"Parole parole" () is a

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

song originally performed by Italian singer Mina and actor

Alberto Lupo Alberto Lupo (byname of Alberto Zoboli; 19 December 1924 – 13 August 1984) was an Italian film and television actor best known for his roles in swash-buckling and actions films of the 1960s. Lupo starred in films such as ''A 008, operazione ...

. It was released in April 1972, by PDU and later was included on Minas's twenty-first studio album ''

Cinquemilaquarantatre ''Cinquemilaquarantatre'' is an album released in June 1972 by Italian singer Mina. Its title (in english, "Five Thousand and Forty Three") is a reference to the catalog number of the disc (PDU PLD 5043). Disc Packaging The album in its origin ...

'' (1972). The song was written by

Gianni Ferrio Gianni Ferrio (16 November 1924 – 21 October 2013) was an Italian composer, conductor and music arranger. Life and career Born in Vicenza, Ferrio studied at the conservatories of Vicenza and Venice. Starting in the late 1950s, he was active a ...

Leo Chiosso Leo Chiosso (b. Turin, 8 August 1920 – d. Chieri, Italy, 26 November 2006) was an Italian lyricist mostly known for his work with Fred Buscaglione. They formed a songwriting duo who produced about forty songs and created Buscaglione's pub ...

and Giancarlo Del Re. In 1973, Dalida and

Alain Delon Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (; born 8 November 1935) is a French actor and filmmaker. He was one of Europe's most prominent actors and screen sex symbols in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, he won the César Award for Best Actor for h ...

recorded the song in French as " Paroles, paroles", that became an international hit and a standard in France.

Original version

The lyrics were written by

and Giancarlo Del Re, the authors of the Italian ''Teatro 10'' series of TV variety nights. The music and the score were by Gianni Ferrio, the conductor of the "Teatro 10" orchestra. In Spring 1972, the song was the closing number of all eight of the "Teatro 10" Saturday nights. The song is an easy listening dialogue of Mina's singing with Alberto Lupo's declamation. The song's theme are hollow words. It intertwines the female singer's lamentation of the end of love and the lies she has to hear, while the male actor simply speaks. She reacts and scoffs at the compliments that he gives her, calling them simply empty words – ''parole''. The single was released in April 1972 under PDU, Mina's

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

to become a top hit in Italian charts. The song was also published as one of the standout tracks of Mina's '' Cinquemilaquarantatrè'' albumParole parole
hitparadeitalia site. Retrieved 15 August 2007 and included in the '' I'm Not Scared'' movie soundtrack.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Cover versions

After Mina released the song in 1972, the same year several Spanish and Portuguese covers appeared which did not achieve success. The Italian version received three little-noticed covers, the first in 1991. In 1973, Dalida's release sparked numerous covers in various languages, mostly thanks to her international career. Since then, the song was covered dozens of times, almost all releases crediting "Paroles, paroles" by Dalida. A parody version of "Parole parole" was performed by

Adriano Celentano Adriano Celentano (; born 6 January 1938) is an Italian musician, singer, composer, actor, and filmmaker. He is dubbed "''il Molleggiato''" (the springy one) because of his dancing. Celentano's many albums frequently enjoyed both commercial and ...

, Mina and Alberto Lupo on the penultimate "Teatro 10" show on 6 May 1972. In recent years the song became a part of the repertoire of

Martina Feri Martina may refer to: People * Martina (given name), a female form of Martin, including a list of people with the given name Martina * Martina (surname), a surname found in Italy and Curaçao * Martina (empress), the second Empress consort of t ...

accompanied by

Gorni Kramer Quartet Gorny/Górny (masculine), Gornaya/Górna (feminine), or Gornoye/Górne (neuter) may refer to: Places *Gorny District, a district of the Sakha Republic, Russia *Gorny (inhabited locality) Gorny (russian: Го́рный; masculine), Gornaya (; fem ...

. In 1973, "Paroles... paroles...", with the lyrics translated into French by Michaële, was performed by Dalida with

and published by Polydor. The track became a hit in France, Japan, Mexico (#3 - 12 May 1973) and Canada. On France 2's 1996 New Year's Eve programme,

performed French cover of the song again, but this time in duet with Céline Dion, in the tribute for Dalida. In 2001, again for tributing Dalida, the French cover was remixed by the participants of the first edition of ''

Star Academy France ''Star Academy'' is a French reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality te ...

''. Dalida also released a German version together with Friedrich Schütter in 1973, titled "Worte, nur Worte", and again recorded the song in 1983, with Harald Juhnke, which was released under the same title. Actress and singer

Carmen Sevilla María del Carmen García Galisteo (born 16 October 1930), in Seville, Spain, known professionally as Carmen Sevilla, is a retired Spanish actress, singer and dancer. She began her career in the 1940s and became one of the most popular and hi ...

released a Spanish language version with the also actor Francisco "Paco" Rabal titled "Palabras Palabras" (literally "Parole Parole"). There is a Hungarian version from 1970s performed by Viktória Vincze and popular actor

Sándor Lukács Sándor is a Hungarian given name and surname. It is the Hungarian form of Alexander. It may refer to: People Given name * Sándor Apponyi (1844–1925) was a Hungarian diplomat, bibliophile, bibliographer and great book collector * Sándor B ...

. Vicky Leandros released a German version with the actor Ben Becker on her album ''Zeitlos'' (''Timeless'') in 2010 which is called "Gerede Gerede" ("Talk Talk"). "Amai Sasayaki", the song in Japanese, was recorded by actor Toshiyuki Hosokawa and the female singer Akiko Nakamura in 1973. Two Spanish versions were recorded, one by singer

Silvana di Lorenzo Silvana or Sylvana, meaning "one who lives in the forest" in Latin, is a female given name. Notable people with the name include: * Silvana Arbia (born 1952), Italian judge and prosecutor * Silvana Arias (born 1982), Peruvian actress * Silvana Ar ...

and another by Lupita D'Alessio and actor Jorge Vargas. D'Alessio and Vargas were married at the time and had a rocky relationship. Portuguese versions were recorded in 1972, translated as ''Palavras, palavras'', in Brazil sung by Maysa with actor

Raul Cortez Raul Christiano Machado Cortez (28 August 1932 – 18 July 2006) was a Brazilian stage, television, and film actor, director and producer. Cortez died of pancreatic cancer in 2006, aged 73. Filmography *''O Pão Que o Diabo Amassou'' (1957) *' ...

, and in Portugal, with the title "Parole Parole" sung by Tonicha with actor

João Perry João is the Portuguese equivalent of the given name John. The diminutive is Joãozinho and the feminine is Joana. It is widespread in Portuguese-speaking countries. Notable people with the name are enumerated in the sections below. Kings * Jo ...

. Two Dutch translations were made in 1973. The first one in Belgium, by Nicole and Hugo : "Die woorden, die woorden" ("Those words, those words"). The second Dutch translation was made in the Netherlands by author

Cees Nooteboom Cees Nooteboom (; born 31 July 1933) is a Dutch novelist, poet and journalist. After the attention received by his novel ''Rituelen'' (''Rituals'', 1980), which received the Pegasus Prize, it was the first of his novels to be translated into an ...

, entitled "Gebabbel" ("Chatter"). It was performed by Liesbeth List and Ramses Shaffy. This version was parodied in 1992 by Dutch comedian Paul de Leeuw and female singer

Willeke Alberti Willeke Alberti (born 3 February 1945) (real name: Willy Albertina Verbrugge) is a Dutch singer and actress, the daughter of entertainer and singer Willy Alberti (1926–1985) and Hendrika Geertruida Kuiper (1921–2011). Biography Willeke Albe ...

. Their version was a major hit in The Netherlands, reaching number 2 in the Top 40. A Turkish version was recorded by the Turkish singer and actress, Ajda Pekkan in 1973. Ajda sang the song ("Palavra palavra") with voice actor Cüneyt Türel, who added a funny touch to the song through his alterations to the spoken parts. In 2010 another version of the song was recorded by famous Turkish pop singers

Göksel Göksel is a Turkish unisex given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name Female * Göksel Demirpençe (born 1971), Turkish musician * Göksel Kortay (born 1939), Turkish actress Male * Göksel Arsoy (born 1936), Turk ...

and Teoman. Japanese jazz pianist Shigeo Sekito recorded an instrumental electronic version on his 1975

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

album

Special Sound Series Vol. 2 Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specia ...

. A Slovenian version was recorded by Slovenian singer

Elda Viler Elda is a city and municipality located in the province of Alicante, Spain. , it has a total population of 55,618 inhabitants, ranking as the 7th most populous city in the province. Elda joins together with the town of Petrer to form a conur ...

with the Slovenian actor

Boris Cavazza Boris may refer to: People * Boris (given name), a male given name *:''See'': List of people with given name Boris * Boris (surname) * Boris I of Bulgaria (died 907), the first Christian ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire, canonized after his d ...

, titled ''Besede, Besede'' on her album ''Elda'' in 1982. Song was re-recorded in 2014 by the band Pliš (singer Aleksandra Ilijevski) with actor

Jurij Zrnec Jurij is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Jurij Alschitz (born 1947), theatre director, theatre and acting theorist who has lived in Berlin since 1992 * Jurij Brězan (1916–2006), Sorbian writer * Jurij Cherednikov (born 1964) ...

. In Croatia, the song was recorded at 1991 by singer Ksenija Erker and Croatian actor (with a certain international success) Relja Bašić. It is worth to mention that the song is recorded in Italian language with its original text. It appeared at Ksenija Erker's LP "Ciao Italia" (label: Jugoton). The song was translated to Croatian and covered again in 2006 by soul group Rivers with male vocals of

Massimo Savić Massimo Moreno Savić (6 June 1962 – 23 December 2022), also known simply as Massimo, was a Croatian pop singer. His father was a native of Tulež near Aranđelovac. His mother was Italian from Istria, a native of Raša near Labin. He fir ...

. A Greek version was recorded by Greek singer Marinella with Greek actor

Kostas Spyropoulos Kostas Spiropoulos ( el, Κώστας Σπυρόπουλος; born 28 August 1952) is a Greek painter and doctor. Since the 2000s he has become a leading figure in the pop art movement in Greece. Early years Professor and artist Kostas Spirop ...

, "''Kouventes''" on her album '' I Marinella Tragouda Megales Kyries'' in 1992. In 1978, a

Chinese Mandarin Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...

& Cantonese dual version under the title of "別亂來" (Don't Mess Around) was recorded by Hong Kong female singer Amina (阿美娜) in duet with the Chinese lyricist Ei Tat (依達). In 1998, Flabby covered it as ''Miss you all the time'' (bossa nova with English lyrics) on their ''Modern Tunes for Everybody'' album. In 2003, the Argentine duo

Pimpinela Joaquín and Lucía Galán, better known as Pimpinela (Spanish for '' pimpernel'') are an Argentine duo famous for singing romantic musical pieces and known for their original singing style. They have sold over 12 million records in Argentina ...

includes a Spanish versión on his album ''Al modo nuestro''. In 2004, a Vietnamese cover version was released: "Những Lời Mê Hoặc (Those Seductive Words)" by

Minh Tuyết Trần Thị Minh Tuyết (born 15 October 1976 in Ho Chi Minh City) better known as Minh Tuyết, is a Vietnamese-American pop singer, currently performing on Thúy Nga's '' Paris by Night''. Her sisters are Cẩm Ly and Hà Phương who perfor ...

ft.

Trần Thái Hòa Trần (陳) or Tran is a common Vietnamese surname. More than 10% of all Vietnamese people share this surname. It is derived from the common Chinese surname Chen. History The Tran ruled the Trần dynasty, a golden era in Vietnam, and succe ...

. An Italian house remix of the song was featured in the 2005 compilation album by Gigi D'Agostino, ''

Disco Tanz ''Disco Tanz'' is the eighth compilation album compiled and remixed by Italian DJ Gigi D'Agostino, released in 2005 through Noise Maker records. Remixes The album features remixes of a number of popular songs: * "Memories" is based on the Kim ...

''. Amanda Lear performed the French "Paroles, paroles" with Titof on TV channel M6. This version was included on her 2005 compilation ''Paris by Night – Greatest Hits''. In 2006, Mina collaborated with footballer

Javier Zanetti Javier Adelmar Zanetti (; born 10 August 1973) is an Argentine former professional footballer. He is regarded as one of the best players of his generation, and is especially well known for his role in Inter Milan's treble-winning 2009–10 seas ...

in a Spanish cover of the song, found in the album ''

Todavía "Todavía" is a song by Cruz Martínez y Los Super Reyes. It is the second single from the album ''Cumbia con Soul'' (2009). It was released on October 16, 2009. An EP was released on the Mexican iTunes Store on November 11, 2009. Track listing ...

''. The cover went on to be certified Gold by

FIMI The Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy. It was established in 1992, when major corporate labels left the previously exist ...

in 2021.

Zap Mama Zap Mama is the music act of Belgian artist Marie Daulne. Zap Mama sings polyphonic and afro-pop music, a harmonic music with a mixture of infused African vocal techniques, urban, hip hop with emphasis on voice. The worldwide success of Zap Mam ...

recorded a cover version with the French actor Vincent Cassel, on her album ''ReCreation'' in 2009. The duet was recorded with Cassel in Brazil. Another cover version was performed in German by Jens Wawrczeck and Andreas Fröhlich as a slapstick part on the live tour of ''Die drei Fragezeichen'' (German version of "

The Three Investigators The Three Investigators is an American juvenile detective book series first published as "''Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators''". It was created by Robert Arthur Jr., who believed involving a famous person such as movie director Alfr ...

") in 2009. Portuguese singer Ágata, with Vitor Espadinha, recorded a cover version in 2009 (''Promessas, Promessas''). A cover version of the song was published in 2014 by the Flemish singer Licia Fox, in a duet with her producer Tormy Van Cool. Anna Vissi and Thanasis Alevras covered the song for the main title of

Annita Pania Annita Pania (born Anastasia Pania, 1970) is a Greek television hostess. Before presenting her first dating show, "To Hrisso Koufeto" ("The Golden Sugarplum"), she was a teacher of French language and a songwriter. Biography She is married to ...

's TV show "Parole". Azerbaijani singer with 4 range ofvoice

Flora Karimova Flora Alakbar gyzy Karimova ( az, Flora Ələkbər qızı Kərimova; born July 23, 1941) is a famous Azerbaijani pop, mugam and opera singer, actress, People's Artist of the Republic of Azerbaijan (1992), activist of the National Freedom Movemen ...

recorded the song in Azerbaijan language "Unutma, unutma" , with Agil M.Quliyev. Soolking used the refrain in his 2018 song "Dalida".

References

External links

"Parole Parole"
Original lyrics in Italian. Note: The recorded lyrics differ slightly from the published lyrics. Mina sings "chiamami tormento dai, hai visto mai" rather than "chiamami tormento dai, già che ci sei".

at Hit Parade
Pimpinela official site
{{Authority control Songs about language Italian songs Male–female vocal duets 1972 songs Dalida songs Amanda Lear songs Mina (Italian singer) songs PDU singles Number-one singles in Italy