I first learned and instantaneously joined in singing the chorus of Ciao Bella Ciao Ciao Ciao a couple of years ago at a fundraiser for Ukrainian refugees. Despite the lyrics resembling the passé Italian ‘cat call’ once hurled at women, I quickly realised its true nature: a protest song. It’s about a country under invasion, with a narrator who would rather die than surrender, asking the supporters (the partigiani) to take him or her away. At least, that’s the gist of the early verses. The dead body is to be buried in the beautiful mountains of the beloved country, where flowers will grow above the grave. The song ends with a rambunctious cry for freedom.
This is the 1940s version, widely interpreted as being anti-fascist even though there is no mention of fascists or Mussolini. I see the goodbye my beautiful, goodbye, bye bye as a farewell to the country and the days of freedom. Putin’s sending troops into Ukraine is an invasion of a sovereign nation. Those were my thoughts – nothing to do with fascism – as I sang the chorus in the gardens of a church in Cambridge decked in the now familiar blue and yellow flags. We were calling for freedom and showing support for the people of Ukraine.
Since the 1960s the song has become a generic protest anthem across the world. It’s been used to defend workers’ rights, object to taxes, protest oppression, and rally against war. It’s another form of We Shall Overcome. In this way, the song has returned to its 19th-century origins in the rice fields of northern Italy. In that version, the lyrics describe insufferable working conditions and a boss who beats the workers with a stick. They, too, would rather be dead, and the song also ends with a wish for freedom.
The song has recently been dragged into the headlines with the assassination of the far-right influencer Charlie Kirk. Bullet casings from the assassin’s gun were reported to have the words Ciao Bella Ciao Ciao Ciao engraved on them. If my language is hedged and my tone a bit sceptical, it’s because the US president and others of that ilk started blaming the ‘radical left’ and ‘antifa’ before a suspect had even been identified, returning the song to being anti-fascist. That narrative sounded a bit too convenient – and out of touch. Now that a suspect is in custody, we have learned that he was raised in a conservative Mormon household. His parents are registered Republican voters, and he registered as an Independent. So far, nothing has suggested he belonged to a left-wing organization – or to any political organisation.
The accused is an individual with mental health issues who was also in a gay relationship with a partner who was transitioning. This individual may have been offended by the well-documented attacks from Mr Kirk against gays and transpeople . Living in America, this mentally ill individual had easy access to a gun – an issue that is not being debated this time around.
Seeing the shooter as an individual and not necessarily influenced by the left, it’s worth noting that the 22-year-old alleged assassin was an avid gamer. In the world of video games ‘ciao bella, ciao ciao ciao’ holds several meanings, including ‘see you,’ ‘I got you – bye bye’ and ‘I’m tired of this.’ The casings also had a few abbreviations used by gamers that middle-aged journalists are still trying to decipher.
I doubt we’ll ever know the true motivations of the assassin. His actions were unquestionably wrong and sadly are likely to be replicated by others given the heated and polarized times we live in.
On the less violent and more measured side of protest, we still have the right to sing Ciao Bella Ciao Ciao Ciao. If you want this infectious song in your head, complete with lyrics, I recommend BELLA CIAO: VERSIONE PARTIGIANA E DELLE MONDINE (Canzone Originale + Testo).
What I’ve been reading
Crime fiction that’s not really of the genre. These two novels were intended to be late summer escapism from the horrors of the world news, but neither Colson Whitehead’s Crook Manifesto or Olivier Norek’s Entre Deux Mondes (Between Two Worlds) could keep my mind from the bigger social problems of racism and anti-immigration positions.
Crook Manifesto is set in 1970s New York, with its notorious crime problems and seediness and follows on from Whitehead’s Harlem Shuffle – which I hadn’t read. For me, this book worked fine on its own as it uses dark humour and elements of crime drama to weave a story about a criminal who had gone straight but was then dragged back into the underworld. It’s full of social commentary on race, poverty and crime and made me strangely nostalgic for 70s America, with societal divisions that seem innocuous by today’s MAGA and social media-fuelled standards.
The Norek novel doesn’t have the laughs or the comfort of reader hindsight that Whitehead’s book has. It’s a crime thriller set in the Jungle, the notorious refugee camp in Calais, France. It follows two police officers – Adam, a refugee fleeing Syria and his job in Assad’s military police, and Bastion, a French lieutenant newly assigned to the Jungle. This gripping tale is complex and heart wrenching, with a high body count – definitely not a light read for the nightstand.
Paola Trimarco 