http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlWpnLdPwvk

Wake up Maggie I think I got something to say to you
It's late September and I really should be back at school
I know I keep you amused but I feel I'm being used
Oh Maggie I couldn't have tried any more
You lured me away from home just to save you from being alone
You stole my heart and that's what really hurt

The morning sun when it's in your face really shows your age
But that don't worry me none in my eyes you're everything
I laughed at all of your jokes my love you didn't need to coax
Oh, Maggie I couldn't have tried any more
You lured me away from home, just to save you from being alone
You stole my soul and that's a pain I can do without

All I needed was a friend to lend a guiding hand
But you turned into a lover and
mother what a lover, you wore me out
All you did was wreck my bed
and in the morning kick me in the head
Oh Maggie I couldn't have tried anymore
You lured me away from home 'cause you didn't want to be alone
You stole my heart I couldn't leave you if I tried

I suppose I could collect my books and get on back to school
Or steal my daddy's cue and make a living out of playing pool
Or find myself a rock and roll band that needs a helpin' hand
Oh Maggie I wish I'd never seen your face
You made a first-class fool out of me
But I'm as blind as a fool can be
You stole my heart but I love you anyway

Maggie I wish I'd never seen your face
I'll get on back home one of these days

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY5x8pF512k
Hey hey, my my
Rock and roll can never die
There's more to the picture
Than meets the eye.
Hey hey, my my.

Out of the blue and into the black
You pay for this, but they give you that
And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black.

The king is gone but he's not forgotten
Is this the story of johnny rotten?
It's better to burn out 'cause rust never sleeps
The king is gone but he's not forgotten.

Hey hey, my my
Rock and roll can never die
There's more to the picture
Than meets the eye.

Come gather 'round friends
And I'll tell you a tale
Of when the red iron pits ran plenty
But the cardboard filled winddows
And old men on the benches
tell you now that the whole town is empty

In the north end of town
My own children are grown
But I was raised on the other
In the wee hours of youth
my mother took sick
and I was brought up by my brother

The iron ore poured
As the years passed the doors
The drag lines an' the showels they was a-humming
'Til one day my brother
Failed to come home
The same as my father before him

Well a long winter's waits
From the window I watched
My friends they couldnt have been kinder
And my schooling was cut
as i quit in the spring
To marry John Thomas, a minor

Oh the years passed again
and the givin' was good
With the lunch bucket filled every season
what with three babies born
The work was cut down
To a half a day's shift with no reason

Then the shaft was soon shut
And more work was cut
And the fire in the air, is felt frozen

'til a man come to speak
And he said in one week
That number eleven was closin'

They complained in the East
They are paying too high
They say that your ore aint worth digging
That its much cheaper down
In the South American towns
Where the miners work almost for nothing

So the mining gates locked
And the red iron rotted
And the room smelled heavy from drinking
Made the hour twice as long
As I waited for the sun to go sinking

I lived by the window
As he talked to himself
This silence of tongues it was building
Then one morning's wake
The bed it was bare
And I's left alone with three children

the summer is gone
The ground's turning cold
The stores one by one they're a folding
My children will go
As soon as they grows
Well, there aint nothing here now to hold them
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NveAQec4G1A

L a ballata degli Annegati                  


Il fiume racconta leggende
mentre veloce va al mare
le narrano piano le onde, e
i pioppi le stanno ad
ascoltare
non tutti le possono sentire
bisogna essere stanchi del
mondo
gettarsi nell'acqua e morire
dormire per sempre sul fondo.
Ascolta!
Le sue parole d'amore
nell'acqua, ora sono sincere
da quando tu dormi qua
sotto hai sognato
che mai lui ti ha lasciato.
Bisogna venirci di sera, con
l'animo oppresso dal pianto
per sentire una nenia leggera
di un triste e di un lugubre
canto.
Chi sei?
Il mio nome era Gianni
nuotavo a vent'anni
appena
ma qui avrò sempre vent'anni
E tu?
Mi prese una piena
su a monte non fui mai trovato.
E tu?
Da solo una sera
per me era peso il passato
e l'acqua sembrava leggera
Riposa
dimentica quello che è
stato
Il fiume racconta leggende
mentre veloce va al mare
le ascoltano gli annegati
e al vento le fanno
sentire

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJpfxeCZGXI

The Danced of the drowns to you
The river tells legends
while fast goes to the sea
narrates
they the waves slowly
and the poplars them are
to listen to all
cannot feel to them
Must be tired of the world
to throw themselves in
the water and to die.
To sleep in order always
on the deep one.
Listens!
Its words of love in the water
now they are sincere from him
when you sleep here under
you've dreamed that never
it has left you
must come here in the evening
With the overwhelmed mind from plants
in order to feel the light lullaby
of a sad one and gloomy a song
Who are you?
My name was Gianni
swam
to 20 years hardly
but I will have always
20 years here.
And you?
We took one to me
full on to mount's river
never not found
And you?
Alone an evening
for me was weight the past
and the water seemed lighter
It rests
it forgets what it has been
the river tells legends
while fast it goes to the sea
listen to them
drowns it to you and
the wind they make them
to sing

I told Althea I was feeling lost lacking in some directions
Althea told me about speaking to me
And that my back might need protection
I told Althea that treachery was tearing me limb to limb
Althea told me how could I be so damn bold
Settle back easy Jim
You may be a Sutarday's child all alone
Moving with a tinge of grace
You may be a clown in the burying ground
Or just another pretty face
You may meet the fate of Ophelia sleeping
  in perchance to dream
Honest to the point of recklessness
Self centred to the extreme
Aint nobody messing with you but you
Your friends are getting most concerned
Loose with the truth baby its your pride
 babe I hope you dont get hurt
& when the smoke was cleared she said
That's what she said to me: all I wanna babe is lay
   your head
And a little sympathy
There are things you can replace, and others you cannot
The time has come to weigh those things
  this space is getting hot
You know the space is getting hot
I told Althea I was a rolling son
& I was born to be a bachelor
Althea told me OK that's fine, you know now
  I'll try to catch her
Cant talk to you without talking to me, we're guilty
  of the same old thing
Thinking a lot about the passing years and forgetting
 the love we pray
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQFeuAbLHro

Khorakanè
Il cuore rallenta, la testa cammina
in quel pozzo di piscio e cemento
a quel campo strappato dal vento
a forza di essere vento
porto il nome di tutti i battesimi
ogni nome il sigillo di un lasciapassare
per un guado una terra una nuvola un
canto
un diamante nascosto nel pane
per un solo dolcissimo umore del sangue
per la stessa ragione del viaggio
viaggiare

Il cuore rallenta e la testa cammina
in un buio di giostre in disuso
qualche rom si è fermato italiano
come un rame a imbrunire su un muro
saper leggere il libro del mondo
con parole cangianti e nessuna scrittura
nei sentieri costretti in un palmo di
mano
i segreti che fanno paura
finchè un uomo ti incontra e non si
riconosce

E ogni sera si accende e si arrende la
pace
i figli cadevano dal calendario
i soldati prendevano tutti
e tutti buttavano via
e poi Mirka a san Giorgio di maggio
tra le fiamme dei fiori a ridere a bere
e un sollievo di lacrime a invadere
gli occhi
e dagli occhi cadere

Ora alzatevi spose bambine
che è venuto il tempo di andare
con le vene celesti dei polsi
anche oggi si va a caritare
e se questo vuol dire rubare
questo filo di pane tra miseria e fortuna
ai miei occhi limpidi come un addio
lo può dire soltanto chi sa di
raccogliere in bocca
il punto di vista di Dio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUoPWvunGWo

Edgar Lee Masters from Spoon River the Hill

Where are Elmer, Herman, Bert, Tom and Charlie
The weak of will, the strong of arm, the clown, the
  boozer, the fighter?
All, all are sleeping on the hill

One passed in a fever
One was burned in a mine
One was killed in a brawl
One died in a jail
One fell from a bridge toiling for children and wife
All, all are sleeping sleeping on the hill

Where are Ella, Kate, Mae, Lizzie and Edith
The tender heart, the simple soul, the loud, the
   proud, the happy one?
All, all are sleeping on the hill

One died in shameful child-birth
One of a thwarted love
One at the hands of  a brute in a brothel
One of a broken pride, in the search for heart's
  desire
One after life in far-away London and Paris
Was brought to her little space by Ella and Kate and
  Mag
All, all are sleeping on the hill

Where are Uncle Isaac and Aunt Emily
And old Towny Kincaid and Sevigne Houghton
And Major Walker who had talked
With venerable men of the revolution?
All, all are sleeping on the hill

They brought them dead sons from the war
And daughters whom life had crushed
And their children fatherless, crying
All, all are sleeping, sleeping on the hill

Where is Old Fiddler Jones
Who played with life all his ninety years
Braving the sleet with bared breast
Drinking, rioting, thinking neither of wife nor kin
Nor gold, nor love, nor Heaven?
Lo! he babbles of the fish-frys of long ago
Of the horse-races of long ago at Clary's Grove
Of what Abe Lincoln said
One time at Springfield

Free translation from an Italian Songwriter and sung by

Dove se n'è andato Elmer
che di febbre si lasciò morire
Dov'è Herman bruciato in miniera

Dove sono Bert e Tom
il primo ucciso in una rissa
e l'altro che uscì già morto di galera

E cosa ne sarà di Charley
che cadde mentre lavorava
e dal ponte volò volò sulla strada

Dormono dormono sulla collina
dormono dormono sulla collina

Dove sono Ella e kate
morte entrambe per errore
una di aborto, l'altra d'amore

E Maggie uccisa in un bordello
dalle carezze di un animale
e Edith consumata da uno strano male

E Lizzie che inseguì la vita
lontano, e dall'Inghilterra
fu riportata in questo palmo di terra

Dormono dormono sulla collina
dormono dormono sulla collina

Dove sono i generali
che si fregiarono nelle battaglie
con cimiteri di croci sul petto

Dove i figli della guerra
partiti per un ideale
per una truffa, per un amore finito male
hanno rimandato a casa
le loro spoglie nelle bandiere
legate strette perchè sembrassero intere

Dormono dormono sulla collina
dormono dormono sulla collina

Dov'è Jones il suonatore
che fu sorpreso dai suoi novant'anni
e con la vita avrebbe ancora giocato

Lui che offrì la faccia al vento
la gola al vino e mai un pensiero
non al denaro, non all'amore, nè al cielo

Lui si sembra di sentirlo
cianciare ancora delle porcate
mangiate in strada nelle ore sbagliate

Sembra di sentirlo ancora
dire al mercante di liquore
"Tu che lo vendi cosa ti compri di migliore?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZromQvtZzk8

Busted flat in Baton rouge
waitin' for a train
Feelin' nearly faded as my jeans
Bobby Thumbed a diesel down
Just before it rained
Rode us all the way to New Orleans
I pulled my harpoon out of my dirty red bandanna
I was playin' soft while Bobby sang the blues
Windshield wipers slappin' time
I was holdin' Bobby's hand in mine
We sang up every song that driver knew
Freedom's just another word
For nothin' left to lose
Nothin' dont mean nothin' honey if it aint free no
Feelin' good was good enough for me
Good enough for me and Bobby McGee
From the Kentucky coal mines to the California sun
Bobby shared the secrets of my soul
through all kinds of weather
Through everything we done
Hey Bobby's body kept me from the cold
One day up near Salinas
Lord I let him slip away
He's lookin' for that home and I hope he finds it
But I'd trade all my tomorrows for one single yesterday
To be holdin' Bobby's body next to mine
Freedom's just another word
For nothin' left to lose
And nothin' aint nothin' but its free
And feelin' good was easy when he sang the blues
And feelin' good was good enough for me
Oh good enough for me and my Bobby McGee
Callin' my lover callin' my man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FMhnl0__Vo
Where is Booby now? Where is Bobby McGee?

New Age
Can I have your autograph?He said to the aft blonde actress
You know, I've seen every movie that you've been in
From 'Path of Pain' to 'jewel of glory'
And when you kissed Robert Mitchum
Gee but I thought you'd never catch him

Over the hill  right now, and you're looking for love
You're over the hill right now
And you're looking for love
I'll coming running to you, when you want me
I'll coming running to you, when you want me

'Can I have your autograph?
He said to the fat blonde actress
'You know, I know everything you have done
Anyway I hate divorces
To the left is a marble shower
It was fun even for a hour, but you're

Over the hill right now, and you're looking for love...
You're over the hill right now
I'll coming running to you when you want me
I'll coming running to you when you want me

Something's got an hold on me
And I dont know what
Something's got an hold on me
And I dont know what
Its the beginning of a new age
its the beginning of a new age
Its a
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy6OcefiAqc

Well, I think its fine building planes
or taking a ride on a cosmic train, switch on
summer from a slot machine, yes get what you
want to, if you want,'cause you can get everything
I know we've come a long way, we're changing day to day
but tell me, where d' th' ch'ldr'n play
well youroll on roads over fresh green grass
for your lorry loads pumping petrol gas, but they
make them long and you make them tough, but they
just go on and on, and it seems that you cant
get off, Oh, I know we've come a long way
we're changing day to day but tell me where
d' th' ch'ldr'n play
well you've cracked the sky, scrapers fill the air
but will you keep on building higher 'til there's
no more room up there. will you make us laugh
will you make us cry, will you make us laugh
will you tell us when to die. I know we've come a long
way, we're changing day to day, but tell me
where d' th' ch'ldr'n play
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjdVOfnYkyA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swgWNM_4eNk

Oh, where have you been my blue-eyed son?
Oh where have you been my darling young one?
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty forests
I've walked and I've crawled on six crooked highways
I've stepped in the middle of seven sad forests
I've been out in front of a dozen dead ocean
I've been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard
And its a hard and its a hard its a hard and its a hard
And its a hard rain's a-gonna fall

Oh what did you see my blue eyed son?
Oh what did you see my darling young one?
I saw a newborn baby with wolves all around it
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin'
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin'
I saw a white ladder all covered of water
I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children
And its a hard and its a hard and its a hard and its a hard
And its a hard rain's a-gonna fall

And what did you hear my blue eyed son?
And what did you hear my darling young one?
I heard the sound of a thunder it roared out a warnin'
Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world
Heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin'
heard ten thousand whisperin' and nobody listenin'
Heard one person starve I heard many people laughin'
Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter
Heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley
And its a hard and its a hard and its a hard and its
And its a hard rain's a-gonna fall

oh what did you meet my blue eyed son?
Oh what did you meet my darling young one?
I met a young child beside a dead pony
I met a white man who walked a black dog
I met a young woman whose body was burning
I met a young girl she gave me a rainbow
I met another man who was wounded with hatred
And its a hard and its a hard and its a hard
And its a hard rain's a-gonna fall

Oh what'll do you now my blue eyed son?
Oh what do you'll do now my darling young one?
I'm a-goin' back out 'fore the rain starts a falliin'
I'll walk to the people of the deepest forests
Where the people are many and their hands are all empty
Where the pellets of poison are floodin' their waters
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison
Where the executioners face is always well hidden
Where hunger is ugly where souls are forgotten
Where black is the colour where none is the number
And I'll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it
And reflect it from the mountains so all souls can see it
Then I'll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin'
But I'll know my song well before I start singin'
And its a hard and its a hard and its a hard
And its a hard rain's  a-gonna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FriUd27sBCA