When I was most beautiful,
Cities were falling
And from unexpected places
Blue sky was seen
When I was most beautiful
People around me were killed
And for paint and powder I lost the chance
When I was most beautiful
Nobody gave me kind gifts.
Men knew only to salute
And went away.
When I was most beautiful
My country lost the war
I paraded the main street
With my blouse sleeves rolled high
When I was most beautiful
Jazz overflowed the radio;
I broke the prohibition against smoking;
Sweet music of another land!
When I was most beautiful
I was most unhappy
I was quite absurd
I was quite lonely
That’s why I decided to live long
Like Monsieur Rouault,
Who was a
Very old man,
When he painted such terribly beautiful pictures,
You see...?
Cities were falling
And from unexpected places
Blue sky was seen
When I was most beautiful
People around me were killed
And for paint and powder I lost the chance
When I was most beautiful
Nobody gave me kind gifts.
Men knew only to salute
And went away.
When I was most beautiful
My country lost the war
I paraded the main street
With my blouse sleeves rolled high
When I was most beautiful
Jazz overflowed the radio;
I broke the prohibition against smoking;
Sweet music of another land!
When I was most beautiful
I was most unhappy
I was quite absurd
I was quite lonely
That’s why I decided to live long
Like Monsieur Rouault,
Who was a
Very old man,
When he painted such terribly beautiful pictures,
You see...?
Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2014/1/29 - 10:39
Language: Japanese
Il testo originale della poesia di 茨木のりこ / Noriko Ibaragi
わたしが一番きれいだったとき
わたしが一番きれいだったとき
街々はがらがらと崩れていって
とんでもないところから
青空なんかが見えたりした
わたしが一番きれいだったとき
まわりの人達が沢山死んだ
工場で 海で 名もない島で
わたしはおしゃれのきっかけを落としてしまった
わたしが一番きれいだったとき
誰もやさしい贈り物を捧げてはくれなかった
男たちは挙手の礼しか知らなくて
きれいな眼差だけを残し皆発っていった
わたしが一番きれいだったとき
わたしの頭はからっぽで
わたしの心はかたくなで
手足ばかりが栗色に光った
わたしが一番きれいだったとき
わたしの国は戦争で負けた
そんな馬鹿なことってあるものか
ブラウスの腕をまくり卑屈な町をのし歩いた
わたしが一番きれいだったとき
ラジオからはジャズが溢れた
禁煙を破ったときのようにくらくらしながら
わたしは異国の甘い音楽をむさぼった
わたしが一番きれいだったとき
わたしはとてもふしあわせ
わたしはとてもとんちんかん
わたしはめっぽうさびしかった
だから決めた できれば長生きすることに
年とってから凄く美しい絵を描いた
フランスのルオー爺さんのように ね
わたしが一番きれいだったとき
街々はがらがらと崩れていって
とんでもないところから
青空なんかが見えたりした
わたしが一番きれいだったとき
まわりの人達が沢山死んだ
工場で 海で 名もない島で
わたしはおしゃれのきっかけを落としてしまった
わたしが一番きれいだったとき
誰もやさしい贈り物を捧げてはくれなかった
男たちは挙手の礼しか知らなくて
きれいな眼差だけを残し皆発っていった
わたしが一番きれいだったとき
わたしの頭はからっぽで
わたしの心はかたくなで
手足ばかりが栗色に光った
わたしが一番きれいだったとき
わたしの国は戦争で負けた
そんな馬鹿なことってあるものか
ブラウスの腕をまくり卑屈な町をのし歩いた
わたしが一番きれいだったとき
ラジオからはジャズが溢れた
禁煙を破ったときのようにくらくらしながら
わたしは異国の甘い音楽をむさぼった
わたしが一番きれいだったとき
わたしはとてもふしあわせ
わたしはとてもとんちんかん
わたしはめっぽうさびしかった
だから決めた できれば長生きすることに
年とってから凄く美しい絵を描いた
フランスのルオー爺さんのように ね
Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2014/1/29 - 10:40
Language: English
Altra traduzione inglese, più letterale, trovata qui
WHEN I WAS MOST BEAUTIFUL
When I was most beautiful:
Towns were fallen down, and;
Through the unlikely spot,
I used to see various things: the blue sky, etc.
When I was most beautiful:
Many neighbors were killed
In the factories, on the sea, and on the nameless isles;
I had lost my chance to doll me up forever.
When I was most beautiful:
No one gave me any lovely gift to me;
Men knew only hand salute,
And left only their charming glances on me: they've gone.
When I was most beautiful:
My head was hollow,
My heart was hardened,
Only my limbs were shining in sorrel.
When I was most beautiful:
My country lost a war;
"They must be kidding me!" I marched in,
Rolling up my blouse sleeves, to the obsequious town.
When I was most beautiful:
Radio was fountain of Jazz.
Feeling my head whirled as if I broke my vow not to smoke,
I devoured the sweet foreign music.
When I was most beautiful:
I was very unhappy.
I was very irrelevant.
I was extremely lonely.
So I decided: I would live long, if possible.
Like a painter of tremendously beautiful pictures in his old age,
Old Rouault of France, ... as you know.
When I was most beautiful:
Towns were fallen down, and;
Through the unlikely spot,
I used to see various things: the blue sky, etc.
When I was most beautiful:
Many neighbors were killed
In the factories, on the sea, and on the nameless isles;
I had lost my chance to doll me up forever.
When I was most beautiful:
No one gave me any lovely gift to me;
Men knew only hand salute,
And left only their charming glances on me: they've gone.
When I was most beautiful:
My head was hollow,
My heart was hardened,
Only my limbs were shining in sorrel.
When I was most beautiful:
My country lost a war;
"They must be kidding me!" I marched in,
Rolling up my blouse sleeves, to the obsequious town.
When I was most beautiful:
Radio was fountain of Jazz.
Feeling my head whirled as if I broke my vow not to smoke,
I devoured the sweet foreign music.
When I was most beautiful:
I was very unhappy.
I was very irrelevant.
I was extremely lonely.
So I decided: I would live long, if possible.
Like a painter of tremendously beautiful pictures in his old age,
Old Rouault of France, ... as you know.
Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2014/1/29 - 10:46
Language: Italian
Traduzione italiana di Riccardo Venturi
29 gennaio 2014
29 gennaio 2014
QUAND'ERO AL CULMINE DELLA BELLEZZA
Quand'ero al culmine della bellezza
Le città stavano cadendo a pezzi
E il cielo azzurro lo si vedeva
Da posti impensabili.
Quand'ero al culmine della bellezza
Attorno a me si ammazzava la gente,
Non ce la feci mai a truccarmi.
Quand'ero al culmine della bellezza
Nessuno mi fece doni gentili.
Gli uomini sapevan solo salutare
E poi se ne andavano via.
Quand'ero al culmine della bellezza
Il mio paese perse la guerra,
Io sfilavo per la via principale
In maniche di camicia arrotolate alte.
Quand'ero al culmine della bellezza
Il jazz aveva invaso la radio;
Violavo il divieto di fumare,
Che bella musica di un altro paese!
Quand'ero al culmine della bellezza
Ero anche al culmine della tristezza
Mi sentivo in preda all'assurdo
E alla solitudine
Perciò decisi di vivere a lungo
Come Monsieur Rouault,
Che era
Vecchissimo
Quando dipinse quei quadri così terribilmente belli,
Vedete...?
Quand'ero al culmine della bellezza
Le città stavano cadendo a pezzi
E il cielo azzurro lo si vedeva
Da posti impensabili.
Quand'ero al culmine della bellezza
Attorno a me si ammazzava la gente,
Non ce la feci mai a truccarmi.
Quand'ero al culmine della bellezza
Nessuno mi fece doni gentili.
Gli uomini sapevan solo salutare
E poi se ne andavano via.
Quand'ero al culmine della bellezza
Il mio paese perse la guerra,
Io sfilavo per la via principale
In maniche di camicia arrotolate alte.
Quand'ero al culmine della bellezza
Il jazz aveva invaso la radio;
Violavo il divieto di fumare,
Che bella musica di un altro paese!
Quand'ero al culmine della bellezza
Ero anche al culmine della tristezza
Mi sentivo in preda all'assurdo
E alla solitudine
Perciò decisi di vivere a lungo
Come Monsieur Rouault,
Che era
Vecchissimo
Quando dipinse quei quadri così terribilmente belli,
Vedete...?
In tutti i video presenti su YouTube il brano è cantato da tale Susan Wright...
Bernart Bartleby - 2014/1/29 - 13:47
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Note for non-Italian users: Sorry, though the interface of this website is translated into English, most commentaries and biographies are in Italian and/or in other languages like French, German, Spanish, Russian etc.
Versi di 茨木のりこ / Noriko Ibaragi (1926-2006), poetessa giapponese.
Musica di Pete Seeger (1967)
Ignoro di chi sia la traduzione inglese. Più recentemente, nel 1992, l’opera di Noriko Ibaragi è stata tradotta in inglese dal poeta britannico Peter Robinson con Fumiko Horikawa e pubblicata nella raccolta “When I was at my most beautiful and other poems by Noriko Ibaragi”
Trovo la canzone nell’album “At 89” del 2008.
Poesia sulla tragedia della guerra vista con gli occhi di un’adolescente nel suo pieno fulgore…
Monsieur Rouault citato nell’ultima strofa è Georges Henri Rouault (1871-1958), pittore e incisore parigino – un artista isolato, un pittore religioso, non ascrivibile a nessuna corrente artistica - molto amato in Giappone e Corea. Pochi anni prima di morire bruciò gran parte delle sue opere.