Tom Raggazzi

(1)

Tom Raggi Raggi come down off the hill
Give it to who she want
She give it to who she knows
She give it to your insurance systems
Tom Raggi Raggi come down off the hill
Circumnavigate the valley
Tom Raggi Raggi come down off the hill
Tom Raggi Raggi go down the hill
Circumn…
Give it to who she loves
Give it to your insurance systems
You don’t always end up with the Ragazzi
Tom Raggi Raggi
She’s sharper
She’s sharper
Tom Raggi Raggi come down off the hill
Semi-circumnavigate the valley
Tom Raggi Raggi Tom Raggi Raggi
She’s much sharper
You gotta semi-circumnavigate the valley
Tom Raggi Raggi
Give it to who she wants
Give it to to your insurance system
Tom Raggi Raggi comes off the hill
Semi-circumnavigate the valley
Tom Raggi Raggi comes off the hill
Tom Ragazzi it’s [...] Tom Raggi Raggi Ragazzi
Come down off valley of Rome
Tom Raggi Raggi vacate the hill
Tom Raggi Raggi
You gotta circumnavigate the valley, Tom Ragazzi
Cos she’s much sharper
She’s much sharper than you
Visco Marshall Visco Ragazzi Ragazzi come off the valley!

1. Musically, this is somewhat of a retread of "Anecdotes+Antidotes in B#". Lyrically, there's not a hell of a lot going on; all told, the song is basically a groove.

It may be a stretch, but when David Bowie recorded "Space Oddity" in Italian (a tale told by Major "Tom"), the title was "Ragazza Solo, Ragazza Sola." Apparently, Italian lyricist Mogol (Giulio Rapetti) wrote brand new lyrics, which, according to David Buckley's biography Strange Fascination, Bowie duly sang phonetically, without understanding many of the words, which tell a love story having little to do with the original space saga. The Italian title means "Lonely Boy, Lonely Girl."

Apart from a couple of vague references to "t[aking] off" and "flying," Mogol gutted the sucker:

Lonely Boy, Lonely Girl

My mind just took off
One thought only one
I walk while the city sleeps

Her eyes in the night
White lanterns in the night
A voice that talks to me who will it be?

Tell me lonely boy where are you going to,
Why so much pain?

You lost without doubt a great love
But the city is full of loves

No lonely girl no no no
This time you are mistaken
I didn't just lose a great love
Last night I lost everything with her.

But her
The colors of the city
Of the blue skies
One like her I'll never find again.

Now lonely boy where will you go?
The night is a big sea
If you need my hand to swim
Thank you but tonight I would like to die
Because you know in my eyes
There is an angel an angel
That now does not fly any more that now does not 
Fly any more
That now does not fly any more

There is her
The colors of life
Of the blue skies
One like her I'll never find again.

In any case, the plural of "ragazzo" (boy) is "ragazzi," so the title of MES's song could be construed as "tom boy(s)." It's of course far from certain whether he is aware of, or gave any thought at all, to the etymology of the word.

Ocelot at the Fall Online Forum also pointed out that the song could allude to then-drummer Tom Head (which wouldn't preclude any of the above).

^

Tom Raggazzi: Fall Tracks A-Z

The Story of the Fall: 1999