"O SOLE MIO" A LULLABY FOR MY BABY

I don't remember exactly when I started to sing "O sole mio" to my daughter, but since the day I did it, she falls asleep very fast and tight. Oh, I am glad I started to sing her that song. But I sing it in Italian, and more precisely in the Neapolitan dialect (Napoli in Italian).

The song goes like this:

Che bella cosa na jurnata 'e sole,
n'aria serena doppo na tempesta!
Pe' ll'aria fresca pare gia' na festa
Che bella cosa na jurnata 'e sole.

Ma n'atu sole
cchiu' bello, oi ne'.
'O sole mio
sta 'nfronte a te!
'O sole, 'o sole mio
sta 'nfronte a te,
sta 'nfronte a te!

Lùcene 'e llastre d''a fenesta toia;
'na lavannara canta e se ne vanta
e pe' tramente torce, spanne e canta
lùcene 'e llastre d'a fenesta toia.

Ma n'atu sole
cchiu' bello, oi ne'.
'O sole mio
sta 'nfronte a te!

Quanno fa notte e 'o sole se ne scenne,
me vene quase 'na malincunia;
sotto 'a fenesta toia restarria
quanno fa notte e 'o sole se ne scenne.

Ma n'atu sole
cchiu' bello, oi ne'.
'O sole mio
sta 'nfronte a te!


I found also a translation of the song on the internet, which goes like this:

My sun

What a beautiful thing is a day of sun,
calm is in the air after a storm!
The air is so fresh it seems already a holiday...
What a beautiful thing is a day of sun!

There is no other sun
more beautiful
my sun
is on your forehead

Sparkling are the glasses of your window,
a washlady sings and boast
while she wrings, hangsout and sings.
Sparkling are the glasses of your window!

There is no other sun
more beautiful
my sun
is on your forehead

When evening comes and the sun sets,
I am assailed by melanchony......
I will remain under your window,
until is evening and the sun sets.

There is no other sun
more beautiful
my sun
is on your forehead

translated by Luisa

Webmaster: Umberto de Fabio
udf@mclink.it on Napoletanita'

Well, I sing the Neapolitan dialect version, because this is the original, and because part of my family is from Avellino, a city near Naples. It is a way to transmit to my daughter one small part of her origins as well.

This song was first published in the 1898 and since than it was interpreted by different singers. I like the version of Enrico Caruso and of course of Luciano Pavarotti.
But it is really curious that my daughter started to like that much this song. I started singing her lullabies that my grandma used to sing to me, such as "Din don dindolon Janja je padla v kanon....": The translation of this part is really difficult, how it will sound in English. But the last part says that I fell into a canon. Don't ask me, why my grandma wanted me to fell into a canon. I never asked her, if she invented this lullaby or her mum sang it to her. Well, I must ask her.

But "O sole mio" lullaby works just fine for my little kid, and besides, I like it so much, it is such a lively song, full of energy and sun, and it makes me remember Napoli and the sunny character of the people there. Well, I never were there in fact, but still are in contact with familiars. It would be nice to go and to know the cities my grandpa lived in before the war.

Naples, Italy

And here goes two links to two versions of the songs:

Enrico Caruso: O sole mio
Luciano Pavarotti: O sole mio

I guess where my daughter got this ear for the opera, but she likes it so much. She sings and dances when she hears opera. We did a small video of here listening to the opera, singing and dancing.

She likes, besides opera, all kind of music, and when there is no music, she sings herself and dances. Kids are incredible.