CARNE VIVA Lyrics in English by Emma
Carne viva literally translates to "raw flesh" or "living flesh". It's a striking and somewhat visceral phrase that immediately grabs attention.
In the context of the song, the artist uses it metaphorically to describe a state of extreme vulnerability and openness. When she sings "Che ero carne viva" (That I was raw flesh), she conveys having exposed her deepest self, feeling completely unprotected and sensitive, as if her emotions were laid bare for everyone to see.
"Carne Viva" is Emma singing about the morning-after ache of having given too much of herself away. She opens with "Mi sono aperta così tanto con te / Che ero carne viva" ("I opened up to you so much / That I was raw flesh"), and spends the song circling the same bruise: killing time with people she doesn't care about, drowning small talk in "fiumi di parole" ("rivers of words") so she doesn't fall back into his eyes again.
The chorus is where the song's real tension sits. She knows she'll come off as the bad one — "Sarò una stronza, lo so" ("I'll be a bitch, I know it") — and admits she'll probably turn back around anyway, "Se torno indietro un'altra volta" ("If I turn back again"), even while telling herself the alternative is just cold, empty hours. She'd rather want to say "ti odio" ("I hate you") than actually say it, caught somewhere between missing the relationship and resenting it. Every chorus ends on the same small, deliberate goodbye — "Ti saluto" ("I bid you farewell") — a line she keeps repeating because she hasn't fully managed to mean it yet.
