My name is G.G. (= Giorgio Gaber)
I was born and I live in Milan.
I do NOT feel Italian
But luckily or not, I happen to be one.
I am sorry Mr. President, It’s not my fault
But I am not quite sure what this fatherland of ours is about.
I might be wrong of course and Maybe our country is indeed a good idea
But I am afraid it will just turn into some sort of bad poem.
I am sorry Mr President,
but I just don’t feel the need of a National Anthem and to be honest I am a little ashamed of it.
As for our soccer players, I don’t feel like judging them
whenever they fail to sing the anthem… Either they’re simply not familiar with it
Or they just have some shame…
I do not feel Italian But luckily or not, I happen to be one.
I’m sorry Mr. President, if I might now sound disrespectful
when I state that I do not feel like I belong.
And with the exception of Garibaldi And of a few glorious heroes,
I do not see much To be proud of.
I am sorry Mr President, But I cannot help but recalling the fanaticism
Of the “blackshirts” during the Fascism.
That same Fascism which once gave birth to our so called democracy.
And frankly it takes some guts to complement it…
I do not feel Italian But luckily or not, I happen to be one.
Our beautiful country is full of poetry and has so many demands
But after all it’s nothing but the periphery of the Western culture.
I’m sorry Mr President, But I believe our nation
which you now represent
is in pieces.
In people's eyes it’s so evident that everything is manipulated while nothing actually works.
Maybe we Italians have too much of an old tradition of being way too passionate
About discussing over every single thing.
Even in our Parliament the atmosphere is incandescent
they fight over everything and nothing ever changes.
I do not feel Italian But luckily or not, I happen to be one.
I’m sorry Mr President, but you must agree with me:
between us we must aknowledge our own limits
At the end of the day, beyond the defeatism We are who we are
And we do have a past Which is worth to be remembered .
I am sorry Mr President, But maybe we Italians
at the eyes of the other countries represents nothing more but spaghetti and mandolins.
And here I get pissed and get proud and show in their face
What Renaissance was all about.
I do not feel Italian But luckily or unluckily, I happen to be one.
Our beautiful country might be unwise and confused
But after all if I were born somewhere else
Could have been even worse.
I am sorry Mr President, I already said too much, but I believe
There is one last important point to add:
Compared to other countries We do not believe in ourselves
maybe that's just because we realized That the world is nothing but a small theatre.
I am sorry Mr President,
I know you’re not happy when you hear people calling out "Italy, Italy" only at soccer games.
But both for not dying Or just for fun
We did create the European Union Now it's time to finally create... Italy.
I do not feel Italian But luckily or not, I happen to be one.
...Luckily I am.