Possible chance, storm, possible chance, gale
Welcome to Britain in the third Millenium
This is the diary of a Macedonian, Macedonian
He went to Britain in the back of a lorry
"Don't worry, don't worry, don't hurry."
Said the man with the plan
He said, "If you really wanna go - you'll get there in the end."
If you really wanna go - alive or dead my friend
Well, you can levitate you know - long as the money's good you're in
Or if you really wanna go - you'll get there in the end
He had the wooly scarf of Shaktar Donetsk
Nay, the banner of freedom wrung around his neck
Inherited from his father
One of the Ukraine exiles of Yugoslavia
He said, "You'll get there in the end."
If you really wanna go - alive or dead my friend
Well, you can levitate you know - long as the money's good you're in
Or if you really wanna go - you'll get there in the end
Yo-oh, he got a little postcard
Yo-oh, everybody got a dream
Yo-oh, he always got it with him
Yo-oh, it's of a nineteen twenty five
Red telephone box with Wembley in the background
Them twin tower vandal-aye
Will he find a two bar heater
Waiting for him in two rooms
Above the cut rate telephone anywhere place
He got off the train in Shadwell, disappeared without trace
He said, "You'll get there in the end."
If you really wanna go - alive or dead my friend
Well, you can levitate you know
Long as the money's good you're in
Or if you really wanna go - you'll get there in the end
Oiling the grinding city underside
Treating each flake of rust all over Humberside
You know a blocked generator could cut power to the city system
Well - you'll get there in the end
Alive or dead my friend
You'll get there in the end
Alive or dead my friend
If you really wanna go - you'll get there in the end
If you really wanna go - alive or dead my friend
If you really wanna go - you'll get there in the end
If you really wanna go - alive or dead my friend
If you really wanna go - you'll get there in the end
If you really wanna go - alive or dead my friend
If you really wanna go - long as the money's good you're in
If you really wanna go - you'll get there in the end
Welcome to Britain in the third Millenium
This is the diary of a Macedonian, Macedonian
He went to Britain in the back of a lorry
"Don't worry, don't worry, don't hurry."
Said the man with the plan
He said, "If you really wanna go - you'll get there in the end."
If you really wanna go - alive or dead my friend
Well, you can levitate you know - long as the money's good you're in
Or if you really wanna go - you'll get there in the end
He had the wooly scarf of Shaktar Donetsk
Nay, the banner of freedom wrung around his neck
Inherited from his father
One of the Ukraine exiles of Yugoslavia
He said, "You'll get there in the end."
If you really wanna go - alive or dead my friend
Well, you can levitate you know - long as the money's good you're in
Or if you really wanna go - you'll get there in the end
Yo-oh, he got a little postcard
Yo-oh, everybody got a dream
Yo-oh, he always got it with him
Yo-oh, it's of a nineteen twenty five
Red telephone box with Wembley in the background
Them twin tower vandal-aye
Will he find a two bar heater
Waiting for him in two rooms
Above the cut rate telephone anywhere place
He got off the train in Shadwell, disappeared without trace
He said, "You'll get there in the end."
If you really wanna go - alive or dead my friend
Well, you can levitate you know
Long as the money's good you're in
Or if you really wanna go - you'll get there in the end
Oiling the grinding city underside
Treating each flake of rust all over Humberside
You know a blocked generator could cut power to the city system
Well - you'll get there in the end
Alive or dead my friend
You'll get there in the end
Alive or dead my friend
If you really wanna go - you'll get there in the end
If you really wanna go - alive or dead my friend
If you really wanna go - you'll get there in the end
If you really wanna go - alive or dead my friend
If you really wanna go - you'll get there in the end
If you really wanna go - alive or dead my friend
If you really wanna go - long as the money's good you're in
If you really wanna go - you'll get there in the end
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Album: Global a go-go
di Damiano Benzoni -da "Il Romanista"
Lo Shakhtar Donetsk non è solo una squadra di calcio. Non lo è ora, da club sfollato dalla regione del Donbass martoriata dal conflitto civile ucraino e bandiera di chi quella guerra l'ha subita sulla sua pelle. Non lo è stato in passato, quando è diventato perfino l'argomento di una canzone.
[...]
Per Joe Strummer, già cantante dei Clash, il nome affascinante è stato quello della squadra ucraina dei minatori, che dà il titolo (seppur storpiato in Shaktar) alla settima traccia del disco Global a Go-Go, inciso con il suo ultimo gruppo, i Mescaleros, nel 2001. Ed è una canzone densa di significato, che racconta la storia della migrazione di un macedone che cerca di raggiungere il Regno Unito sul retro di un camion: «Aveva la sciarpa di lana dello Shakhtar Donetsk, un vessillo di libertà avvolto attorno al collo. Ereditata dal padre, uno degli esuli ucraini di Jugoslavia».
Nella canzone, il sogno dell'esule macedone è rappresentato da una cartolina che tiene sempre con sé: «Una cabina telefonica rossa del 1925 con Wembley sullo sfondo». E il suo destino è sconosciuto, anche se il suo "traghettatore" lo conforta dicendogli: «Se davvero vuoi andare, arriverai lì alla fine, vivo o morto, amico mio. A patto che i soldi siano buoni, sei dentro».
Parole sinistre, se si pensa che la canzone fu scritta in seguito alla tragedia di Dover del giugno del 2000, in cui 58 migranti irregolari cinesi furono trovati soffocati sul retro di un camion. E, pochi giorni prima della morte di Strummer, avvenuta il 22 dicembre 2002, l'attualità della canzone veniva confermata dal ritrovamento di otto cadaveri di migranti turchi in un container nella città portuale di Wexford. Parole che riecheggiano ancora oggi, assordanti, e non solo per il destino da esule dello Shakhtar Donetsk e degli sfollati del Donbas, ma per le notizie quotidiane dei pericolosi viaggi dei migranti e delle tragedie del mare, così simili alla storia del migrante senza nome cantato da Joe Strummer.