The Prancing Horse

English · Italian version

The story

Francesco Baracca was born in Lugo, in Romagna, and began his military career as a cavalry officer before he moved to aviation. He flew on the Italian front, over the Isonzo and later the Piave, and became Italy's top ace, with 34 victories. In 1917 he joined the 91st Squadriglia, known as the "squadron of aces" because it gathered the best Italian fighter pilots.

On his aircraft he carried a black prancing horse, a reminder of his years in the cavalry.

He died on June 19, 1918, during the Battle of the Piave, after a low-level attack over the Montello hill. He was 30. Whether he was hit by fire from the ground or in the air has never been settled, and the song does not choose: "some say the ground, some say the sky".

In 1923, in Ravenna, his mother, Countess Paolina Baracca, met a young racing driver named Enzo Ferrari and suggested that he carry her son's horse on his cars for luck. Ferrari kept the black horse and added a yellow background, the colour of his home town, Modena. The song is a Romagna dance with mandolin and accordion, and it lets the horse "run on" from the wing of a fighter to the road.

Lyrics · English

The Prancing Horse

Verse 1He rode before he flew, through the fields at dawn,
A cavalry man, with his spurs still on.
But the war pulled him up to the clouds and the rain,
And he painted his horse on the side of the plane.
A black horse rearing, its hooves in the air,
A little piece of home that he took up there.

Pre-ChorusThirty-four times he rose and he flew,
A black horse beside him in the sky's wide blue.

ChorusRun, black horse, run through the blue,
Wings on your hooves and the whole sky for you,
Prancing horse, prancing horse, higher and higher,
Rearing and racing, you'll never tire.

Verse 2The Squadron of Aces flew by his side,
Italy cheered for its hero with pride.
Over the Isonzo, the Piave, the plain,
He rode through the thunder again and again.
A flash of black where the high winds blow,
A rider in the sky over mountain and snow.

Pre-ChorusThirty-four times he rose and he flew,
A black horse beside him in the sky's wide blue.

ChorusRun, black horse, run through the blue,
Wings on your hooves and the whole sky for you,
Prancing horse, prancing horse, higher and higher,
Rearing and racing, you'll never tire.

Verse 3June, eighteen, the Montello hill,
He flew in low, and the world went still.
Some say the ground, some say the sky,
Nobody's sure how the rider came to die.
Thirty years old, and the sky stood wide,
The black horse on the wing still rearing with pride.

BridgeFive summers later, in Ravenna town,
A mother told Ferrari: "Take it, hand it down."
He set it on yellow, the colour of home,
And the horse ran on, on a road of its own.

Final ChorusPrancing horse, prancing horse, run through the blue,
Wings on your hooves, and the sky for you,
Prancing horse, prancing horse, higher and higher,
Rearing and racing, you'll never tire.

OutroRun on... run on...

Lyrics · Italian

The Prancing Horse (Italian version)

Strofa 1Cavalcava i campi sul far del giorno,
Cavaliere, speroni intorno.
Ma la guerra lo chiamò verso il cielo,
E sull'aereo, un cavallo dal nero pelo.
Nero, impennato, zoccoli al vento,
Un pezzo di casa nel firmamento.

Pre-ritornelloTrentaquattro volte salì e volò,
Col cavallo nero nel blu che lo portò.

RitornelloCorri, cavallino, corri nel blu,
Ali agli zoccoli e il cielo è tuo,
Cavallino rampante, sempre più su,
Impennati e corri, non ti fermi più.

Strofa 2Gli assi con lui, in ala e in coro,
L'Italia lo acclama, il suo tesoro.
Sull'Isonzo, sul Piave, sulla pianura,
Cavalcava il tuono, senza paura.
Un lampo nero, l'aria gelata,
Un cavaliere sulla neve, in volata.

Pre-ritornelloTrentaquattro volte salì e volò,
Col cavallo nero nel blu che lo portò.

RitornelloCorri, cavallino, corri nel blu,
Ali agli zoccoli e il cielo è tuo,
Cavallino rampante, sempre più su,
Impennati e corri, non ti fermi più.

Strofa 3Giugno, diciotto, sul Montello,
Volò basso, e il mondo tacque.
Chi dice da terra, chi dice dal cielo,
Nessuno sa come cadde il cavaliere.
Trent'anni, e il cielo infinito,
Sull'ala il cavallo, fiero e ardito.

PonteCinque estati dopo, a Ravenna,
Una madre a Ferrari: portalo, per fortuna.
Lo posò sul giallo, il colore di casa,
E il cavallo corse, sulla sua strada.

Ritornello finaleCavallino rampante, corri nel blu,
Ali agli zoccoli e il cielo è tuo,
Cavallino rampante, sempre più su,
Impennati e corri, non ti fermi più.

OutroCorri... corri ancora...