你眼里的蓝 (1958)

"Nel blu, dipinto di blu" (Italian: [nel ˈblu diˈpinto di ˈblu]; 'In the blue [sky] [as I was] painted blue'), popularly known as "Volare" (Italian: [voˈlaːre]; 'To fly'), is a song originally recorded by Italian singer-songwriter Domenico Modugno, with music composed by himself and Italian lyrics written by himself and Franco Migliacci. It was released as a single on 1 February 1958.

After winning the eighth edition of the Sanremo Music Festival, the song represented Italy in the third edition of the Eurovision Song Contest held in Hilversum, where it came in third place out of ten songs.

The song spent five non-consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in August and September 1958, and subsequently became Billboard's number-one single for the year. In 1959, at the 1st Annual Grammy Awards, Modugno's recording became the first ever Grammy winner for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year. The combined sales of all the versions of the song exceed 18 million copies worldwide, making it one of the all-time most popular songs to come out of Sanremo and Eurovision.

The song was later translated into several languages and recorded by a wide range of performers. The song is also used as the basis for numerous football chants.

Background

Writing

Franco Migliacci began working on the lyrics of the song in June 1957, inspired by two paintings by Marc Chagall. He had planned to go to the sea with Domenico Modugno, but while waiting for Modugno to show up, Migliacci started drinking wine and eventually fell asleep. He had vivid dreams, and when he woke up, he looked at the Chagall paintings (reproductions) on the wall. In "Le coq rouge" was a yellow man suspended in mid-air, while in "Le peintre et la modèle", half the painter's face was coloured blue. So he began penning a song about a man who dreams of painting himself blue, and being able to fly.

Later that same night, Migliacci discussed his lyrics with Modugno, and for several days they worked on the song, tentatively entitled "Sogno in blu" ('Dream in blue').

In 2008, Modugno's widow, Franca Gandolfi, recalled that her husband, after a storm forced open his window, had the idea of modifying the chorus of the song, introducing the word "Volare", which is now the popular title of the song.

Musical style and lyrical content

The song is a ballad in a dramatic chanson style, in which Modugno describes the feeling he has when with his lover; a feeling that resembles flying. The song opens with a surreal prelude, which the cover versions often left out:

The English lyrics were written by Mitchell Parish. Alternative English lyrics were written in 1958 by Gracie Fields, and were used from then in most concerts she performed in until her death in 1979; she often changed the words to suit her performance and age.

Sanremo Music Festival

In 1958, the song participated in the selection process for the eighth edition of the Sanremo Music Festival. The jury charged with selecting the entries to the competition was going to reject "Nel blu, dipinto di blu"; however, in the end, it was one of the twenty admitted songs.

On 31 January 1958, the song was performed for the first time, during the second night of the Festival, by both Domenico Modugno and Johnny Dorelli.

It was Dorelli's first appearance at the Festival, and according to his team-partner, Dorelli was so nervous that he had to be punched by Modugno to be persuaded to perform on stage.