Bella, ciao! Festeggiamo il 77º anniversario?
Content warning: mentions of death and war
Image credits: PiuCulture, via Google
Music has always been a living, active companionship in our house. My dad couldn’t help himself: his passion was too strong to be left in the drawers of his quiet personality. It became vocal through the lyrics and melodies of his dearest artists shuffled on polk audio. And his not so subtle attempt often translated his desire to share it with us all in the family. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t, but what counts is that this is how I discovered the existence of Bella Ciao. To you, this may be just a theme song from La Casa De Papel. To me, it’s Goran Bregovic echoing in the living room. So, what is it to Italy?
Pestelli’s symbolic vision sums up the song’s essence better than anyone I’ve come across: un gomitolo musicale (literally a musical ball of yarn), in which threads of various colours (and thereby meanings) are intertwined. Una mattina mi son svegliato: five words are enough per suscitare il richiamo. Bella Ciao is so much more than a folk song: it is a meaningful anthem, a ballata chanted every year to celebrate Liberation Day. On April 25 1945, i cittadini del tricolore can finally experience freedom, from the fascist regime and the Nazi oppressive occupation.
Bella Ciao began historically as a lament against harsh working conditions in the Po Valley. Monda (weeding) was carried out by mondinas, rice weeders, who were mostly women and usually belonged to the poorest social classes. The rice paddy field workers would exploit its repetitive metrics, to mark their long hours, to make the time go faster through the company of a motivating rhythm. Its lyrics were always different, from the late 19th century to the first half of the 20thcentury, almost to suggest that because it belonged to il popolo, it had to be adapted to their frustrations, their dissatisfaction, to their need for catharsis against the supervising padroni. However, historians found this to be the 1961 version of the song, which suggests that Bella Ciao has more ancient roots. Some origins retrace back to Fior di Tomba, a popular northern canto, so curiosity arises not only to investigate its partisan adaptation but also its delivery to more central regions in Italy.
What surprised me was what Ruggero Giacomini claimed in an interview about the partisan origins of the song, apparently belonging to Marche. Anzi, al Maceratese. Giacomini recognises the Maiella Brigade as the musical vector that ensured Bella Ciao’s landing in the North. My incredule reaction was partly shared by Giacomini too, who kept collecting indizi marchigiani but still dubious to settle. That was until he came across Lydia Stocks’ letter to Amato Vittorio Tiraboschi (former commander of the Garibaldi Marche Brigade), dated April 24, 1946. Lydia was a Russian who after 8th September 1943 had fled from a women's internment camp in the province of Macerata and had joined the partisans on Mount San Vicino. And what she couldn’t forget was all those boys “who went to die singing Bella Ciao”. The arrival of the Maiella Brigade on June ’44 adapted the folk song al contesto bellico. This inextricably connected it to the Italian Resistance movement, as part of the partisan struggle against the fascist Italian Social Republic.
Image credits: Erica Silvestri via CSOA La Strada
So why didn't this story come to light earlier? Giacomini suggests that the reason lies in the limited coverage on Resistance in the Marche, when it was very strong and precocious. Perhaps little is known because in the Marche we have a certain reputation: we reason by municipalism, maintaining a peasant modesty that does not always make us stand out.
Whilst a naïve first impression may convey a romantic translation of “Goodbye beautiful”, the essence of this political anthem features un giovane partigiano, waving his sweetheart an uncertain arrivederci before joining the militia. The musical cheer we’re all familiar with juxtaposes a much obscure narrative. Bella Ciao assumes now a warning kind of identity, where the enemy is approaching. Where every word of goodbye counts, because it could be the very last.
This musical call to action may be tied to its historical context, but it still irradiates a powerful, contemporary sense of solidarity. The folk song has been implemented into several anti-Salvini protests (2019); chanted after the terrorist attacks in France concerning the newspaper Charlie Hebdo; altered to address the mission towards climate justice (remixed with Do it now).
We need to wake up
We need to wise up
We need to open our eyes
Do it now now now
We need to build a better future
we need to start right now
Bella Ciao earns its success as the iconic Resistance anthem because it embraces all "faces" of Resistance (the Liberation fight against the invading German army; the civil war against the fascist dictatorship; the class war for social emancipation). The folk song has been a catalyst to externalise a collective desire for rebirth and resistance. It has transcended the sphere of il contesto bellico, because its relevance applies even to metaphorical forms of oppression. Its echoing has been prominent in all kinds of national emergencies, especially when triggered by the first lockdown of the 2020 pandemic: balconies and windows became tools, recreations of a patriotic orchestra that couldn’t stop increasing its tempo, nurturing its feverish need for hope.
E quindi buon 77º anniversario, cara Italia Liberata!
