prima di andare a dormire

2023/02/06
rome, italy
Italy is definitely one of the places where Nanao's poetry is still constantly blooming. From Rome, especially for the Nanao Global Year celebrations, we received a recording of Prima di andare a dormire, a musical version, in Italian, of the poem I Mumble Before Going to Bed, by Nanao Sakaki!

The translation and adaptation into Italian is by Maura Zerella and Ciro Zerella. She sings backing vocals and he sings lead vocals, in addition to playing keyboards and shamisen. The guitar is by Gerardo Danna, the drums by Gaspare Vitiello, and the bass by dear Gary Lawless! Recording, mixing and mastering is by Raffaello Piscareta, from Mood Records, based in Atripalda, Italy. The bass recording for Lawless was done by Jud Caswell at Frog Hollow Studio, in Brunswick, Maine, USA.

Lawless also sent us a letter Nanao wrote to him, telling of his desire to one day read his poems in Italian – a dream that comes true on his centennial.

Check out the song and the letter, and below, the original English version of the poem.

Grazie, arigato, thanks!







I Mumble Before Going to Bed

In seven minutes
    You fall asleep.
In seven hours
    You wake up.
In seven days
    You are tired of a job.
In seven years
    You forget your friends.
In seventy years
    You are gone.
In seven hundred years
    Nobody knows you.
In seventy thousand years
    No human being on the earth.
In seven hundred million years
    The Milky Way disappears.
In seven hundred million light years
    Somebody sleeps on your bed.


April 1st, 2000



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