THE CLOUDS
a song by Fabrizio De Andrè
Translated from Italian by Enrico Pelos
They go
they come
sometimes they stop
and when they stop
they are as black as the raven
it seems they look at you with evil eye

Some time they are white
and run
and take the heron shape
or the sheep shape
or some other animal
but this is seen better by the children
who play running after them for so long

Some time they advise you with noise
before coming
and the ground trembles
and the animals become quiet

They go
they come
they come back
and they will even stop for so many days
that you do not see the sun and the stars anymore
and it looks like you do not know
the place where you stay

They go
they come
for a true cloud
thousands appear faking
and they remain between us and the sky
to leave us only a desire for rain

Translation © Enrico Pelos

Fabrizio De Andrè was born in Genoa and he was a very famous Italian songwriter and musician. He also translated and sang some very famous songs written by the Canadian songwiter Leonard Cohen. See the original Italian version here.

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