Dear Steemians,
This is my entry for Steemit open mic week 51.
I find it quite entertaining and hopefully you will enjoy watching.
Tu vuo' fa' l'americano by Renato Carasone - Cover/arrangement by Donatello
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tu_Vu%C3%B2_F%C3%A0_L%27Americano
"Tu vuo' fa' l'americano" ("You Want to Be American") is a Neapolitan language song by Italian singer Renato Carosone.
Carosone wrote the song in collaboration with Nicola "Nisa" Salerno in 1956. Combining swing and jazz, it became one of his best-known songs. Commissioned by Ricordi director Rapetti for a radio contest, the music was composed by Carosone in a very short time after reading Nisa's lyrics; he immediately believed the song would become a great success.
Carosone's original version of the song was performed by him in the film Totò, Peppino e le fanatiche (directed by Mario Mattoli, 1958). The song was featured in the 1960 Melville Shavelson film It Started in Naples, in which it was sung by Sophia Loren. It was also performed by Rosario Fiorello in the 1999 film The Talented Mr. Ripley.
The lyrics are about an Italian who affects a contemporary American lifestyle, drinking whisky and soda, dancing to rock 'n roll, playing baseball and smoking Camel cigarettes, but who still depends on his parents for money. The song is generally considered to be a satire of the Americanization that occurred in the early years after World War II, when southern Italy was still a rural, traditional society. According to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, "Tu vuò fa l'americano" is the definitive hit single of Carosone's artistic career, as he retired from music in 1960, just four years after releasing the song.
Neapolitan
Tu Vuo Fa L'Americano
Puorte 'e cazune cu nu stemma arreto...
na cuppulella cu 'a visiera aizata...
passa scampanianno pe' Tuleto
comm'a nu guappo, pe' te fa' guarda'...
Tu vuo' fa' ll'americano
mericano, mericano...
sient'a mme chi t' 'o ffa fa'?
tu vuoi vivere alla moda,
ma se bevi "whisky and soda"
po' te siente 'e disturba'...
Tu abball' o' rocchenroll
tu giochi a baisiboll...
ma e solde p' e' Ccamel
chi te li dà? la borsetta di mammà!?
Tu vuo' fa' ll'americano
mericano, mericano...
ma si' nato in Italy!
sient' a mme: nun ce sta niente 'a fa'
ok, napulità!
tu vuo' fa' ll'americà
tu vuo' fa' ll'americà!
Come te po' capi' chi te vo' bbene
si tu lle parle miezo americano?
quanno se fa ll'ammore sott' 'a luna
comme te vene 'ncapa 'e di' "I love you"?
Tu vuò fa’ l’americano
mericano, mericano...
sient'a mme chi t' 'o ffa fa'?
tu vuoi vivere alla moda,
ma se bevi "whisky and soda"
po' te siente 'e disturba'...
Tu abball' o' rocchenroll
tu giochi a baisiboll...
ma e solde p' e' Ccamel
chi te li dà?la borsetta di mammà!?
Tu vuo' fa' ll'americano
mericano, mericano...
ma si' nato in Italy!
sient' a mme: nun ce sta niente 'a fa'
ok, napulità!
tu vuo' fa' ll'americà
tu vuo' fa' ll'americà!
Tu vuo' fa' ll'americano
mericano, mericano...
sient'a mme chi t' 'o ffa fa'?
tu vuoi vivere alla moda,
ma se bevi "whisky and soda"
po' te siente 'e disturba'...
Tu abball' o' rocchenroll
tu giochi a baisiboll...
ma e solde p' e' Ccamel
chi te li dà? la borsetta di mammà!?
Translation
You'd like to be an American
You wear trousers showing a famous brand
you wear an hat with the peak raised
you trotting along Tuleto's streets
showing off yourself, to make people look at you
You'd like to be an American,
'merican, 'merican
listen to me, is it worth?
you want to be trendy
but if you drink "whiskey and soda"
and then you have a long hangover
You dance rock 'n' roll
you play baseball
but who gives you the money to buy Camels?
your mother's bag!
You'd like to be an American
'merican, 'merican
but you were born in Italy!
listen to me, there's nothing you can do
ok, neapolitan? (person from Naples)
You'd like to be an American
You'd like to be an American
Who can people that love you
understand you if you speak half-american?
when you are making love under the moon
how come you say "I love you"?
You'd like to be an American
'merican, 'merican,
but listen to me, is it worth?
you want to be trendy
but if you drink "whiskey and soda"
and then you have a long hangover
You dance rock 'n' roll
you play baseball
but who gives you the money to buy Camels?
your mother's bag!
You'd like to be an American
'merican, 'merican
but you were born in Italy!
ok, neapolitan? (person from Naples)
You'd like to be an American
You'd like to be an American
You'd like to be an American
'merican, 'merican
but listen to me, is it worth?
you want to be trendy
but if you drink "whiskey and soda"
and then you have a long hangover
You dance rock 'n' roll
you play baseball
but who gives you the money to buy Camels?
your mother's bag!
