Lyr Req: Caruso, by Lucio Dalla, in English?

Subject: Lyr Req: Caruso, by Lucio Dalla, in English?
From: GUEST,(Cookyless) Gulliver
Date: 08 Aug 07 - 07:20 PM

(I know this isn't folk but Mudcatters are a cosmopolitan lot!)

Is there an English version of Lucio Dalla's Caruso? I've listened to half a dozen versions
from singers of different nationalities, but all are in Italian (not a problem for me, but few of the gang
here at home understand Italian).

Thanks, Don

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Caruso, by Lucio Dalla, in English?
From: Gulliver
Date: 12 Aug 07 - 11:31 PM

Any info on this? It's a nice song.

Don

Subject: Lyr Add: CARUSO (Lucio Dalla)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 07:50 PM

First, here are the Italian lyrics from Lucio Dalla's own web site: (I have inserted some blank lines.)

CARUSO
Lucio Dalla

Qui dove il mare luccica e tira forte il vento
su una vecchia terrazza davanti al golfo di Surriento
un uomo abbraccia una ragazza dopo che aveva pianto
poi si schiarisce la voce e ricomincia il canto.

Te voglio bene assaie
ma tanto tanto bene sai
è una catena ormai
che scioglie il sangue dint'e vene sai.

Vide le luci in mezzo al mare pensò alle notti là in America
ma erano solo le lampare e la bianca scia di un' elica
sentì il dolore nella musica si alzò dal pianoforte
ma quando vide la luna uscire da una nuvola
gli sembrò dolce anche la morte
guardò negli occhi la ragazza quegli occhi verdi come il mare
poi all'improvviso uscì una lacrima e lui credette di affogare.

Te voglio bene assaie
ma tanto tanto bene sai
è una catena ormai
che scioglie il sangue dint'e vene sai.

Potenza della lirica dove ogni dramma è un falso
che con un po' di trucco e con la mimica puoi diventare un altro
ma due occhi che ti guardano così vicini e veri
ti fan scordare le parole confondono i pensieri
così diventa tutto piccolo anche le notti là in America
ti volti e vedi la tua vita come la scia di un'elica
ma sì è la vita che finisce ma lui non ci pensò poi tanto
anzi si sentiva già felice e ricominciò il suo canto.

Te voglio bene assaie
ma tanto tanto bene sai
è una catena ormai
che scioglie il sangue dint'e vene sai.

* * *
And here is an English translation I found at Andrina Lejon's web site. Lejon is a poet, and her web site has both Italian and good idiomatic English, so I'm guessing this translation is a good one (I don't know Italian), but it doesn't rhyme, so I don't think it's meant to be sung:

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…

* * *
By the way, an elaborately arranged midi file plays automatically at that web page.

Furthermore, although Lejon's web site has the Italian, too, I notice some spelling differences between her version and the one at Dalla's web site. I don't know what to make of this.

Finally, I found a cool web site called Second Hand Songs that specializes in listing "covers" of songs, including those in other languages than the original. That's information that's hard to come by elsewhere.

Here's what it has:

CARUSO by Lucio Dalla (1986)
CARUSO by Luciano Pavarotti (1989)
CARUSO by Mina (1990)
CARUSO by Andrea Bocelli (1994)
CARUSO by Julio Iglesias (1994)
CARUSO by Lara Fabian (2003)
WAT IS ER FOUT GEGAAN by Gary Hagger (2003)
CARUSO by Oscar Castro-Neves (2003)

(Does a Dutch version interest you?)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Caruso, by Lucio Dalla, in English?
From: Gulliver
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 10:00 PM

Thanks, Jim. I sing it in Italian and German (as sung by Herbert Kindesmann). Just looking for an English cover.

Don