Lost in translation in Bel Air

June 24, 2009 • 5:14 pm • POSTED BY Margherita Urbani

Dear readers, do you remember “The Fresh Prince” tv-show? I bet all of you can sing the whole opening theme, or at least who is over 21, as Mike suggests. Well, me too. But because my rickety Country even today doesn’t speak that much of English, all the movies and tv-shows were/are dubbed, often including the titles too. So “The Fresh Prince” became “Il Principe di Bel Air” (= The Prince of Bel Air), and exceptionally featured a translated theme, that I re-translated into English (after the jump).
First, let’s watch what I am familiar with, performed by Edoardo Nevola, italian voice of Will Smith:

I tried to do my best to translate the cheesy-early-90s-ghetto-slang expressions.. I hope Italian readers will be satisfied.

“Willy, the Prince of Bel Air”

This is the maxi-story about how my life
changed, overturned, upside down has ended up to be.
Sitting on two feet here with you
I’ll talk to you about Willy supercool of Bel Air.

Playing basketball with my friends I grew up
I had a ball, wow so cool every minute.
My tough days ran away like this
in-between a mega-shot in the basket and a movie of Spike Lee.

Then my ball thrown a bit higher
went exactly on the head of those vikings down there.
The most tough got mad, made a spinning top of me
and my mom worried told me “Go away to Bel Air”.

I prayed her implored her but to my uncle she wants me to go
she packed my suitcases and said “Go your own way”
after giving me a kiss and a ticket to leave
with the stereo in the ears I said “Here is better to make the tyres screech”.

First class, it’s a trip!
freshly squeezed orange juice in crystal glasses.
If this is the lifestyle that people have in Bel Air
hmmmm for me then is not that bad.

I called a yellow cab with my tested whistle
like in formula 1 I felt big-headed.
An all new life is exploding for me,
go full power take me to Bel Air.

Oh what a giddy house, I feel already filthy rich
the previous life smells like old.
Look now people who is in the track
the prince Willy the nutty of Bel Air.

As you see, there is no mention to Philadelphia. In fact, I discovered the connection Fresh Prince-Philly only when I moved here, one year ago. But I bet you don’t know that Eddy Murphy and Homer Simpson in Italy have the same voice. Wow.