Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Franco Battiato sings about love philosophically. It's useless to have regrets, since we can't go back in time.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
This song, by the Sicilian singer Levante, is in praise of diversity, of those who don't just follow the pack. Double meanings, rhymes, and opposites make the lyrics interesting for those learning Italian, whether or not the music is your cup of tea.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Ennio Morricone was best known for his unforgettable movie soundtracks. In fact his music was featured in over sixty prize-winning films.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
The great Eros Ramazzotti sings Un'altra te (another you) written together with Piero Cassano and Adelio Cogliati. Italian actress Francesca Neri features in the video.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Fai rumore (you make noise) was written and performed by Italian singer-songwriter Diodato. He's trying to make some sense out of his life.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
This single, Vento sulla Luna (Wind on the Moon) provides plenty of expressions and modi di dire (ways of saying things) to boost your vocabulary. It was written and is performed by Italian singer-songwriter Annalisa in collaboration with Rkomi.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Two very important question words dove (where ) and quando (when) dominate this romantic summer song. This song is very ballabile (danceable) making it a very popular summer hit. From the Italian band, Benji & Fede.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
In honor of Mother's Day, celebrated in May in Italy, here's a classic Italian song, Mamma, performed by Luciano Pavarotti.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
This is the famous aria for tenor from Puccini's Turandot, sung here by the legendary Luciano Pavarotti. Nessun is short for nessuno (no one) and dorma is the third person subjunctive of the verb dormire (to sleep) used as an imperative for the herald to proclaim that no one in the city may sleep.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Samuele Bersani relives the past when he was still a pre-teen, starting to have secret thoughts. The video contains plenty of illustrations of the words he is singing.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Ferzan Özpetek directed this video of images from his movie La Dea Fortuna, for which the song "Luna Diamante" (diamond moon) is part of the soundtrack. The song was written by Ivano Fossati and sung by Mina.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
There are various interpretations of this famous song sung by Mina. What or whom does il corvo (the crow) represent? A judge? A priest? An agent? Whoever is seen as an ugly black crow has the power but lacks wisdom.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
The poignant text of this song was inspired by the singer-songwriter's experience as a volunteer in a mental institution in Rome and meant to create awareness of the reality of mental illness. It is sung from the point of view of someone who had been deemed insane and shut into a manicomio (insane asylum) for most of his life.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
This song, written by Ivano Fossati and sung by Loredana Bertè with her scratchy voice, has never lost its popularity with Italians.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Marco Mengoni was greatly influenced by Muhammad Ali, by his stand on religious and racial freedom, as well as by his physical and mental courage in the ring. This song makes the connection.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
This is a song by Nino Manfredi and is about a boy who believes he's Tarzan. Being a parent isn't easy.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Corrado, a popular host, launched the song on Italian TV and it was also sold as a single. It was so successful that a sequel, “Sei contento papà?” [Are You Happy, Dad?] was created.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
This beautiful ballad was inspired by Raimondo Lanza di Trabia, an aristocrat known for his electrifying personality and for his romantic relationships (Rita Hayworth and Susanna Agnelli among them). At the age of thirty-nine, he threw himself from a hotel window in Rome.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Together with Eros Ramazzotti, Adriano Celentano sings the ballad about the street in the outskirts of Milan where Celentano grew up. The street once abutted fields, but over time all the green was built on or paved over. The Via Gluck is named after the 18th century composer Christoph Willibald Gluck.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Legendary Genoese musician Fabrizio De André sings a ballad about a fisherman who shares his bread and wine with a murderer.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Roman singer-songwriter Mirkoeilcane sings about migration, from the point of view of a seven-year old kid who just wants to play ball.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Mudimbi is an Italian-Congolese rapper. “Il Mago” [The Wizard] is the song he sang at the 2018 Sanremo Festival.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Here are some great lyrics for learning Italian. The video clip is actually a song within a short, inane, comedy. Just about every Italian knows the name Gianni Morandi. He's a very famous and well-loved singer-songwriter and entertainer, and even starred in a TV series called Voglia di Volare (the desire to fly), so the song may very well be a thinly veiled reference to that show. The original song Volare is one of the most famous Italian pop songs of all time.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Lorenzo Baglioni, a Tuscan pop star, sings a tune on il congiuntivo (the subjunctive). He remarks that the subjunctive is particularly useful for lovers. Note that the Italian subjunctive, out of context, can have various different solutions in English, and sometimes doesn't correspond at all.
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