Lyr Req: Poppa Piccolinno

Subject: Poppa Piccolinno
From: Jimmy C
Date: 09 Jul 02 - 10:47 AM

A few years ago I requested the words to this song. I was able to get them through the postings. Unfortunately I have lost all trace of the words. Can anyone help. I believe the first verse is " All over Italy, he plays his concertina
Poppa Piccollino, Poppa Piccolino
He plays so merrily for every signorina
Poppa Piccolino, from sunny Italy.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Poppa Piccolinno
From: Sorcha
Date: 09 Jul 02 - 11:00 AM

Here's the thread, Jimmy.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Poppa Piccolinno
From: GUEST,polaitaly
Date: 09 Jul 02 - 11:04 AM

I never heard the song, but maybe you would like to know that "poppa, piccolino" in Italian means "suck, little one...."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Poppa Piccolinno
From: Jimmy C
Date: 09 Jul 02 - 05:46 PM

Sorcha,

thanks for your quick rsponse. I posted the request, went downtown for a spell and when I came back there was your answer- barley 13 minutes after I sent it in. I tried to put the title in the search but I used lower case letters, maybe that is why I did not find it. I may sing it at social evening on 14th July in Cap-de-la-Madeleine Quebec. Thanks again.

Polaitaly: thanks for your translation, I thought it meant Father Picolla or something similar ?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Poppa Piccolinno
From: Sorcha
Date: 09 Jul 02 - 06:30 PM

That would probably be Papa........thus, Little Papa One. Jimmy, I clicked on your name in blue and pulled all your posts to find it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Poppa Piccolinno
From: GUEST,polaitaly
Date: 10 Jul 02 - 03:10 AM

I suppose the real words were " Papà Piccolino" , meaning "little daddy" - "papa" without accent in Italian is only the Pope. My "traslation" was just kidding- it was clear that the original word had been deformed ( deformed ? Deformated ??) and in my language it sounded really funny. Paola

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Poppa Piccolinno
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 10 Jul 02 - 03:20 AM

An old man who plays tunes to young women and children ... he'd be arrested today! Having read Accordion tales, I'd associate that instrument with Italy rather than the concertina-or am I being picky again? Is there an Italian rhyme for accordion that would make sense in an English/American song?

Steve

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Poppa Piccolinno
From: GUEST,polaitaly
Date: 10 Jul 02 - 03:47 AM

An italian rhyme to "accordion"? I don't think .....There's no words that I can think in Ital. that ends in "on"...Or you mean a rhyme with the italian word for accordion? It is "Fisarmonica" , and it's true, la fisarmonica is much more played in Italy than concertina.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Poppa Piccolinno
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 10 Jul 02 - 05:34 AM

Isn't it a shame? It seems that the sweet, romantic image of everone's favourite granddad bringing laughter to children and smiles to young women's faces, spreading joy and happiness with his old squeeze box is, in fact, just the cynical cupiditous outpouring of some Tin Pan Alley song-monger ...

I've got Diana Decker's recording of it, with "If I had a golden umbrella" on the other side. The title actually is Poppa Piccolino, BTW. Maybe our songwriter was trying to tell us something?

Steve

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Poppa Piccolinno
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 11 Jul 02 - 12:03 AM

G'day Steve Parkes,

"...Having read Accordion tales, I'd associate that instrument with Italy rather than the concertina-or am I being picky again? "

Yes! I play both button accordions and (German system /Anglo-chromatic) concertinas. I have (amongst many other instruments) one Italian accordion and three Italian concertinas ... two Bastaris and one Frontalini (same brand as the accordion).

It's a big and diverse country!

Regards,

Bob Bolton

HTML fixed. You had "/i" where you should have had "/b"...twice!--JoeClone, 13-Jul-02.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Poppa Piccolinno
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 11 Jul 02 - 12:21 AM

G'day again Steve,

I should also say (apart from: "Damn - I got the html wrong again!" ... I must have mucked up the "close bold" code after one.) that the names "Accordion", "Concertina" and "Harmonica" are real traps in translation. The three words all mean, essentially, the same thing ... coming from: Greek, Italian/French (thus: late Latin) and Roman (early) Latin respectively.

As an example, the Germans (and many other northern Europeans) use the name "Harmonica" for what we anglophones call an accordion. The Argentinans call what the Germans named a "Bandonion" a concertina. The Italians have a whole swag of more precise descriptions for the half dozen, or so, different accordions (generically fisarmonicas) found around their regions.

Papà Piccolino may be playing what we would recognise as a concertina ... or not!

Regard(les)s,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Poppa Piccolinno
From: Jimmy C
Date: 11 Jul 02 - 12:42 AM

Sorcha, I did not know you could do that. I tried it and it really works. Geez, you learn something every day. Thanks again.