Il Canto delle Lavandaie del Vomero
Journey
This song was taught to me by Alessandra Belloni. A haunting, mournful work song sung by washerwomen in the hilltop village of Vomero (now a part of the larger city of Napoli). The women would wash clothes for long hours and sing this song to keep rhythm with their washboards. I was revisited by this song in Pasolini (2014) by Abel Ferrara, a film that follows Pier Paulo Pasolini in his last days before his murder. In one of the final scenes of the film, after Pasolini’s brutal death on a beach outside of Rome, Roberto Murolo’s version of the song plays. It was the first time I heard a song learned in Alessandra’s class in a film or more modern context. Hearing it in this context, I felt a mix of excitement and longing. In the following weeks, I practiced singing Murolo’s melody every morning, recording myself and working to commit the song to memory. The word “moccatora” in Neapolitan means handkerchief. The day Alessandra taught us the song, I happened to be wearing a handkerchief, and the lyrics of the song also had resonance to my life at the time.
These songs carry life and all the suffering, pain, beauty and remembrance found within. I am grateful to have found and been found by this very old song. Below you’ll find Murolo’s version (there are many many versions of this song and a quick YouTube search will reveal the vocal range and emotion this song hold), a few recordings of my early practice, as well as the lyrics and translation.
Lyrics:
Tu m’aje prommiso quatto moccatora
Oje moccatora, oje moccatora
Io so’ benuto se, io so’ benuto
se me lo vuo’ dare
Me lo vuo’ dare
Me lo vuo’ dare
Me lo vuo’ dare
Me lo vuo’ dare
E si no quatto embe’, dammenne ddoje
Oje moccatora, oje moccatora
Chillo ch’è ‘ncuollo a tte
Chillo ch’è ‘ncuollo a tte nn’e’ rroba toja
Me lo vuo’ dare
Me lo vuo’ dare
Me lo vuo’ dare
Me lo vuo’ dare
Translation:
You promised me four handkerchiefs
Oi handkerchiefs, oi handkerchiefs
Yes, I came, yes I came
If you want to give them to me
You want to give them to me
You want to give them to me
You want to give them to me
And if you don’t have four, then give me
two
Oi handkerchiefs, oi handkerchiefs.
What you wear around your neck, what
you wear around your neck
They are not yours
You want to give them to me
You want to give them to me
You want to give them to me
You want to give them to me
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