The Preacher and the Slave, or Pie in the Sky, or Long Haired Preachers
Joe Hill| Originale | Versione italiana di Riccardo Venturi |
| THE PREACHER AND THE SLAVE, OR PIE IN THE SKY, OR LONG HAIRED PREACHERS | IL PREDICATORE E LO SCHIAVO LA TORTA IN CIELO, o PREDICATORI CAPELLONI |
| Long-haired preachers come out every night Try to tell you what's wrong and what's right But when asked how 'bout something to eat They will answer in voices so sweet | Predicatori capelloni saltan fuori ogni sera e provano a dirti quel che è bene e quel che è male, ma quando gli si chiede qualcosa da mangiare quelli rispondono con vocine vellutate: |
| You will eat, bye and bye In that glorious land above the sky - Way up high! Work and pray, live on hay You'll get pie in the sky when you die - that's a lie! | Mangerai, mangerai, ies bài bài, quando in cielo glorioso tu andrai, - lassù, dai! ora et labora, fieno mangerai, la torta in cielo avrai quando morrai, - son cazzate, sai! |
| And the Starvation Army, they play And they sing and they clap and they pray Till they get all your coin on the drum Then they tell you when you're on the bum | È l'Esercito della Morte di Fame, e suonano, e cantano, e batton le mani, e pregano finché non hanno i tuoi $oldi in saccoccia e poi ti dicono, quando sei col culo a terra: |
| You will eat, bye and bye In that glorious land above the sky - Way up high! Work and pray, live on hay You'll get pie in the sky when you die - that's a lie! | Mangerai, mangerai, ies bài bài, quando in cielo glorioso tu andrai, - lassù, dai! ora et labora, fieno mangerai, la torta in cielo avrai quando morrai, - son cazzate, sai! |
| Holy Rollers and Jumpers come out And they holler, they jump and they shout Give your money to Jesus, they say He will cure all diseases today | Saltan fuori santi Saltatori e Salvatori 1 e strepitano, e saltano e gridano: Dai i tuoi soldi a Gesù, ti dicono, Lui curerà oggi tutte le malattie |
| You will eat, bye and bye In that glorious land above the sky - Way up high! Work and pray, live on hay You'll get pie in the sky when you die - that's a lie! | Mangerai, mangerai, ies bài bài, quando in cielo glorioso tu andrai, - lassù, dai! ora et labora, fieno mangerai, la torta in cielo avrai quando morrai, - son cazzate, sai! |
| If you fight hard for children and wife Try to get something good in this life You're a sinner and bad man, they tell When you die you will sure go to hell. | Se lotti duro per i tuoi figli e tua moglie per avere qualcosa di buono in questa vita, dicon che sei un peccatore e un malvagio, e che da morto di sicuro andrai all'inferno |
| You will eat, bye and bye In that glorious land above the sky - Way up high! Work and pray, live on hay You'll get pie in the sky when you die - that's a lie! | Mangerai, mangerai, ies bài bài, quando in cielo glorioso tu andrai, - lassù, dai! ora et labora, fieno mangerai, la torta in cielo avrai quando morrai, - son cazzate, sai! |
| Workingmen of all countries, unite Side by side we for freedom will fight When the world and its wealth we have gained To the grafters we'll sing this refrain | Lavoratori di tutti i paesi, unitevi, fianco a fianco lotteremo per la libertà, quando avremo il mondo e la sua ricchezza a quei mangiapane a ufo canteremo così: |
| You will eat, bye and bye When you've learned how to cook and how to fry Chop some wood, 'twill do you good Then you'll eat in the sweet bye and bye - that's no lie! | Mangerai, mangerai, ies bài bài, quando appreso a cucinare tu avrai, taglia legna finché abbastanza ne avrai, e così mangerai, e bài bài, - non son cazzate, sai! |
NOTE alla traduzione [1] Gli Holy Jumpers, o Holy Rollers, o Holy Rollers and Jumpers erano i membri di una setta metodista di origine gallese, il cui rituale comprendeva una serie di balzi, salti e rotolamenti per terra. |
The chorus is sung in a call and response pattern.
In that glorious land above the sky [Way up high]
Work and pray [Work and pray] live on hay [live on hay]
You'll get pie in the sky when you die [That's a lie!]
Thus the final verse becomes
When you've learned how to cook and how to fry [How to fry]
Chop some wood [Chop some wood], 'twill do you good [do you good]
Then you'll eat in the sweet bye and bye [That's no lie]
The fourth verse is not normally sung today, probably because of the reference to "children and wife" not being gender-neutral. Other variations include changing the second line of the chorus to "In that glorious land up in the sky" and the last line of the third verse to "And you will eat on that glorious day." Workingmen is normally changed to working folks, as well. The above lyrics are from the 19th edition of the Little Red Songbook.
(en:wikipedia)