Signor Tenente, sung by Giorgio Faletti was played in the ninth episode of Musitaly: Femicide & Mafia.
Giorgio Faletti gained notoriety as a singer-songwriter in 1994 with the song “Signor Tenente,” which was inspired by the massacres in Capaci and Via D’Amelio.
This song features the voice of a young 20-year-old police officer and his desperate outburst over the radio with his lieutenant, explaining the moment when the protagonist of the song learned of another bomb blast that killed some of his coworkers.
The young officer also utilises the Southern Italian swear word “Minchia,” leading us to assume that he is another young man from the South who was forced to leave his beloved hometown in search of a better life in the North.
The protagonist sings and describes all the negative parts of this honourable profession, such as a low pay, a tight police uniform due to the command’s failure to supply new uniforms, and people who ridicule this type of job. But, because of his sense of duty, he says, “If there is an urgent call, we will go anyway”.
This song is dedicated to all police officers, mafia victims, and those who would leave their lives doing what they love. Their Mission.
| Label: | Ricordi – JB 391 |
| Format: | Vinyl, 7″, 45 RPM, Jukebox |
| Country: | Italy |
| Released: | 1994 |
| Genre: | Electronic, Pop |
| Style: | Chanson |
Giorgio Faletti – Signor Tenente [Original Version]
Forse possiamo cambiarla ma è l’unica che c’è
Questa vita di stracci e sorrisi e di mezze parole
Forse cent’anni o duecento è un attimo che va
Fosse di un attimo appena sarebbe con me
Tutti vestiti di vento a inseguirci nel sole
Tutti aggrappati ad un filo e non sappiamo dove
Minchia signor tenente
Che siamo usciti dalla centrale
Ed in costante contatto radio
Abbiamo preso la provinciale
Ed al chilometro 41
Presso la casa cantoniera
Nascosto bene la nostra auto
C’asse vedesse che non c’era
E abbiam montato l’autovelox
E fatto multe senza pietà
A chi passava sopra i 50
Fossero pure i 50 d’età
E preso uno senza patente
Minchia signor tenente
Faceva un caldo che se bruciava
La provinciale sembrava un forno
C’era l’asfalto che tremolava
E che sbiadiva tutto lo sfondo
Ed è così, tutti sudati
Che abbiam saputo di quel fattaccio
Di quei ragazzi morti ammazzati
Gettati in aria come uno straccio
Caduti a terra come persone
Che han fatto a pezzi con l’esplosivo
Che se non serve per cose buone
Può diventare così cattivo che dopo
Quasi non resta niente
Minchia signor tenente
E siamo qui con queste divise
Che tante volte ci vanno strette
Specie da quando sono derise
Da un umorismo di barzellette
E siamo stanchi di sopportare
Quel che succede in questo paese
Dove ci tocca farci ammazzare
Per poco più d’un milione al mese
E c’è una cosa qui nella gola
Una che proprio non ci va giù
E farla scendere è una parola
Se chi ci ammazza prende di più
Di quel che prende la brava gente
Minchia signor tenente
Lo so che parlo col comandante
Ma quanto tempo dovrà passare
Per star seduto su una volante
La voce in radio ci fa tremare
Che di coraggio ne abbiamo tanto
Ma qui diventa sempre più dura
Quando ci tocca di fare i conti
Con il coraggio della paura
E questo è quel che succede adesso
Che poi se c’è una chiamata urgente se prende su
E ci si va lo stesso
E scusi tanto se non è niente
Minchia signor tenente
Per cui se pensa che c’ho vent’anni
Credo che proprio non mi dà torto
Se riesce a mettersi nei miei panni
Magari non mi farà rapporto
E glielo dico sinceramente
Minchia signor tenente
Signor Tenente [English Translation]
Maybe we can change it, but it’s the only one there is,
this life of rags and smiles and half-words.
Were it a hundred or two hundred years long, it is a fleeting moment.
Were it just an instant long, it would be like it is.
Everybody dressed in wind, chasing one another in the sunlight,
everybody holding on a thread, and we don’t know where it is.
Minchia, Signor Tenente
we left the police station
and, keeping radio contact,
we took the county road;
and at kilometer 41, in the proximity of the roadman’s house,
we hid our car carefully,
so that they could see it was not there;
and we positioned the speed trap,
and we ruthlessly fined
anyone passing over 50,
even if they were over 50 years old;
and caught one person driving without a license.
Minchia, Signor Tenente
it was so hot that we were burning:
the county road seemed like an oven,
the tarmac was flickering
and made the background fade.
And it was like that – all sweaty –
that we came to know about that foul deed,
about those murdered boys,
thrown up into the air like rags,
fallen down to the ground like people
who have been blown apart with explosive;
which – if it’s not used for good things –
can become so wicked
that almost nothing is left afterwards.
Minchia, Signor Tenente
and here we are, wearing these uniforms
that often feel so uncomfortable,
especially since they have been made fun of
by joke humour;
and we are sick of standing
the things that happen in this country,
where we are to get killed
for little more than one million a month.
And there’s a thing, here in our throats,
one that we just can’t swallow,
and bearing it is all but easy,
for those who kill us earn more
than earn honest people.
Minchia, Signor Tenente
I know I’m speaking to the captain,
but how much time will have to pass?
For, when we are sitting here in a patrol car,
the voice on the radio makes us tremble;
for we have a lot of courage,
but it is getting harder and harder,
when we have to deal with
the courage of fear;
and this is what happens nowadays,
but then again, if there is an urgent call,
we’ll go anyway,
and that’s not a trifling thing to do.
Minchia, Signor Tenente
so, if you think about the fact that I’m 20,
I’m quite sure you won’t think I’m wrong;
if you can get into my shoes,
maybe you won’t report me.
And I’m saying it frankly:
Minchia, Signor Tenente.
