Because today is a special and you deserve to smile.
Performed and choreographed by Suzanne Cleary & Peter Harding
Film by: Jonny Reed
Music: “We Speak No Americano” by Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP
Up & Over It: http://www.facebook.com/upandoverit or http://www.upandoverit.com
Produced by: http://puckproductions.com
It appears “We Speak No Americano” by Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP samples the 1956 song “Tu vuò fà l’americano” (You pretend to be American), a Neapolitan language song by Italian singer Renato Carosone.
If someone with some language skillz can translate, please do so in the comments.
I showed this to Kierce (my 17 month old). he didn’t move a muscle the entire song. It was like some sort of incredible lava lamp. He watched it again this morning with the same result. I’ve never seen him stand still for anything, so I now call this video “the three minute babysitter”
I play this song at my DJ gigs! Awesome song!
Bryce, I think you could use it to babysit me.
Translation is a bit difficult because it is sampled from an older song. You only get a piece of the original lyrics which make it hard to translate context.
I speak 3 regional Italian dialects and Neapolitan isn’t one of them. However, it is close enough that I can make a go of it.
here is a rough translation.
“You pretend to be an American. Listen to me! What do you think you are doing? You think you are stylish, but you drink whiskey and soda. You are bothering me.
You dance to rock and roll. You play baseball, but where did you get the money for Camel cigarettes? Your mother’s purse!
You pretend to be an American, but you were born in Italy. You are Neapolitan.
Why do you think it is so great to speak American? When you make love under the moonlight do you say I LOVE YOU?”
repeats
Wikipedia says it best.
The lyrics are about an Italian who imitates the contemporary American lifestyle and acts like a Yankee, drinking whisky and soda, dancing to rock ‘n roll, playing baseball and smoking Camel cigarettes, but still depends on his parents for money.[1] The song is generally considered a satire on the process of Americanisation that occurred in the early post-war years, when southern Italy was still a rural, traditional society
Great video.
RyanV,
That is great. I like that song even more now. Thanks!