Perchè Mai Parlarci Di Pace (Why Talk To Us Of Peace)

Annotation

"Perchè mai parlarci di pace" ("Why Talk To Us Of Peace")

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Why ever / Talk of peace? / You know / About the cold and your children / And the cost of / Shoes and clothes / And the rhythm of / Your hammer. // Why speak to you of peace / When you know the cold, your children, / The cost of shoes and clothes, / And the rhythm of our hammers? // Why speak to you of Vietnam / When you carry it carved upon your faces, / In the swindles of your wages / Bargained over your own labor? // Why speak to you of Nixon / When you see him in every boss— / With his white teeth, his brotherly smile, / And the insult of his pity? // And the choice—that is the gateway to understanding, / Expressed in a hundred, a thousand, and more voices— / In cries of 'Agnelli!' and 'Vietnam!' / And in the peace that you yourselves sing of. // This peace that you sing of / Is, today, a cry of true violence— / Directed at the Ingraos with their 'clear consciences,' / At the Novellas, the Pirellis, and all the bosses. // Why speak to us of peace / When every single day is a life lived at war— / When for every one of 'them' who falls, / A thousand of 'us' lie dead upon the ground? // Why speak to us of peace? / Why speak to us of peace? / Why speak to us of peace? / Why speak to us of peace? __________ Italian: Ma perché mai / parlar di pace / voi lo sapete / del freddo e dei figli / e il costo di / scarpe e vestiti / e il ritmo del / vostro martello. // Perché mai parlarvi di pace / voi sapete del freddo e dei figli / ed il costo di scarpe e vestiti / ed il…

Notes

Gatefold cover with lyrics in Italian and English. Music by Selmoco; words by Ivan Della Mea (B4 co-written with Luciano Della Mea). Instruments: Gruppo Strumentale Di Paolo Ciarchi. Cover design Domizia Gandolfi; photography Francesco Radino. A second undated stereo pressing exists (release 32498073). From the LP 'Il rosso è diventato giallo', a gatefold with lyrics in Italian and English, accompanied by the Gruppo Strumentale di Paolo Ciarchi.

Themes

Anti-Capitalism · Nixon · Peace · Protest · Vietnam Analogy · Economic

In collections

European Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years] · Vietnam as Comparison