The song simply tells about the pain and longings of a man who is about to die while he is looking into the eyes of a girl who was very dear to him. The lyrics contain various subtle references to people and places in Caruso's life.
Lucio Dalla told the origin and the meaning of the song in an interview to one of the main Italian newspapers, the Corriere della Sera. He stopped by the coastal town of Sorrento and stayed in the Excelsior Vittoria Hotel, coincidentally in the very same room where many years earlier the tenorEnrico Caruso spent some time shortly before dying. Dalla was inspired to write the song after the owners told him about the last days of Caruso and in particular the latter's passion for one of his young female students.[3]
Caruso was an acclaimed Italian operatic singer who was one of the greatest and most sought-after singers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Unfortunately he lived a very difficult and rather unhappy life, having had many challenges and problems with Italian opera houses, but gained more fame and success in the United States.
Caruso was born to a poor family in Naples. He was often involved with women, and had several love affairs with prominent married women in the performing arts, which often ended badly. His longest and most passionate love affair was with the married Ada Giachetti, with whom he had two sons. It ended when she left him for their chauffeur. A few years before he died, he met and wed a woman 20 years his junior, Dorothy Park Benjamin, whom Lucio Dalla describes in this song "Caruso". With her he had a daughter named Gloria.
Guardò negli occhi la ragazza, quegli occhi verdi come il mare He looked into the eyes of the girl, those eyes as green as the sea Poi all'improvviso uscì una lacrima e lui credette di affogare But then, a tear fell, and he thought he was drowning
Sorrento is referred to as "Surriento", which is the name in the Neapolitan language. It refers to Caruso's frequent visits to the seaside town and its Excelsior Vittoria Hotel.
Te voglio bene assaje I love you very much ma tanto tanto bene sai very, very much, you know è una catena ormai It is a chain by now che scioglie il sangue dint'e vene sai... that melts the blood inside of our veins, you know...
Here the "chain" is a translation, but what is meant is a chain reaction – such love melts the blood and so forth. The music and words of the above refrain, written in a mixture of standard Italian and Neapolitan, are based on a Neapolitan song, titled "Dicitencello vuje", published in 1930 by Rodolfo Falvo (music) and Enzo Fusco (text) written according to the best tradition of Neapolitan "romances" with a style reminiscent of opera.
Lucio Dalla's official video of the song[4] was filmed in the 'Caruso Suite' at the Excelsior Vittoria Hotel where Caruso spent most of the final weeks of his life,[5] though Caruso died at the Vesuvio Hotel in Naples.
In 2015, on the occasion of the third anniversary of Dalla's passing, GoldenGate Edizioni published the biographical novel by Raffaele Lauro,[6] "Caruso The Song – Lucio Dalla and Sorrento",[7] which through unpublished testimonies reconstructs the almost fifty-year-long bond (from 1964 to 2012) of the great artist with Sorrento ("Sorrento is the true corner of my soul"), and the authentic inspiration for his masterpiece, "Caruso". The documentary film by the same author, "Lucio Dalla and Sorrento – Places of the Soul",[8] was presented in the national première on 7 August 2015 at the Social World Film Festival 2015 in Vico Equense.
Russian singer Vitas covered this song in 2002 (later released as a digital download on the Vitas' official site – as well as the Radio Vitas Online – in 2011).[9]
Florent Pagny covered the song in 1996. Released as a single, his version peaked at No. 2 in France[10] and No. 3 in Belgium (Wallonia).
Ana Belén covered the song in a duet with Dalla on her album Mírame (1997).
