"'
Faccetta Nera'" (lit. 'Pretty black face' or 'Little black face') is a popular
marching song of
Fascist Italy about the
Second Italo-Ethiopian War. It was written by Renato Micheli with music by Mario Ruccione in 1935.
The lyrics are written from the perspective of a fascist Italian
Blackshirt soldier during the invasion of Ethiopia. In the song, the Italian narrator tells a beautiful young enslaved
Abysinnian (Ethiopian) girl that she will be liberated from slavery and ruled by a new regime. She is invited to parade with the fascist Blackshirts in
Rome, where she is promised a new and better life.