The aria is often regarded as one of the most moving in the operatic repertoire of the time. The pain of Canio is portrayed in the aria and exemplifies the entire notion of the "tragic clown": smiling on the outside but crying on the inside. This is still displayed today, as the clown motif often features the painted-on tear running down the cheek of the performer.
Enrico Caruso's recordings of the aria, from 1902, 1904 and 1907, were among the top selling records of the 78-rpm era and reached over a million sales.[1][2]
This aria is often used in popular culture, and has been featured in many renditions, mentions, and spoofs, and is often misspelled "guibba" instead of "giubba" on many recordings.[example needed][citation needed]
Libretto
Caruso sings "Vesti la giubba"
Recitar! Mentre preso dal delirio,
non so più quel che dico,
e quel che faccio!
Eppur è d'uopo, sforzati!
Bah! Sei tu forse un uom?
Tu se' Pagliaccio!
Vesti la giubba e la faccia infarina.
La gente paga, e rider vuole qua.
E se Arlecchin t'invola Colombina,
ridi, Pagliaccio, e ognun applaudirà!
Tramuta in lazzi lo spasmo ed il pianto
in una smorfia il singhiozzo e 'l dolor, Ah!
Ridi, Pagliaccio,
sul tuo amore infranto!
Ridi del duol, che t'avvelena il cor![3]
Act! While in delirium,
I no longer know what I say,
or what I do!
And yet it's necessary. Force yourself!
Bah! Are you even a man?
You are a clown!
Put on your costume and powder your face.
The people are paying, and they want to laugh here.
And if Harlequin steals away your Columbina,
laugh, clown, and all will applaud!
Turn your distress and tears into jokes,
your pain and sobs into a smirk, Ah!
Laugh, clown,
at your broken love!
Laugh at the grief that poisons your heart!
In popular culture
Both the melody of the aria and dramatic points of the opera from which it comes are referenced by Homer and Jethro in the 1953 Spike Jones song "Pal Yat Chee" on RCA Victor[4]
The melody is set to lyrics about Kellogg's Rice Krispies breakfast cereal in an American television commercial for that product, circa 1970.[5]
In a Sesame Street sketch from 1982, José Carreras performs an English version of "Vesti la giubba" with rewritten lyrics about Ernie losing his Rubber Duckie, while Ernie mimes along. At the end of the aria, Carreras bursts into tears, and Ernie consoles him saying, "I didn't really lose my Rubber Duckie", upon which he produces it and offers Carreras to squeeze it. Carreras squeezes the Rubber Duckie and confesses that he feels "much better", upon which Ernie retorts, "Give me back my duck!".[6]
The aria is heard several times in the 1992 Seinfeld episode "The Opera",[8] including over the episode's end credits instead of the Seinfeld theme.[9]
The aria is featured in the 2005 video game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories as part of the fictional classic music radio station Double Cleff FM.
Verses from the aria are used in both Italian and English in the song "A Metaphor for the Dead" by the metal band Anaal Nathrakh on their 2012 album Vanitas.[10]
In the show Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, the final verse is sung by rival lawyer Evelyn Spyro Throckmorton in the episode "The Dabba Don" [11]
In The Untouchables, the aria is used as a backdrop for Treasury agent Malone's murder, and is ironically "illustrated" with Capone's displaying both tears (at the emotional opera performance) and laughter (upon learning that another of Elliot Ness's task-force has been eliminated).
In the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "The Two Faces of Squidward", the song plays when a falling shoe lands on Squidward's head.[12]
In The Ren & Stimpy Show episode "My Shiny Friend," the song plays when Ren is crying over the thought of losing Stimpy to the TV.[13]
In the Nervous Mob Boss sketch of Key & Peele, the aria plays when the mob boss enters the house which emphasizes the dramatic turning point of the whole sketch.[14]
References
^The New Guinness Book of Records, ed. Peter Matthews, Guinness Publishing. 1995. p. 150
^Young, Jordan R. (1984). Spike Jones and His City Slickers: An Illustrated Biography, p. 83. Quote: "'Pal-Yat-Chee' (recorded in 1950 but issued three years later) gave Homer and Jethro an unparalleled vehicle for their homespun humor, and a massive target – 'a fat guy in a clown suit'". Disharmony Books. ISBN0940410737
^Forgetful Jones. (2023) Classic Sesame Street - José Carreras and Ernie (1982). YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y89Ii9oHttQ (Accessed: December 11th 2023).
