"'Faccetta nera'" () is a popular marching song of 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. 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.

The song is prominently featured in Francesco Rosi’s film Christ Stopped at Eboli, where blackshirts prepare to be sent to Ethiopia.

See also

  • Civilizing mission
  • Giovinezza
  • Italian imperialism under fascism

References

  • Recording as sung by Carlo Buti
  • Recordings of the song at YouTube
  • Lyrics