''So ben mi chi ha bon tempo'' or ''So ben mi, c'ha bon tempo'' ('I know well who is having a good time') is a balletto written by the Italian composer

Orazio Vecchi Orazio Vecchi (6 December 1550 (baptized) in Modena – 19 February 1605) was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance. He is most famous for his madrigal comedies, particularly ''L'Amfiparnaso''. Life He was born in Modena, and ...

. It appears in the 1590 publication ''Selva di varia ricreatione'', for three to ten voices and is dedicated to Giacomo Seniori and Giovanni Fuccari. These works were written during Vecchi's tenure as canon at the Correggio Cathedral. Typical of the era, the lyrics are descriptive of the gossipy flirtations between men and women, alluding on multiple levels to intimacies between unnamed protagonists. So ben mi ch'a bon tempo, Al so ma basta mo So ben ch'e favorito, Ahimé no'l posso dir, O s'io potessi dire, Chi va, chi sta, chi vien. Saluti e baciamani, Son tutti indarno a fè. It has an associated dance by Italian dance master

Cesare Negri Cesare Negri (c. 1535 – c. 1605) was an Italian dancer and choreographer. He was nicknamed ''il Trombone'', an ugly or jocular name for someone "who likes to blow his own horn". Born in Milan, he founded a dance academy there in 1554. He was a ...

in 1602 from his book ''Le Gratie d’Amore''. In 2003 the song was arranged for guitar and performed by songwriter Richard Thompson on his

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

1000 Years of Popular Music ''1000 Years of Popular Music'' is a 2003 live album by Richard Thompson. The album was originally conceived after Richard Thompson, along with many other artists, was asked by ''Playboy'' magazine to nominate his choice of the best songs of th ...

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Further reading