The story of “Bella Ciao” and the meaning of the famous partisan song symbol of the Italian resistance

Hello beautiful It is a popular song dedicated to Italian resistance against Nazism and fascism. The text tells the story of a partisan who leaves the beloved woman to go to fight against the invaders. The song became popular in the 1960s, in particular after being performed at Festival of the two worlds of Spoleto del 1964. It is certainly not if it was already widespread during the Second World War: according to some scholars, It was the ANO of some partisan formationsaccording to others it still did not exist And it became a hymn to resistance only after liberation. What is certain is that today Hello beautiful And popular all over the world as a symbol of freedom and independence.

Things Hello beautiful and what meaning the popular song has

The success of Hello beautiful, who tells the story of a partisan who greets his beloved first to go to fight against the invaders, regardless of the risks that this entails, is due to the fact that it is one Song for all partisans. THEResistance was a heterogeneous movement, composed of very different political movements: communists, Catholics, monarchists, etc.; Hello beautifulunlike other songs, has no precise ideological referencesbut speaks generically of the fight against invader and freedom. For this, it can be sung by people of different ideologies. The song, moreover, has exceeded national borders and has become popular all over the worldboth with the Italian text and in translated versions.

The origins of Hello beautiful and the text

THE’author Of Hello beautiful It is not known, the text originates from a Popular song spread in Piedmont, Fior di Tomba (which in turn probably derives from a French song attested already in the fifteenth century), dedicated to a woman who wants to follow the beloved man, even if this involves risking life, because it is sure that a flower will grow on his grave. The song begins with the words “This morning, I get up to me», A verse taken entirely in the incipit of Hello beautiful.

There melody Of Hello beautifulaccording to one of the most accredited hypotheses, originates from one Yiddish song (ie of European Jews) of 1919; another theory instead wants that it derives from a Singing for children widespread in Lombardy, The me nòna is olderwhose refrain would recall, even in the text, that of the song of the Resistance, the text is following:

La me does ciau
La me dis ciau
La me does ciau ciau ciau.

Here is the text of Hello beautiful In its currently widespread version:

«One morning I woke up,
Oh beautiful, hello! hello beautiful! Beautiful, hello, hello, hello!
One morning I woke up
And I found the invasor.

Or partisan, take me away,
O Bella, hello! hello beautiful! Beautiful, hello, hello, hello!
Or partisan, take me away,
because I feel I die.

And if I die for a partisan,
O Bella, hello! hello beautiful! Beautiful, hello, hello, hello!
And if I die for a partisan,
You have to bury me.

And bury up there in the mountains,
O Bella, hello! hello beautiful! Beautiful, hello, hello, hello!
And bury up there in the mountains
Under the shadow of a nice flower.

And the people who will pass
O Bella, hello! hello beautiful! Beautiful, hello, hello, hello!
And the people who will pass
They will tell you “What a beautiful flower!”

“This is the partisan flower”,
O Bella, hello! hello beautiful! Beautiful, hello, hello, hello!
«This is the partisan flower
died of freedom! “

“Bella Ciao” Was it a sang during the Resistance?

Despite being considered the partisan song par excellence, it is not sure that Bella hello was sung during the resistance. According to a famous scholar, Cesare Bermanisinging was the hymn of a partisan formation, the Majella brigadeactive in Abruzzo in 1944, and later spread to some gangs of central Italy.

The hypothesis, however, is not supported by founded tests and, also admitting that Hello beautiful was known during the resistance, it was widespread only at a small part of the partisans. Other scholars believe that singing is born in the following era, while among the fighters there were famous other songs, such as Whistle the windthat it was thesemi-officer hymn from the Brigate Garibaldi (formations related to the Italian Communist Party). The text of “Bella Ciao” appeared for the first time in the 1950s and the first executions certain took place in the early 60s, in particular in 1964 the song was performed at the Festival of the two worlds of Spoleto by the group New Italian Canzoniere And since then he has gained more and more popularity.

The version of the marshads

There is a version of Hello beautiful sung by the marshads, that is the seasonal workers who worked in the rice fields. Song tells how hard their work was:

In the morning, just raised
O bella hello, beautiful hello, beautiful hello, bye, bye
In the morning, just raised
In laughter I have to go

After telling the torments and abuses suffered by the marshes, the song ends with a perspective of hope:

But it will come a day that all of them
O Bella ciao bella hello beautiful hello bye bye bye
But it will come a day that all of them
We will work in freedom

Even the song of the marshads was performed at the 1964 Spoleto Festival, it is not known, however, if he has established himself before or after the Hello beautiful partisan And, consequently, we do not know which of the two songs opened as inspiration for the other.

Hello beautiful in Italy and in the world

There Hello beautiful partisan, much more popular than that of the marshads, was sung by Numerous famous artistsboth Italian and other countries. Just to name a few: Milva, Modena City Ramblers, Goran Bregovic, Giorgio Gaber, Yves Montand, Manu Chao, Tom Waits. In addition, it was “adopted” by numerous political movements, including international ones: for example, in 2013 it was sung in Türkiye during the protests against the Erdogan regime; It was adopted by the Catalan independence movement; from Kurdish rebels during the civil war in Syria; from Chilean citizens who protested against President Piñera in 2019; from Sudanese rebels; by some Ukrainian soldiers after the Russian invasion. A particular version, in which the refrain Hello beautiful is replaced by words Do it nowwas a hymn of the environmental movement Fridays for future.

In Italy, Hello beautiful It is sung by numerous political movements and parties, belonging above all to the progressive area. Although it is sometimes perceived as a party song, Hello beautiful It is actually a Hymn to freedomwhich celebrates the fight against dictatorship and against the Nazi invasion.