TERU:

It isn't all that difficult to make a litteral translation of a song in another language, make it rhyme and keep it an accurate, litteral translation.

I am not fluent in Italian, and what I do know isn't really Italian but the Calabrian Dialect which is closer to Spnish than it is to Italian. But,
Most of the songs that he plays are "Schlock" popular songs. But he does also play some excellent folk music, and, every now and then, a really good one is played.

One day he played a record of "Marriana la va in campagnia" Which really grabbed me. (Marrianne goes to he countryside) I taped it and gave the tape to my friend Giuseppe Scagliarini who is from Bologna and he typed out the words with a literal English translation. I read Italian a whole lot better than I can spell it. So forgive me if the spelling is half italian and half spanish. Anyway, I added a word or two here and there for rhymning purposes, but I managed to keep it an accurate translation without altering the "flow". It's so much like our Hillbilly "nonsense" songs like, Cindy, Old Joe Clark, Dan Tucker, etc etcthat I found it esy to do. So here it is. I added a "daisy" to the first verse (for rhymning purposes) and made it even more literal than Giuseppe's translation. It'sd in 4/4 time until you get to the "refrain" which thebn goes to 6/8 with a "Tarantella" rhythm. In the English translation I kept it in 4/4 so that it's "form woould be like our hillbilly songs.

O Dio D' ceil
Qui fai crescere le rose
Manda Maritto a tutti queste cosa
(refrain)E la Marianna la va in campagna quando il sole tramonterra, Tramonterra, Tramonterra.
Qui se cuando, qui se cuando returnera.

(My translation)
Oh Lord up above, who makes the rose and daisy
Please find a husband for each of these young ladies
(refrain) And Mary Ann goes to the country today when the sun goes down
But who knows, who knows when she'll come back to town.

II
O Bella e le rose, m'a encore le piu la viola
La sue mogliatina sera una campagniola
(repeat refrain)
(trans)
Oh pretty is the rose, but pretier the violet's hue.
Be sure that when you Marry it's a country girl for you. (repeat refrain

O bei giovenotte, qui fate al amore
Piglate le bionde, lesciatte quel Amore.

Translation
Come all of you young fellows, chase every girl you see Take all the blondes, leave the dark haired ones for me.


There are three more versesw which I translated as well. When I sang them for Giuseppe, he was astounded and said, "That's right, that's exactly right.