RA TA TA Lyrics in English by Mahmood

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Below, I translated the lyrics of the song RA TA TA by Mahmood from Italian to English.

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A daisy was enough to play "he loves me, he loves me not"

But you can grow up fast if you live growing up on the streets

Never seen the tropics, only apartment buildings without a shirt but with a katana

On old furniture they dream of sapphires on a necklace

Three years in the gang

On a terrace

With people like me

The mulatto face, the machine-gun mouth

Outside fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa

Only 'ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta'

I see children with balaclavas

Without mommy-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma

You'll see them dancing

Pointing their blades at the sky

Inside the city-tà-tà-tà-tà-tà-tà-tà

Of God, of God

What a crappy life with the game of snakes and ladders but with the madam

Peach juice outside the mass among clouds of marijuana

Baby, if you mention me

It's like helicopters are flying

Sometimes family seems far away

On a Bridge, all in single file

Three years in the gang

On a terrace

With people like me

The mulatto face, the machine-gun mouth

Outside fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa

Only 'ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta'

I see children with balaclavas

Without mommy-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma

You'll see them dancing

Pointing their blades at the sky

Inside the city-tà-tà-tà-tà-tà-tà-tà

Of God, of God

No, never, no, never

I would lose you, no, never, no, never

We don't study violin here

We don't screw a friend

Swear to me that you'll never, never

You'll betray me, no, never, no, never

Even for a Bentley, all the ding-ding

No, never, no, never

Outside fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa

Only 'ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta'

I see children with balaclavas

Without mommy-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma

You'll see them dancing

Pointing their blades at the sky

Inside the city-tà-tà-tà-tà-tà-tà-tà

Of God, of God

Fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa

Only 'ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta'

Inside the city-tà-tà-tà-tà-tà-tà-tà

Of God, of God

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balaclava — balaclava

Balaclava is a fascinating word because it's a direct loanword from English into Italian, referring to a type of headwear that covers the whole head except parts of the face.

In Mahmood's song, "Vedo bimbi col balaclava" ("I see children with balaclavas") paints a vivid and unsettling picture, using a garment usually tied to cold weather or concealment to hint at a harsher reality faced by the children he describes.

Mahmood opens with a simple childhood memory, plucking a daisy to play "he loves me, he loves me not," then contrasts it hard against growing up fast on the street. He paints a rough, almost cinematic picture of his neighborhood: kids in balaclavas, blades catching the light, three years running with a gang on a terrace. The refrain "ra-ta-ta" mimics the rattle of gunfire, tying the song's title directly to that world.

Underneath the toughness is a promise. He tells his partner that no amount of money, not even a Bentley, could ever be worth betraying them. Family can feel far away when you're caught up in that life, but loyalty is the one thing he refuses to trade away.

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Mahmood RA TA TA Lyrics