Ballad of Pinelli

Wooden Shoe Ramblers version, Italian original

Em Am 
That night in Milan, was the setting
Am Em 
How hot, that the sergeant was sweating
Em Am 
Brigadier, crack open the window
B7 Em
A push, and Pinelli goes down

Oh sergeant, Pinelli repeated-
I am innocent- but how I’m treated!
Anarchy does not call us to bombing
To be free, we must just disobey

No more lying, Pinelli, confess it
Without even your word we can guess it
The bomb was laid out by Valpreda
Your friend, and the blood’s on your hands

Said Pinelli, the bomber’s some other-
Not my comrade or one of my brothers
The hands stained with blood are your own, sir,
and the ones that are holding your leash

The sergeant leaned in, and was smoking
Blowing out and Pinelli was choking
Brigadiere, crack open the window
Pinelli, it’s four stories down

Our flags were black in our mourning
Three thousand comrades gave this warning,
We swore by the blood of Pinelli
We will neither forget or forgive

You Guida, and you, Calebresi
Was it you who sent out the order,
To cover up the fascist murder?
Was Pinelli the price in your game?

That night in Milan, was the setting
How hot, that the sergeant was sweating
Brigadier, crack open the window
A push, and Pinelli goes down


This song was written in honor of Giuseppi Pinelli, an anarchist railroad worker and union militant who was framed by the Italian police along with his friend Pietro Valpreda for a deadly bombing carried out in Milan in the early years of Italy's "Years of Lead". The bomb was in fact set by neo-fascist organizations who were receiving support through the US backed Operation Gladio, and was intended to draw state repression down against the left. Pinelli was murdered by being thrown from the police station. His death is the subject of Dario Fo's play, Accidental Death of an Anarchist.