Bella Ciao

The Italian folk song and partisan anthem Bella Ciao is more popular than ever. In 2018, it is sung by Tom Waits and throughout the Spanish television series Money Heist.

"Bella ciao" ("Goodbye beautiful") is an Italian folk song that was adopted as an anthem of the anti-fascist resistance. It was used by the Italian partisans during the Italian Civil War between 1943 and 1945 in their struggle against the fascist Italian Social Republic and its Nazi German allies. "Bella ciao" is used worldwide as an anti-fascist hymn of freedom and resistance. The song has much older origins though in the hardships of the mondina women, the paddy field workers in the late 19th century who sang it as a protest against harsh working conditions in the paddy fields in North Italy.

History

"Bella Ciao" was originally sung as "Alla mattina appena alzata" by seasonal worker of paddy fields of rice, especially in Italy's Po Valley from the late 19th century to the first half of the 20th century with different lyrics. The work of monda (weeding) was widespread in northern Italy in that era. The work consisted of removing the weeds growing in rice fields that hindered the healthy growth of young rice plants. It took place during the flooding of the fields, from the end of April to the beginning of June every year, during which the delicate shoots needed to be protected, during the first stages of their development, from temperature differences between the day and the night. It consisted of two phases: transplanting the plants and pruning the weeds. The work of monda was an extremely tiring task, carried out mostly by women known as mondinas (rice-weeders) that came of the poorest social classes. The workers would spend their workdays with their bare feet in water up to their knees and their back bent for many hours. The atrocious working conditions, long hours and very low pay led to constant dissatisfaction and led, at times to rebellious movements and riots in the early years of the twentieth century. The struggles against the supervising padroni was even harder with the abundance of clandestine workers ready to compromise even further the already low wages just to get work. Besides "Bella ciao", similar songs by the mondina women included "Sciur padrun da li beli braghi bianchi" and "Se otto ore vi sembran poche".

Other similar versions of the antecedents of "Bella ciao" appeared over the years, indicating that "Alla mattina appena alzata" must have been composed in the later half of the 19th century. The earliest written version is dated 1906 and comes from near Vercelli, Piedmont.

"Bella ciao" was revived by the anti-fascist resistance movement active in Italy between 1943 and 1945 with different lyrics of resistance. The author of the lyrics is unknown.

Melody

Italian folksinger Giovanna Daffini recorded the song in 1962. The music is in quadruple meter.

Lyrics

Mondine version

Partisan version

Recordings

One of the most famous recordings is that of the Italian folk singer Giovanna Daffini who recorded both the mondina and the partisan versions. It appears in her 1975 album Amore mio non piangere. A great number of artists have recorded the song including Herbert Pagani, Mary Hopkin, Sandie Shaw, Manu Chao and many more.

• 1965: Milva as a single taken from her album Canti della libertà
• 1970: Yves Montand as a single
• 1975: Giovanna Daffini in her album Amore mio non piangere
• 1989: Save Rose on the album Ild og frihed
• 1993: Modena City Ramblers on the album Combat Folk
• 1993: Banda Bassotti on the album Gridalo Forte Records
• 1995: Thomas Fersen on the album Les Ronds de carotte
• 1999: Diego Moreno on the album Diego Moreno Project
• 2001: Red Army Choir on the album The Definitive Collection
• 2010: Talco on the album Combat Circus
• 2011: Boulevard des airs on their album Paris-Buenos Aires
• 2011: Annie Trousseau on her album Diamonds of the West
• 2012: Goran Bregović on the album Champagne For Gypsies
• 2016: David Guido Pietroni produced a balcan version on the single ”La resistencia roja”
• 2018: Marc Ribot and Tom Waits on the album 'songs of resistance 1942 - 2018' by Marc Ribot
• 2018: Hilal Cebeci on her Single "Cav Bella"

International versions

In addition to the original Italian, the song has been recorded by various artists in many different languages, including Arabic, Bosnian, Breton, Catalan, Chinese (known as "啊朋友再见"), Croatian, Danish, English, Esperanto, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Hebrew, Japanese, Persian, Kurdish, Norwegian, Occitan, Russian, Serbian, Slovenian, Spanish, Syriac, Tagalog, Telugu, Thai, Tibetan, Turkish, and Ukrainian,Albanian.

• Azerbaijani Soviet singer Muslim Magomayev performed the song at some of his concerts and he stated that it was Brezhnev's favorite by him.
• A rewritten version of the song can be heard on Chumbawamba's acoustic album A Singsong and a Scrap.
• Another version of the song was recorded by the punk rock band Dog Faced Hermans on their album, Every Day Time Bomb.
• Former Yugoslav punk rock bands KUD Idijoti and later Goblini recorded their versions of the track.
• Hungarian punk rock band Aurora has performed the song.
• Folk musician Leslie Fish has written and performed several versions of the song, one of which can be found on the album Smoked Fish.
• Folk artist Mirah lent her voice to this song on her 2004 album, To All We Stretch the Open Arm.
• Anita Lane recorded a version in English for her 2001 album, Sex O'Clock.
• Breton folk punk band Les Ramoneurs de menhirs recorded a version in Breton and French but called it "BellARB".
• Danish psychedelic rock group Savage Rose have recorded a version of this song on the albums En Vugge Af Stål from 1982 and Ild Og Frihed (1989).
• San Francisco punk band La Plebe perform "Bella Ciao" on their album, Brazo en Brazo.
• French-born musician of Spanish origin Manu Chao has also recorded a version of the song.
• Kurdish singer Ciwan Haco has included the song in his album Çaw Bella 1989 – Bochum – Germany.
• Kurdish music band Koma Dengê Azadî has also included the song with a different style in their album Çaw Bella 1991 – Istanbul – Turkey. The song was revived during ISIS attack on Kobane 2014.
• The tune has been used in the song "Pilla Chao" from the Telugu language film Businessman, composed by S. Thaman.
• Italian ska punk band Talco recorded the song on their 2006 album Combat Circus.
• Konstantin Wecker and Hannes Wader, two German "Liedermacher" performed it live on their collaboration album Was für eine Nacht.
• Turkish band Grup Yorum have recorded a Turkish translation of the song on their 1987 album Haziranda Ölmek Zor / Berivan.
• Turkish band Bandista has recorded a Turkish version, "Hoşçakal", on their album Daima!, in 2011.
• Yugoslav musician Goran Bregovic has recorded one version on his album Champagne for Gypsies (2012).
• German folk duo Zupfgeigenhansel recorded a free adaptation on their 1982 album Miteinander that, instead of glorifying the death of the partisan, paints him as a reluctant anti-hero who is scared and despises war, but feels he has no other choice because of the atrocities he has seen.
• Thai anti-fascism band, "Faiyen" (ไฟเย็น, "Cold Flame") recorded a Thai version of the song called "Plodploy Plianplaeng" (Thai: ปลดปล่อย เปลี่ยนแปลง, "Liberate and Change"). It has been used by the Red Shirts anti-fascism group since 2011.
• Spanish punk rock band Boikot recorded a modified version in Spanish.
• An a cappela version was recorded by the Swingle Singers in 1991 on their album "Folk Music Around The World"
• Belarusian folk punk band Dzieciuki recorded a modified version in Belarusian under the name "Трымайся, браце!" ("Hold fast, brother!")
• Syriac (Aramaic) version created by Beith Souryoye Morounoye under the name "foosh bashlom (Bella ciao)"
• Patric recorded Bèla Ciaò, a version in Occitan for his 2010 album, Colors.
• Mike Singer recorded an Electro dance version in June 2018.
• Hardwell and Maddix also make a EDM version of it in 2018
• American DJ Steve Aoki and Marnik also make a EDM version of it in 2018
• Marc Ribot collaborated with Tom Waits to create their own version for 2018. It is the first song Tom Waits has done in 2 years. This appears on the Marc Ribot album Songs Of Resistance 1942 - 2018.

In popular culture

As an internationally known hymn of freedom, it was intoned at many historic and revolutionary events. The song originally aligned itself with Italian partisans fighting against Nazi German occupation troops, but by now it merely stands for the inherent rights of all people to be liberated from tyranny. The song was a crowd favorite at Romano's Macaroni Grill when it hired opera singers as waiters. The singer would usually stand on a chair and sing while the audience claps along feverishly, with the tempo increasing gradually.

In 2012 the melody of "Bella ciao" has also been adopted with adapted lyrics as a worldwide environmental activist song ("Do it now"), demanding political action against global warming.

In April 2018, supporters from the Portuguese soccer club F.C. Porto adapted the song with the lyrics "Penta Xau" ("Bye bye fifth"), referring to the lost opportunity by rival club S.L. Benfica to win a fifth national championship in a row, a feat only F.C. Porto has achieved in the country.

The song was also adapted by Brazilian fans during World Cup 2018 to tease and taunt Argentina about their possible exit in the first round, which eventually did not occur, with references to Argentinian players Di María, Mascherano, and Messi (Brazil and Argentina have a well-known football rivalry).

In August 2018, international DJs Hardwell and Maddix sampled the song “Bella Ciao” with an electronic twist.

Marc Ribot collaborated with Tom Waits to create their own version for 2018.

Filmography

"Bella Ciao" has been used many times in soundtracks of films. Examples include:

• 1969: "Most (Savage Bridge)" directed by Hajrudin Krvavac Yugoslavia
• 2000: À l'attaque! directed by Robert Guédiguian
• 2004: Les Fautes d'orthographe directed by Jean-Jacques Zilbermann, where "Bella Ciao" is sung by the students
• 2010: L'Immortel directed by Richard Berry, where "Bella Ciao" is sung by a prisoner
• 2017: Money Heist, Spanish TV series, sung many times by main characters El Profesor and Berlin

Renewed popularity with Money Heist

"Bella ciao" is sung multiple times throughout the Spanish television series Money Heist. The character Tokyo recounts in one of her narrations, "The life of El Profesor revolved around a single idea: Resistance. His grandfather, who had fought against the fascists in Italy, taught him the song and he taught us." The song is also played in other emblematic moments in the series as a metaphor for freedom.

As a result of the popularity of the series and its characters El Profesor and Berlin singing the tune, there was a flood of releases in 2018:

• El Profesor & Berlin original version from the series
• "Bella ciao (Hugel Remix)" using the rendition of El Profesor
• Separate versions by The Bear, by Sound of Legend and by Manu Pilas.
• Rapper Rémy sampled the song in a rap freestyle version
• New brazilian bass version of the song by Alok, Bhaskar, Jetlag Music, André Sarate and Adolfo Celdran
• In April 2018, the hardstyle duo Gunz for Hire gave their twist to this track.
• On 18 May 2018, a completely revamped French version with new French-language lyrics keeping a few lines in Italian was released by Maître Gims, Vitaa, Dadju, Slimane and Naestro. The version topped SNEP, the official French Singles Chart.
• In June 2018, the German pop singer Mike Singer released his own version that charted on the German Singles Chart.
• In June 2018, DJs Steve Aoki and Marnik released an EDM cover of Bella Ciao.
• In August 2018, Dutch DJs Maddix and Hardwell released their own twist on the popular song.

Date: October 2018.

Photo Credits: (1ff) 'Bella Ciao' (unknown/website).

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