Torna 'a Surriento

Torna a Surriento (COME BACK TO SORRENTO)

(F.lli De Curtis)

For some it might seem strange but this song is dedicated to a man . In September 1902 the president Giuseppe Zanardelli went to an official visit to Sorrento . He took up lodgins in a hotel in which worked Giambattista De Curtis as a decorator . .In those days Sorrento town was a failure as the roads were terrible the local services did not work and the houses were not done well . To get president Zanardelli to do something as soon as possible he wrote him a song . This was written in a very short time . The words of this song invited the president to return to Sorrento to look at all its beauty . From then on this Napolitan song is one of its most famous in the world

100 anni per "Torna a Surriento"articolo del Corriere del Mezzogiorno del 17 luglio 2002

Vide 'o mare quant''e bello!
Spira tantu sentimento,
Comme tu a chi tiene mente,
ca scetato 'o faie sunna'.

Guarda, gua' chistu ciardino;
Siente, sie' sti sciure arece:
Nu prufumo accussì fino
Dinto 'o core ase ne va...

E tu dice: "I' parto, addio!".
T'alluntane da stu core...
Da la terra de l'ammore...
Tiene 'o core 'e nun turna'?

Vide 'o mare de Surriento
Che tesoro tene nfunno;
Chi ha girato tutto 'o munno
Nun l'ha vista comm'a cca'

Guarda attuorno sti Sserene,
Ca te guardano 'nacantate
E te vonno tantu bene...
Te vulessero vasa'.

E tu dice: "I' parto, addio!".
T'alluntane da stu core...
Da la terra de l'ammore...
Tiene 'o core 'e nun turna'?