ADD: Pepino the Italian Mouse (from Lou Monte)

Subject: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: GUEST,Cookie
Date: 19 May 03 - 12:28 PM

I have been all over the net trying to find the correct lyrics
to Lou Monte's "Pepino The Italian Mouse". I can find the
English verses but not the Italian verses. Does anyone know the
full lyrics? Thanks

Subject: ADDPOP: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: MMario
Date: 19 May 03 - 12:45 PM

PEPINO THE ITALIAN MOUSE
(Ray Allen/Wandra Merrell)

Pepino o you little mouse o won't you go away,
Find yourself another house to run around and play
You scare my girl you eat my cheese you even drink my wine,
I try so hard to catch you but you trick me all the time.

Cesta no surecillo a basoccella dinda mur
Ogna sere quella esce quanda casa scura
Endo dindo la cucina balla sulasu
A parrano malandrino pura un gabo sapaur

Pepino suracill ana parta scubari,
Managa suracill a casa ma dai,
A quando si briaggo a Pepino giong apa

The other night I called my girl I asked her could we meet,
I said let's go to my house we could have a bite to eat,
And as we walked in through the door she screamed at what she saw,
There was little Pepino doin' the cha cha on the floor.

Pepino o you little mouse o won't you go away,
Find yourself another house to run around and play
You scare my girl you eat my cheese you even drink my wine,
I try so hard to catch you but you trick me all the time.

Quella no piace forgia American,
Quella va trova no poca Parmesan,
La fatto ghiata ghiat gusto ena cor
Quando cella camina para probino caladur.

Subject: Lyr Add: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: Sorcha
Date: 19 May 03 - 12:49 PM

You forgot the Add: Mario......for post of 19 May 03 - 12:45 PM this thread.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: MMario
Date: 19 May 03 - 12:50 PM

urk!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 May 03 - 01:09 PM

Ah, but I'm afraid it warrants an ADDPOP, which means it's a pop song that got passed over for Digital Tradition harvesting. Dick and Susan may overrule that, but it missed the preliminary sort.

Still, it's nice to have songs like that posted in the forum.

As stated above, words and music were by Ray Allen and Wanda Merrell. The song was published in 1963, and popularized by Lou Monte.

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: GUEST,Cookie
Date: 19 May 03 - 01:11 PM

Thank you so much. I tried to find it in the list of songs, but
didn't see it.

Cookie

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 May 03 - 01:21 PM

I always get a kick out of these Italian-English songs. I wonder if most of them were written in the U.S. I know Louis Prima and Dean Martin are corny, but the songs are a lot of fun. I wonder how many we can come up with.
Let's see - I can think "Angelina" (the waitress at the pizzaria), and "Volare," the corniest song ever to have a lousy car named after it...

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: Wolfgang
Date: 19 May 03 - 02:11 PM

Pepino, freche kleine Maus,
Du ärgerst mich so sehr,
such Dir dich ein and'res Haus
und komme nie wieder her.
Du frisst mir Speck und Käse weg,
Du trinkst auch meinen Wein,
wenn meine Braut Dich seiht
wird unser Glück zuende sein.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 May 03 - 03:13 PM

Wolfgang, are there German recordings of these Italian pop songs, with lyrics sung both in English and Italian?
Is there a German "Angelina"?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: Wolfgang
Date: 19 May 03 - 03:22 PM

Sorry, Joe, don't know. I just remember Pepino being sung in plain German (except that pepino was rhymed on 'vino' but that word is common knowledge in Germany).

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: Ferrara
Date: 19 May 03 - 09:49 PM

MMario, I am very glad to see this song in print.

I do wonder, though, about the Italian parts? We had this record and I heard it quite differently. Couldn't get most of it anyhoo, because it's in extreme Neapolitan dialect, but my dad explained a lot of it.

Where did you get the Neapolitan words? Not to be overly particular, but I think they're full of mondegreens....

If you found the sheet music printed somewhere and that is really the way it goes, well, then, won't I be embarrassed! -- But, it looks as if maybe someone tried to transcribe them but tripped over the fact that it isn't "regular" Italian?

Maybe we can put our heads together and get it a little more accurate. Don't know if I still have the record but will check. I would LOVE to get the whole song. I never could get it all. But I do have some familiarity with the peculiarities of Neapolitan because that's where my dad came from.

I definitely remember two lines, the version above omits the first but gives the second as

"A quando si briaggo a Pepino giong apa "

My dad explained this to me, here's roughly how it goes: "Stasera nella cucina, 'nu po' di vino [gia' lo da?], E quanno s'umbriaca, ah, Pepino gia' 'ncappa'" which means, "This evening in the kitchen I'll [give him, leave out for him] a little bit of wine, and when he gets drunk, I'll grab Pepino." That's one way to get rid of an unwanted mouse I guess.

'ncappare is dialect for "to grab aholt of", umbriaco is drunk, quanno is quando, or when, 'nu po' is un poco or a little bit.

Definitely would like to see if we can get all of it!

Rita Ferrara

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: Ferrara
Date: 19 May 03 - 09:53 PM

Joe, Volare was written in Italy as far as I know. I hated it at first but my uncle helped me to appreciate it -- he loved the imagery.

Lou Monte had a whole lot of these. At one time there was a long thread on "Lazy Mary," or "C'e 'Na Luna Mmiezz' 'a Mare."

Another of my dad's (and my) favorites was "What Did Washington Say When He Crossed the Delaware?" This was a song based on a favorite joke of Italians who immigrated to New Jersey and environs. The answer was, "Mme ffaccia 'nu cazza fridd'," Which politely translated means "I'm freezing my butt off."

Rita

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 May 03 - 11:49 PM

Hi, Rita-
Ah, it's so nice to hear from my favorite Italian.

I take it MMario got the lyrics from somewhere on the Net. I corrected the English, but not the Italian lyrics. I think it would be nice to collect some of these Italian pop songs and post them.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: MMario
Date: 20 May 03 - 08:53 AM

yup - found it on the net after searching - did see several discussions on the net regarding the italian - evidently it is in dialect - but that still doesn't tell us if the words are correct or not. Calabreze is suppossed to be the dialect in the original - this may be wrong, or may have been cross-translated . I don't have enough Italian remaining from college to figure it out - and learned Bolognese anyway!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: MMario
Date: 20 May 03 - 08:54 AM

wierd! it just took me four tries to get this to submit!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 May 03 - 09:15 AM

Can sing it to Dunderbeck.

~S~

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: polaitaly
Date: 21 May 03 - 07:10 AM

I am not from Naples but I can understand enough the dialect. The words in the song are not written in Italian nor in dialect, but ( I suppose) in the way they are pronounced ,and it' s very hard to catch the meaning. I managed to understand (more or less...) the first two lines:
" Ce stà nu suricillo a ....(?) dint' o' muro / Ogne sira chillo esce quann' a' casa é o' scuro"   " There is a little mouse .... in the wall / every night it come out, when the house is in the dark" . The line that Ferrara quothes is probably " e quanne s'imbriaca, ah , Peppino aggio a' chiappà " wich traslates the way his dad says.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: Ferrara
Date: 21 May 03 - 12:15 PM

polaitaly, thank you very, very much!!! -- I was hoping very much that someone who truly understands Italian might see this thread!

Is there any way you can hear the song? I would even consider making you a cassette tape and mailing it to you! (IF I can find the record.... I know that I have a copy.) Since the song was a great favorite of my father's, it would please me greatly to be able to sing it.

... Mmario, I decided to do a little research regarding Neapolitan versus Calabrese. I found a bunch of sites that use the term "Neapolitan-Calabrese" as the name of the dialect. [Unfortunately a lot of them refer to it as an endangered language....]

Naples is in Calabria, I believe. But, they are NOT identical. Calabria contains Naples and a whole lot more.

As best I can tell, If you are a Calabrese living near Naples your dialect will closely resemble Neapolitan. But the farther you go from Naples, the less resemblance. In other words, there are many, many subdialects of Neapolitan-Calabrese.

My dad lived in a town named Teora, near the city of Avellino. About 90 miles east of Naples. The Teorese dialect was basically Neapolitan, but had differences even from the dialect of towns 5 miles away.

Here are a couple of links comparing Neapolitan with Calabrese

and this which seems to say they are the same thing

also this which seems to show a number of sub-dialects of Neapolitan-Calabrese.

The reason I got interested in this, is that I know Dad said he came from "Provincia Avellino." But Sunday after seeing A Mighty Wind, a bunch of us went to an Italian restaurant. On the wall was an old "political map of Italy." It showed Calabria as taking up much of the middle of the boot, including both Naples and Avellino. Don't know the history, or whether Calabria is divided into sub provinces including Avellino, or whether the map has changed in the interim.

Polaitaly, do you know?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: polaitaly
Date: 21 May 03 - 04:39 PM

I'm sorry, Ferrara, but I've never heard the song and I don't believe that it is ever been released in Italy. I don't know Lou Monte neither, so I'm afraid I can't find it...If you really think to send me a cassette, I will be happy to try! If I don't understand everything, there are many people from Naples that are living here in Florence and can help me.   
About geography: Naples is in Campania , which is a different region from Calabria; actually between the two there is a little piece of Basilicata, another region . Avellino is in Campania, near Naples but more to the east, in the hinterland. It's possible that the dialects of Napoli and Avellino are slightly different , but still very near- I think that the calabrese it's another matter , and a different language, more similar to Sicilian. Yet is true, as you say, that where the regions meet the languages mingles one into another.   
For what I know, when Italy was parted in two about in the middlewaist, until 1860, the south part was called " Regno delle due Sicilie" ; I can't remember any historical name of all South Italy including the word "Calabria" (but I may be wrong). Are you sure it was not some kind of joke? You know, like the maps of United Staes with New York (or Los Angeles, or another town) enormous and all the rest minuscule? There is a strong rivalry between the north and the south , in Italy... (and sadly it is still increasing-but this is another story)
paola

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: Ferrara
Date: 22 May 03 - 03:33 PM

Paola,

Well, about the provinces -- I was very confused when I saw that map, because I thought my father said he was from Campania!

About possibly sending you a cassette, I have added this thread to my tracer and will PM you or refresh the thread when (and if!) I can locate the recording, because I think it would be great fun to send it to you and see what you can get from it, I hope you also think it would be fun.

Rita Ferrara

Subject: Pepino's Friend Pasqual (The Italian Pussycat)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 May 03 - 03:56 PM

So, of course it would be wonderful to get the lyrics for "Pepino's Friend Pasqual (The Italian Pussycat)."
Anybody?
This discography (click) says the songwriters are the same, Allen/Merrell.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: MMario
Date: 22 May 03 - 04:13 PM

The site I found Pepino on did not have the lyrics for Pasqual

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: MMario
Date: 22 May 03 - 04:15 PM

I'm finding listings too, for Pepino's Cha-cha; and for Paulucci (the Italian Parrot)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: M.Ted
Date: 23 May 03 - 11:18 AM

Rita,

For reasons best not discussed, I have Pepino the Italian mouse and a number of other Lou Monte hits--Lou was a Calabrese, and came from Lindhurst,NJ which, due to the fact that it was basically Italian, was described as "Hoboken, with trees". Send your e-mail address to me via PM and I can send an MP3 file.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: Matt_R
Date: 23 May 03 - 12:54 PM

That's pretty neat, my great-grandparents came from Castelvetere sul Calore, which is about 12km outside Avellino.

I'm wondering why the lyrics don't have the spoken word parts, when he calls Pepino "a little mulignone" and wants to throw him in "the baniatole" ... I'm not sure of the meaning or spelling of the last word.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: MMario
Date: 23 May 03 - 05:22 PM

heck - most of the sites don't even have the ITALIAN verses, let alone the spoken pieces!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: belsito
Date: 19 Jun 03 - 09:41 PM

hi ; i just saw the pepino thread .
i am interested in knowing the missing 3 rd line in the chorus ;
after    " managa suracill a casa ma dai "
and    " a quando si briaggo a pepino giong apa "
   
i think it starts with   " sta sera.............
thanks          WALT   e - mail me at    [e-mail]
or here .

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: LadyJean
Date: 19 Jun 03 - 11:29 PM

As I remember the song went, Pepino oh you crazy mouse, not little. I remembered that part of the song, from when I was a girl. I also remember Topo Gigio with affection. I hope I've spelled his name right.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From:
Date: 31 Mar 04 - 06:14 PM

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Apr 04 - 02:57 PM

It dosn't sound like sta sera it sounds like statzito, which means shut up. I speak Florentine, which is what is recognized as "Italian" It is what is spoken in courts, written in newspapers and tought in schools. This song is in a rough neopolitan dialect, which is almost a separate language itself. When I listen to this song, I can pick up several lines. Here it is, you'll get the idea. hope this helps:

Cesta no surecillo a basoccella dinda mur
Ogna sere quella esce quanda casa scura
Endo dindo la cucina balla sulasu
A parrano malandrino pura un gabo sapaur

There is a rat in the walls
He comes out every night when the house is dark
He dances back and forth in the kitchen
He dances?(ballano) like a street wanderer(malandrino), even the cat(gatto) is afraid(ha paura)

Pepino suracill ana parta scubari,
Managa suracill a casa ma dai,
A quando si briaggo a Pepino giong apa

???
Pepino you damn rat, leave my house
shut up in the kitchen(statzita in la cucina)
???
when he gets drunk I'll grab him

the bagnarole is the bath tub

Quella no piace forgia American,
Quella va trova no poca Parmesan,
La fatto ghiata ghiat gusto ena cor
Quando cella camina para probino caladur.

He doesn't like american cheese
he never finds the parmesan

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From:
Date: 03 May 04 - 12:32 PM

Many years ago, one of my friends who was of Italian descent made an effort to translate this song for me. One thing I still remember was him telling me thata bagnarole (in his family's dialect anyway) was a    cesspool. In other words Pepino was going to be flushed down the toilet when he was caught.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: GUEST,digthe70's2yahoo.com
Date: 18 Dec 04 - 03:08 PM

hi i can't fing the english lyrics to pippino the mouse either.i want to print them out.i f anybody finds them on line please email them to me 2 digthe70'[e-mail]. thanks scott

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: MMario
Date: 20 Dec 04 - 11:15 AM

look up.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: GUEST,Joepapa4
Date: 04 Feb 05 - 09:51 PM

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Feb 05 - 11:22 PM

If he had not originated in a turd-world back-water....he could have married Minnie and been rich as hell. It is all location, location, location.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: GUEST,ginamarie
Date: 12 Mar 05 - 06:38 PM

Does anyone have the lyrics to What Did Washington Say When He crossed the Delaware or Pepino's Friend Pasqual the Italian Pussycat? I just got the cd from cdconnection.com or loumonte.com but want the lyrics and if possible the translation. My kids love their Italian roots and I try to keep em up with the stuff I loved from my Italian grandparents. They came over from Sambiase, Calabria in the early 1900s.

Subject: Lyr Add: WHAT DID WASHINGTON SAY (WHEN HE...)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 14 Mar 05 - 09:44 PM

There are sound files of this song and several others on this Lou Monte fan page, from which I transcribed this:

WHAT DID WASHINGTON SAY (WHEN HE CROSSED THE DELAWARE)
(Albanese/Merrell/Saltzberg)
As sung by Lou Monte on his album "Golden Hits."

1. "Give me liberty or give me death"—these words will never die.
"We have just begun to fight" is a famous battle cry;
But what I really want to know ain't written anywhere.
Hey, what did Washington say when he crossed the Delaware?
"...
...
Oh, Martha, Martha, wish you were here tonight.
Oh, Martha, Martha, no pasta fazool-a tonight.

2. "Martha baked these pizza pies and now they're cold as ice.
We'll sell them to the Indians at only half the price.
Please row a little faster, boys. I got no time to kill.
Tonight I'm posing for my picture on the dollar bill.
...
...
Oh, Martha, Martha, don't wait up for me tonight.
Oh, Martha, Martha, no Dardanella tonight."

3. George stood up and told his men, "Keep going! Please don't stop.
These boats are only rented and we've got till six o'clock.
It's against the rules. We can't go rowing after dark.
We've got to get these rowboats back to good old Central Park.
...
...
Oh, Martha, Martha, I'm not coming home tonight.
Oh, Martha, Martha, there'll be no twisting tonight."

4. On the day of glory, that's what Georgie told his crew.
Some may doubt the story, but to those of you who do,
Just ask Giusepp' the barber while he trims and cuts your hair.
He'll tell you just what Georgie said when he crossed the Delaware:
"...
...
Oh, Martha, Martha, no pasta fazool tonight.
Oh, Martha, Martha, I'm not coming home tonight."

SPOKEN: Hey George, you wanna buy a bridge?

[The ellipses stand for two lines in Italian that seem to be the same in every verse. I can't transcribe them, but there are some suggestions about what the Italian words might be in a discussion thread at One-Hit Wonder Central.

Somewhere I found a comment that this song uses the tune of an "Italian wedding song" but it didn't name the song.

p.s. I ran across this web site which you might enjoy: an Internet radio station called Songs of Italy.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: Ferrara
Date: 14 Mar 05 - 11:24 PM

I started a new thread with just the first verse. It had the Italian (almost) and its translation so I'm copying it here, have updated the Italian (I think) based on a sound bite from the song here
(Link courtesy of Mmario)

"Give me liberty or give me death," these words will never die,
"We have just begun to fight" is a famous battle cry,
But what I really want to know ain't written anywhere:
What did Washington say when he crossed the Delaware?
"Mme faccia 'nu fridd', e tengo 'na famm',
Mme faccia 'nu fridd', no tengo mo dann'."
    [where "fridd'" is pronounced "freed" and is dialect for "freddo," or cold. My dad told me the translation but don't blame him for my poor memory, it's roughly this:"I'm freezing, I'm hungry, I'm freezing, I hurt all over..."]
"Oh, Martha, Martha, I'm no coming home tonight,
Martha, Martha, no tarantella tonight."

My aunt, a first generation immigrant, told me the joke originated with Italians in New Jersey but it was popular in the Washington area too. They were cold all winter long, and they would ask each other, "What did Washington say when he crossed the Delaware?" The answer she supplied, which is too rude to translate literally, was "Mme faccia 'nu cazzo fridd'" which, cleaned up, roughly means it's cold as heck out here.

Rita F

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Mar 05 - 09:34 AM

PEPINO'S FRIEND PASQUAL (THE ITALIAN PUSSY-CAT), written by Ray Allen and Wandra Merrell, appears on Lou Monte's albums "The Very Best of Lou Monte," 1997; and "Golden Hits," 2004. The best I can do is transcribe this excerpt from a sound sample:

Pepino, oh, you crazy mouse! Why can't you let me be?
I sent that cat to chase you. Now you got him chasing me.
And when I try to sleep at night, I can't get any rest.
Pasqual-a comes and licks my face while you dance on my chest.
[Then follows a verse, and probably a chorus, in Italian.]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino The Italian Mouse
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Aug 05 - 04:55 PM

peppino surecillo' ( peppino the little italian mouse)

these are as close as i can get them, my neapolitan isnt what it hd be these days, i may have to annoy my cousin for corrections at a later date...

signori e signore io mi chiamo peppino surecillo ...and what a mulignan' ( mulignan'/molignan'... is the neapolitan dialect for the italian melanzanne=aubergine, American italians seem to have appropriated the word to describe black ppl, cos of the colour i guess, in naples we use it also to mean a bruise cos of hte purpleish color, what he means by this here is upto u to interpret?)

Pepino o you little mouse o won't you go away,
Find yourself another house to run around and play
You scare my girl you eat my cheese you even drink my wine,
I try so hard to catch you but you trick me all the time.

Ci sta 'nu surecillo a basciu'si' la rint'o'mur'( al dentro= a dinto=a rinto, theres a little mouse that lives down there in the wall)
Ogne sira chill'esce quann'a cas'e' o' scuro ( every eving when its dark he comes out)
endo mmieza d''a cucina 'aballa su' lassu' ( he comes half way into the kitchen and does a little danse down there)
m'apara 'nu malandrino pure o' gatto s'ha pauro ( he seems a bad-ass even the cat's scared of him)

peppino surecillo m'haje fatt'a scumbari ( peppino you driven me out of my house)
MANNAGGIà o' surecillo a casa n''a 'dda'i ( slang for "non 'ndare li' " i think, damn mouse, dont go into my house)
Stasira 'nda cucina 'nu po' di vino gia' lassa'(lassare= lasciare= to leave, this evenig im gna leave a bit of wine in the kitchen)
e quanno s'imbriacca, ah, Pepino gia 'ncappa' ( and when pino is drunk, im gna grab him)

...ma tu chi si', siciliano?( what r u calabrese?) no im a calabrese u nut!( dno y he says hes a calabrese when hes singin in neapolitan, i assume hes paying tribute to the line between vito corleone, de niro, and don roberto the calabrese landlord in GODFATHER II)

The other night I called my girl I asked her could we meet,
I said let's go to my house we could have a bite to eat,
And as we walked in through the door she screamed at what she saw,
There was little Pepino doin' the cha cha on the floor.

chorus
peppino surecillo m'ha fatt'a...


not sure about the next dialogue something about a schiffio, and if i ever catch u im gna throw u right in the bagnarola ( type of basin used to wash clothes in the old days i think)

chello nun ci piaci o' formaggi'american' , ( chello/chillo = quello, this [mouse] doesnt like american cheese)
chello va trovare nuje 'nu po'poca 'o parmiggian', (he goes and gets himself a bit of parmesan)
issa ha fatto ghiata ghiat( sound of him eating the cheese)e la gusta e 'na bbuona, ( he munches the cheese, mmm the tastes so good!)
e quanne chillo camine va lo provi na calla' e'ndormi ??????????????? ( and when he walks away, he goes and finds somewhere to have a nap, [i fink]

hey luigi, i gota present for you, open your hands and put-a your hand-a in-a the box
...ahh, you're a nice little mouse
mannaggia' surecillo m'a scasciat'a mano ( you damn little mouse, u busted my hand ) a mouse trap

repeat chorus

N.B. neapolitan/napuletano is a dialect which by definition is a every evolving entity, as such there is no fixed ways to write/spell certain words, however, pls do not jst make it up based on the sounds u think u hear, this would be a travesty against our apparently communal cultures.
e.g."A quando si briaggo a Pepino giong apa " bears absolutley no resemblance to neapolitan, and mannaggia (damned) is never spelt "managa", its a standard italian word.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino the Italian Mouse
From: GUEST,Matthew
Date: 04 Nov 05 - 12:45 AM

THIS SONG IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!! (Pepino The Italian Mouse) .... at one part of the song, lou says "If I ever catch you im gonna throw you in the bagnarola".. im not sure if thats right... but i want to know what that is! LOL.... is near the end of the song...PLEASE HELP ME!!! ARRIVEDERCI, Matthew

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino the Italian Mouse
From: Ferrara
Date: 04 Nov 05 - 01:02 AM

Oh my heavens, I didn't see the recent (i.e. 2005) additions to this thread before this. They are great! Thanks to all for the lyrics, esepecially for Pepino, these songs were very well loved in my family!

Matthew, GUEST khariss says up above (03 May 04 - 12:32 PM), bagnarol' means toilet or cesspool. I think my dad (born in a town about 70 miles from Naples) said it meant a chamberpot. It looks as if it could mean bathtub (from bagnare) but there seems to be agreement among the native speakers of Neapolitan that it's really toilet, or something similar.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino the Italian Mouse
From: GUEST,BACIGALUPE
Date: 07 Nov 05 - 12:56 AM

A BANIATOLE IS ITALIAN FOR TUB OR BATHTUB. I'VE BEEN TOLD THIS BY SEVERAL PEOPLE.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino the Italian Mouse
From: Ferrara
Date: 07 Nov 05 - 08:27 PM

Well, words sometimes change meaning from region to region in English speaking countries, so perhaps that is also true in Italy.

For example, my aunt's English boarder (in the 60's) came home from work on Friday and said, "Well, I got a really good screw this week!" Turns out in Britain that would have meant she got a good paycheck. That ain't what it means in the U.S.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino the Italian Mouse
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 08 Nov 05 - 12:59 AM

Ferrara's dad is correct according to a former Neapolitan I know- it is a thundermug (chamberpot) in Neapolitan.
In Italian, vasca da bagno is a bathtub; also just bagno is a bath or a tub. Vasca by itself is a basin. But each area has its own dialect. Neapolitan is almost a separate language and there are other dialects down towards the boot heel.
He looked at the words by Allen and Merrell and said some weren't the Neapolitan he knew; as suggested above, some may catch the sound but not the spelling.
Lou Monte and Dean Martin had a lot of fun with this song in public appearances, adding more dialect with double meanings.

Another word that stops North Americans cold is douche, often used by the Dutch to mean to take a shower. It is, or was, taught in their English classes. Perhaps it does refer to a shower in some areas of the UK.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino the Italian Mouse
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 08:47 PM

Naples is NOT in Calabria, it is just a little north of Calabria

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino the Italian Mouse
From: M.Ted
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 05:07 PM

Lou Monte' family was Calabrese, --the dialect, I am informed by a person who studies such things, is very similar Neopolitan, but not exactly the same. Also,Monte was born in the US, meaning that the dialect he heard at home was a late 19th century/early 20th Century dialect, which would have been a bit different than the dialect spoken in Napoli/Calabria in the fifties, when the song was popular--so some of it might not sound quite right to contemporary Neopolitans--

My grandmother and her sister went to visit the town where their mother had come from in Emilia-Romagna--grandmother had studied Italian in school, and spoke quite well, but Aunt Mary got quite a laugh from the relatives when she spoke, since she only knew the dialect that my great grandmother had spoken when she came over in 1893--

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino the Italian Mouse
From: Ferrara
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 11:27 PM

Great story, M.Ted.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino the Italian Mouse
From: GUEST,Aaron Caruso www.aaroncaruso.com
Date: 15 Feb 06 - 12:05 AM

peppino surecillo' ( peppino the little italian mouse)

signori e signore io mi chiamo peppino surecillo ...and what a mulignan' ( mulignan'/molignan'... is the neapolitan dialect for the italian melanzanne=aubergine, American italians seem to have appropriated the word to describe black ppl, cos of the colour i guess, in naples we use it also to mean a bruise cos of hte purpleish color, what he means by this here is upto u to interpret?)

Peppino o you little mouse o won't you go away,
Find yourself another house to run around and play
You scare my girl you eat my cheese you even drink my wine,
I try so hard to catch you but you trick me all the time.

Ce sta 'nu surecillo a basci' O sell' (THE EARLY ITALIANS CALLED THE BASEMENT BASCI' O SELL' MEANING BASEMENT AND CELLAR, HENCE BASCI' O SELL) rint'o'mur'( al dentro= a dinto=a rinto, theres a little mouse that lives down there in the wall)
Ogne sira chill'esce quann'a cas'e' o' scuro ( every eving when its dark he comes out)
endo mmieza d''a cucina 'aballa SULO A SUL' (BY HIMSELF) ( he comes half way into the kitchen and does a little danCe down there BY HIMSELF)
m'apPara 'nu malandrino pure o' gatto s'ha paurA ( he seems a bad-ass even the cat's scared of him)

peppino surecillo m'ha fatt'a scumbari ( peppino you driven me out of my house)
MANNAGGIà o' surecillo a casa n''a 'dda'i ( slang for "non 'ndare li' " i think, damn mouse, dont go into my house)
Stasira 'nda cucina 'nu poCO vino 'NCE lassa'(lassare= lasciare= to leave, this evenig im gna leave a bit of wine in the kitchen)
e quanno s'imbriacca, ah, Pepino gia 'ncappa' ( and when pino is drunk, im gna grab him)

...ma tu chi si', siciliano?( what r u SICILIANO?) no im a calabrese u nut!( dno y he says hes a calabrese when hes singin in neapolitan, i assume hes paying tribute to the line between vito corleone, de niro, and don roberto the calabrese landlord in GODFATHER II) NO, IT'S BECAUSE LOU MONTE WAS CALABRESE AND THE MOUSE WAS ASKING HIM IF HE WAS, IN FACT, SICILIAN. HE SAYS "NO, IM CALABRESE, YOU NUT!"

The other night I called my girl I asked her could we meet,
I said let's go to my house we could have a bite to eat,
And as we walked in through the door she screamed at what she saw,
There was little Pepino doin' the cha cha on the floor.

chorus
peppino surecillo m'ha fatt'a...

MA COMMU VENNIU, A SCHIFFIU?
not sure about the next dialogue something about a schiffio, and if i ever catch u im gna throw u right in the bagnarola ( type of basin used to wash clothes in the old days i think)

chello nun ci piaci o' formaggi'american' , ( chello/chillo = quello, this [mouse] doesnt like american cheese)
chello va trova 'nu po'poca 'o parmiggian', (he goes and gets himself a bit of parmesan)
'ssa ha fatto ghiata ghiat( sound of him eating the cheese)e la gusta e 'na bbuona, ( he munches the cheese, mmm the tastes so good!)
e quanne chillo camine va lo provi na calla' (PARE PROPRIO NU' ??? ILL GET BACK TO THIS ONE) e'ndormi ??????????????? ( and when he walks away, he goes and finds somewhere to have a nap, [i fink]

hey luigi, i gota present for you, open your hands and put-a your hand-a in-a the box
...ahh, you're a nice little mouse
mannaggia' surecillo m'a scasciat'a mano ( you damn little mouse, u busted my hand ) a mouse trap

repeat chorus
INTERESTING FORUM. ILL GET BACK TO EVERYONE WITH THE LAST WORD, THERE. MY FRIEND, MARCO IS AN EXPERT IN THIS AREA. HE KNEW AND SANG WITH LOU MONTE IN NEW JERSEY AND IS A STUDENT OF HIS PARTICULAR BRAND OF MIXED DIALECTS. YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THAT MONTE WAS AMERICAN AND EVEN THOUGH HIS FAMILY WAS CALABRESE, HE GREW UP WITH ALL NAPOLETAN'S SO HE MIXED UP EVERYTHING AND SPOKE, ACTUALLY SEVERAL DIALECTS. IF YOU LISTEN TO HIM SING IN ITALIAN, IT'S APPALLING BECAUSE HE SING IT WITH A SOUTHERN ACCENT. HE WAS GREAT THOUGH, IN MY OPINION. IM SO GLAD I STUMBLED ON THIS SITE. BEST TO ALL

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pepino the Italian Mouse
From: GUEST,M.Ted
Date: 15 Feb 06 - 10:34 AM

Aaron, thank you for your interpretation--Amazing that the song is so popular, and yet it is so hard to figure out the meaning--

Oh, and I went to your website--really enjoyed the songs you have posted--and hey, Cumapari--I'm from Michigan too! And our sisters have the same name! Sorry to hear about your friend, Russell, it sounds like he was a wonderful and rare person--

All the best--hope to hear you sometime-