Translation of the song lyrics Devi ridere - Fabio Concato

Devi ridere (original)

Se ti accorgi d’esser vecchio
Che hai i capelli color neve
Che ti servono gli occhiali ed un bastone per portarti in giro
Uomo, devi ridere, devi ridere
E pensa alle cartucce che hai sparato
E non soltanto in quelle guerre
Che han voluto farti fare senza chiederti il permesso
Vecchio, devi ridere, devi ridere
Devi ridere di te
E non pensare ai tuoi duecento acciacchi
Che non puoi piegarti, che non puoi bere e fumare piu'
In fondo ad ottant?
anni ci hai tirato
Con i vizi che volevi tu
E adesso con l’amaro in bocca dici:
«Non mi riconosco piu'!»
Vecchio fortunato hai compagnia
Hai un lavoro da sbrigare alle ore che ti pare
Sei impegnato e quindi
Devi ridere, devi ridere, devi ridere
Bestemmi come un pazzo quando parli di pensione
Quando leggi sul giornale che e' scoppiata l’inflazione
Devi ridere, per non piangere
Devi ridere di noi
Se ancora te la prendi cosi a cuore
Vorra' dire certamente che poi
Tanto vecchio non sei;
La tua fortuna immensa e' che il cervello
Non vuole abbandonarti mai
E allora non dar retta a quegli acciacchi
Pensa ancora a quel che hai

(translation)

If you realize you are old
That you have snow-colored hair
That you need glasses and a cane to carry you around
Man, you have to laugh, you have to laugh
And think about the cartridges you fired
And not just in those wars
That they wanted you to do without asking your permission
Old man, you have to laugh, you have to laugh
You have to laugh at yourself
And don't think about your two hundred ailments
That you can't bend over, that you can't drink and smoke anymore
At the bottom of eighty?
years you pulled us
With the vices you wanted
And now with a bitter taste in your mouth you say:
"I don't recognize myself anymore!"
Lucky old man you have company
You have a job to do at any time you want
You are busy and so
You have to laugh, you have to laugh, you have to laugh
You swear like a madman when you talk about retirement
When you read in the newspaper that inflation has broken out
You have to laugh, not to cry
You have to laugh at us
If you still take it so close to heart
It will certainly mean that later
You are not that old;
Your immense luck is that the brain
He never wants to leave you
So don't listen to those ailments
Think again about what you have