Luciano Pavarotti & Lucio Dalla.
"Le traduzioni non rendono giustizia".
Lyrics :-
Here, where the sea shines
and the wind howls,
on the old terrace beside the gulf of Sorrento,
a man embraces a girl
he wept after,
then clears his throat and continues the song:
I love you very much,
very, very much, you know;
it is a chain by now
that melts the blood inside the veins, you know...
He saw the lights out on the sea,
thought of the nights there in America,
but they were only the fishermen's lamps
and the white wash astern.
He felt the pain in the music
and stood up from the piano,
but when he saw the moon emerging from a cloud
death also seemed sweeter to him.
He looked the girl in the eyes,
those eyes as green as the sea.
Then suddenly a tear fell
and he believed he was drowning.
I love you very much,
very, very much, you know,
it is a chain by now
that melts the blood inside the vein you know...
The power of opera,
where every drama is a hoax;
with a little make-up and with mime
you can become someone else.
But two eyes that look at you,
so close and real,
make you forget the words,
confuse your thoughts,
So everything became small,
also the nights there in America.
You turn and see your life
through the white wash astern.
But, yes, it is life that ends
and he did not think so much about it
on the contrary, he already felt happy
and continued his song:
I love you very much,
very, very much, you know,
it is a chain by now
that melts the blood inside the veins, you know...
I love you very much,
very, very much, you know,
it is a chain by now
that melts the blood inside the veins, you know...
This song was written for all of those who migrated from southern Italy and Sicily to America in the 50's and earlier, the men went first and left their wives and in many cases their children behind. The song is more than it's lyrics, the pain of the separation obvious. Lucio expresses this fact because he uses the southern italian and sicilian words when he tormented and in pain( because of the separation from his love) sings "Te voglio bene ASSAI" rather than the proper Italian which would be " Ti voglio bene tango" He mentions America twice in the song. And when he speaks of the woman with the green eyes like the sea, it is in his memory that he is seeing her and he mentions america again. So not at all because he is dying physically... more that he is in pain because of the miles between him and his woman and he is dying emotionally.
Controversially, the song simply tells about the pain and longings of a man who is about to die while he is looking into 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, a great legend of the Italian Opera was one of the greatest and most sought-after singers during the late 19th and early 20th century. He lived a very difficult and rather unhappy life having had many challenges and problems with Italian opera houses. He gained more fame and success in the United States.
He was born to a very poor family in Naples. He was often involved with women and had several love affairs with prominent married women in the performing arts. These love affairs often ended badly. 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 chauffeur. Then he met and wed a woman 20 years his junior, Dorothy Park Benjamin, just a few years before he died, whom Lucio Dalla describes in this song "Caruso". With her he had a daughter named Gloria.
