MY TOP ITALIAN SONGS

 

 

 

You knew it was coming, didn’t you?  My favourite Italian songs.

 

I love Italy and everything about it: its countryside, art, sculpture, food, the sound of its sweet language, beautiful women, handsome men, movies, songs and everything else! Sometimes people tell me I don’t look like an Indian and I hate that, immediately correcting them saying I am 100% Indian and proud to be so. But in Italy, when someone told me I could pass off for an Italian, I let it go smugly!

 

I have been to Italy four times and each time thrown a coin in the Trevi Fountain. Three times it has worked- I have revisited Italy, but the fourth coin’s magic is awaited. Will it work? Or would it lead to being born in Italy in my next life!

 

I have digressed: back to songs. Generalisations are not entirely fair but since I wrote about French songs earlier, to me it appears that the French are a little sad and brooding while the Italians are happier and more open with their emotions and not afraid of wearing the heart on the sleeve.

 

Now for the hard part. I love so many Italian songs that it is tough to select. However, I will attempt with two provisos: one, many will be left out because of sheer numbers and space, and two, songs listed will not be in any particular order: they are all equally good.

 

First, there are the evergreen Neapolitan songs exclusive to Italy. They date back to 1835 when the first music festival took place in Naples and was held annually till late 1940s. The songs became very popular from end-19^th century and remain so till the present. Most of them have been sung by every famous tenor starting with Enrico Caruso, Mario Lanza and Beniamino Gigli down to the modern 3 tenors, Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo and my favourite Luciano Pavarotti, and the youngest, Andrea Bocelli.  Apart from the usual theme of love, many of the songs celebrate the sun, the sea and the city of Naples or lament the greatest tragedy for a Neapolitan which is not death but absence from Naples.

 

I have four favourites.  I was introduced to the first one by Vinnie Mama when he brought a 78 rpm disc of ‘Santa Lucia’ by Enrico Caruso on his return from a Europe visit in the early 1950s. In fact, ‘Santa Lucia’ happens to be the first Neapolitan song to be given Italian lyrics in 1849. The song is an invitation by a boatman to sail in his boat along the picturesque waterfront of Santa Lucia district in the Gulf of Naples.

 

‘Funiculi Funicula’ was composed in 1880 to mark the opening of the first funicular on Mount Vesuvius. ‘O Sole Mio’ (My Sun) is probably the most popular and won the Grammy award for Luciano Pavarotti in 1980. ‘Torna e Surriento’ (Come Back to Sorrento) praises the scenic surroundings of Sorrento. Twice I have had the pleasure of sailing in a boat from Capri to Sorrento and then a train ride to Naples and the beauty of the sea and coastline are fabulous beyond words.

 

Coming to other Italian songs, let me start with three numbers which I always requested for when visiting a nightclub or restaurant during my visits to Rome. First, ‘Il Mondo’ (The World), a 1965 hit by Jimmy Fontana and arranged by the well-known composer Ennio Morricone. For Fontana, it was his most successful recording. Inevitably, it had English versions titled ‘My World’ of which I like Englebert Humperdinck’s the best.

 

‘Al Di La’ (Beyond) sung by Betty Curtis was the Italian entry in the Eurovision song contest in 1961 but the version I like best is by Emilio Pericoli who mesmerized Troy Donahue and Suzanne Pleshette and us in the 1962 movie ‘Rome Adventure’ also known as ‘Lovers Must Learn’. It became a great hit both in the US and UK. Donahue and Pleshette’s screen romance turned real leading to their marriage a few years later!

 

‘Grande Grande Grande’ (Great Great Great) sung by the Italian singer Mina was the no.1 hit in Italy in 1972. Its lyrics were written by the famous singer Julio Iglesias along with two others. Sample the lyrics (translated) to get the flavor of the song, ‘I hate you, then I love you, and then I love you, then I hate you, and then I love you……You are great, great, great….’ This song was titled ‘Never Never Never’ in English and sung with equal passion by Shirley Bassey. The English lyrics are also similar: ‘I love you, hate you, love you, hate you…..I never, never, never want to be in love with anyone but you’.

 

Umberto Tozzi is a great Italian pop singer and I love his ‘Gloria’ which was a big hit in Italy in 1979-80. The English version of this song by Laura Branigan is equally good and was on top of the pops in many countries including 36 weeks in US in 1982. At least two other hits of Tozzi are worth listening to again and again, ‘Ti Amo’ (I love you) and ‘Tu’ (You). Along with ‘Gloria’, these are guaranteed to chase your Corona blues away!

 

In 1958, Italian singer Domenico Mondugno recorded ‘Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu’ (In The Blue, Painted Blue) which became an instant hit internationally. It was then sung in an English-Italian mix by Dean Martin as ‘Volare’ (To Fly) which too became a global hit. Its popularity lasts till today and it ranks among the best known Italian songs worldwide.

 

Dean Martin, original name Dino Paul Crocetti who had an Italian father and Italian-American mother, will be remembered as the person who truly injected Italian flavor in English songs and some of them are worth recalling here though they are not strictly Italian. ‘That’s Amore’ is a love song ‘in Napoli where love is king ….. when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, That’s Amore’. In the pre-fast food joints era, that’s when I first heard of a pizza! ‘Innamorata’ is an ode to a sweetheart while in ‘An Evening in Roma’, the lonely singer is envious of couples that he sees on the streets of Rome and invites his girlfriend to meet him perhaps for an espresso.

 

Let me mention here that there is a group called ‘Il Volo’ consisting of three handsome guys aged 26-27 who sing most of the songs mentioned above beautifully and very often, I play them on TV. Appropriately, they call their style of singing ‘popera’!

 

In an Italian-American musical of 1957 'Seven Hills of Rome', Mario Lanza sang 'Arrividerci Roma' which familiarised us with the Italian 'farewell'. 

It is now time to sing ‘Buena Sera' (Good night) a la Louis Prima.

 

ADDENDUM TO MY FAVOURITE FRENCH SONGS

I would like to add two more songs to my list of favourite French songs.

The first one is the haunting theme from the highly emotional movie, 'Un homme et une femme (A man and a woman). The composer was Francis Lai who gained international fame after this 1966 film score and won the Golden Globe award for it. He would go on to sweep all possible awards in 1970 for the musical score of the even more emotional movie, 'Love Story'.

The second song is 'Les feuilles mortes' (Dead leaves).This was composed for a 1946 French movie 'Les portes de la nuit' (Gates of the night) and sung by Irene Joachim. Johnny Mercer gave it English lyrics and it was first sung by Jo Stafford in 1950 as 'Autumn leaves'. It became a top hit and soon all famous English singers were recording it including Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Doris Day. Of course, all of us love the unforgettable Nat King Cole version of it.

Not that well-known, but the pianist Roger Williams' instrumental recording of it was the no.1 bestseller in 1955.

MY FAVOURITE FRENCH SONGS

I don't know French or Italian. That does not mean I can't enjoy songs in those languages.

A good singer can convey feelings, emotions and passion with the delivery, modulation of voice and tone, rhythm, etc. Lyrics, of course, play an important part but a well-sung song can tug at one's heartstrings without understanding them. Once one is hooked, one can go through the translations and in almost all cases one would find that the sense of the song could be correctly interpreted right at the first listening. 

So here are my top favourite French songs.

Top of the list is 'Ne me quitte pas' (Don't leave me) which gripped me from the first time I heard it during a visit to a restaurant in Rome in January 1976. I don't even remember whether on that occasion it was sung in French or Italian but that was the title told to me when I inquired. The original French song is by a Belgian singer, Jacques Brel, and there is a moving story behind it. Brel wrote and sang it in 1959 after his mistress threw him out of her life. The song is sung in a halting, expressive and passionate way, something like a soliloquy, and moves one to tears. Brel himself called it "a hymn to the cowardice of men", a degree to which they were willing to humiliate themselves. Frenchmen said it was sung at a time at which men weren't allowed to cry for women who didn't want them anymore and even the famous French singer Edith Piaf said the song had complete lack of virility. With all that, it is rated by many as the no. 1 French song of all time and has been sung in many languages around the world. The song's English version 'If you go away' was first popularised by Rod McKuen but I love Shirley Bassey's version of it.

Next is 'La mer' (The Sea) by Charles Trenet. He wrote the lyrics of the song when just 16 but set the tune in 1943 when travelling by train between Montpellier and Parpignan gazing out of the window at a lagoon in South of France. After an initial cold shoulder, the song became an unexpected hit when Trenet himself recorded it in 1946. Subsequently, it has become the best selling French song along with Edith Piaf's "La vie en rose'. It has versions all over the world with 4000 recordings and over 70 million copies as per a 2001 count. A smooth, very listenable English version is 'Beyond the sea' by Bobby Darin. It has also been sung by all-time greats, Julio Iglesias and Demis Roussos. I was first introduced to it by my Vinnie Mama after he heard it during his visit to France in 1954. And one of my sweet memories is of a train journey from Livorno to Civitavecchia overlooking the deep blue sea waters of the Tuscan Arch and humming the song when I fulfilled a long-standing promise to Akhila of a trip to Italy in 2004. 

Third on the list is 'Et maintenant' (And now) by Gilbert Becaud recorded in 1961. The song is about the desperation of a man surrounded by emptiness after his love has deserted him. Apart from the emotional singing, what is captivating in the original song is the recurring music pattern in the background from Ravel's Bolero. That really makes it unique. Its English version 'What now my love', also became very popular with big names like Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Shirley Bassey singing it and Herb Alpert providing a very catchy instrumental rendition.

When talking of French songs, one has to include the legendary Edith Piaf and she is on my list with her signature tune, 'La vie en rose' (literally 'Life in Pink' or life in rosy hues). This was written in 1945 and released as a single in 1947. Sung in a smooth, easy style, it expresses the joy of finding true love and was very appealing to people who lived through the difficult times of World War II. It created a record when 7 English versions of it reached the US Billboard charts in 1950. The singers included Edith Piaf herself, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin and Louis Armstrong. Edith Piaf became internationally famous after this song. This was another song which was heard by Vinnie Mama during his 1954 visit and who familiarised me with it.

'L'amour est bleu' (Love is blue) describing pleasure and pain of love in terms of colours blue and grey and elements water and wind is next. It was first performed in French by the Greek singer Vicky Leandros but my favourite is the brilliant instrumental version played by Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra. In 1967, Mauriat's version became the only instrumental by a French orchestra leader to hit the number 1 spot on the US Billboard Hot 100, a record held till 2017. A video is available today with the visuals providing the appropriate mood and colours of the song.

Finally on the list is 'Petite fleur' (Little flower), originally a non-French instrumental with Monty Sunshine playing a clarinet solo with Chris Barber's Jazz Band in 1959. It was particularly popular in the Gunroom (as the Midshipmen's wardroom is called) of Mysore when a number of my fellow midshipmen were vying for a date with a girl named Fleur. In 1964, it was vocalised in French by Petula Clark, better known in the English music world for her super hits 'Downtown' and 'This is my song'. Her lovely version finds a place in the best all-time French songs compiled by a lot of music critics.

That completes my list but at the risk of being termed vain, I am going to smuggle in another song not quite French but I deem it eligible as the title and its singer are both French. It is 'Je ne sais pas' (I do not know) by Brigitte Bardot in the 1955 British comedy film 'Doctor at sea' based on the hilarious novel by Richard Gordon. Bardot, playing a nightclub singer, naughtily sings, 'Je ne sais pas..... there are many things I don't know but I do know this, that I love you, love you, love you, je ne sais!' to Dirk Bogarde who many said I resembled in my youth!

A WODEHOUSE GOLF TALE

When recounting golf stories, it is impossible not to remember PG Wodehouse and his hilarious tales. When writing about my golf foursome, a story that was buzzing in my head was 'The Clicking of Cuthbert', one of his best. Allow me to summarise it here- those who are familiar with it would surely laugh on being refreshed and those that haven't, I would strongly recommend that they read the original.

The story, written in 1916, is about a proficient golfer, Cuthbert Banks, who has won the French Open and plays with legendary golfing figures like Harry Vardon and Abe Mitchell. One day while playing at his Club, he hits a bad shot which, through a window, lands at the table of the adjacent Wood Hills Literary and Debating Society which is holding a serious discussion. Cuthbert barges in and being a conscientious golfer, insists on playing the ball 'as it lies' from the table with his niblick. There his eyes fall on pretty Adeline Smethurst and Cuthbert is immediately smitten and falls in love. He proceeds to woo her but she says she wants to marry an intellectual and a person of standing and good golf and French Open mean nothing to her. Intent on pursuing her, Cuthbert decides to join the Literary Society but as time passes, it does not seem to be doing any good for his matrimonial chances or his golf.

The Society invites a famous Russian writer, Vladimir Brusiloff, to give a talk followed by a party at Adeline's aunt's place. A budding local writer, Raymond Parsloe Devine who Adeline has her eyes on, decides to engage Brusiloff in a learned conversation and states that he is an admirer of famous Soviet writers such as Sovietski and Nastikoff with whom his own writings are being compared.

By now Brusiloff, for whom this is the 82nd meeting in UK which he has undertaken only for the money, has had enough of such conversations and lashes out, "Sovietski no good. I spit me of Sovietski. Nastikoff no good. Nastikoff worse than Sovietski. I spit me of Nastikoff. PG Wodehouse and Tolstoi not bad. Not good but not bad. No novelist any good but me."

A deafening silence descends on the room while Raymond, completely flabbergasted, slinks away. Adeline's aunt tries to revive the party and asks Brusiloff which famous Britishers he has met. He says he has met many, Lloyd George, etc. but is pining to meet people he really admires such as Arbmishel and Arreevadon. Everyone is foxed because no one is able to recognise these names but Cuthbert, hitherto hiding in a corner, sheepishly volunteers, "I think he means Abe Mitchell and Harry Vardon." 

On hearing this, Brusiloff rushes to Cuthbert and asks if he knows them. Cuthbert says he plays with them very often. Brusiloff is annoyed that he was not 'introducted' to this man so far and on hearing the name Cuthbert Banks, excitedly screams, "Banks, not Cootaboot Banks! Yais! Yais! Cootaboot! I saw you win ze French Open. Will you permit one who is but eighteen at Nijni-Novgorod to salute you" and proceeds to kiss Cuthbert a couple of times.

The rest of the evening is spent with Brusiloff cornering Cuthbert in an engaging conversation recounting his golf games including an exciting one against Lenin and Trotsky in which the latter has a 2" inch putt for a win but is distracted by a bang caused by someone indulging in "our great national sport, trying to assassinate Lenin with rewolwers". Trotsky proceeds to mishit the ball 5 yards past the hole and the shaken Lenin misses the return putt giving hole and match to Brusiloff and partner.

Brusiloff finally thanks Mrs Smethurst profusely for a most charming evening as he wishes her 'goot-a-bye' and goes to shoot a few holes with his friend 'Cootaboot' who promises to lend him whatever equipment he wants including his favourite club 'niblicksky'. Adeline wonders if she could walk with them and Cuthbert is, of course, more than delighted to have her company.

The incident raises Adeline's esteem for Cuthbert and golf highly and the two get married. Adeline starts revering golf and even wants to name their son Abe Mitchell Ribbed-Faced Mashie Banks and it is only Cuthbert's earnest pleading which prevents her from doing so.

P.S. Another laugh from the tale: Before his golf chat with Brusiloff, Cuthbert would have avoided him like the plague. So when Adeline runs into Cuthbert after Brusiloff has accepted to come to her aunt's party, she enthusiastically says, "Such good news about Vladimir Brusiloff." Cuthbert's immediate reaction, "Dead?", 'with a touch of hope'.

OUR ERSTWHILE GOLF FOURBALL

After settling down in Delhi post retirement from the Navy, I started playing golf at the Army Golf Club (AEPTA) Dhaula Kuan. I became part of a fourball which included PKG (Cmde PK Gupta), Arjan (Brig AS Narula) and PC (Col Puran Chand, not Personal Computer(!), Pande). 

It was a fun group with a lot of light banter and jokes. We never spoilt it by betting which unnecessarily gives rise to controversies such as strict adherence to rules, false handicap, etc. Play, enjoy the game and company, go home.

A golden rule with PC was that all good shots were attributable to his skills and the bad ones to his caddie. The latter was to be blamed for anything wrong with PC's game be it the choice of club, not keeping the head down, the swing, grip, stance, whatever. As soon as the shot went wrong, PC would begin chastising his caddie: 'why did you give me 7 iron and not the 5', 'why didn't you tell me to keep my head down', 'you should have told me my backswing was too high', 'why have you come when you don't know how to caddie- a caddie does not get paid for just carrying clubs, a caddie is supposed to advise and tell the player how to play', etc. etc. It was fun to hear PC's rant and the caddie would quietly listen, grin and bear it because he knew that it was just PC's way of letting out steam.

What would have us in splits of laughter were PC's funny remarks. Noticing that the management had started marking free drop areas with 'choona' (white limestone powder), PC said that was a wonderful idea, he would put some in his bag and whenever his ball would lie in a difficult position, he would quickly sprinkle some choona around it and claim a free drop!

Once while walking towards the10th tee, he saw a veteran practising on the driving range. PC, "Saala, Nigambodh Ghat jane ko taiyyar hai phir bhi practice mein time waste kar raha hai!" 

In the washroom, noticing the state of hand towels, "Yaar, these towels are so filthy that after wiping your hands with them, you need to wash your hands again." 

Another habit of his, squeezing buttered toast in his palm till the last drop of butter had been drained out. When I asked him why he didn't ask the waiter to put less or no butter, he said he wanted his toast soft and didn't like the taste of plain bread.

The four ball does not exist any more. PC departed from this world many years ago and Arjan quit sometime back due to illness and finally followed PC last year. PKG has given up because of bad knees. Pandemic kept me away for almost a year but I am trying to make a comeback and find new partners to make it at least a two or threeball instead of just oneball!

But whenever I see any 'choona' on the course, I will remember PC.

THEN THERE WAS JOHNNY MATHIS and......

While Nat King Cole had reached his prime in early ‘50s, another romantic singer made his entry in the musical charts in 1956, Johnny Mathis with a soft ‘velvet’ voice.

The first song of his that I loved was “The Twelfth of Never”, meaning the date of a future occurrence that will never come to pass. Its remarkably emotional lyrics include-                                                                     ‘You ask how long I’ll love you, I’ll tell you true….I’ll love you till the poets run out of rhyme,           Until the twelfth of never, and that’s a long long time.’

This was followed by “Chances Are” with hopeful lines,                                                                          'Guess you feel you’ll always be the one and only one for me                                                                         And if you think you could                                                                                                                           Well, chances are your chances are awfully good!’

And the compulsive “Misty”,                                                                                                                     ‘Don’t you know how hopelessly I’m lost, that’s why I’m following you….                                                  I’m too misty and too much in love.’

But the song most of us would be familiar with was the theme song from the movie “A Certain Smile” based on the French novel by Francoise Sagan who, as a teenager, hit the bestseller list with her first book, "Bonjour Tristesse". As some may recall, "A Certain Smile" is a story of a teenage girl who abandons her young boy friend for an older married man leading to the inevitable heartbreak. The older man was played by Rossano Brazzi and I have hated him ever since! Some of the haunting lyrics of the song....                                                                                                                                                          ‘You love awhile and when love goes,                                                                                                             You try to hide the tears inside with a cheerful pose,                                                                                          But in the hush of night….Comes that certain smile to haunt your heart again.’

That brings to mind another Francoise, Francoise Hardy, a French singer popular in the late ‘60s who also sang in English. My favourite,“Will you still love me tomorrow?”

Skipping many years and more romantic singers, let me bid adieu to this piece with the popular Demis Roussos song,                                                                                                                                                            ‘Goodbye my love goodbye….As long as you remember me I’ll never be too far,                                           Goodbye my love goodbye, I’ll always will be true,                                                                                           So hold me in your dreams till I come back to you.”

"UNFORGETTABLE" NAT KING COLE

 

This morning I remembered Nat King Cole. 

It was not the first time. For quite some time, he has been frequently in my thoughts.

I used to hear a lot of him on the radio in my school days. He was in his prime churning out hits after hits. I must admit he was not my top favourite. At that time, I considered his songs a bit mushy and preferred the powerful voice of Frankie Laine and the soft crooning of Bing Crosby. But lately, the simple and beautiful lyrics of good old Nat have been humming in my mind. Here are a few of them.

Let’s start with “Too Young” which is about young lovers. He sings, 

“They try to tell us we’re too young,

Too young to really be in love,

They say that love’s a word,

A word we only heard

But can’t begin to know the meaning of……

And yet, we’re not too young to know,

This love will last though years may go.

And then one day they may recall 

We were not too young at all.”

Touches one’s heart?

Then there is “Smile”, a song to lift your spirits:

“Smile, though your heart is aching,

Smile even though it’s breaking……

Smile, what’s the use of crying,

You’ll find that life is still worthwhile, 

If you just smile.”

Feel better already?

“Autumn Leaves” remembers a loved one while watching colourful leaves falling from trees. 

“The autumn leaves drift by my window,

The autumn leaves of red and gold…..

Since you went away the days grow long,

And soon I’ll hear old winter’s song

But I miss you most of all, my darling,

When autumn leaves start to fall.”

“You Will Never Grow Old” is about ageless love.

“You will never grow old

While there is love in your heart,

Time may silver your golden hair,

As you dream in an old rocking chair.

So keep my love in your heart, 

Remember the love tales we told,

For with my love in your heart, my darling,

You will never grow old.”

Long gone is Nat King Cole but his songs will linger forever. As one of his songs goes, he is “Unforgettable” and that is not "incredible."