MovieChat Forums > Pasqualino Settebellezze (1976) Discussion > The meaning of the "Oh Yeah" s...

The meaning of the "Oh Yeah" song?

posted 21 years ago by Zambelli
29 replies | jump to latest

This has been one of my favorite films ever since I saw it first in a Contemporary Literature class back in college.

However, as many times as I have seen it, and as many times that I have heard the "Oh Yeah" song - I still don't feel like I've fully grasped the theme of the song. What was Wertmüller trying to say exactly? What is the common bond between all the elements of the litany?

Here are the lyrics, as transcribed from the English dubbing (and spoken by Giancarlo Giannini, if I'm not mistaken):

The ones who don't enjoy themselves even when they laugh.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who worship the corporate image not knowing that they work for someone else.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who should have been shot in the cradle.
Pow! Oh, yeah.
The ones who say follow me to success but kill me if I fail, so to speak.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who say we Italians are the greatest he-men on earth.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who are from Rome.
The ones who say that's for me.
The ones who say, you know what I mean.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who vote for the right because they're fed up with strikes.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who vote white in order not to get dirty.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who never get involved with politics.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who say, be calm. Calm.
The ones who still support the king.
The ones who say, yes, Sir.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who make love standing in their boots and imagine they're in a luxurious bed.
The ones who believe Christ is Santa Claus as young man.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who say: Oh, what the hell.
The ones who were there.
The ones who believe in everything... even in God.
The ones who listen to the national anthem.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who love their country.
The ones who keep going, just to see how it will end.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who are in garbage up to here.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who sleep soundly, even with cancer.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who even now don't believe the world is round.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
The ones who're afraid of flying.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who've never had a fatal accident.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who've had one.
The ones who at a certain point in their lives create a secret weapon, Christ.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who are always standing at the bar.
The ones who are always in Switzerland.
The ones who started early, haven't arrived and don't know they're not going to.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who lose wars by the skin of their teeth.
The ones who say, everything is wrong here.
The ones who say, now let's all have a good laugh.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.

I'd love to hear your interpretations of the lyrics. How do they relate to the movie?

[–] JosefSerf 20 years ago

I am surprised that no one has bothered to comment on this in almost three years. "Seven Beauties" is my favourite all-time film next to "The Godfather." In a curious kind of way they go together since the link is the figure of a mafia don. In "Seven Beauties," the don tells Pasqualino that in the pinch a man does what he has to do. In response, Pasqualino in a very memorable scene chops up the dead body of his sister's pimp/boyfriend.

Anyway, to the topic at hand.

You ask what does "oh yeah" mean? Well without evading the question it means whatever you really want it to mean. For me, it is the equivalent of Kurt Vonnegut's famous phrase from his book "Slaugtherhouse Five" - "So it goes." In other words, it is the way of the world and you complain about it but what can you really do? Nothing. So it goes. Oh yeah. As in "Oh yeah, I know what you are talking about" or "Oh yeah, I know what you mean" or "Yeah, you are so right." Oh yeah.

So the whole theme of the song is to say look at the world, look at the nonsense, look at the injustices and brutality, and look at what people do in response? They "create a secret weapon," shirk their duties and go to Switzerland instead, they "vote for the right because they're fed up with strikes," they "worship the corporate image not knowing that they work for someone else." etc. Look at how people think, listen to what they say: "we Italians are the greatest he-men on earth, "everything is wrong here, "Oh, what the hell." I think Wertmuller's point is that human beings are flawed, they are funny and silly and stupid and hypocritical, etc. The lyrics relate to the movie because all of the characters in it, especially Pasqualino, reflect one or more of these traits.

Also some of the characters in the movie don't appear in it themselves. They appear as historical characters. For example, Mussolini. Pasqualino answers the call of Mussolini and joins the military, albeit to escape from the mental asylum. He also imitates Mussolini in prison to appear crazy in order to qualify for the mental asylum. The German commandent, brilliantly played by Shirley Stoler, who not only follows orders of the Fuhrer but also imitates him fully in so far as she willingly and fully becomes a monsterous mass murderess as head of the concentration camp. On and on. Everybody in the movie, every character plays his part in a way that reflects the insanity and stupidity and inanity of life which is also what the lyrics of the song are about. Oh yeah. This is what life is. Pasqualino survives and gets back home to marry his girl and have a lot of kids because in the future people will fight over an apple, oh yeah. Oh yeah.

[–] Zambelli 20 years ago

Thank you! I had nearly forgotten about posting this on the forum some years ago!
Your explanation does make sense and I like it. I suppose I was always misguided in thinking that the lyrics were a "blacklist" of some sort, as in, "Here are the people that screw up our world", but I never thought the lyrics fully fit such a description. I much prefer your idea of the lyrics simply being a list of human folly.

As a side note: I've always found the movie most enjoyable when watching it with the English soundtrack selected during the "Oh Yeah" song, and the Italian soundtrack (and English subtitles) selected during the remainder of the film. I usually hate dubbed soundtracks, but it somehow makes more sense to listen to "Oh Yeah" in English, as "sung" by Giannini. That IS Giannini doing the English version of the song, isn't it?

[–] JosefSerf 20 years ago

I don't know for sure who sings the "Oh Yeah" song. I would also like to know what is the music to this "song." The sound of the saxophone is really cool. However it does sound as if Giannini sings the song at the end of the movie when the credits roll. I would like to know what that song is too. I suppose Italian viewers know. Even not knowing the meaning of the last song it still has a lot of passion to it.

Anyway, thank you for presenting the lyrics of the "Oh Yeah" song here. They definitely deserve reading and commenting on.

I looked again at what I wrote and what stands out is that the "Oh Yeah" song is a perfect introduction to the film because the whole film is really about humanity - losing it, regaining it, keeping it, having some sense of being a human being. Maybe just retaining even a little sense of humanity.

I don't mean to get political here but compare the movie to the abuse and torture of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers. What were those soldiers thinking? Where was their sense of humanity? I would like to believe (really) that if they had seen "Seven Beauties" beforehand they might not have done what they did. Maybe if they watch it now they might understand it. On second thought, maybe not.

In any event, I would like to propose my own additions to the "Oh Yeah" song (you can add some too, just to see what I mean about the song):

The ones who follow their leaders without thinking. Oh, yeah.

The ones who torture people and then say 'I was only following orders.' Oh, yeah

The ones who believe that God is on our side. Oh, yeah.

The ones who believe that God is a Republican. Oh, yeah.

The ones who believe that Jesus Christ was a liberal. Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.

[–] kakyoin132 20 years ago

At least in the italian version, both songs are sung by the composer Enzo Jannacci (quite famous here in Italy)

[–] JosefSerf 20 years ago

Wish I had gone back to this discussion thread sooner.

Thank you, kakyoin132 for the information on who composed those songs.

By the way, what is the last song at the end of "Seven Beauties"? What is its title and what does it mean? I think I get the feeling of it right but I wish I knew what the lyrics mean in Italian. Whatever it means the sound of the song is unforgettable and infectious, which is why I wish I knew what it actually meant.

Thanks again.

[–] rapgcine 19 years ago

WELL, I DON´T SPEAK OR WRITE VERY WELL IN ENGLISH, BUT I´LL TRY:
I´M FROM CHILE, SOUTH AMÉRICA, AND I CAN´T TO FIND THIS MOVIE IN MY COUNTRY, NOT EVEN IN BLOCKBUSTER. I IMAGINE THAT MOVIE IS GREAT, I HAVE READ EVERYTHING ABOUT IT. I HOPE TO FIND IT.

[–] kakyoin132 19 years ago

Italian lyrics:

Tira a campà

Jannacci - Viola - Wertmüller

Vivere di malinconia
è come darsi in malattia
43 via Chiatamone
c'è, c'è qualcuno
che, che sta peggio
anche di te.
Tornano a galla le bugie
ma il naso non si allunga mai mai mai.

Tira a campà,
tira a campà,
tira a campà, Pasquale,
la dignità,
l'infamità
son cose tanto lontane.
Tira a campà,
tira a campà,
non ci pensar, Pasquale,
non tocca a te
capir perché
se un uomo muore la vita va.

Parlar da soli è una mania
di chi sta zitto in pizzeria
e quello là in via Chiatamone
è sempre là
che piange e che ride
anche per te.
Guardarsi intorno e non capire
che la canzone sta per finire.

Tira a campà...

English translation (sorry if it isn't 100% correct, my english is far from perfect and the song is full of almost untranslatable Italian idiomatic phrases):

Living in melancholy
is like having a disease (literally is to don't go to work because of a desease)
43 Chiatamone street
there's someone who
feels worse
even worse than you.
Lies are back afloat
but the nose never extends (refers obviously to Pinocchio)
Keep on living ("Tira a campà" is like "Keep on living in spite of everything")
Pasquale,
dignity,
infamity,
are things far away.
Keep on living
don't think about it, Pasquale,
it doesn't concerns you
to understand why
if a man dies life goes away.
Speaking alone is a craze
of who stays silent in pizzeria.
And that one in Chiatamone street
is still there
that cries and laughs
for you too
Looking around and don't understand
that the song is about to end
Keep on living...

[–] darkness_surroundz 9 years ago

i thought it satire or irony that the people keep falling for the same BS politicians over and over again

[–] elloew-1 19 years ago

I agree with the sentiment that the, “Oh Yeah,” poem reflects on humanity in general. I disagree that this is where it ends or that where it continues is limited to personal interpretation and the idea that there is nothing an individual can do about the world at large. This is a movie about war, after all, about people suffering at the hands of other people. It’s more involved than that, but confining ourselves to the issue at hand, this is the defining subject matter and the question becomes: who or what is responsible?

The film opens with Pasqualino trudging through the forest; he and his compatriot witness a mass murder. The debate that follows between these two characters is whether or not it was a moral imperative to intervene or useless but to run away. It should not be underestimated with respect to the thematic nature of the film that this is how it opens. Lina Wertmuller never explicitly answers the question but, I believe, makes it clear that to run away (and prostitute oneself for survival) will save one’s neck but does not a hero make. Conversely, it is just such an individual that, by his unwillingness to say “no” with his life, in the face of such an atrocity, enables that atrocity to continue.

I will refrain from going line by line with my interpretation of the poem, but I will say that included therein are the people that support an odious order. The rulers, the bosses, the compliant laborers, the infantrymen, the small-minded, apathetic and self-interested, the indoctrinated, the ignorant, the preservers of the status quo, the policymakers, those who knowingly fight for no good and those who fight for it by not fighting at all. In general, there represented are the people who may constitute a large portion and cross-section of society, who have had their hearts and minds twisted by the machineries of state, religion and society – or are just plain lazy. They lack the coupling of information, free-thinking and selflessness to have arrived at a place where totalitarian regimes can assume power and keep it. They are, however intentionally or not, the war machine.

An additional comment bearing mention is that there are lines of lyric which could have a different meaning in a different context. For instance, take the line, “the ones who love their country.” It is not, in and of itself, harmful to love one’s country, particularly when one’s love leaves room for dissent. But in the context of the “oh yeah” poem, it can only be a negative way of loving one’s country. It must be loving one’s country even into a destructively aggressive foreign policy and/or a domestic agenda wrought with maintaining and extending the divide between rich and poor, power and obedience.

Thank you one and all, very much, for the otherwise oddly hard-to-find topic of Seven Beauties on the web.

[–] NYC Lion 18 years ago

After hours of searching the internet, I found your lyrics for "Tira a campà". Thank you very, very much. It's a haunting song.

I agree with those that say that the songs and the movie are all tied to the theme that survival is a poor excuse for abandoning our responsibility to make the world a better place.

Thanks again.

[–] brianhessphd 17 years ago

Great stuff. It's nice to know others love this movie, too. I always liked the opening; it's haunting but funny, too. I think Josefserf made an excellent point about Pasqualino's refrain of "Oh, yeah"--how it's like Vonnegut's "So it goes." Slaughterhouse-Five, like Seven Beauties or King Rat (1965) is about the survival of P.O.W.s, and not the glory of war...and nobody knows the ugliness of humanity like a P.O.W. The question is: how much dignity can you spare before you lose your own? Is survival ever worth that price?

[–] drstrangeballz 18 years ago

As with everyone, this has been in my top three for about 15 years or ever since I saw it. I just wanted to say that Josef Serf's interpretation of the "OH YEAH" song here is practically great literature. Very fun to read. Does anyone know which DVD version of the movie contains the english dubbed version of the OH YEAH song spoken very sternly. Its quite funny actually. I have an old muddy copy on VHS and would love to own this film once and for all in original aspect ratio and with the dub/subtitle options.

[–] fabdana-1 19 years ago

Hi there. Thanks for printing the words to the Oh Yeah song! It brought back good memories of one of my favorite films of all time (maybe number 5 or 6 on my list). I first saw a VHS tape of this film (in Italian with English subtitles) in the early 1980s, and at that time I painstakingly wrote down all the words to the song. I even quoted the line "the ones who started early, haven't arrived, and don't know they're not going to" to insult a boyfriend I was breaking up with. Thanks again. Ciao, Dana

[–] profhound 19 years ago

What a wonderful thread! I also would like to thank the folks who typed all these lyrics, especially the Italian and English versions of Tira a Campà. I was crazy about that song, and its many uses throughout the film ... like the way it was sung during the closing credits, so frantic compared to how sweet it sounded when Pasqualino's little girlfriend in Naples was singing it after he cheered her up. I also liked the instrumental version in the background, as Pasqualino is strolling through the streets, on top of the world, women blowing kisses at him ... then during the courtroom montage when he's declared insane. Brilliant. This film was genius, I thought about it for days after seeing it.

[–] habert 19 years ago

I agree. I saw Seven Beauties for the first time on PBS in the late 70s or early 80s and caught both broadcasts. It was presented uncut and in Italian with English subtitles. I saw it a third and fourth time at an art film theater by driving over a 100 miles each time. It became my favorite film and has remained my favorite film for over twenty years (and I have seen a lot of film!). I've searched high and low for the soundtrack all these years and an LP search service (pre-Interent) indicated they didn't believe one had ever been issued - even in Italy. Such a shame since the music is every bit as great as the film and complements it so completely. There's always the dvd. P.S. - avoid at all costs the older, dubbed RCA/Columbia VHS version of Seven Beauties from the 1980s as a *bad* film print with splices was used to master the tape! The newer VHS release from the 1990s is okay and was available in both dubbed and subtitled widescreen.

[–] kakyoin132 19 years ago

An LP doesn't exist, but Oh Yeah and Tira a Campà can be found on several compilations or 45s (sadly, Tira a Campà is really rare and seen only in vinyl).
Anyway, how's the US dvd on amazon? I really want to substitute my old vhs, it's a shame it hasn't been issued on dvd here in Italy.

[–] habert 19 years ago

The US DVD is *very* good but oop and pricey. However! There is a 6 DVD Lina Wertmuller Collection being released on September 6, 2005 that contains Seven Beauties, Swept Away, Ferdinando and Carolina, The Nymph, and Summer Night (Notte d'estate con profilo greco, occhi a mandorla e odore di basilico) as well as a bonus disc of extras and a 16 page collector’s booklet. I would hope that this latest release of Seven Beauties will be at least as good (if not better) as the oop DVD.

[–] kakyoin132 19 years ago

Thanks, I heard that the new dvd is 4:3 letterboxed, is the old one anamorphic?

[–] habert 19 years ago

No, sorry. It states it's in the original theatrical aspect ratio, but it is not anamorphic.

[–] nanussa 19 years ago

Hi!
Just one more comment on the Italian version of the songs. Jannacci (a "cantautore" i.e. singer/author -somebody who writes his own songs) sings with very distinctive (and accented)voice;he manages to convey,through the subtle irony of his inflection, the dire meanings concealed behind common place expressions. Spoken by him, seemingly innocuous lines address the dangers brought to society by the fatigue of staying politically/socially alert, of using critical judgment,and by the consequences of being content with the path of least resistance.
His words reflect the world of people who trust authority because it is too complicated to find personal solutions to social problems. The world of people who believe in slogans and give up, one morsel at the time, their freedom of expression. The song becomes the blueprint for the film. Pasqualino does not reflect on political issues (see the pivotal moment in the film, his conversation with the political prisoner at the station who has received a much longer sentence for criticizing the government).

[–] richow 18 years ago

Hello,

I just read your comment of last year regarding the haunting theme song of Tira a Campa from Seven Beauties. I share your sentiments completely... especially about the different moods it conveys depending on how and when it is sung (or heard) in the film. I love this movie for many reasons...very difficult to watch sometimes, and so beautiful to behold at others.. especially when Pasqualino is prancing/preening down his neighborhood streets on a sunny day, the world at his feet. Also love the scene when he enters the sleazy nightclub where his sister is performing... he enters in a cloud of smoke, rolls his eyes,.... very stylishly done.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Zambelli 17 years ago

The English dubbed version isn't all that rare - the Region 1 DVD comes with both the Italian and English soundtracks.

Personally, I like to play the Enzo Jannacci intro song in English, and then switch to Italian as the movie starts.

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Zambelli 17 years ago

No, I wasn't suggesting that. I was suggesting playing the opening film montage in English, and then switching to Italian as the first dialog starts.

[–] zink-paul 16 years ago

The lyrics to the "Oh Yeah" song are largely a commentary (from Lina's socialist perspective) on Italian middle and upper middle class society, politics and cultural attitudes of that time.

[–] jonbecker03 15 years ago

the song is a recapitulation of "popular front ideology"--the idea that the bourgeois democracies should join up with the marxists in fighting the nazis. no doubt wertmuller views the song as conveying the idea that there is a continuing need for "social democrats" (roughly speaking) and communists to battle contemporary manifestations of "fascism." i don't really mean to belittle the song. one could see it as deeply "humanistic" or "universal." but from a postmodern perspective (a la foucault) one cannot help but notice the ideological (and even political) content of wertmuller's words. apart from their political meaning, wertmuller's verse is an example of her clever use of language. the "poem" sounds like something ishmael reed might have written, if reed had been italian.......................................

[–] cpuller-642-329716 14 years ago

"Oh yeah" is sarcastic, the ones who do "this and that" are the ones who supported fascism, the results of this support you can see on the screen.
(bombed out cities etc)

For example "the ones who were sick of strikes..." pasqual sais to the socialist later "at least theres no more strikes" he sais thats one of the good things mussolini did.
That of course had a very high price.

[–] lieberson-1 13 years ago

I too have been fascinated by the "Oh yeah" poem since the movie's release. It's quite an experience and it's rare you are exhausted by a movie before it even starts!
(By the way I was actually at the film's premiere at the New York Film Festival. Wertmuller and Giannini were there.

Anyway I don't think there is any connection with the poem and the song at the end (which is used as a theme throughout -- the girl he marries is first heard singing it in the street.)

I remember reading online a number of years ago that the opening "poem" is actually an adaptation of something by Nietzsche. It's conceivable the "hH yeah"s and jazz background were added later. What's more, there is no reference to this introduction in the published screenplay.

I have never read much of Nietsche but I heard that some of his work is made up of list like treatises like this. I will try to take a look soon.

The meaning of the &quot;Oh Yeah&quot; song?

The meaning of the "Oh Yeah" song?