LEONARD COHEN
BY ROBERTO VECCHIONI




C'è soltanto un albergo a Venezia
è l'albergo di quando mi ami
quando i figli non c'erano ancora
ed io solo baciavo i tuoi seni
quando i figli volavano in alto
quando tutto quel poco era molto
perché ti amavo
oh se ti amavo
quanto ti amavo

E la gente sorride a Venezia
si ricorda di quando passavi
coi pensieri che avevano fretta
e le gambe che non le mostravi
e ricorda che c'era anche un uomo
con due occhi di un altro mattino
Perché ti amava
oh se ti amava
quanto ti amava

E c'è un vecchio cortile a Venezia
dove vanno a finire i ricordi
e se hai voglia di quella carezza
ti ci porto perché sono verdi
come gli alberi di quella sera
e la luna che c'era e non c'era
Perché mi ami
e non mi ami
quanto mi ami

Ho imparato che il tempo è bellezza
ho imparato anche a fare l'amore
noi due siamo rimasti a Venezia
siamo quelli di prima e di sempre
è soltanto una scusa Venezia
ci saremmo capiti ugualmente
Perché ti amo
oh se ti amo
quanto ti amo


Unofficial translation
by Mariano Brustio and Scott Crawford:


There is only one hotel in Venice
It's the hotel ever since you loved me
When the children weren't there yet
And I alone kissed your breasts
When the children were flying high
When all that was small was great
Because I loved you
Oh if I loved you
How much I loved you

And the people smile in Venice
They remember when you were passing
With the hasty thoughts
And the legs that you didn't show
They remember that there was also a man
With two eyes of a different dawn
Because he loved you
Oh if he loved you
How much he loved you

And there's an old courtyard in Venice
Where they go to finish the memories
And if you want that caress
I bring you there because they are green
Like the trees that night
And the moon that was and wasn't there
Because you love me
And you don't love me
How much do you love me

I have learned that time is beauty
I have learned to make love again
We two remained in Venice
We are those people from the start and always
Venice is only an excuse
We would have known each other all the same
Because I love you
Oh if I love you
How much I love you




From the album Milady by Roberto Vecchioni, Italy 1992.

In the Vecchioni song, there is no direct reference to Cohen or to his work. The closest connection that I can see is that there is some similarity between this song and Chelsea Hotel # 2.

Similar to the Cohen song, Vecchioni's lyrics document a past love affair set in a hotel, between the speaker and an unnamed woman in the second person. The hotel was in Venice. The mood is similarly melancholy to that of Chelsea Hotel.

Contrary to the Cohen song, Vecchioni's song speaks as though the lovers are still together, although it appears likely that this is an illusion in the speaker's mind. (Comments by Scott Crawford.




Thanks to Bernd Fischer for the song,
Mariano Brustio for the lyrics,
and to Mariano and Scott Crawford for the translation.




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