Pecché?
Pecché? (pronounced [pəkˈke]; literally "Why?") is a 1913 Neapolitan song composed by Gaetano Enrico Pennino with lyrics by Carlo De Flavis. It was a standard song for Enrico Caruso and Luciano Pavarotti, and is even known in a Soviet version.[1]
The first verse reads:
- Canta ll'auciello dint''â casa antica
- Addó primma cantave pure tu.
- E sento pur''a voce 'e 'n'ata amica
- Ca mme cunziglia 'e nun te penzà cchiù!
(In the old house the bird sings, where you once used to sing, too. And I also hear another friend's voice, advising me not to think of you any longer!)
Then follows the refrain which gives the name to song: "Carmela, if I've left my mama because of you, if you have lost your early youth, then why don't you come back to me?"
References
- ^ "Pennino, Gaetano Errico (18??-19??) Why? (Pecche) (Pochemu?) (G. De Flavis, translated by B. Abramovich) instrumental ensemble directed by Anatoly Tsadikovsky. rec. 1976-80 (All-Union Radio) LP: Melodiya 10-15017-18 (1981) (stereo) ...". The Record Collector: A Magazine for Collectors of Recorded Vocal Art. 2004.