LEONARD COHEN 
BY  ROBERTO  VECCHIONI 
 
 
  
 
 
C'è soltanto un albergo a Venezia 
è l'albergo di quando mi ami 
quando i figli non c'erano ancora 
ed io solo baciavo i tuoi seni 
quando i figli volavano in alto 
quando tutto quel poco era molto 
perché ti amavo 
oh se ti amavo 
quanto ti amavo
  
E la gente sorride a Venezia 
si ricorda di quando passavi 
coi pensieri che avevano fretta 
e le gambe che non le mostravi 
e ricorda che c'era anche un uomo 
con due occhi di un altro mattino 
Perché ti amava 
oh se ti amava 
quanto ti amava
  
E c'è un vecchio cortile a Venezia 
dove vanno a finire i ricordi 
e se hai voglia di quella carezza 
ti ci porto perché sono verdi 
come gli alberi di quella sera 
e la luna che c'era e non c'era 
Perché mi ami 
e non mi ami 
quanto mi ami
  
Ho imparato che il tempo è bellezza 
ho imparato anche a fare l'amore 
noi due siamo rimasti a Venezia 
siamo quelli di prima e di sempre 
è soltanto una scusa Venezia 
ci saremmo capiti ugualmente 
Perché ti amo 
oh se ti amo 
quanto ti amo 
  
Unofficial translation 
by Mariano Brustio and Scott Crawford:
  
There is only one hotel in Venice  
It's the hotel ever since you loved me  
When the children weren't there yet  
And I alone kissed your breasts  
When the children were flying high  
When all that was small was great  
Because I loved you  
Oh if I loved you  
How much I loved you  
  
And the people smile in Venice  
They remember when you were passing  
With the hasty thoughts  
And the legs that you didn't show  
They remember that there was also a man  
With two eyes of  a different dawn  
Because he loved you  
Oh if he loved you  
How much he loved you  
  
And there's an old courtyard in Venice  
Where they go to finish the memories  
And if you want that caress  
I bring you there because they are green  
Like the trees that night  
And the moon that was and wasn't there  
Because you love me  
And you don't love me  
How much do you love me  
  
I have learned that time is beauty  
I have learned to make love again  
We two remained in Venice  
We are those people from the start and always  
Venice is only an excuse  
We would have known each other all the same  
Because I love you  
Oh if I love you  
How much I love you  
  
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From the album Milady by Roberto Vecchioni, Italy 1992. 
  
In the Vecchioni song, there is no direct reference to Cohen or to his
work.  The closest connection that I can see is that there is some
similarity between this song and Chelsea Hotel # 2.
Similar to the Cohen song, Vecchioni's lyrics document a past love affair
set in a hotel, between the speaker and an unnamed woman in the second
person.  The hotel was in Venice.  The mood is similarly melancholy
to that of Chelsea Hotel. 
Contrary to the Cohen song, Vecchioni's song speaks as though the lovers
are still together, although it appears likely that this is an illusion in
the speaker's mind. (Comments by Scott Crawford.
  
 
 
  
Thanks to  Bernd Fischer for the song,  
Mariano Brustio for the lyrics, 
 and to Mariano and Scott Crawford for the translation.
  
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