Songs can be incredibly helpful when learning Italian: they help you pick up grammar structures, introduce everyday expressions, and make you familiarise yourself with different accents. Plus, echoing the words of a good song is way more fun than memorising piles of verb tables and vocabulary lists, right?
Today we’re going to dive into the lyrics of one of the songs that was successful at the Sanremo Music Festival. Initially, I considered analysing the winning track, Balorda nostalgia by Olly, but Volevo essere un duro by Lucio Corsi completely captured my attention. This song, which took second place on the Sanremo podium, is a little poetic gem, so much so that it even got a nod of approval from the Accademia della Crusca, Italy’s leading authority on the Italian language. So, sorry Olly… maybe next time!
“Volevo essere un duro” – Lucio Corsi
In this song, the 30-something singer from Tuscany’s Maremma region reflects on how we’re pressured to always be strong and unbreakable, but the truth is, it’s perfectly okay to just be ourselves, with our flaws and insecurities. And he delivers this message by playing beautifully with the Italian language, filling the lyrics with figurative speech, idioms and expressions to unpack.
So, let’s break down the song and see what it can teach us from a linguistic point of view.
Volevo essere un duro
I wanted to be a tough guy
Volevo essere un duro
I wanted to be a tough guy
Che non gli importa del futuro
Who doesn’t care about the future
Un robot
A robot
Un lottatore di sumo
A sumo wrestler
Uno spaccino in fuga da un cane lupo
A drug dealer chased by a wolfdog
Alla stazione di Bolo
At the Bolo station
Una gallina dalle uova d’oro
A hen that lays golden eggs
Però non sono nessuno
But I am nobody
Non sono nato con la faccia da duro
I wasn’t born with a tough guy face
Ho anche paura del buio
I’m even afraid of the dark
Se faccio a botte le prendo
If I get into a fight, I get beaten
Così mi truccano gli occhi di nero
So they paint my eyes black
Ma non ho mai perso tempo
But I’ve never lost time
È lui che mi ha lasciato indietro
It is time that left me behind
Vivere la vita
Living life
È un gioco da ragazzi
Is a kid’s game
Me lo diceva mamma ed io
Mom used to tell me so
Cadevo giù dagli alberi
And I used to fall down from trees
Quanto è duro il mondo
How tough is the world
Per quelli normali
For those who are normal
Che hanno poco amore intorno
Who have little love around them
O troppo sole negli occhiali
Or too much sun in their glasses
Volevo essere un duro
I wanted to be a tough guy
Che non gli importa del futuro no
Who doesn’t care about the future, no
Un robot
A robot
Medaglia d’oro di sputo
A gold medal for spitting
Lo scippatore che t’aspetta nel buio
The mugger who waits for you in the dark
Il Re di Porta Portese
The king of Porta Portese
La gazza ladra che ti ruba la fede
The thieving magpie that steals your wedding ring
Vivere la vita
Living life
È un gioco da ragazzi
Is a kid’s game
Me lo diceva mamma ed io
Mom used to tell me so
Cadevo giù dagli alberi
And I used to fall down from trees
Quanto è duro il mondo
How tough is the world
Per quelli normali
For those who are normal
Che hanno poco amore intorno
Who have little love around them
O troppo sole negli occhiali
Or too much sun in their glasses
Volevo essere un duro
I wanted to be a tough guy
Però non sono nessuno
But I am nobody
Cintura bianca di Judo
White belt in judo
Invece che una stella uno starnuto
Instead of a star, a sneeze
I girasoli con gli occhiali mi hanno detto
The sunflowers with glasses told me
“Stai attento alla luce”
“Be careful of the light”
E che le lune senza buche
And that moons without holes
Sono fregature
Swindle you
Perché in fondo è inutile fuggire
Because in the end it is useless to run away
Dalle tue paure
From your fears
Vivere la vita è un gioco da ragazzi
Living life is a kid’s game
Io, io volevo essere un duro
I, I wanted to be a tough guy
Però non sono nessuno
But I am nobody
Non sono altro che Lucio
I am nothing but Lucio
Non sono altro che Lucio
I am nothing but Lucio
Grammar highlights
Use of the imperfect tense
The imperfect tense helps us talk about past events that weren’t just one-time moments, but rather things that happened over a period of time, because they were ongoing or habitual.
For example, in the song we have volevo essere un duro (I wanted to be a tough guy) where volevo shows that this desire wasn’t just a fleeting wish, but a feeling that lasted over time.
Another example is me lo diceva mamma (mom used to tell me that), where diceva implies that mom didn’t just say it once, but that it was something she said regularly or often in the past.
The verb importare
The verb importare can mean “to import” or “to adopt,” but its most important meaning is “to matter” or “to care”. When used in this sense, it follows a special sentence structure: it’s conjugated only in the third person singular or plural, and instead of using a subject pronoun like io (I) or tu (you), it requires an indirect object pronoun like mi (to me) or ti (to you) to indicate who cares.
For example, in the song, there’s the phrase non gli importa del futuro (he doesn’t care about the future), where gli is the indirect object pronoun meaning “to him,” indicating the person “to whom” the future doesn’t matter.
The relative pronoun che
Che is the most common relative pronoun in Italian and doesn’t change based on the gender or number of the noun it refers to. In a relative clause, it can act as either the subject or the direct object.
We have a few examples in the lyrics:
- Volevo essere un duro che non gli importa del futuro (I wanted to be a tough guy who doesn’t care about the future)
- È lui che mi ha lasciato indietro (He’s the one who left me behind – in this case “lui” refers to time)
- Lo scippatore che t’aspetta nel buio (The mugger who waits for you in the dark)
The construction È lui/lei che…
In Italian, the construction È lui/lei che… (literally “It is him/her who…”) is used to draw attention to the subject who performs the action, often with the intention of emphasising or clarifying responsibility.
For instance, in the line È lui che mi ha lasciato indietro, it’s not just saying “he left me behind”; it’s stressing that it was him, not anyone else, who did it.
Naturally, you can adjust this structure with other pronouns, like Sono loro che, Siete voi che, Sei tu che, and so on, depending on who you’re referring to.
The double negation
While in English using more than one negative in the same sentence is typically considered incorrect, in Italian, double negatives are super common. Pairing non with words like nessuno (nobody), niente (nothing), or mai (never) actually reinforces the negation.
Examples in the song include:
- Non ho mai perso tempo (I have never wasted time)
- Non sono nessuno (I am nobody) – the expression essere nessuno is pretty common in everyday to express being insignificant or staying humble.
The hypothetical conditional clauses
Another grammatical feature in the song is the use of a periodo ipotetico (hypothetical conditional clause), a grammatical structure that helps us discuss what could happen in certain situations.
In the lyrics, we see it in the phrase Se faccio a botte, le prendo (If I fight, I get beaten), which is an example of a first-degree hypothetical conditional clause. This type of conditional is used for realistic scenarios that can likely happen in the present or future. So, the singer is telling us that if he ever finds himself in a fight, the odds of him getting beaten are pretty high!
Figurative expressions
Una gallina dalle uova d’oro
This is a classic Italian idiom. Literally, it means “a hen that lays golden eggs,” but figuratively, it’s used to describe a situation, person, or opportunity that’s highly profitable, generating a lot of money or benefits.
This expression comes from one of Aesop’s fables, where a farmer has this hen that lays a golden egg every day. But, instead of being grateful for the steady gold, he gets greedy, thinking there’s a whole treasure inside. So, he kills the hen, only to realize there’s no gold inside and it’s just a regular hen!
Il Re di Porta Portese
Porta Portese is a very famous flea market in Rome, known for its eclectic mix of second-hand goods, vintage finds, and items with… let’s say, questionable origin. When the singer mentions Il Re di Porta Portese (the King of Porta Portese), he’s likely referring to one of those sharp sellers who knows exactly how to make a deal.
More broadly, the expression essere il re di… (to be the king of…) or la regina di… (the queen of…) is often used in Italian to describe someone who excels in a specific area. For example, il re della della casa (the king of the house) for someone who absolutely runs the household or la regina della truffa (the queen of fraud) for a master scammer.
La gazza ladra che ti ruba la fede
This expression combines two powerful images:
- Gazza ladra means “magpie,” the cheeky bird known for stealing shiny objects. It’s often used as a metaphor for thieves, and in the song, it evokes the image of someone taking what doesn’t belong to them. There might also be a nod to Rossini’s opera La Gazza Ladra, which tells the story of a wrongful accusation (all because a magpie was the real thief!).
- Fede can mean a wedding ring, but also “faith,” which broadens the meaning to suggest someone who not only steals material things but also trust or belief.
Elements of everyday speech
Un duro
Un duro basically means “a tough guy” and is a common way of calling someone who is strong, fearless and not easily shaken – in other words, a badass! You can also use it in the feminine version, una dura, to praise a strong, confident woman.
Spaccino
The word spaccino is a slang variation of spacciatore, which means “drug dealer” and comes from the verb spacciare (to deal). The -ino suffix is used in Italian to create a diminutive or more casual version of a word. In this case, spaccino carries the same meaning as spacciatore but sounds more informal – something you’d hear more often among younger people.
La stazione di Bolo
Nope, Bolo isn’t some hidden gem to add to your Italian itinerary, it’s just a casual, shortened way of saying Bologna! You’ll hear locals or younger crowds using it, especially when talking about the city in a familiar, laid-back way.
Un gioco da ragazzi
This is a classic expression Italians use a lot to describe something super easy to do or manage. It literally means “a kids’ game,” similar to saying “a piece of cake” or “a walk in the park” in English.
Se faccio a botte, le prendo
This phrase is another excellent example of everyday Italian. Literally, it translates to “If I get into a fight, I take them.” But don’t get confused—it’s not about taking punches, it’s about receiving them!
In Italian, fare a botte means to fight (like, physically), and prenderle is a casual way of saying getting beaten up. The pronoun le here refers to hits, slaps, or whatever’s coming your way. So, basically, if you say this, you’re admitting you’re not exactly the fighting type!
Fregature
This is the plural form of fregatura, a word we use all the time in Italian. It means “swindle” or “scam” and is derived from the verb fregare, which has a few meanings depending on the context: “to cheat” as in mi hanno fregato (they tricked me), “to rub” like in fregare il pavimento (to rub the floor), “to care” as in non me ne frega niente (I don’t care at all) and “to steal” as in mi hanno fregato la borsa (they stole my bag). So fregature are those moments when you realise you’ve been played, like buying a “genuine” leather bag that peels after a week – a classic fregatura!
Valentina Nicastro is a travel writer in love with her home country, Italy. Having travelled widely around the globe, she realised there was more to explore closer to home and decided to put the passport aside for a while. When she is not immersed in documenting Italy, you’ll find her donning her communication consultant hat, weaving words as a content writer and bridging linguistic divides as a translator.
