Topics: US News, UK News, World News, Music, Twitter, Social Media, Viral
People are only just finding out the backstory behind Italian singer Adriano Celentano's song 'Prisencolinensinainciusol'.
You may often find yourself mouthing along to songs without a clue what the words actually are, instead just moving your mouth in some general shapes, smiling enthusiastically and bobbing along to try and take away from your fakery.
However, the song, 'Prisencolinensinainciusol', really takes the biscuit in doing this.
Prisencolinensinainciusol by Adriano Celentano. Who knew nonsense could be such a banger (plus those MOVES!) One of my go-to struttin’ songs pic.twitter.com/iMK8BGNoqu
— gizmo (@DakinMorgan) September 30, 2022
Composed by Italian singer, composer, actor and filmmaker Adriano Celentano, and performed by the musician and his wife Claudia Mori the single - first released on 3 November, 1972 - doesn't make the slightest bit of sense.
However, that's not because of any hard-to-grasp lyrics, but simply because it isn't meant to be understood.
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Celentano created the song using gibberish, non-sensical words, made to sound like English in an American accent through the ears of someone who doesn't speak the language.
The question is, why?
Celentano - who was already an esteemed and highly recognised rock musician in Italy - released the track in a bid to highlight barriers in communication when listeners speak and understand a different language to the one present in a song.
In an interview with National Public Radio journalist Guy Raz, Celentano said: "Ever since I started singing, I was very influenced by American music and everything Americans did.
"So at a certain point, because I like American slang—which, for a singer, is much easier to sing than Italian—I thought that I would write a song which would only have as its theme the inability to communicate.
"And to do this, I had to write a song where the lyrics didn't mean anything."
Fascinating - words can *sound* convincingly like English without being English.
— Incunabula (@incunabula) October 3, 2022
Italian singer Adriano Celentano released his hit song "Prisencolinensinainciusol" in 1972, written to mimic the way English sounds to non-English speakers, despite being almost entirely nonsense. pic.twitter.com/tnLb7vDyLV
A Twitter user named Khai called Celentano a 'genius' and brought up the general belief that Celentano also released the song to try to 'prove that Italians would just love any American song'.
"And it was a hit," he added.
Indeed, 'Prisencolinensinainciusol' did prove to be a hit, as it eventually reach No. 1 in Italy, France, Germany and Belgium.
This is genius. Italian singer Adriano Celentano released a song in the 70s with nonsensical lyrics meant to sound like American English—to prove that Italians would just love any American song. And it was a hit. pic.twitter.com/mCZ6Phy6xH
— Khai (@ThamKhaiMeng) October 2, 2022
Yes yes yes Adriano Celentano is one the most incredible artists on the planet!!! pic.twitter.com/Ik6iqAVEQ3
— Imogen Rhodes (@ImogenRhodes) October 2, 2022
Exactly! Experiment failed because the song rules.
— Jesse (@Jesse93247380) October 2, 2022
You have to admit the choreography is epic though.
— The Spider (@Loxxosceles) October 2, 2022
One user replied to Khai's post, noting: "It sounds like he's singing Aerosmith lyrics."
"Yea, but that beat is fire," another added.
A third wrote: "That's not fair it slaps."
A final resolved: "This is just bonkers! The dancing. The song. The gibberish. The singer!! GENIUS!"
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