Chances are good that you might have been hearing the song "Bella Ciao" a lot these days. Maybe your roommate keeps playing it. And chances are even better, that you are the one playing the number on loop. The song, "Bella Ciao", has become a global rage, with its inclusion in the Spanish series, La Casa de Papel - known as Money Heist in English. But the history of the song is far richer than just being a central theme of a crime show. "Bella Ciao" is a song of resistance. It's a song of protest. It's an anti-Nazi ditty. "Bella Ciao" was the anthem of  Italian Resistance in the 19th century.

Originally, "Bella Ciao", translating to "goodbye beautiful", is an Italian folk song. As per Jerry Silverman's book Songs That Made History Around the World, the information about the earliest version can be traced back to 1906, when it was sung by women working in the paddy field as a form of protest against the harsh working conditions.

Around 1943, the song was revived by anti-fascist movements in Italy during World War II. To date, we don't know about the author of the song. The lyrics were rewritten to reflect the resistive sentiments against Mussolini's Fascist regime and their Nazi allies.

One of the first official appearances of "Bella Ciao" was on Giovanna Daffini's album Amore in the year 1975, where she released two versions of the song.

Over the years, the song gained popularity and various versions became popular globally as anti-fascist hymns. Very recently, on November 21, 2019, "Bella Ciao" was sung in unison by around 7,000 people who gathered in the Italian city of Modena to protest against Matteo Salvini, former far-right Deputy Prime Minister. Across Europe, various protest movements - anti-Brexit protests in the UK, Catalan independence protests activists in Barcelona, and the Yellow Vests movement in France - have used the song as an anthem.

And, of course, there have been hundreds of covers and remixes of the song before Money Heist. Marc Ribot, HUGEL Remix, Hardwell and Maddix, Goran Bregovic's album Champagne For Gypsies, Steve Aoki and many-may more have released their version of the song.

Goran's Bella Ciao:

Hardwell & Maddix's Bella Ciao:  

Steve Aoki's Bella Ciao:

In  2013, even Bollywood copied...err...inspired by Bella Ciao. In Ranbir Kapoor starrer, Besharam, there was a song titled, Love Ki Ghanti, which has the exact same tune and rhythm as Bella Ciao. Lalit Pandit (of Jatin-Lalit) is the man behind composing the Hindi version. We wonder if permissions were in place before sampling the song. Yes, Bollywood turned a song about anti-fascism into a Roadside Romeo ditty. One of Mahesh Babu's Telugu film also had a desi version.

Well, to Get Over the Above Version Let Us Hear the Money Heist Version Again:

Here Is Another:

During the ongoing global lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic, "Bella Ciao" as emerged as song of unity. Videos of Italians singing the song along with their neighbours are going viral. In Germany as well, the song is being sung from the balconies.

We all are hooked to beats of the song now. With the global success of Netflix's Money Heist, the song will grow on to find a brand new meaning for a generation. But its roots will always remain in defiance, rebellion and resistance.

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 20, 2020 01:22 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).