Yesterday morning I woke up with un tarlo musicale (literally: a musical woodworm, a repetitive piece of music that sticks in your mind) in my head. It was the beginning of an Italian song called Il cielo in una stanza, written by singer and songwriter Gino Paoli in 1960. This old song, wonderfully interpreted by ‘la voce’ (the voice) of Italian music, Mina, is still considered to be one of the most romantic Italian songs of all time. Ebbene sì, succede anche a me di essere romantica, qualche volta! (Yes, even I get romantic, occasionally!) I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that yesterday was San Valentino, la festa degli innamorati (Literally: the lovers’ festival, Saint Valentine’s day).

Sopra: La Festa di San Valentino a Verona

Here are the lyrics, followed by my translation into English:

Il cielo in una stanza

Quando sei qui con me
questa stanza non ha più pareti
ma alberi, alberi infiniti.

Quando sei qui vicino a me
questo soffitto viola
no, non esiste più…

Io vedo il cielo sopra noi
che restiamo qui, abbandonati
come se, se non ci fosse più
niente, più niente al mondo.

Suona un’armonica:
mi sembra un organo
che vibra per te e per me
su nell’immensità del cielo

. . .

Suona un’armonica:
mi sembra un organo
che vibra per te e per me
su nell’immensità del cielo

Per te… e per me
nel cielo.

 

The sky in a room

When you are here with me
This room has no walls anymore
but trees, infinite trees.

When you are here near me
this purple ceiling
doesn’t exist anymore…

I see the sky above us
who remain here, abandoned
as if, if there were nothing else,
nothing else in the world.

A harmonica is playing:
it seems to me like an organ
that vibrates for you and for me
up in the immensity of the sky

…

A harmonica is playing:
it seems to me like an organ
that vibrates for you and for me
up in the immensity of the sky

For you… and for me
in the sky

 

You can here a couple of versions of the song by clicking on the following links:

Mina

Gino Paoli