Caruso (song)

"Caruso" by Italian singer-songwriter Lucio Dalla in 1986. It is dedicated to Enrico Caruso, an Italian tenor.

Unclear meaning of the song

Controversially, the song simply tells about the pains and longings of a man who is about to die while he is looking in the eyes of a girl who was very dear to him.

This song is most probably a way of romanticizing Enrico Caruso's last days in Sorrento and Napoli. Enrico Caruso being a great legend in Italian Lyric Opera was one of the greatest and sought-after singers during very late 19th century and early 20th century. He lived a very difficult and rather unhappy life having many challenges and problems with Italian opera houses. He gained more fame and success in the US. He was born to a very poor family in Naples. He was often attached and had several love affairs with prominent women in the performing arts who were already married. These love affairs ended tragically. With Ada Giachetti (his most passionate and longest love affair) who was already married, he had two sons, but in the end she left him for their driver. Then he met a woman 20 years his junior just a few years before he died. With her he had a daughter called Gloria, whom Lucio Dalla described in this song "Caruso".

Guardó negli occhi la ragazza quegli occhi verdi come il mare
Poi all'improvviso uscí una lacrima e lui credette di affogare
Te voglio bene assai ma tanto tanto bene sai

People said that Caruso was not really in love with Dorothy Benjamin. Later Caruso admitted his real intentions in marrying her saying, "Because I want somebody who is completely my own." Sorrento is a beautiful coastal city not far from Napoli or Naples. In the song it says "Surriento", it's the Neapolitan dialect meaning Sorrento. It's where he spent many days in convalescence before he finally died at Vesuvio Hotel in Naples.

The song Caruso may be Lucio Dalla's way of romanticizing the last days of Enrico. What is not clear is whether he is talking to his daughter or to his wife while he (Caruso) was saying, "Ti voglio bene assai ma tanto bene sai". In Italian one can say "Ti voglio bene" to a mother, son, sister, but you can also say this to your beloved, however one must know that it's not the same as "Ti amo" which can be said exclusively to the beloved person, whether your wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend, etc.

If indeed Caruso said "ti voglio bene" to Dorothy (as the song suggests) it means that his affections for her is more like that of a father than that of a husband.

Lyrics

Qui dove il mare luccica
e grida forte il vento
su una vecchia terrazza vicina al golfo di Surriento
un uomo abbraccia una ragazza
dopo che aveva pianto
poi si schiarisce la voce e ricomincia il canto:

Te voglio bene assai
ma tanto tanto bene sai
è una catena ormai
che scioglie il sangue dint'e vene sai...

Vide le luci in mezzo al mare
pensò alle notti là in America
ma erano solo le lampare
e la bianca scia d'un'elica
sentì il dolore nella musica
si alzò dal pianoforte
ma quando vide la luna uscire da una nuvola
gli sembrò più dolce anche la morte.
Guardò negli occhi la ragazza
quegli occhi verdi come il mare
poi all'improvviso uscì una lacrima
e lui credette d'affogare.

Te voglio bene assai
ma tanto tanto bene sai
è una catena ormai
che scioglie il sangue dint'e vene sai...

La potenza della lirica
dove ogni dramma è un falso
che con un po' di trucco e con la mimica
puoi diventare un altro
Ma due occhi che ti guardano
così vicini e veri
ti fanno scordare le parole
confondono i pensieri.

Così diventò tutto piccolo
anche le notti là in America
ti volti e vedi la tua vita
come la scia d'un'elica.

Ah si, è la vita che finisce
ma lui non ci pensò poi tanto
anzi si sentiva già felice
e ricominciò il suo canto:

Te voglio bene assai
ma tanto tanto bene sai
è una catena ormai
che scioglie il sangue dint'e vene sai...
Te voglio bene assai
ma tanto tanto bene sai
è una catena ormai
che scioglie il sangue dint'e vene sai...

Translation

Here where the sea sparkles,
and a strong wind blows,
on an old terrace overlooking the gulf of Sorrento,
a man holds a little girl in his arms
after he's been crying.
He clears his throat and sings the song again.

I love you so much;
so very much, you know.
It's a bond, now,
you know, that thaws the blood in the veins.

He looked at the lights, out at sea,
and thought about the nights in America.
But they were only the lamps of fishing boats
and the white of wake.
He felt the pain of the music.
He got up from the piano,
but when he saw the moon come out from behind the clouds
death seemed sweeter to him.
He looked into the little girl's eyes -
those eyes as green as the sea,
then suddenly a tear fell
and he thought he was drowning.

I love you so much;
so very much, you know.
It's a bond, now,
you know, and it thaws the blood in the veins.

The power of opera!
where every drama is a sham;
where, with a little bit of make-up and mimicry,
you can become someone else.
But two eyes that look at you,
so close and so real,
make you forget the script,
confounding your thoughts.
And so everything became insignificant,
including the nights in America.
You look back and see your life
like the wake [of the boats].
Ah yes! Life is ending,
but he wasn't worried about it any more.
Instead he felt happy
and began to sing the song again.

I love you so much;
so very much, you know.
It's a bond, now,
you know, that thaws the blood in the veins.

Cover versions

• El Cigala covered the song in his album Dos Lagrimas singing the chorus in Italian while translating the rest of the song to Spanish.
• Andrea Bocelli covered the song on his debut album Il mare calmo della sera (1994) and later in his best-selling album Romanza.
• Luciano Pavarotti recorded the song in 1986. ( "The best version so far" is into the "Tutto Pavarotti" double album ). He sang it in many of his concerts, most notably in his 1993 "Pavarotti and Friends" album with Lucio Dalla, the composer, and in The Three Tenors, which is included in the Paris 1998 album.
• Lara Fabian, a multi-national singer who sings in Quebec, Canada, as well as in Belgium and the US, included this song on her En Toute Intimité album (2003). She also gave a virtuoso performance of it as part of her 2003 Tour.
• Julio Iglesias covered this song in his album Crazy. (1994)
• Russian singer Vitas covered this song in 2002 (later released as a digital download on the Vitas' official site - as well as the Radio Vitas Online - in 2011).
• Josh Groban covered this song in his second studio album Closer (2003).
• A slowed down version was featured on Il Divo's Siempre album released in November 2006, which includes several key changes and an arrangement of the song for four voices.
• Florent Pagny covered the song in 1996. Released as a single, his version peaked at #2 in France and #3 in Belgium (Wallonia).
• It was covered by Antonio Forcione with Sabina Scubbia on vocals in his 1997 album Meet Me In London.r.
• Italian pop music icon Mina covered this song as part of the Ti conosco mascherina double LP, originally released in 1990.
• Zizi Possi recorded the song on the album "Per Amore" (1997).
• Mercedes Sosa covered the song on her album Sino (1993).
• Neal Schon (American rock guitarist - Journey - Santana) recorded a guitar instrumental version of this song in his album "Voice" 2001.
• In 2005 the song was covered by British tenor Jon Christos on his debut album Northern Light.
• In 2006, Mario Frangoulis included this song on his CD/DVD Music of the Night (Sony Classical) of his live performance at the Herod Atticus Theatre in Athens, Greece, 2005.
• The Chilean singer Bárbara Muñoz, recorded a pop version of the song in her album "Amanecer" in 2006. This song was performed before when she participated in the TV program "Rojo Fama Contrafama"
• Trumpeter Chris Botti covered the song from 2007 album "Italia."
• In 2007 the song was covered by Paul Potts on his first album One chance. Paul Potts is a British tenor vocalist who in 2007 became the winner of the first series of ITV's Britain's Got Talent, singing an operatic aria, "Nessun Dorma" from Giacomo Puccini's Turandot.
• In 2008 the song was covered by Next Time, a Macedonian rock band.
• In 2008 the group Pharos covered it for the album The Best POP Opera 2008
• In 2009, Dominic Mancuso covered this song on his Juno-award-winning album Comfortably Mine.
• In 2010, 14-year old Cristian Imparato covered this song on Italian's Mediaset Canale 5 show, Io Canto, later becoming the "Campione" or Winner of the show.
• On January 22, 2010, Danny Jones from McFly sang a shortened version of the song in the second round of ITV's Popstar to Operastar.
• Mark Masri recorded this song on his 2010 album, The Voce.
• Donald Braswell II recorded this song on his 2011 album, Unchained.

External links

• UK Soul Singer Steve Menzies soulful version of Caruso.
• Caruso Lyrics in Italian and English (Andrea Bocelli's interpretation)