In an unexpected Instagram post, Mitski has shared her own version of the Italian song ‘Bella Ciao’, an anthem of the anti-fascist resistance in Italy during World War II. The Japanese-American singer has translated the lyrics into English using Google Translate “shamelessly”, as she admits in the video.
“I want to hear your version in your language,” reads the caption on Mitski’s post, in which she also encourages her followers to create another version in their own language. She even shares the hashtag #BellaCiaoWithMitski so that she herself can keep up to date with the videos.
“I tried to make an English version of this important Italian song called ‘Bella Ciao,'” the singer says in the video. She also admitted that she doesn’t speak “a lick of Italian” so she was forced to resort to Google Translate, as well as taking “inspiration from the English versions of Tom Waits and Marc Ribot.”
“If you know Italian, unlike me, you can certainly write a better translation than I have done. If you are one of those people, do it! Try it! And record it. I want to see it,” Mitski concluded before offering her beautiful voice to the service of Italian songs.
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View this post on Instagram
