What it's about

The singer tells us what she likes and what she doesn't. She loves the sun, walks in the city, summer, calm, and reading on the sofa. She doesn't like winter, the cold, noise, and waiting. In the bridge, someone invites her to dance outside in the middle of the commotion, but she prefers to stay and sing her song. The message is simple: ognuno ha il suo gusto and you should never pretend.

Useful words and expressions

  • mi piace / non mi piace: the basic structure for expressing tastes.
  • adoro: I like very much (Adoro passeggiare).
  • preferisco: I choose one thing instead of another (Preferisco l'estate).
  • odio: the strong opposite of adoro (Odio aspettare).
  • non sopporto: I cannot tolerate something.
  • non mi importa: it's not a problem for me, it doesn't matter.
  • non mi va a genio: an idiomatic expression that means "I don't like it, it doesn't convince me".
  • mi fa sentire giù: it makes me sad. Giù here means "in a bad mood".
  • il freddo che fa: the cold weather there is (fare is used for the weather: fa freddo, fa caldo).
  • dolce o salato, veloce o piano: pairs of opposites. Piano here means "slow".
  • sinceramente: to tell the truth.
  • qua: colloquial form of qui.

Grammar

  • Piacere: in Italian, the thing that is liked is the subject. That is why we say mi piace il sole (singular) and mi piace leggere (with the infinitive). With a plural noun, the verb becomes plural: mi piacciono i libri (this form does not appear in the song, but it is important).
  • Verb + infinitive: adoro passeggiare, preferisco sorridere, odio aspettare, mi piace leggere. After these verbs, the infinitive follows directly, without a preposition.
  • Non sopportare: it is used with a noun (non sopporto il rumore) or with an infinitive. In everyday language, non sopporto di piangere is also very common.
  • Fare + infinitive: mi fa sentire giù (= it makes me sad).
  • Simple future: Cosa farò (what I will do in the future).
  • Double negative: non voglio mai fingere. In Italian, non and mai go together in the same sentence.

Watch out for the rhymes

  • se sono a casa già: the normal order is se sono già a casa. Già goes at the end only to rhyme with sofà.
  • La pioggia non mi importa: it is correct, but in spoken language non mi importa della pioggia is more common.
  • un mondo umano: this is a poetic image chosen to rhyme with piano. It is not a fixed expression to use in conversation.