Gigi L'amoroso

I'm going to tell you
Before I leave
The story of a little village near Napoli

We were four friends
At the dance every Saturday
Playing, singing all night

Giorgio on the guitar
Sandro on the mandolin
I danced while playing the tambourine
But everyone who came
Came to listen
To the one who made all hearts beat
And when he arrived
The crowd would exclaim

Here comes Gigi the Lover!
Love crooner, velvet-eyed like a caress
Gigi the Lover
Always victorious, sometimes heartless
But never without tenderness
Everywhere was a party when he sang
Zaza, Luna caprese, O' sole mio

Here comes

Gigi! Giuseppe, but everyone called him Gigi the Lover
And the women were crazy about him, all of them
The baker's wife who closed her shop every Tuesday to go
The notary's wife who was a saint and had never cheated on her husband before
And the Colonel's widow, the Colonel's widow who no longer wore mourning because he didn't like black
All of them I tell you!
Even me!
But me
Gigi loved his freedom too much
Until the day

A rich American woman
With lots of I love yous
Proposed to him to go to Hollywood
You'll be the most beautiful of all the Carusos
She told him until she was out of breath
Here we are at the station
With all our handkerchiefs
Heartbroken, moved by this great departure
Yet we were proud
That he was surpassing our borders
Gigi was off to conquer America
And when he arrived
The village was there

Here comes Gigi the Lover!
Love crooner, velvet-eyed like a caress
Gigi the Lover
Always victorious, sometimes heartless
But never without tenderness
And there, in front of the crowd, he sang
Zaza, Luna caprese, O' sole mio

Here comes Gigi the Lover!

Gigi! When the train had disappeared, we all went back home
And the next day the village was not the same
The baker's wife refused to light her oven
The notary's wife, in despair, took several lovers!
And the Colonel's widow closed her shutters and resumed mourning for the second time
Yes, the village had changed
And me

Years have passed
Five winters, five summers
No news was good news, we were told
It took courage and time
To continue without him
And despite his absence
At night in the silence
Folding our costumes and instruments
We could hear coming
Like a tear, a sigh
From the back of the room, this melody

Love crooner, velvet-eyed like a caress

Gigi
Gigi?
Is that you over there in the dark?
Wait, let me look at you
But you're crying, you're crying, Gigi
It didn't go well there, huh?
And then
And then, what do those Americans understand besides rock and twist, huh?
My Gigi, what did you think?
To become like that, Gigi the American!
And instead no, you are Giuseppe Fabrizio Luca Santini! And you are Neapolitan!

Listen, Giorgio picked up the guitar
Wait! Sandro is here too!
But, but you can't just leave like that!
Here you are at home! Here you are the king!
(Here he comes)
Do you hear? Do you hear them, Gigi?
They're all here
They must have recognized you at the station
Sing, Gigi, sing!
It's your audience, sing for them!
Sing for me who never knew how to talk to you
Yes! Go on, bravo Gigi! Sing! Bravo!

Carmella, Carmella, you know Gigi from America has arrived!
Joselina, Joselina, come down, Gigi from Hollywood has arrived!
But if I tell you he's arrived, come down, no
Guaglione, run, run, go tell Uncle Gennaro
That Uncle Gigi from America has arrived!

(Always victorious, sometimes heartless
But never without tenderness
Everywhere was a party when he sang
Zaza, Luna caprese, O' sole mio)

Here comes Gigi the Lover!
Love crooner, velvet-eyed like a caress
Gigi the Lover