Bella ciao

Bella ciao

ok. 1942

Una mat[Am]tina mi son svegliato,
o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, [E]ciao, ciao, ciao!
Una mat[Dm]tina mi son svegli[Am]ato
e ho tro[E]vato l’inva[Am]sor.

O partigiano, portami via,
o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
O partigiano, portami via,
ché mi sento di morir.

E se io muoio da partigiano,
o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
E se io muoio da partigiano,
tu mi devi seppellir.

E seppellire lassù in montagna,
o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
E seppellire lassù in montagna
sotto l’ombra di un bel fior.

Tutte le genti che passeranno
o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
Tutte le genti che passeranno
Mi diranno «Che bel fior!»

«È questo il fiore del partigiano»,
o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
«È questo il fiore del partigiano
morto per la libertà!»


Bella ciao najbardziej znana jest jako antyfaszystowska pieśń włoskich partyzantów z okresu II wojny światowej. Powstała około 1942 roku, lecz na skutek licznych okoliczności piosenka ta stała się uniwersalną pieśnią wolnościową na wiele różnych okazji. Śpiewano ją we Francji w 1968 roku, śpiewają ją dzisiaj Kurdowie, śpiewano ją również w ZSRR. Bella ciao z jednej strony oznacza: „Żegnaj, piękna!”, lecz można ją również tłumaczyć jako: „Piękne pożegnanie”. Jej rodowód jest mocno zapomniany: piosenki nie napisali jedynie poświęcający się w imię ideałów mężczyźni, lecz pierwotnie była ona śpiewana przez włoskie robotnice zbierające ryż w Nizinie Padańskiej, którym chodziło raczej o pożegnanie własnej młodości i piękna utraconych podczas pracy w złych warunkach. Obecnie Bella ciao jest również często śpiewana w parlamencie włoskim przez deputowanych partii lewicowych.

Bella ciao, czyli pożegnanie z pięknym: Filip Lech i Jacek Plewicki o uniwersalnym znaczeniu tego utworu.

Zobacz też Bella ciao w wersji polskiej.

Bandiera rossa

Bandiera rossa

słowa: Carlo Tuzzi, 1908
muzyka: trad.

Avanti [A]popolo, alla riscossa
Bandiera [E]rossa, bandiera [A]rossa
Avanti popolo, alla riscossa
Bandiera [E]rossa trionfe[A]rà!

[A]Bandiera rossa la tri[E]onferà
Bandiera rossa la tri[A]onferà
Bandiera rossa la tri[E]onferà
Evviva il comunismo e la liber[A]tà!

Avanti popolo, tuone il canone
Rivoluzione! Rivoluzione!
Avanti popolo, tuone il canone
Rivoluzione vogliamo far!

Rivoluzione noi vogliamo far!
Rivoluzione noi vogliamo far!
Rivoluzione noi vogliamo far!
Evviva il comunismo e la libertà!

Vogliamo fabbriche, vogliamo terra
Ma senza guerra, ma senza guerra!
Vogliamo fabbriche, vogliamo terra
Ma senza guerra, trionferà!

Bandiera rossa la trionferà
Bandiera rossa la trionferà
Bandiera rossa la trionferà
Evviva il comunismo e la libertà!

Degli sfruttati l’immensa schiera
La pura innalzi, rossa bandiera.
O proletari, alla riscossa
Bandiera rossa trionferà

Bandiera rossa la trionferà
Bandiera rossa la trionferà
Bandiera rossa la trionferà
Il frutto del lavoro a chi lavora andrà!

Dai campi al mare, alla miniera
All’officina, chi soffre e spera
Sia pronto, è l’ora della riscossa
Bandiera rossa trionferà

Bandiera rossa la trionferà
Bandiera rossa la trionferà
Bandiera rossa la trionferà
Soltanto il comunismo è vera libertà

Non più nemici, non più frontiere
Sono i confini rosse bandiere
O comunisti, alla riscossa,
Bandiera rossa trionferà

Bandiera rossa la trionferà
Bandiera rossa la trionferà
Bandiera rossa la trionferà
Evviva comunismo e la libertà

Falange audace cosciente e fiera
dispiega al sole rossa bandiera
lavoratori alla riscossa
Bandiera rossa la trionferà

Bandiera rossa la trionferà
Bandiera rossa la trionferà
Bandiera rossa la trionferà
Evviva comunismo e la libertà


Nieco inna, równie łatwa wersja:

[D]Avanti popolo, alla riscossa
Bandiera [A7]rossa, bandiera [D]rossa
Avanti popolo, alla riscossa
Bandiera [A7]rossa trionfe[D]rà.

[D]Bandiera rossa la tri[A7]onferà
Bandiera rossa la tri[D]onferà
Bandiera rossa la tri[G]onferà
Evviva il comu[D]nismo e la li[A7]ber[D]tà!


Oryginalny tekst do utworu zaadaptowanego na wiele języków napisany został w 1908 roku przez Carla Tuzziego, a muzykę zaczerpnięto z lombardzkich pieśni ludowych. Inaczej zwana Avanti Popolo, jedna z najsłynniejszych piosenek ruchu robotniczego, której tekst funkcjonuje w wielu wersjach.

Women of the Working Class

Women of the Working Class

słowa i muzyka: Mal Finch, 1985

We are [C]women, we are [Am]strong, we are [Dm]fighting for our [G]lives
side by [C]side with the [Am]men, who [Dm]work the nations [G]mines,
U[C]nited by the [Am]struggle, u[Dm]nited by the [G]past
and it’s [G]here we [C]go, here we [Am]go, for the [Dm]women of the [G]working [C]class

We don’t need government’s app[Dm]roval for [C]anything we [G]do
We [C]don’t need their per[Am]mission to [C]have the point of [G]view
We don’t need [C]anyone to [Dm]tell us [C]what to think or [G]say
We’ve [C]strength enough and [Dm]wisdom of our own to [G]go our own [C]way.

We are women…

They talk about statistics, about the price of coal
the prize is our communities, dying on the dole
In fighting for our future, we find ways to organise;
Where women’s liberation failed to move, this strike has mobilised.

We are women…

Ours is a unity that threats could never breach,
Ours an education that the schoolbooks never teach.
We face the taunts and the violence of Thatcher’s thugs in blue;
When you’re fighting for survival, you’ve got nothing, nothing left to lose.

We are women…


W oryginale napisana przez brytyjską działaczkę feministyczną Mal Finch, piosenka została zaadoptowana na swój hymn przez kampanię Kobiety Przeciw Zamykaniu Kopalń (Women Against Pit Closures) prowadzonej podczas górniczego strajku w latach 1984–1985.

Which Side Are You On?

Which Side Are You On?

słowa: Florence Reece, 1931 / Billy Bragg, 2011
muzyka: Florence Reece, 1931

[Am]Which side are you [Em]on boys?
Which side are you [Am]on?
Tell me which side are you [Em]on girls?
Which side are you [Am]on?

Come [Am]all you good workers
Good [Em]news to you I’ll [Am]tell
Of [Em]how the good old [Am]union
Has [Em]come in here to [Am]dwell

Which side are you on boys…

My daddy was a miner
He’s now in the air and sun
He’ll be with you fellow workers
Until the battle’s won

Which side are you on…

They say in Harlan County
There are no neutrals there
You’ll either be a union man
Or a thug for J. H. Blair

Which side are you on…

Oh workers can you stand it?
Oh tell me how you can
Will you be a lousy scab
Or will you be a man?

Which side are you on…

Don’t scab for the bosses
Don’t listen to their lies
Poor folks ain’t got a chance
Unless they organize

Which side are you on…


W 2011 r., podczas akcji „Occupy Sheffield”, Billy Bragg wykonywał tę piosenkę z innym tekstem, napisanym specjalnie na tę okazję:

[Am]Clem Atlee held the bankers to their responsibilities
You made them pay their taxes – but [Em]Thatcher set them [Am]free
The [Am]Big Bang blew the walls down, the bankers got away
They filled their snouts till we bailed them out, now [Em]everyone must [Am]pay

Which side are you [Em]on?
Which side are you [Am]on?
Which side are you [Em]on?
Which side are you [Am]on?

The Left is dead, the media said, that’s a goddamn lie
That which they could never kill went on to „Occupy”
In the camps the watchword is 'accountability’
In Wall Street and in London we demand transparency

Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?

We have the best democracy that Big Money can buy
The markets call the tune and soon our leaders all comply
Come, all you greedy bankers, you pessimists as well,
We’re here today to chase you away and build a better world

Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?

Through this world you travel, you meet some funny men
Some rob you with a six-gun and some with a fountain pen
Through this slog you ramble, through this slog you roam,
You’ll never see an outlaw take a family from their home

Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?


Utwór napisała Florence Reece, żona Sama Reece’a, organizatora Związku Górników Amerykańskich w hrabstwie Harlan w Kentucky. W roku 1931 trwała tzw. Wojna w Harlan County pomiędzy górnikami a właścicielami kopalń, podczas której do domu rodziny Reece wtargnął sierżant J. H. Blair wraz z ludźmi wynajętymi przez kopalnie, by zgarnąć Sama, który zdołał wcześniej uciec. Florence i dzieci zostały sterroryzowane, a kobieta następnego dnia napisała piosenkę, którą po latach wykonywały dziesiątki artystek i artystów (jak Billy Bragg, Pete Seeger, Natalie Merchant czy Tom Morello) w zmienionych tekstowo i muzycznie wersjach.

There is Power in the Union

There is Power in the Union

słowa: Billy Bragg, 1990
muzyka: George Frederick Root, przed 1895

There is [G]power in a factory, [C]power in the land
[G]Power in the hands of a [D]worker
But it [G]all amounts to nothing if to[C]gether we don’t stand
[G]there is power in the [D]uuuuuu[G]nion

Now the lessons of the past were all learned with workers’ blood
The mistakes of the bosses we must pay for
From the cities and the farmlands to trenches full of mud
War has always been the bosses’ way, sir

The [G]union forever defending our rights
Down with the blackleg, all workers u[D]nite
With our [G]brothers and our sisters from [C]many far off lands
[G]there is power in the [D]uuuuuu[G]nion

Now I long for the morning that they realise
Brutality and unjust laws cannot defeat us
But who’ll defend the workers who cannot organise
When the bosses send their lackies out to cheat us?

Money speaks for money, the devil for his own
Who comes to speak for the skin and the bone
What a comfort to the widow, a light to the child
There is power in the union

The union forever defending our rights
Down with the blackleg, all workers unite
With our brothers and our sisters together we will stand
There is power in the union.


There is Power in a Union to pieśń napisana przez Billy’ego Bragga, angielskiego muzyka i działacza lewicowego. Pierwotnie pod tym samym tytułem napisał ją Joe Hill w 1913 roku dla związku Przemysłowych Robotników Świata (Industrial Workers of the World, IWW).