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1-100       Compilations

HH from the Italian Diaspora

Frankie Hi NRG — La Morte dei Miracoli (1997)

The Right-Thinking People (Italian original)
Translation by freezerman

They're all around us, among us, in many cases we are the ones making promises that we never keep, unless for selfish reasons. The only end is usefulness, the means are every possibility, the stakes as high as can be, and winning is an imperative - and don't give anybody else a chance to participate. In the logic of this game, the only rule is being shrewd: no scruples, no respect for others because the last ones will remain the last if the first are inaccessible. They are many of them, arrogant with the weakest, servile with the powerful, they are replicants (1), they are all identical, look at them: they hide behind masks and they're indistinguishable. They climb upwards like lizards, and if they lose their tail, they buy a new one. They do what they want so that people will know what they've done: they spend money, spread money, they are what they own....

Chorus:
They are all around me, but they don't speak to me.... They are like me, but they feel better than me.... (x2)

... and just like suppositories, they live in fully-optioned blisters, with dogs louder than 120 decibels and more dwarves than in Disneyland, they live with the fear of looking poor: they show what they have, all the rest they lust after, then they buy, in constant escalation with their neighbour: from the lawn up to the sky, they have more satellite dishes (2) on their roofs than Mark has paraboles in Gosepl.... They are those who wash their cars on Saturdays and then spend the evenings scorching the asphalt and hitting little kids, they are average (3), like the class they're part of, they are ground-ground(4) like the missiles they look like. Uptight, they cover themselves in powder (5), soaked in alcohol and then they smash themselves against a tree - BOOM! - Noses white as Fruit of the Loom that become redder than a level of Doom (6).

Chorus:
They are all around me, but they don't speak to me.... They are like me, but they feel better than me.... (x2)

Each one out for himself, keeping God for himself, holding hands across the church pews on Sundays - hypocritical hands - hands that do things you don't talk about, in fear the other hands might talk - what a scandal - hands that then sign petitions for expulsions (7), hands as smooths as castor oil (8), hands that wield billy clubs, hands that stuff their pockets with jewelry, hands that climb on the back of their brothers. Those that say, it's no longer safe to walk at night, those who go with a whore while their sons watch TV, those who act like the bossman, those that buy "Class" (9), those who are so sophisticated they call the NAS (10), plastic nightmares, those who would like to set every gypsy woman on fire, but the only ones they turn on is those who give them charity each night, when I hide myself on the dark side of their Black Moon (11).

NOTES:

(1) A reference to the movie "Blade Runner," but also a play on words: "replicante" means somebody who copies the doings of someone else.BACK
(2) A pun on the Italian word "parabola": a television satellite dish and Christ's stories from the Bible.BACK
(3) The word "medi" refers to the middle class, as well as someone or something considered dull or average.BACK
(4) "Terra-terra" is an expression sued to describe somebody that is not not so smart and interested only in material matters. It is also used to for ground-to-ground missiles. BACK
(5) While "s'infarinano" literally means "They cover themselves in flour," it actually refers to snorting cocaine. BACK
(6) A computer game showing lots of blood and violence. BACK
(7) In some neighborhoods, petitions are circulated for the expulsion (sgombero) of squatters and immigrants. BACK
(8) Black-shirts (camice nere) of the historic Fascist regime forced their enemies to drink castor oil. BACK
(9) "Class" is an Italian "lifestyle" magazine, a mix of "Playboy," "Max," and "Fortune."BACK
(10) NAS stands for "Nuclei Anti Sofisticazione," an anti-drug branch of the Italian carabinieri or state police. BACK
(11) "La Zingara" (The Gypsy Woman) was an Italian television game show where a gypsy woman dealt cards to contestants who, in turn, answered questions with the hope of winning money. The "Luna Nera" (Black Moon) was a bad luck card. There's a double meaning in the line "set every gypsy woman on fire, but the only ones they turn on is ...." According to Frankie, it means both "switch on that TV show AND set the gypsy woman on fire, as Italian fascists set gipsy caravan homes on fire." Thanks RB05 for making this clear. BACK

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