Bella Ciao: the song of the partisans. Or not?

On the April 25th, the national festival of freedom in Italy, the song resounded everywhere like every year Bella Ciao.

A song that, as the text says, is about the struggle of the partisans, the partisans who, after the Allied invasion in World War II, sided with these liberators and fought against the German occupier and the remaining fascist troops:

'Una mattina mi son svegliato
o bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao, ciao, ciao
una mattina mi son svegliato
e ho trovato l'invasor.

O Partigiano Portami via
o bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao, ciao, ciao
o partigiano portami via
che mi sento di morir.'

Bella Ciao has become one of the most famous Italian since the war Songs and has become the anthem of resistance, in whatever form and under whatever circumstances.

Even in the popular Netflix series The House of Paper use the bank robbers of The teacher it to give oneself courage and affirm a fighting spirit.

So if someone asks where the song is Bella Ciao is actually about or comes from, the usual answer is: it is the song the partisans sang during WWII.

But is that really the case? Or is it too romantic to be true?

In a recent article in the Corriere della Sera explains the world famous songwriter Paolo Conte elaborates again: there is no written evidence and no testimonies to show that the song was sung by the partisans during the war.

Nor is it included in the various anthologies of battle songs composed shortly after the war. The earliest recorded performance of the song took place at the Spoleto Festival in 1964, nearly twenty years after the end of the war.

There is, however, a variant of the song that was already sung in the 50s (and perhaps much earlier), namely the song of the mundane, the women workers in the rice fields of northern Italy:

'Alla Mattina Appena Alzata
o bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao, ciao, ciao
alla mattina appena alzata
in risaia mi tocca andar.

E fra gli insetti e le zanzare
o bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao ciao ciao
e fra gli insetti e le zanzare
un dur Lavoro mL tocca far.'

It is about the inhumanely hard work that women had to do and about the hope of one day escaping it by conquering freedom. In this text it also becomes clear where the 'bella ciao' on saves: the farewell to the beauty, the youth, ciao bellezza, something that sounds less logical in the partisan version.

And although this is also not certain, it seems that this version is the original and that the partisan version was only created years after the war. Although we don't know exactly when and how. There is almost as much uncertainty about the origin of the melody.

But does all this uncertainty really matter? Maybe not. Bella Ciao With its easy-to-remember lyrics and catchy music (which also allows you to clap along if you don't dare to sing) has gradually become 'the' resistance song, is it not for the partisans of WWII, or for all resistance fighters from after the Second World War? last war.

An important reason for its success in Italy is undoubtedly also that the text remains politically obscure so that all the different resistance groups can identify with it.

During the most recent celebration of freedom, Italian President Mattarella quoted the lyrics of the song in connection with the war in Ukraine and called Bella Ciao again the song of the partisans.

It is apparently one of those myths that cannot be eradicated. Although too good to be true, but also too good not to (continue to) believe!

So much so that the song was played during the funeral of the partisan Giorgio Bocca, although this Bocca was one of the fiercest fighters of the myth of the partisan song…

Bella Ciao: the translation

Do you want to see the entire translation of the song Bella Ciao into Dutch? Below we have put the Italian text and the Dutch translation side by side.

Italian text

Dutch translation

Una mattina mi son svegliato oh bella, ciao! bella, ciao, bella, ciao, ciao, ciao! Una mattina mi son svegliato e ho trovato l'invasor O partigiano, portami via o bella, ciao, bella, ciao, bella, ciao, ciao, ciao! O partigiano, portami via che mi sento di morir And it's the same thing from the party o bella, ciao, bella, ciao, bella, ciao, ciao, ciao! And it's the same thing from the party tu mi devi seppellir E seppellire lassù in mountain o bella, ciao, bella, ciao, bella, ciao, ciao, ciao! E seppellire lassù in mountain sotto l'ombra di un bel fior Tutte le gentic che passeranno oh bella, ciao, bella, ciao, bella, ciao, ciao, ciao! Tutte le gentic che passeranno Mi diranno “Che bel fior!” È questo il fiore del partigiano o bella, ciao, bella, ciao, bella, ciao, ciao, ciao! È questo il fiore del partigiano morto per la liberta!

One morning I woke up o bella, ciao, bella, ciao, bella, ciao, ciao, ciao! One morning I woke up and I saw the occupier O partisan, take me with you Oh bella, ciao, bella, ciao, bella, ciao, ciao, ciao! O partisan, take me with you Because I feel like I'm going to die And if I die like a partisan o bella, ciao, bella, ciao, bella, ciao, ciao, ciao! And if I die like a partisan Do you have to bury me And bury me there in the mountains o bella, ciao, bella, ciao, bella, ciao, ciao, ciao! And bury me there in the mountains in the shade of a beautiful flower And the people who will pass o bella, ciao, bella, ciao, bella, ciao, ciao, ciao! And the people who will pass Will say to me: "What a beautiful flower!" And it Is the flower of the partisans o bella, ciao, bella, ciao, bella, ciao, ciao, ciao! And it Is the flower of the partisans who died for freedom!