This song is truly a rock example of what Italian singing is like today. A bit of a diversion from many other songs I have listed in this blog so far. The idea of the song is living by rules and ideals of what others say...A theme that can bring about so many different activity ideas. Hope you will find these truly interesting.
The Song Link
The You Tube Video cannot be embedded but it can be easily found and it is truly in high quality. Check the link here.
The Lyrics
"Dicono che tutto
sia comunque scritto
quindi tanto vale che non sudi
nasci da incendiario
muori da pompiere
dicono
dicono che devi
proprio farti fuori
se vuoi fare il rock in qualche modo
che ti portiamo i fiori
lì nei cimiteri mitici
sei già dentro l'happy hour
vivere vivere costa la metà
quanto costa fare finta
di essere una star?
dicono che nasci solo per soffrire
ma se soffri bene vinci il premio
di consolazione
chi non salta l'eccezione è
dicono che i sogni - sono tutti
gratis - ma son quasi tutti quanti
usati - copriti per bene - che non
ti conviene il mondo qui
Sei già dentro l'happy hour - vivere vivere
costa la metà - quanto costa fare finta
di essere una star ? sei già dentro l'happy
hour - vivere vivere solo la metà
e la vita che non spendi che interessi avrà?
si può però morire vivendo sempre e solo
per sentito dire - si può però morire
per la fame che non hai
dicono che il cielo
ti fa stare in riga
che all'inferno si può far casino
mentre il purgatorio te lo devi proprio infliggere
Sei già dentro l'happy hour - vivere vivere costa
la metà - quanto costa fare finta di essere una star ?
sei già dentro l'happy
hour - vivere vivere solo la metà
e la vita che non spendi che interessi avrà?"
Activities
I heard this song first one summer on my way to Rome. It was used as the soundtrack of the then summer ad for a cell company. Italy has this trend over the summer - the summer tune becomes famous by being attached or connected to a repetitive segment for an ad - and in the summer the most popular ads are the one for mobile phones.
So one idea, not directly related to the words or meaning of the song, is for students to discover at least three different summer tunes based on the ads they were attached to and maybe reflect on what, in their idea, makes the tunes and the ad click.
Per sentito dire....
This is a great discussion starters. Ask students to select the statements in the song that begin with the structure: "Dicono che..." - talk with students about the fact that they can also use or find the structure: "Si dice che..."
After students list all the statements, ask them to image what they may mean. Can they think of other similar statements they have heard people say in English? What are they? How much do they affect our everyday behaviours? Why is it that commonly held truths can impact our daily lives so much?
The Worlde
This wordle clearly shows that somehow the song is about LIVING - what it means, what it can mean and how people may think of life today.
There is an English expression in the song (also the title) - HAPPY HOUR - ask students to explain what it really means in the song. Is everything at half price really valuable? If everything has happened before is it worth it to go through it again?
Ask students to reflect on today's society and come up with two more verses for this song (even if they cannot make them fit exactly in the song that is ok) and use the same thought direction - people say...
And finally - this is a really great tune. You may want to just let your students memorize the lyrics and sing their heart out to this rock-type of song! Ligabue is a great singer and song writer.
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