“Ti regalerò una rosa” – Song Lyrics Translated to English
With a little help from my friend Alessandro, here are the lyrics to this year’s Sanremo Song Festival winner, “Ti regalerò una rosa” by Simone Cristicchi. According to Alessandro, not only is the song about the plight of the insane in Italy’s mental hospitals, but some of the lyrics are also cobbled together from actual letters written from inside those hospitals and never sent.
Apologies for the tiny text, it’s still not lining up properly from the Italian to the English – and with a larger text size it gets really off-kilter. Hope it’s still readable.
Next up is the winner in the young songwriter’s category – another political/social song called “Pensa,” or “Think,” which is about the Italian Mafia.
Ti regalerò una rosa | I Will Give You a Rose |
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Ti regalerò una rosa Una rosa rossa per dipingere ogni cosa Una rosa per ogni tua lacrima da consolare E una rosa per poterti amare Ti regalerò una rosa Una rosa bianca come fossi la mia sposa Una rosa bianca che ti serva per dimenticare Ogni piccolo dolore Mi chiamo Antonio e sono matto Io sono come un pianoforte con un tasto rotto Ti regalerò una rosa I matti sono punti di domanda senza frase Dentro ai padiglioni ci amavamo di nascosto Ti regalerò una rosa Mi chiamo Antonio e sto sul tetto |
I will give you a rose A red rose to paint everything A rose to comfort your each and every tear And a rose to show you my love I will give you a rose A white rose as if you were my wife A white rose to help you forget Each little pain My name is Antonio and I’m mad I’m like a piano with a broken key I will give you a rose Mad people are like question marks with no sentences We loved each other secretly in a hospital ward I will give you a rose My name is Antonio and I’m on the roof |
And now you can enjoy the video of Cristicchi’s performance once again at Sanremo – and this time you can sing along!