# Faccetta Nera

"'Faccetta Nera'" (lit. 'Pretty black face' or 'Little black face') is a popular marching song of Fascist Italy about the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. It was written by Renato Micheli with music by Mario Ruccione in 1935.
The lyrics are written from the perspective of a fascist Italian Blackshirt soldier during the invasion of Ethiopia. In the song, the Italian narrator tells a beautiful young enslaved Abysinnian (Ethiopian) girl that she will be liberated from slavery and ruled by a new regime. She is invited to parade with the fascist Blackshirts in Rome, where she is promised a new and better life.

## Themes

Slavery in Ethiopia is a prominent theme in the song. The song follows the trend of Italian fascist propaganda portraying the invasion not as a war of conquest, but as a war of liberation to abolish Ethiopian slavery.

## History

The march is said to have been inspired by a beautiful young Abyssinian girl, who was found by the Italian troops at the beginning of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia.
During the invasion, the song was hugely popular in Italy and caused national fervor. During the fascist occupation of Ethiopia, Ethiopian women cohabited with Italian men in a system of concubinage known as madamismo. The implicitly erotic song was, however, somewhat of an embarrassment for the Fascist government, which had, starting in May 1936, introduced several laws prohibiting cohabitation and marriage between Italians and native people of the Italian colonial empire. These efforts culminated in the Italian Racial Laws of 1938. The Fascist authorities considered banning the song, and removed all picture postcards depicting Abyssinian women from Roman shop windows.

## Lyrics

| Italian lyrics Se tu dall'altipiano guardi il mare Moretta che sei schiava fra gli schiavi Vedrai come in un sogno tante navi E un tricolore sventolar per te Faccetta nera, bell'abissina Aspetta e spera che già l'ora si avvicina! quando saremo insieme a te noi ti daremo un'altra legge e un altro Re La legge nostra è schiavitù d'amore il nostro motto è LIBERTÀ e DOVERE vendicheremo noi Camicie Nere Gli eroi caduti liberando te! Faccetta nera, bell'abissina Aspetta e spera che già l'ora si avvicina! quando saremo insieme a te noi ti daremo un'altra legge e un altro Re Faccetta nera, piccola abissina ti porteremo a Roma, liberata Dal sole nostro tu sarai baciata Sarai in Camicia Nera pure tu Faccetta nera, sarai Romana La tua bandiera sarà sol quella italiana! Noi marceremo insieme a te E sfileremo avanti al Duce e avanti al Re! | English translation If you look at the sea from the hills Young brunette, a slave among slaves Like in a dream you will see many ships And a tricolour waving for you Pretty black face, beautiful Abyssinian Wait and see, for the hour is coming! When we are with you We shall give you another law and another king Our law is slavery of love Our motto is FREEDOM and DUTY We, the Blackshirts, will avenge the heroes that died to free you! Pretty black face, beautiful Abyssinian Wait and see, for the hour is coming! When we are with you We shall give you another law and another king Pretty black face, little Abyssinian We will take you to Rome, as a freedwoman You will be kissed by our sun and a black shirt you too will wear Pretty black face, you will be Roman Your only flag will be the Italian one! We will march together with you and parade in front of the Duce and the king! |

## In popular culture

The song is one of many Italian songs featured in Martin Scorsese's 1973 film Mean Streets.