"I giorni dell'arcobaleno" ("The Days of the Rainbow") is a single by Italian singer

Nicola Di Bari Nicola Di Bari (born 29 September 1940) is an Italian singer-songwriter and actor. He is considered one of the "sacred monsters" of Italian pop music. Life and career Born in Zapponeta, Apulia, Di Bari was the youngest of ten children from a ...

. The song was the winner of the

Sanremo Music Festival 1972 The Sanremo Music Festival 1972 (), officially the 22nd Italian Song Festival (), was the 22nd annual Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Sanremo Casino in Sanremo between 24 and 26 February 1972, and broadcast by (RAI). The show was presented ...

and later went on to at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1972 The Eurovision Song Contest 1972 was the 17th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom and was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corpo ...

where it placed sixth. It marked the second Sanremo Festival victory in a row for Di Bari, an accomplishment only achieved by two other artists,

Nilla Pizzi Adionilla Pizzi (; 16 April 1919 – 12 March 2011), known by her stage name Nilla Pizzi, was an Italian singer and actress. Born in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy, she was particularly famous in Italy during the 1950s and 1960s. She is well know ...

, and

Domenico Modugno Domenico Modugno (; 9 January 1928 – 6 August 1994) was an Italian singer, actor and, later in life, a member of the Italian Parliament. He is known for his 1958 international hit song " Nel blu dipinto di blu", for which he received the fir ...

Background

Described as "minimalist, graceful and lyrical", the song is a

nostalgic Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word ''nostalgia'' is a neoclassical compound derived from Greek, consisting of (''nóstos''), a Homeric word meaning "homecomi ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

, with Di Bari singing to a woman about her childhood, which she gave up by taking a lover at a very young age; and while this action, being a passage into adulthood, made her appear "cool" before her more innocent peers and transformed her into a self-assured young woman, she did in fact forsake what was – or could have been – "the best time" of her life. The lyrics of the song underwent several censorship changes, including the raising of the girl's age by three years, and the suppression of a verse referring to previous romantic experiences. The song was released as a single with the song "Era di primavera" as the B side.

At Eurovision

The song was performed twelfth on the night of the Eurovision Song Contest, following 's

Milestones A milestone is a marker of distance along roads. Milestone may also refer to: Measurements *Milestone (project management), metaphorically, markers of reaching an identifiable stage in any task or the project *Software release life cycle state, s ...

with "

Falter im Wind The Eurovision Song Contest 1972 was the 17th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom and was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corpo ...

" and preceding 's

Tereza Kesovija Tereza Ana Kesovija (; born 3 October 1938) is an internationally acclaimed Croatian recording artist. She was one of the most recognizable figures on the music scene in the former Yugoslavia and is renowned for her wide vocal range and operati ...

with " Muzika i ti"). At the close of voting, it had received 92 points, placing it 6th in a field of 18. It was succeeded as Italian representative at the 1973 contest by

Massimo Ranieri Giovanni Calone (born 3 May 1951), known professionally as Massimo Ranieri, is an Italian singer, actor, television presenter and theatre director. Biography Early life Ranieri was born in Borgo Santa Lucia, Naples, the fifth of eight children ...

with " Chi sarà con te".

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giorni Dell Arcobaleno Eurovision songs of Italy Eurovision songs of 1972 Sanremo Music Festival songs of 1972 Nicola Di Bari songs 1972 songs