the many faces of fear

we're born in one place, we take a boat to get to where we can be born again

we put flowers between the pages of our diaries to remember a moment of real life

We are the human element in the machine

And we are free under the clouds

We are the human element in the machine

And we are free under the clouds

We are the human element in the machine

And we are free under the clouds

We are the human element in the machine

And we are free under the clouds

We make plans, we shake hands

we make deals that include a penalty

we spit on the ground, we lose the war

we think that in the end it's all the same

we move the rook, we cover the bishop

we spend a day defending what's already lost

we type in the password, we enter the network and for a bit we can pretend that everything is different

we study a system, a problem comes up

we try to fix it quickly to have time left over

we find that we have great power but it is never enough

We are the human element in the machine

And we are free under the clouds

We are the human element in the machine

And we are free under the clouds

We are the human element in the machine

And we are free under the clouds

We are the human element in the machine

And we are free under the clouds

And we're free - And we're free

Thanks! ❤
thanked 5 times

Submitted by

cescalina on Tue, 09/04/2013 - 20:22

Added in reply to request by

Michele320

Author's comments:

One thing - it's not actually we, it's ''one'' but we makes more sense in English I think.

Italian

L'elemento umano

Click to see the original lyrics

Jovanotti: Top 3

1.	Tanto, tanto, tanto
2.	A te
3.	Il più grande spettacolo dopo il Big Bang

Comments

psivova

Thu, 11/04/2013 - 08:47

I think "si saltano i pasti" means "we add salt to the meals".

psivova

Thu, 11/04/2013 - 10:33

And I am also not sure about the translation of "si spigano spighe". May be it just means something like "...and the wheat is in the ear" implying that nature keeps going its cycling way not noticing our elemento umano

cescalina

Thu, 11/04/2013 - 20:14

Hi, I'm replying to this comment and the one above, just in case I mention both and you are confused. The one with the pastries- I was trying to keep it as close to the Italian as possible but maybe a better one would be something like, ''we add salt to our food'', similar to what you said. I'll change it to that.
''si spigano spighe''- This phrase was the one part that actually really confused me so I made it as close to what I could understand as possible. ''and the wheat is in the ear'' doesn't make sense in English though... I was not happy with this part and would really like to change it to a better translation. The problem is that I don't understand the verb ''si spigano''. Is it a typing mistake? I listened to the song and think it is ''spiegano''. In which case it would maybe be something along the lines of trying to explain nature.

psivova

Fri, 12/04/2013 - 12:07

Hi, I think in the case of "si spigano spighe" we have the so-called figura etymologica - rhetorical figure in which words with the same etymological derivation are used adjacently. (Like "si sognano sogni") The meaning must be: wheat plants ("le spighe") come into ear, form ears ("si spigano").
I saw the expression "the wheat is in the ear" in the poem "The Moon was Seven Days Down" by John Shaw Neilson. http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/neilson-john-shaw/the-moon-was-sev....

cescalina

Fri, 26/04/2013 - 14:54

As a native english speaker, 'the wheat is in the ear' is one of those phrases that just sounds wrong out of the context of the poem, you know? Plus, the song is all written in the form of humans doing things, so that phrase would stick out like a sore thumb and, I believe, can't be talking about the wheat growing because that has nothing to do with people. It is a difficult one. I will think about this. Maybe... oh, how about just, we harvest crops. I think I'll go with that.

Michele320

Thu, 11/04/2013 - 17:32

Thank you very much for your time spent.

psivova

Wed, 07/08/2013 - 14:12

See what I found - an animated video of the song - pretty useful
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-WqFMiPMl0