Taken from the album of the same name by Giorgio Gaber , “I don’t feel Italian” is one of the most significant pieces of the Italian song. Written in 2002, a few months before Giorgio Gaber left us, “I don’t feel Italian” is a sincere and – at times – ruthless portrait of our country. In the letter addressed to the President, Gaber speaks with bitterness and disillusionment about Italy and its contradictions, but at the same time the pride of being Italian also emerges. Because, after all, “I don’t feel Italian, but fortunately or unfortunately I am”. “I don’t feel Italian”, a portrait of Italy
In the text Gaber enumerates a series of factors for which he does not feel proud of being Italian, with references to current events and the history of Italy. Starting from the players who do not know the national anthem, to the black shirts “at the time of fascism”, Gaber tells the contradictions of a “broken” country, where “everything is calculated and nothing works”. As he proceeds to list everything that does not work, it is impossible not to perceive, however, his love for Italy. Which he describes as a country full of poetry, where Italians are “too passionate”. But “apart from defeatism, we are what we are and we also have a past that we do not forget”. The passage is famous, in which Gaber, once again addressing the President, claims the Renaissance before the whole world: “Excuse me President but perhaps we Italians are just spaghetti and mandolins for the others. So here I am pissed off I am proud and I am proud of it I throw on his face what the Renaissance is “. To close the text, however, a message of hope, an invitation to fight to build the Italy we want. “But partly in order not to die, or perhaps partly through celia, we made Europe, we also make Italy”.The text
I GG was born and live in Milan.
I don’t feel Italian
but fortunately or unfortunately I am.
Excuse me President
it is not my fault
but this homeland of ours
I do not know what it is.
I may be wrong
that it’s a good idea
but I’m afraid it will turn into
a bad poem.
Excuse me President
I do not feel a great need
for the national anthem
of which I am a little ashamed.
As for the players
, I don’t want to judge
our players, they don’t know
or have more modesty.
I don’t feel Italian
but fortunately or unfortunately I am.
Excuse me President
if I arrive at the impudence
to say that I don’t feel
any belonging.
And except Garibaldi
and other glorious heroes
, I see no reason
to be proud.
Excuse me President
but I have in mind the fanaticism
of the black shirts
at the time of fascism.
From which one day
this democracy was born
that to compliment
it takes imagination.
I don’t feel Italian
but fortunately or unfortunately I am.
This beautiful country
full of poetry
has many claims
but in our western world
and the periphery.
Excuse me President
but this state of ours
that you represent
seems to me a bit broken.
It is also too clear
to people
that everything is calculated
and nothing works.
It will be that the Italians
for a long tradition
are too passionate
about any discussion.
Even in parliament
there is an incandescent air
they slaughter everything
and then nothing changes.
I don’t feel Italian
but fortunately or unfortunately I am.
Excuse me President
you must agree
that the limits we have
we must tell us.
But apart from defeatism
we are what we are
and we also have a past
that we do not forget.
Excuse me President
but perhaps we Italians
for the others are just
spaghetti and mandolins.
So here I am angry I
am proud and I am proud of it I
slam on his face
what the Renaissance is.
I don’t feel Italian
but fortunately or unfortunately I am.
This beautiful country
, perhaps unwise
, has confused ideas
but if I had been born in other places it
could have been worse.
Excuse me President
by now I have said so many
there is another observation
that I think is important.
Compared to foreigners
we believe less
but perhaps we understand
that the world is a little theater.
Excuse me President
, I know that you are not happy
if the cry “Italy, Italy”
is only present at matches.
But partly so as not to die
or perhaps partly through celia
we made Europe
we also make Italy.
I don’t feel Italian
but fortunately or unfortunately I am.
I don’t feel Italian
but fortunately or unfortunately
fortunately or unfortunately
fortunately
fortunately I am.
