Bella Ciao
Bella Ciao means “goodbye, beautiful” in Italian: bella is “beautiful” and, in this song, ciao is a farewell. It is the refrain of an Italian folk song that is associated with the Italian partisans during World War II, and today it is one of the best-known songs of resistance and freedom in the world.
Below you will find the full Italian lyrics with an English translation and an explanation of what they mean. But first, the story of the song: there are conflicting stories about the origin of Bella Ciao.
Some believe it comes from Dalmatia, others say it was composed by partisans during the Italian Resistenza, but the most likely theory claims that Bella Ciao was probably written by the mondine, the women who worked in paddy fields in Northern Italy in the early 20th-century.
According to this theory, the song’s original version described the atrocious working conditions faced by the workers who sung hope for a better future. Later on, the song was changed to tell the story of the anti-fascist resistance in WWII, and the lyrics became those we know today.
Over the years, Bella Ciao became a symbol of resistance and freedom worldwide. It’s been adopted and adapted by different cultures and political groups, reinforcing its universal meaning of struggle and defiance against oppression.
More recently, the song was used in different Netflix series and movies. An important representation is in “La Casa de Papel”, where it is used as an anthem of rebellion, reviving the interest in the song.
Bella Ciao: Explained
What Does “Bella Ciao” Mean?
Literally speaking, Bella Ciao can be translated as “Bye-bye beautiful”. But when it comes to understanding the lyrics, ciao as a greeting acquires different shades of meaning.
- bella = “beautiful”. Here it is a term of address, like saying “my beautiful” to the person you are leaving.
- ciao = “hello” or “goodbye”. In this refrain it is a farewell.
Say it BEL-la CHOW: the stress falls on the first syllable of bella, and the ci in ciao sounds like the “ch” in “church”.
Have a look at the Italian lyrics:
Una mattina mi son svegliato,
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao!
Una mattina mi son svegliato
e ho trovato l’invasor.
O partigiano portami via,
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
o partigiano portami via
che mi sento di morir.
E se io muoio da partigiano,
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao,
e se io muoio da partigiano
tu mi devi seppellir.
Seppellire lassù in montagna,
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao,
seppellire lassù in montagna
sotto l’ombra di un bel fior.
E le genti che passeranno,
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao,
e le genti che passeranno
mi diranno «che bel fior.»
Questo è il fiore del partigiano,
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao,
questo è il fiore del partigiano
morto per la libertà
Now, read the English translation:
One morning I woke up,
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao! (Goodbye beautiful)
One morning I woke up
And I found the invader.
Oh, partisan carry me away,
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
oh partisan carry me away
Because I feel death approaching.
And if I die as a partisan,
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
and if I die as a partisan
then you must bury me.
Bury me up in the mountain,
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
bury me up in the mountain
under the shade of a beautiful flower.
And all those who shall pass,
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
and all those who shall pass
will tell me “what a beautiful flower.”
This is the flower of the partisan,
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
this is the flower of the partisan
who died for freedom
Bella Ciao: Meaning of the Lyrics
If you grasped the lyrics of the song, you probably understood its sad message: the song is about the farewell of a partisan to his beloved.
He is preparing to confront the invaders, but he’s aware of the fact that he is going to die. In his final wishes, he asks to be buried on a mountain beneath a flower, hoping it will stand as a symbol “of the partisan who died for freedom”.
These poetic lyrics capture the spirit of a person who prioritizes the well-being and liberty of his community above his own desires, love, and even life. The song’s melancholic tune underlines this sense of solemnity but, at the same time, it gives a sense of hope for a brighter future.
This is why Bella Ciao has made such an impression on the hearts of revolutionaries around the world.
Bella Ciao Lyrics: Vocabulary and Grammar Notes
The lyrics use a few short forms that you would not normally hear in everyday speech. Italian songs and poems often drop the final vowel of a word, a change called troncamento, so that the words fit the rhythm of the melody. Here is what the song says next to the standard form:
| In the song | Standard Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| mi son svegliato | mi sono svegliato | I woke up |
| l’invasor | l’invasore | the invader |
| portami via | portami via | take me away (the imperative porta + the pronoun mi) |
| che mi sento di morir | che mi sento di morire | because I feel death approaching |
| tu mi devi seppellir | tu mi devi seppellire | you must bury me |
| le genti che passeranno | la gente che passerà | the people who will pass by (genti is a poetic plural of gente) |
| che bel fior | che bel fiore | what a beautiful flower |
The first line is also a good example of a reflexive verb in the passato prossimo: mi sono svegliato comes from svegliarsi (“to wake up”), which forms its past tense with essere. To practise this pattern, see the lesson on reflexive verbs in Italian.
Where Does Bella Ciao Come From?
Nobody knows who wrote Bella Ciao. It is an anonymous folk song, and researchers still disagree about how its tune and its words came together. This is what is known.
The Original Version Sung by the Mondine
The earliest written version dates to 1906. It was collected near Vercelli, in Piedmont, under the title Alla mattina appena alzata. It was sung by the mondine, the women who weeded the rice paddies of the Po Valley, and it starts like this:
Alla mattina appena alzata,
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao,
alla mattina appena alzata
in risaia mi tocca andar.
In the morning, as soon as I get up,
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao,
in the morning, as soon as I get up,
I have to go to the rice field.
The next verses talk about the insects and the mosquitoes, and about the boss who stands over the workers with a stick while they work bent over the paddies. The tune and the refrain are the same as in the partisan version, but the song is about the workers’ own hard conditions, not about war.
From the Rice Fields to the Resistance: a Timeline
- 1906: the earliest written version of the mondine song, found near Vercelli.
- 1919: some researchers, such as Fausto Giovannardi, see a possible Yiddish origin for the melody in a tune called “Koilen”, recorded in New York in 1919 by the accordionist Mishka Ziganoff. This is a theory, not a proven fact.
- 1947: partisans from Emilia-Romagna sing Bella Ciao at the World Festival of Youth and Students in Prague, which starts its journey to fame.
- 1953 and 1957: the partisan text is printed for the first time, in the magazine La Lapa and then in the newspaper L’Unità.
- 1964: the group Il Nuovo Canzoniere Italiano performs it at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, presenting it both as a mondine song and as a partisan song. From here it reaches a wide audience.
One detail surprises many people: historians find little evidence that Bella Ciao was widely sung during the war itself. Another song, Fischia il vento, was more common among the partisans. Bella Ciao became the anthem of the Resistance mostly in the years after the war.
Bella Ciao Today
In Italy, Bella Ciao is closely tied to 25 April, la Festa della Liberazione (Liberation Day), which celebrates the end of the Nazi occupation and of fascist rule at the end of World War II. People sing it at the commemorations across the country.
Outside Italy, the Spanish series La Casa de Papel (Money Heist) introduced the song to a new generation of listeners from 2017, and protesters in many countries have sung it since. In March 2020, during the first lockdown, people in Italy sang it from their balconies.
Bella Ciao: Frequently Asked Questions
What does “bella ciao” mean in English?
It means “goodbye, beautiful” (or “goodbye, my beautiful”). Bella is the person the singer is addressing and ciao is the farewell.
Is “bella ciao” a hello or a goodbye?
In this song it is a goodbye. In everyday Italian, ciao works for both greetings, as explained in the guide to the meaning of ciao.
Who wrote Bella Ciao?
There is no known author. It is an anonymous folk song that first appears in a written version sung by the mondine in 1906, and the partisan text was printed only in the 1950s.
What is the flower in Bella Ciao?
The flower that grows over the partisan’s grave stands for his sacrifice and for the freedom he died for: il fiore del partigiano, “the flower of the partisan”.
Want more Italian songs?
If you like the story behind this song, read what “Volare” means in Italian, or start with these easy Italian songs for beginners.
