The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #68495   Message #1917758
Posted By: GUEST,Enzo Altobelli
23-Dec-06 - 06:15 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Sega, Sega Mastu Ciccio (Italian)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: italian song: zega zega
My mother used sing it me and my younger brothers as she straddled us on her lap facing her, holding our hands or wrists and pulling us back and forth.

Sega, Sega
Mastu Ciccio
na panella e nu sasiccio
o sasiccio cio mangiamme
a panella cia stipamme

Loosely translated from the old Napoletano dialect above to English.

See-saw, See-saw
Maestro Francesco
a loaf of bread and a sausage
the sausage will eat now
the bread we'll save for later.

Old mentality in the poor old days after WWII when meat was hard to come by and not easily affordable, you'd eat the meat first and then if anyone came to visit, all you'd have to share was the bread.