An Analysis Of Ta Pum, The Illustration Of The Inhumanity Of War

As anticipated, “Ta Pum” is a glaring illustration of the inhumanity of war. The composition is also one of the few soldiers’ songs ascribable to an author and referring to a precise historical event.

Despite being originally composed during the nineteenth-century by anonymous workers, who were detonating the explosive charges when excavating the San Gottardo Gallery, “Ta-Pum” became widely known during WWI after the catastrophic Ortigara Battle which caused 20000 death and wounded on both sides of the Alps and is still remembered to be the highest battle ever fought.

Venti giorni sull’Ortigara
 senza il cambio per dismontà


Ta pum ta pum

Ta pum, ta pum

E domani si va all 'assalto,
 soldatino non farti ammazzar

Ta pum, ta pum

Ta pum,
ta

Ho lasciato la mamma mia, l 'ho lasciata per fare il soldà

Ta pum ta pum

Ta pum, ta pum

I left my mother,

I left her to be a soldier

Ta pum, ta pum

Ta pum, ta pum

Like many other WWI songs, also “Ta-Pum” ends in a tragic way, disclosing with realism and objectivity the common fate of many soldiers:

Dietro il ponte c’è un cimitero, cimitero di noi soldà

Ta pum ta pum

Ta pum, ta pum

Cimitero di noi soldati, presto un giorno vi vengo a trovà,

Ta pum ta pum

Ta pum, ta pum

Behind the bridge there’s a graveyard,
 graveyard for us soldiers

Ta pum ta pum

Ta pum, ta pum

Oh infantry graveyard,
 soon, one day I 'll come to you


Ta pum ta pum

Ta pum, ta

Most of these songs were inevitably set on the Italian front and narrate stories taking place on the Karst, Banjšice and Asiago Plateau and in general in the trenches.

However, there are many tunes which also tell stories happened behind the front lines, in the barracks or even back home where the lovers or the families were waiting for the soldiers return.

Inevitably, the actors of these tunes are usually the soldiers and their officials.

Next to them, there are often many images recalling war, which soldiers described in opposing ways: sometimes it inspired heroic and patriotic feelings, while the most of the time war was illogical, tragic and inexplicable.

On the other hand, the words used constantly reflected the distance between the privates and their generals, who were unable to establish any kind of relation with their soldiers.

Bubola confirmed:

“As some of the most important WWI movies like “La Grande Guerra”, “Paths of Glory”, and “Uomini Contro” illustrated, the High Commands were sadistic and led their soldiers to a wholesale