# \[i\]The Godfather's\[/i\] Dirty Ditty **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2003, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-the-godfathers-i-dirty-ditty/222021 "2003-12-31T22:07:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![hipdadiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@hipdadiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hipdadiddy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-the-godfathers-i-dirty-ditty/222021/1 "2003-12-31T22:07:37Z")
Like most of the Teeming Millions, I can’t abide a mystery – especially when it might involve a bit o’ smut, by gar. So is there anybody out there who can provide a translation of the song the old geezer sings at Don Corleone’s daughter’s wedding? Judging by his gestures (and the crowd’s reaction), it must be pretty raunchy stuff. ---
**Author:** ![hipdadiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@hipdadiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hipdadiddy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-the-godfathers-i-dirty-ditty/222021/2 "2003-12-31T22:13:44Z")
D’oh! Sorry about the italic tags in the title of my original post. I ain’t never dealt with this here vB code afore… and it won’t let me edit it! ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-the-godfathers-i-dirty-ditty/222021/3 "2003-12-31T23:02:34Z")
Some search engine hunting has led to movie scripts which refer to the song as _Luna Mezza Mare_. (Look [here](http://www.kansaigaidai.ac.jp/teachers/dsclarke/area/godfather.html), scroll down to the scene in question). Other sites describe this song as not necessarily raunchy, but [full of euphemism](http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/GEN-ITALIAN/1999-01/0915773682): > [@](#): > > although the Italian words are not dirty they are filled with metaphors example: the song is a mother and daughter speaking of marriage, the mother say’s “if you marry the butcher you’ll get free meat, the fisherman a nice fish etc.” [This site](http://www.bobshannon.com/stories/lazymary.html) has the best description and translation of the song I’ve been able to find. ---
**Author:** ![Titan2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Titan2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Titan2)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-the-godfathers-i-dirty-ditty/222021/4 "2003-12-31T23:13:51Z")
\*A text of this almost infinitely expandable song was collected from Sicilians in Tampa, Florida, in the late 1930s…(It) begins with a daughter’s questioning her mother about possible marital prospects. In successive stanzas the mother runs through the list of potential husbands: the fisherman, the meatcutter, the fruitseller, and the bookkeeper. She bawdily emphasizes the phallic nature of the objects (fish, sausage, banana, and pencil) associated with their occupations that they will always have with them. The song can continue indefinitely as the mother thinks of more eligible bachelors to list. \*here It’s about a girl quizzing Mama about her various suitors and the butcher boy usually has sausages for his intended which create the laughs,among others.A lot of ad lib choruses added by many different singers ala the Godfather,but those particular words I haven’t been able to find. Less bawdy versions were recorded by Rudy Vallee (Butcher Boy) and Lou Monte (Lazy Mary) ---
**Author:** ![hipdadiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@hipdadiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hipdadiddy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-the-godfathers-i-dirty-ditty/222021/5 "2004-01-02T18:46:38Z")
Many thanks to you both. I can finally enjoy the scene without that shameful little tickle of prurient curiosity…