"Cuccurucucù" is a 1981 song by Italian singer-songwriter

Franco Battiato Francesco "Franco" Battiato (; 23 March 1945 – 18 May 2021) was an Italian musician, singer, composer, filmmaker and, under the pseudonym Süphan Barzani, also a painter. Battiato's songs explore many themes (including, but not limited to, ph ...

, from his best-selling album ''

La voce del padrone La voce del padrone was the Italian label and recording house for the British Gramophone Company. The Gramophone Company owned several labels in Italy, like Columbia, Marconiphone, Angel Records and Grammofono. From 1904, Gramophone Company rec ...

''.

Background

The song's lyrics consists of fragments of memories of Battiato's youth, even if some biographical verses were eventually modified and adjusted for metric and sound purposes, eg. ' Istituto Magistrale' replacing '

Liceo Classico The ''liceo classico'' or ''ginnasio'' () is the oldest public secondary education in Italy, secondary school type in Italy. Its educational curriculum spans over five years, when students are generally about 14 to 19 years of age. Until 196 ...

'. The title as well as the refrain and part of the melody are citations of

Tomás Méndez Tomás Méndez (born ''Tomás Méndez Sosa''; July 25, 1927 – June 19, 1995) was a Mexican composer and singer of Mexican music and ranchera music. He was born in Fresnillo, Zacatecas, Mexico. He became famous thanks to his partnership with th ...

' "

Cucurrucucú paloma "Cucurrucucú paloma" (Spanish for ''Coo-coo dove'') is a Mexican huapango-style song written by Tomás Méndez in 1954. The title is an onomatopeic reference to the characteristic call of the mourning dove, which is evoked in the refrain. The ly ...

". The song also includes citations and references to other songs which marked Battiato's adolescence, including

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

's " Just Like a Woman" and "

Like a Rolling Stone "Like a Rolling Stone" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on July 20, 1965, by Columbia Records. Its confrontational lyrics originated in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhauste ...

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' "

Lady Madonna "Lady Madonna" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. In March 1968 it was released as a mono non-album single, backed with " The Inner Light". The song was recor ...

" and "

With a Little Help from My Friends "With a Little Help from My Friends" is a song recorded by English rock band the Beatles for their 1967 album '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. It was written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and is sung by drummer Ringo Starr (a ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

' " Ruby Tuesday" (which Battiato will eventually cover in his album '' Fleurs''), Mina's " Le mille bolle blu",

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 ...

's "Il mondo è grigio, il mondo è blu", and

Milva Maria Ilva Biolcati, (; 17 July 1939 – 23 April 2021), known as Milva (), was an Italian singer, stage and film actress, and television personality. She was also known as ''La Rossa'' (Italian for "The Redhead"), due to the characteristic co ...

's "Il mare nel cassetto". Lyrics also contain citations from

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

's poem ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

''. American soprano Marilyn Turner and, uncredited,

Giuni Russo Giuseppa Romeo (7 September 1951 – 13 September 2004), known professionally as Giuni Russo (), was an Italian singer who specialised in experimental music after a short successful stint as an art-pop singer in the early 1980s. With her five-o ...

, serve as backing vocalists. The song was released as a single in some foreign territories, notably in Switzerland, where it charted. The song was described by Italian writer

Michele Serra Michele Serra (born 10 July 1954) is an Italian journalist, writer, and satirist. Biography Serra was born in Rome, but moved to Milan in 1959. In 1975 he started working for ''L'Unità'', then the official newspaper of the Italian Communist P ...

as 'a

dadaist Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

scherzo A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often r ...

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1981 songs 1981 singles Italian songs Franco Battiato songs