Credited on the record as Il Contemporaneo.
Io non sono
1971 · pläne S 88 101 · Modena, Italy
- Artist
- Canzoniere Il Contemporaneo
- Credited on the record as
- Il Contemporaneo
- Title
- Io non sono
- Release
- Zeitgenossen
- Year
- 1971
- Label
- pläne # S 88 101
- Format
- LP · Album
- Language
- Italian
- Country
- Modena, Italy
- Songwriter
- Il Contemporaneo
- Genre
- Folk · Contemporary Italian Folk Music
- Primary theme
- Peace, Protest & Anti-War
Lyrics
English: I am not / A hothouse flower, placed there on purpose / To be cut for the use and convenience / Of those who plant me, those who grow me / With profit in mind. // I am not / A beast raised for slaughter, born and bred / For the use and convenience of those who grow me, / Those who use me, those who raise me / With their own gain in mind. // I am not / Born a soldier so as to have been / Qualified, so as to have been / Trained and regimented and to Vietnam / Be sent. // You are the America of today; / I was born on your soil, I grew up on your soil— / And now, at twenty, you send me off to kill. // But I— / I have seen Van Troi; I have seen a hundred others, / Three hundred others, thousands of others— / I have seen a whole people look me in the eye / And cry out: 'Murderer!' __________ Italian: Io non sono / un fiore di serra messo lì apposta / per esser tagliato ad uso e consumo / di chi mi pianta di chi mi cresce / pensando al profitto. // Io non sono / bestia da carne nato e cresciuto / ad uso e consumo di chi mi cresce / di chi mi adopra di chi mi alleva / pensando al suo lucro. // Io non sono / nato soldato per essere stato / abilitato per essere stato / addestrato e inquadrato e là nel Vietnam / esser mandato. // Tu sei l’America d’oggi / su te sono nato su te son cresciuto / ed ecco a vent’anni mi mandi ad uccidere. // Ma io / ho visto Van Troi, ne ho visti altri cento / ne ho visti trecento ne ho visti a migliaia / ho visto un popolo guardarmi negli occhi /…
Notes
Pläne S 88 101, "serie SIEG No. 1", recorded in West Berlin, with an 8-page German lyric booklet; ildeposito and Meschiari (2003) give 1971. Track A4. German title "Ich bin nicht".
About the artist
Canzoniere Il Contemporaneo — political folk group from Modena, active 1967–1979 (Lara Malagoli, Sauro Malagoli, Willer Varini, Velasques Varieni). [Source: Meschiari, Canzoniere Il Contemporaneo 1967-1979, 2003]
Themes
From the release Zeitgenossen
In collections
European Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years]