Today is Liberation Day in Italy, the 80th anniversary of the day in 1945 when the Partisans and ordinary people rose up in armed revolt and a general strike to overthrow the remnants of the Fascist government and the Nazi occupiers.
The picture above is from a commemorative event held at Polo del’ 900, an annex to the museum in Turin dedicated to the history of the Resistance where they put on the collective play of A Distant Plain in 2023. They are presenting From Strikes to Insurrection, a game about the Resistance movement in Turin designed by Mauro Mola, and which Giaime Alonge and Giuseppe Tamba plan to publish possibly this year… possibly together with my games Operation Canuck and Mastering Resistance!
“Bella Ciao” was a 19th century folk song that was later associated with the Italian Resistance movement in World War Two and is still sung in many languages as a song of resistance. It is easy to sing fast or slow, and the tune sticks in your mind.
“Elbows Up” is the hockey-related slogan used by people right now as a mark of resistance and standing up to the threats, large and small, levelled by the United States government against Canada. So I thought I would add to the number of songs being written right now that use the expression, via my own free translation and revision of this Italian anti-fascist anthem… I’m a better game designer than lyricist I’m sure, but I really like the original song.
Lyrics:
Elbows Up (free translation and revision of Bella Ciao)
One fine morning, I woke up early Elbows up! Elbows up! Elbows up, up up! One fine morning, I woke up early To find invaders at my door
Oh freedom fighters, please take me with you Elbows up! Elbows up! Elbows up, up up! Oh freedom fighters, please take me with you I’m not afraid anymore
And if I die, I’ll die among you Elbows up! Elbows up! Elbows up, up up! So bury me upon the hillside, In the shadow of the maple leaves.
Show all the people, the people passing, Elbows up! Elbows up! Elbows up, up up! Show all the people, the people passing, And they’ll say, ‘what beautiful maple leaves.'”
The leaves remember the fallen fighters Elbows up! Elbows up! Elbows up, up up! The leaves remember the fallen fighters Who died for freedom and victory.
I found this old instrumental version of the song on Youtube that will give you the tune, which starts about 15 seconds in.
I found another instrumental version that uses a synthesizer and builds nicely but is a bit longer and repeats once.
Over on the website Giochi sul Nostro Tavolo (Games on our Table), Davide Clari gives his (positive) impressions of Operation Canuck, Mastering Resistance: Orange Gobi, and A Distant Plain.
It’s in Italian but the browser translator works fine.
I met Davide when I was in Turin and we did the public talk-and-play of A Distant Plain event. Davide also interviewed me about my history and thoughts concerning game design; it will run on a separate website later, and I will post notification of that.
brtrain 
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