“Bella ciao” is one of the most recognizable sounds in Money Heist (La casa de papel). The chorus is simple, the melody is sticky, and the context is never casual. When the characters sing it, the show pauses to underline a bigger idea: they do not just see themselves as thieves. They see themselves as a kind of resistance.
To understand why the song lands so hard in the series, you need two things. First, you need the literal meaning of the phrase. Second, you need the history the show is pulling into the heist story, on purpose.
The basic translation: what “Bella ciao” means in Italian
The phrase “bella ciao” is widely translated into English as “Goodbye, beautiful” or “Bye-bye, beautiful.” Some published lyric translations also render it as “Farewell, my beautiful.” Those versions show up across explainers and lyric breakdowns, including a widely shared translation and meaning guide from O, The Oprah Magazine (Oprah Daily).
It also helps to know one key linguistic detail. In Italian, “ciao” can mean both “hello” and “goodbye.” However, in this song’s narrative, it functions as a farewell. Think In Italian’s language breakdown points out that this matters, because “bella ciao” is not just a cute phrase floating in the air. It sits inside a story, and that story is about leaving, sacrifice, and what comes after.
That translation, “Goodbye, beautiful,” is why the refrain sounds intimate. Yet the show uses it publicly, as a chant. That tension is part of the point.
What the song is: an Italian anti-fascist folk anthem
“Bella ciao” is widely described as an Italian folk song and an anti-fascist anthem associated with the Italian Resistance during World War II. In that setting, it is tied to the partisans who fought against Nazi occupation and fascist collaborators.
This is not a niche interpretation that Money Heist invented. It is how the song is presented in major reference summaries. It is also how Money Heist frames it directly inside the story.
At the same time, sources that compile the song’s history also emphasize a second thread. One commonly cited origin points to an earlier “mondine” version, connected to women rice-field workers in Northern Italy. That earlier association links “Bella ciao” to labor, hardship, and protest as much as war.
There is also a reporting detail worth handling carefully, because it often gets smoothed over online. Reference histories note that there is debate about whether the partisan version was widely sung during WWII. Some accounts trace its publication and spread to the postwar period, including references to publication around 1953 and later circulation. That debate does not remove the song’s anti-fascist identity. It does, however, matter for accuracy when people describe it as “the song everyone sang during the war.”
For a viewer, the practical takeaway is simpler. The show is drawing on a song widely recognized as a resistance anthem, and it wants you to hear that history in the chorus.
The lyrics in plain terms: farewell, burial, and “the flower of the partisan”
The partisan version of “Bella ciao” tells a specific story. La Gazzetta Italiana summarizes the narrative clearly.
The narrator wakes up and finds “the invader.” He asks a partisan to take him away because he feels death approaching. He asks to be buried on the mountain, under a flower. Then the song closes that circle with a public memory: passersby will say it is the flower of the partisan who died for freedom.
That is a crucial detail for Money Heist. The show is not just using a generic protest tune. It is using a song whose storyline is about confronting an invading force and accepting the cost of fighting back.
In other words, “Bella ciao” carries both celebration and mourning. It can sound joyful in the moment, but the lyrics are not carefree.
How Money Heist uses “Bella ciao” as a theme, not background music
The connection between “Bella ciao” and Money Heist is not subtle. It is built into the show’s self-image and explained in the text of the series.
A production and music summary in Money Heist reference material identifies two emblematic key scenes where the song anchors the narrative:
- At the end of Part 1, The Professor and Berlin sing “Bella ciao” as they prepare for the heist. The framing in reported summaries is explicit. They present themselves as a “resistance against the establishment.”
- In Part 2, the song plays during the gang’s escape from the Royal Mint, and the song is used as a metaphor for freedom.
Those are not random placements. They mark turning points, and they teach the viewer what the heist “means” inside the show’s moral logic.
Then the series goes one step further. Tokyo’s narration provides an in-universe explanation for why this song belongs to The Professor at all. It is not just a playlist choice. It is a family inheritance tied to anti-fascist memory.
As quoted in secondary reference summaries, Tokyo says:
> “The life of the Professor revolved around a single idea: Resistance. His grandfather, who had fought against the fascists in Italy, taught him the song, and he taught us.”
That line does a lot of work quickly. It connects the heist crew’s identity to historical anti-fascist struggle. It also makes the song a kind of oral tradition, passed down and then shared with the group.
In the series, “Bella ciao” becomes a training tool and a bonding ritual. It is also a signal. When the song shows up, the show is telling you what lens to use: resistance, solidarity, and defiance.
Why the song fits the show’s language of rebellion and solidarity
Money Heist constantly frames its central group as more than criminals. The gang uses names instead of legal identities. They build a temporary society inside a locked building. They take on the state’s full attention, and they try to control the story the public hears.
“Bella ciao” fits that framing because the song itself is widely associated with resistance against oppression. The series does not need to invent new symbolism. It borrows something with decades of political meaning, then repurposes it into a pop culture language.
The song also works because it is collective. A chorus is designed for group voices, not solo confession. Even when two characters sing it in an intimate scene, the viewer hears a crowd behind it. That matches the show’s obsession with loyalty, discipline, and the idea of “us” versus “them.”
At the same time, the lyrics’ underlying story about sacrifice gives the song a darker edge. The show is not only celebrating audacity. It is reminding you that their fight can kill them.
Who introduced “Bella ciao” into Money Heist (as reported)
The series’ reported production notes add one more concrete detail. The song’s inclusion is credited in reference summaries to writer Javier Gómez Santander, who brought “Bella ciao” to the series after searching for the right track for a moment in Part 1.
That matters because it clarifies intent. The song is not there because someone needed “a European folk song.” It is tied to a specific creative decision about what the heist should represent.
When a show chooses a song with political history, the choice is rarely neutral. In this case, the show makes the politics explicit through Tokyo’s narration and through where the music appears.
The versions connected to the series: from the cast to soundtrack listings
Part of “Bella ciao”’s staying power in Money Heist is that it exists inside the show in more than one way. It is not only a needle drop. Characters perform it.
IMDb soundtrack listings for the series credit “Bella ciao” as performed by Manu Pilas, and also as performed by Pedro Alonso (Berlin) and Álvaro Morte (The Professor). That aligns with what viewers remember: it is a song sung on-screen, not just played over action.
The track also lived outside the show as a release. A Qobuz listing shows Manu Pilas released a “Bella Ciao” single tied to the series on April 20, 2018.
Later, the song’s Money Heist afterlife continued through high-profile pop releases linked to the franchise’s soundtrack ecosystem. Wikipedia’s entry for the track notes a “Bella Ciao” single by Becky G released December 1, 2021, explicitly connected to the Money Heist context.
This is one reason the song became hard to escape. It moved from an on-screen performance to a streaming-era product, then into new remixes and re-recordings that kept the association alive.
The post-Money Heist surge: how the song traveled again
“Bella ciao” has existed for decades, but Money Heist helped push it into a new wave of mainstream recognition.
A reference summary in the Money Heist entry describes the song becoming a summer hit in Europe in 2018, and it links that rise to the series. That is the clearest numeric time marker for the show’s impact. In practical terms, it tells you when the track crossed from “historical folk anthem” into “everyone knows the chorus.”
The song’s spread did not stop at playlists. It continued to appear in political contexts. A 2024 reporting piece in The Guardian discusses the song’s modern protest presence and points to Money Heist as a major driver of its reach beyond traditional political circles.
Reference histories also keep logging new examples. Wikipedia’s “renewed popularity” section cites one from January 2025 in Würzburg, Germany, where demonstrators chanted “Bella ciao” and a TikTok went viral.
Those details show why the Money Heist usage remains relevant in 2026. The song is still moving between entertainment and real-world protest. In many places, people now discover it through Netflix first, and history second.
What “Bella ciao” signals when you hear it in the show
In Money Heist, “Bella ciao” works like a shortcut. When the melody starts, the show wants you to think in a few specific directions:
- Resistance: Tokyo’s narration ties the song directly to that word.
- Inheritance: The Professor learns it from his grandfather, then teaches it.
- Solidarity: It is built for group voices and repeated choruses.
- Freedom and risk: The lyrics’ story includes death, burial, and memory.
That combination explains why the song can play during preparation and escape. It can signal courage before a plan begins, and it can echo relief when a plan succeeds. Yet it never loses the shadow in the lyrics.
Opening Day Details: what to remember the next time the chorus hits
The simplest answer is the one most viewers start with. “Bella ciao” means “Goodbye, beautiful.” It is also widely recognized as an Italian anti-fascist resistance anthem, later amplified worldwide as a protest song.
Money Heist makes that symbolism explicit. It places “Bella ciao” in key scenes, has the characters sing it, and uses Tokyo’s narration to connect it to The Professor’s family story of fighting fascism. Then the show’s popularity helps the song travel again, including a documented surge around 2018 and continuing modern protest appearances cited as recently as January 2025.
So when the crew sings “Bella ciao,” it is not there to decorate the heist. It is there to define it.
