Please can someone provide and translate these lyrics.
Please can someone provide and translate these lyrics.
It's hard to translate this song, as it is not written in literal Italian. I don't really understand the first part, but i've translated the rest so you can have some idea. I didn't translate word-by-word, but to render the idea. The title could be translated either "You want to be American", either "You want to pretend to be American". I hope it can be of some use
Puorte o cazone cu 'nu stemma arreto
'na cuppulella cu 'a visiera alzata.
Passe scampanianno pe' Tuleto
camme a 'nu guappo pe' te fa guardà!
Tu vụ fa l' americano!
YOU WANT TO BE AMERICAN (or pretend to be American)
mmericano! mmericano
AMERICAN, AMERICAN
siente a me, chi t' ho fa fa?
WHO MAKES YOU DO THAT
tu vuoi vivere alla moda
YOU WANT TO FOLLOW THE FASHION
ma se bevi whisky and soda
BUT IF YOU DRINK WHISKY AND SODA
po' te sente 'e disturbà.
YOU DON'T SEEM TO BE DISTURBED.
Tu abballe 'o roccorol
YOU DANCE ROCK'N'ROLL
tu giochi al basebal '
YOU PLAY BASEBALL
ma 'e solde pe' Camel
BUT THE MONEY TO BUY CAMEL CIGARETTS
chi te li dà? ...
WHO GIVES THEM TO YOU?
La borsetta di mammà!
YOUR MOTHER'S PURSE!
Tu vụ fa l' americano
YOU WANT TO BE AMERICAN
mmericano! mmericano!
AMERICAN, AMERICAN
ma si nato in Italy!
BUT YOU WERE BORN IN ITALY
siente a mme
HEAR ME OUT
non ce sta' niente a ffa
YOU'VE GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH IT
o kay, napolitan!
OK, NAPOLITAN
Tu vụ fa l' american!
YOU WANT TO BE AMERICAN
Tu vụ fa l' american!
YOU WANT TO BE AMERICAN!
Comme te po' caṕ chi te ṿ bene
HOW CAN THE ONE WHO LOVES YOU UNDERSTAND YOU
si tu le parle 'mmiezzo americano?
IF YOU SPEAK HALF AMERICAN (ENGLISH)?
Quando se fa l 'ammore sotto 'a luna
WHEN YOU MAKE LOVE UNDER THE MOON
come te vene 'capa e di:"i love you!?"
WHAT WILL YOU SAY? "I LOVE YOU"?
Tu vụ fa l' americano!
YOU WANT TO BE AMERICAN
mmericano! mmericano
AMERICAN, AMERICAN
siente a me, chi t' ho fa fa?
WHO MAKES YOU DO THAT
tu vuoi vivere alla moda
YOU WANT TO FOLLOW THE FASHION
ma se bevi whisky and soda
BUT IF YOU DRINK WHISKY AND SODA
po' te sente 'e disturbà.
YOU DON'T SEEM TO BE DISTURBED.
Tu abballe 'o roccorol
YOU DANCE ROCK'N'ROLL
tu giochi al basebal '
YOU PLAY BASEBALL
ma 'e solde pe' Camel
BUT THE MONEY TO BUY CAMEL CIGARETTS
chi te li dà? ...
WHO GIVES THEM TO YOU?
La borsetta di mammà!
YOUR MOTHER'S PURSE!
Tu vụ fa l' americano
YOU WANT TO BE AMERICAN
mmericano! mmericano!
AMERICAN, AMERICAN
ma si nato in Italy!
BUT YOU WERE BORN IN ITALY
siente a mme
HEAR ME OUT
non ce sta' niente a ffa
YOU'VE GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH IT
o kay, napolitan!
OK, NAPOLITAN!
Tu vụ fa l' american!
YOU WANT TO BE AMERICAN!
Tu vụ fa l' american!
YOU WANT TO BE AMERICAN!
Tu vụ fa l' american!
YOU WANT TO BE AMERICAN!
Last edited by Lady_A; 12-13-2007 at 03:20 PM.
Hello
I can translate first part because it's neapolitan dialect and i have my best friend just of Napoli
Puorte o cazone cu 'nu stemma arreto
You wear trousers with a patch at the back
'na cuppulella cu 'a visiera alzata.
a small cap with the peak up
Passe scampanianno pe' Tuleto
you walk making boaster for Tuleto ( a zone)
camme a 'nu guappo pe' te fa guardà!
like a bully to make watched you
LADY A , My compliments for your translate because it was really difficultCiao
Aley
Thank you, i did my best![]()
Many Thanks to Lady A and Aley68 this is one of my favorites and all my friends and I loved the music and needed to know the story behind it!
Tante Grazie,
Muffinman
You're welcome.
It's a pleasure for me too![]()
Ciao
ma se bevi whisky and soda
BUT IF YOU DRINK WHISKY AND SODA
po' te sente 'e disturbà.
Your stomach is disturbed, i.e. you get a stomach-ache
Really good translation I got off Youtube:
You're wearing trousers with a tag on the back
and a cap with the visor turned up,
parading around Tuleto
like a lady's man trying to be seen
You're acting all american,
american, american,
listen here: who's asking you to?
You want to be all trendy,
but if you drink "whisky and soda"
you always end up sick!
You're dancing rock and roll,
and playing baseball,
but where'd you get the money
for the Camel cigarettes?
Mummy's handbag!
You're acting all american,
american, american,
but you're born in Italy, listen here:
there's nothing you can do,
ok napoletano?!
You're acting all american,
american, american,
How can your loved one understand
if you're speaking half american?
When you're out loving uder the moon,
where do you get a phrase like "I love you"?
You're acting all american,
american, american,
but you're born in Italy, listen here:
there's nothing you can do,
ok napoletano?!
You're acting all american,
american, american,
...whisky soda e rock and roll
..no this bit really doesn't do it justice
When you're out loving uder the moon,
where do you get a phrase like "I love you"?
Excuse me for jumping in, but I think you may have fallen into a pocket of time and place. When Italians started moving to America just before the turn of the last century, and then again after WWII, they developed a patois as they were learning English, called Italish. Really, it was Napolish, because a lot of them had that gutteral southern accent. So, in southern Italian ricootta = riggot', mozzarella = muzzarel', and so on, but English words like shovel and brick house (outhouse) became schiabola and bricossa. The immigrants thought they were speaking English, but their children that they were speaking Italian, for instance, when my grandfather would growl, " Son e ma bice," my dad thought it was Italian. Try the odd words phonetically using Italian spelling, but aloud, and listen for English words with a Naples accent and see if that helps.
I think you are dealing with a dead dialect!