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Celebrate Each Day with a Song ~ La Gatta

In May of 2017 I took a second trip to Italy staying for two weeks in Lucca old town. Lucca is in Tuscany Province near Pisa and about an hour from Florence. The Tuscan hills can been seen all around the city and bring cooling breezes every afternoon. The aromas of roasting coffee and jasmine in bloom will forever remind me of this spectacular region in Italy.

During the first week in Lucca, I took Italian lessons and we learned the “imperfetto” verb tense. This tense is used to express things that happened many years ago. This song by Gino Paoli, was used to teach imperfetto.

Cats are a favorite companion and what fun it was to bring this “souvenir” back home.

Here are the lyrics with English translation.

La Gatta (Italian)

C’era una volta una gatta
che aveva una macchia nera sul muso e una vecchia
soffitta vicino al mare con una finestra
a un passo dal cielo blu.
Se la chitarra suonavo
la gatta faceva le fusa ed una stellina
scendeva vicina vicina
poi mi sorrideva e se ne tornava su.

Ora non abito più là tutto è cambiato,
non abito più là ho una casa bellissima
bellissima come vuoi tu.
Ma io ripenso a una gatta
che aveva una macchia nera sul muso a una vecchia
soffitta vicino al mare con una stellina
che ora non vedo più.

La Gatta (English)

Once upon a time there was a cat
with a black spot on her muzzle and an old
attic by the sea with a window
steps away from the blue sky.
If I would play my guitar
the cat would purr and a little star
would come down really close
then it would smile and go back up again.

Now I don’t live there anymore everything has changed,
I don’t live there anymore, I have a beautiful house,
beautiful, as you want.
But I think back to a cat with a black spot on her muzzle, to an old
attic by the sea with a little star
That I don’t see anymore.

Celebrate Each Day with a Song ~ Una Paloma Blanca

Let the power of music and words overwhelm the heart and soul of each bird and beast on Earth. There’s so much to enjoy in life. Hope for a better day everyday.

George Baker and the George Baker Selection band is today’s celebrated artist with the beautiful “Una Paloma Blanca” pop hit from 1975.

A White Dove

When the sun shines on the mountains
And the night is on the run
It’s a new day, it’s a new way
And I fly up to the sun

I can feel the morning sunlight
I can smell the new-born hay
I can hear God’s voices calling
From my golden sky-light way

Una paloma blanca
I’m just a bird in the sky
Una paloma blanca
Over the mountain I fly
No one can take my freedom away

Once I had my share of losing
Once they locked me on a chain
Yes, they tried to break my power
Oh, I still can feel the pain

Una paloma blanca
I’m just a bird in the sky
Una paloma blanca
Over the mountain I fly
No one can take my freedom away

“When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest.”
― Henry David Thoreau