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Prisencolinensinainciusol

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B-side
  
"Disc Jockey"

Genre
  
Experimental music

Label
  
Italdisc

Format
  
45 rpm single

Length
  
3:54

Released
  
3 November 1972 (1972-11-03)

"Prisencolinensinainciusol" [prizeŋkolinensinainˈtʃuːzol] is a song composed by Adriano Celentano, and performed by Celentano and his wife, singer/actress-turned-record producer Claudia Mori. A very popular performance of the song, broadcast by RAI, shows Celentano with showgirl Raffaella Carrà, who is dancing and lip-synching to Mori's vocals. It was first released as a single on 3 November 1972, and later on his album Nostalrock.

Contents

Language

The song is meant to sound to its intended Italian audience like English spoken with an American accent, but the lyrics are actually pure gibberish, with the exception of the words "all right". Celentano's intention with the song was to explore communications barriers. "Ever since I started singing, I was very influenced by American music and everything Americans did. So at a certain point, because I like American slang—which, for a singer, is much easier to sing than Italian—I thought that I would write a song which would only have as its theme the inability to communicate. And to do this, I had to write a song where the lyrics didn't mean anything."

Releases

The song was recorded at least twice for television broadcast. The song has been included on the 2008 dance compilation album Poplife Presents: Poplife Sucks.

In 1992, remixes of the song by Molella and Fargetta were released on CD Single, along with the original version, to promote the compilation Superbest.

It was a nascent Internet meme in the early 2000s, having been posted on Boing Boing in December 2009 and subsequently picked up by the Italian press.

The song was used in a September 2014 US television commercial for the Xbox One game Forza Horizon 2. The commercial was produced by Smuggler.

Remake

Celentano made a remake with real, Italian lyrics on his disc Quel Punto. The song's name is Il Seme del Rap and it can be seen as a hip hop parody. French actor José Garcia interpreted a portion of the song in the movie Quelqu'un de bien (2002). The full version was released as a single in France as Prisencoli. Italian songwriter Bugo made a remake in 2008, played successfully all over Italy during his tour. In 2016, Adriano Celentano sang it with Mina; the music was remade by Benny Benassi. The video of this version shows the Italian dancer Roberto Bolle, who dances with a group of hip hop / rap dancers, while Adriano Celentano is sitting in a bar, and is about to drink his coffee.

Track listing

  • 7" single – BF 70026
    1. "Prisencolinensinainciusol" (Adriano Celentano) – 3:54
    2. "Disc Jockey" (Luciano Beretta, Adriano Celentano, Miki Del Prete) – 4:54

    References

    Prisencolinensinainciusol Wikipedia