✕
Translation
Piazza Grande (The Town Square)
No saintly strangers come to give me lunch,
At my bench in this town square.
And the type of traders I long for,
Are never there.
Although the park grass is my bed,
Many warm friends still surround me.
These lovers' pains and passions I know all,
Great ones and vile.
I live my way,
But need carresses just the same.
I live my way,
But need to dream too just the same.
I have no real family that cares,
My home is only this town square.
From those who see me I get love,
and give all I have.
Rich lady admirers I have none,
Just scavenge love here in the open,
And feel so fortunately free,
From rascals like me.
I live my way,
But need caresses just the same.
But still to God I plead and pray.
The life I live I'll never change, oh no!
I live my way, a life the way I choose to live it.
White sheets to wrap me I have none,
just bright starlight far above me.
When life has no more dreams to give,
I'll lend you mine.
If I'm the last of our kind ever left alive,
Just let me lie here in the square,
amid stray cats as ownerless as I,
to watch me die.
Susi Johnston✕
Lucio Dalla: Top 3
| 1. | Caruso |
| 2. | Canzone |
| 3. | Piazza Grande |
Comments
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About translator
I am the American/British widow of an Italian intellectual from Milano. I'm also an art historian and author. I love this song, and Dalla's voice. I thought it was time for us to work on a more subtle and correct English translation of this song, with greater poetic and rhythmic fidelity. This is my best attempt so far and I share it humbly, hoping to give this great song a broader reach in the Anglophone world. I hope you like it, and are motivated to help perfect it.