“Giovinezza” (“Youth”) was the official hymn of the National Fascist Party in Italy between 1924 and 1943, when Mussolini was arrested and locked up in prison by the Grand Council of Fascism. Drawing upon a central theme in fascist ideology — the cult of youth, or springtime, as a metaphor for national rebirth — “Giovinezza” was suppressed in Italy by the Allies during the Second World War and remains banned in Italy today.
The following is one of the most popular recordings of “Giovinezza,” along with the English lyrics.
Lyrics
Hail, people of heroes,
Hail, immortal Fatherland,
Your sons were born again
With the faith and the Ideal.
Your warriors’ valour,
Your pioneers’ virtue,
Alighieri’s vision,
Today shines in every heart
Youth, Youth,
Spring of beauty,
In the hardship of life
Your song rings and goes!
And for Benito Mussolini,
Hip, hip hooray!
And for our beautiful Fatherland,
Hip, hip hooray!
In the Italian borders,
Italians have been remade
Mussolini has remade them
For tomorrow’s war,
For labour’s glory,
For peace and for the laurel,
For the shame of those
Who repudiated our Fatherland
The poets and the artisans,
The lords and the countrymen,
With an Italian’s pride
Swear fealty to Mussolini
No poor neighbourhood exists
That doesn’t send its hordes
That doesn’t unfurl the flags
Of redeeming Fascism