Two Italian superstars are joining forces to represent their country at Eurovision 2018. Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro will sing their entry “Non mi avete fatto niente” (You haven’t done anything to me) at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, after they won the Sanremo Music Festival back in February.
It’s the first duet to represent Italy since 1997, when Jalisse reached 4th place with “Fiumi di parole”. Here are the Italian lyrics and the English translation.
The song deals with wars across the world and terrorist attacks in Europe and the Middle East. The singers cite London, Paris, Nice, Cairo and Barcelona in the lyrics. The song was written in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing.
There’s plenty of pain here. As they sing:
In London it always rains, but today it doesn’t hurt
The sky makes no exception, even for a funeral
In Nice, the sea is red with fire and shame
With people on the asphalt and blood in the sewer
But ultimately there’s an uplifting message, which comes through loud and clear in the song title.
You haven’t done anything to me
You’ve taken nothing from me
This is my life, and it keeps going
Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro – “Non mi avete fatto niente” at Sanremo 2018
“Non mi avete fatto niente” lyrics – Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro (Italy Eurovision 2018)
ORIGINAL LYRICS
Al Cairo non lo sanno che ore sono adesso
Il sole sulla Rambla oggi non è lo stesso
In Francia c’è un concerto, la gente si diverte
Qualcuno canta forte, qualcuno grida, “a morte”
A Londra piove sempre ma oggi non fa male
Il cielo non fa sconti neanche a un funerale
A Nizza il mare è rosso di fuochi e di vergogna
Di gente sull’asfalto e sangue nella fogna
E questo corpo enorme che noi chiamiamo Terra
Ferito nei suoi organi dall’Asia all’Inghilterra
Galassie di persone disperse nello spazio
Ma quello più importante è lo spazio di un abbraccio
Di madri senza figli, di figli senza padri
Di volti illuminati come muri senza quadri
Minuti di silenzio spezzati da una voce
Non mi avete fatto niente
Non mi avete fatto niente
Non mi avete tolto niente
Questa è la mia vita che va avanti
Oltre tutto, oltre la gente
Non mi avete fatto niente
Non avete avuto niente
Perché tutto va oltre le vostre inutili guerre
C’è chi si fa la croce, chi prega sui tappeti
Le chiese e le moschee, gli imam e tutti i preti
Ingressi separati della stessa casa
Miliardi di persone che sperano in qualcosa
Braccia senza mani, facce senza nomi
Scambiamoci la pelle, in fondo siamo umani
Perché la nostra vita non è un punto di vista
E non esiste bomba pacifista
Non mi avete fatto niente
Non mi avete tolto niente
Questa è la mia vita che va avanti
Oltre tutto, oltre la gente
Non mi avete fatto niente
Non avete avuto niente
Perché tutto va oltre le vostre inutili guerre
Cadranno i grattacieli, le metropolitane
I muri di contrasto alzati per il pane
Ma contro ogni terrore che ostacola il cammino
Il mondo si rialza col sorriso di un bambino
Col sorriso di un bambino
Col sorriso di un bambino
Non mi avete fatto niente
Non avete avuto niente
Perché tutto va oltre le vostre inutili guerre
Non mi avete fatto niente
Le vostre inutili guerre
Non avete avuto niente
Le vostre inutili guerre
Sono consapevole che tutto più non torna
La felicità volava
Come vola via una bolla
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Now they don’t know what time it is in Cairo
The sun on La Rambla today isn’t the same
In France, there’s a concert, people having fun
Someone sings powerfully, someone screams at death
In London it always rains, but today it doesn’t hurt
The sky makes no exception, even for a funeral
In Nice, the sea is red with fire and shame
With people on the asphalt and blood in the sewer
And this enormous body that we call Earth
Wounded to its core form Asia to England
Galaxies of people dispersed in space
But the most important space is that of an embrace
Of mothers without sons, sons without fathers
Of faces lit up like walls without pictures
Minutes of silence, broken by a voice
You haven’t done anything to me
You haven’t done anything to me
You’ve taken nothing from me
This is my life, and it keeps going
Beyond everything, beyond people
You haven’t done anything to me
You haven’t won anything
Because there’s more than your pointless wars
There are those who make the sign of the cross and those who pray on rugs
Churches and mosques, imams and all the priests
Separate entrances to the same house
Billions of people hoping for something
Arms without hands, faces without names
Let’s swap our skin, deep down we’re all human
Because our lives aren’t a point of view
And there is no pacifist bomb
You haven’t done anything to me
You’ve taken nothing from me
This is my life, and it keeps going
Beyond everything, beyond people
You haven’t done anything to me
You haven’t gotten anything
Because there’s more than your pointless wars
Skyscrapers will fall, so will the metro
Walls of conflict raised for bread
But against all the terror that hinders the path
The world gets back up with the smile of a child
With the smile of a child
With the smile of a child
You haven’t done anything to me
You haven’t won anything
Because there’s more than your pointless wars
You haven’t done anything to me
Your pointless wars
You haven’t gotten anything
Your pointless wars
I know that everything won’t come back
Happiness flew
It floated away, like a bubble
READ MORE EUROVISION LYRICS HERE
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The Muslims won’t like this song at all!
How beautiful lyrics! I love it! Good luck to them!
If they had a way to project the english lyrics during the performance, they could win
They are using an overlay during the performance to translate the lyrics 😀
They will? didn’t even know that was allowed… Well I will be balling my eyes out for sure?
We always have subtitles, except for last year. Same goes to Finland, they too have subtitles for years.
We always have subtitles, except for last year. Same goes to Finland, they too have subtitles for years.
lol wow why my comment appeared twice?
If this entry wins this proves it’s title ( at least) wrong.
A shame because these are the best lyrics and the most up to date with the world we’re living in but the song itself plus the singers are not at the same level. We still have to see how they sell this message on stage. No LED this time so one has to guess it’s going to be all about them.
Lyrics are the strength of this song, but I don’t know…the fact they are so long and in Italian may hurt their good position chances. Melody itself is not a great thing, not as emotional as reading the lyrics. It’s tough to say.
I think this song would do wonders at a rally! Wait, this is Eurovision!
They don’t really need to investigate it, since the “self-plagiarism” thing is know since Sanremo.
RAI at the spoke at the time that it wasn’t against the rules, so they stayed in the competition and won.
If the EBU didn’t said anything against the composition and if the oficial videoclip maintains the same chorus, so it mustn’t be against the rules
Hum, or EBU just become laxist ! What I think … and this is bad !
This is several steps above everything in the competition this year. Grazie, Italia.
Love this song
It’s one of only 9 that I’ve downloaded
However , it took me a few listens to fall in love with it
Herein lies it’s potential difficulty
Most viewers on the night will only have 1 listen and I’m not sure it has that much immediate impact
This is a situation where italy would really benefit if it had to compete in a semi-final
Maybe this is partially to blame for the long time a “Big 5” country has won the contest
Exposure is SO important!
This is something I always think about. OK, the Big 5 and the host country avoid the risk of not qualifying to the grand final, but this is the only advantage for them. The lack of exposure can harm their chances a lot. They lose the “have you seen (country)’s performance last night?” that could make more people pay attention to them or giving it a careful listen before the final. It’s also a problem that they can’t collect some feedback from the semis and refine their acts. Rehearsals are important, but they can’t replace the feeling of being actually… Read more »
Jamala was thought to be quite controversial at the time before she won. I believe if the song is good and people can feel it they will vote for it. Visually Jamala’s performance looked amazing which also helps, together with her emotional vocals it touched and moved her audience.
It will be interesting to see how this is staged, it has the potential to look good visually and very moving for the audience on the night. Just like Jamala did.
It is well written piece, beautifully interpreted by two different vocal styles that compliment the mood and emotions of the song. It is very timely and a reminder of the constant struggles of modern life nowadays worldwide.
It begins with drama, sadness, anger and turmoil. It ends with a sense of purpose, the strength of humanity and unity that conveys defiance that delivers a glimmer of hope and the ongoing perseverance.
This is an anthem for modern times. A lyrical masterpiece. One of the songs to beat in my opinion.
This is the song of our times, and that’s why it should win. It is not only beautiful, wise, but also extremely contemporary in its topic. We still hear about different kinds of terrostist attacks. What can ordinary people do about it? I don’t really know… But singing about unity and strength is a good step. I hope this song will be appreciated at ESC and achieve a high position.
Have you ever heard of “self-plagiarism”? It’s the worst kind. Don’t get me wrong, I totally love the song.
There’s not such thing as ‘self-plagiarism’.
In this case, sequels of movies plagiarize the original ones.
Even in English these are the most beautiful lyrics I have read in a long time. It’s pure poetry in my opinion.
its time for Italy to get that win already cause this is the song that actually has meaning, packed up in a beautiful melody