Judy - Thank you, Thank you for "Ed Il Cappello." My father heard it as a kid in Italy, probably during World War I, and loved it. He finally found one recording, that wasn't very clear. I'm so glad to have it. It looks a little like an Italian version of "The biscuits in the Army, they say they're mighty fine, one rolled off the table and killed a pal of mine," which I also learned from my father. That is, at a first guess, it's a satire on the soldiers' equipment; the first verse says, I think that his hair serves as his umbrella, etc.

The "bionda," or frisky blond woman who supports liberty and Garibaldi, serves as the soldiers' star in heaven. Well, it makes sense in Italian. It looks as if the bit about the blonde is the chorus after each verse. Is that right?

One comment on Bella Ciao: the refrain isn't quite the way it's written above. It's

O bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, caio --

Another fine song popular in WWI was "Quel Mazzolin Di Fiori." I think I saw it on one of the sites that Bill D. listed. My Dad said the Alpinisti, some of Italy's finest troops, marched past his town singing this song in a call-and-response mode and it was pure magic to hear them.