18 Ago
5 Italian summer songs to learn new words!
We have selected the most beautiful Italian songs to learn Italian for this summer 2021.
Learning Italian with songs is a significant part of our didactic program because it means following rhythm, sounds and words in a natural way.
When the brain listens to music it relaxes and easily enters a receptive state. This state thus facilitates learning and allows you to improve pronunciation and accent, but also to increase vocabulary and learn some colloquial expressions.
You can sing without knowing the exact meaning of the whole text because the melody and rhythm guide us effortlessly. A great memory aid!
Songs are practical and accessible support for learning Italian, they are available at any time of day and you won’t even feel like studying.
Memorize new words with songs to learn Italian
1.Zitti e buoni – Maneskin
Let’s start with the winners of the Sanremo Festival, the festival of Italian songs and the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.
The song is at the top of the streaming charts of 13 countries, and in Spotify’s global Top 10… it’s the first time for an Italian song!
If the whole world is singing it, stand out by learning the perfect pronunciation and meaning of the text.
“zitti e buoni”
Let’s start with the title: “quiet and good” is an invitation to comply, not to raise your voice and to follow the rules.
The song talks about the moment of growth in which we discover ourselves different and to define ourselves with our differences we start a revolution with ourselves and we rebel against the rules. So much so that Damiano sings:
“sono fuori di testa”
I’m out of my mind”
because the instinct to rebel collides with social norms that invite you to follow the established path.
“possiamo galleggiare anche in mare aperto”
“We can float even in the open sea”
Facing this step implies a break with the previous life and therefore requires abandoning the comfort zone in which you are used to “galleggiare/floating”. After the initial shock, it turns out that you can float – and feel good – even in the open sea.
2. Musica leggerissima – Colapesce & Dimartino
Summer is the time for rest, fun and lightness, and this is where musica leggera/light music is the ideal background for your holidays.
Light music is a musical genre characterized by a simple language and rhythm, with catchy melodies and a structure that alternates stanzas and choruses.
“I tamburi annunciano un temporale
Il maestro è andato via
Metti un po’ di musica leggera perché ho voglia di niente”
“The drums announce a storm
The master has gone away
Put on some light music because I have no zest for anything “
If music were the metaphor of life, the anxieties and difficulties of adult life would be represented by an orchestra with drums announcing the arrival of the storm, that is, of worries.
This is why Colapesce and Di Martino look for light, melodious and carefree music, as if to recall serenity in their lives.
“Anzi leggerissima”
“Indeed very light”
Leggerissima is the absolute superlative of leggera/light. The need for recreation is so compelling that it is absolute.
“La senti nei quartieri assolati che rimbomba leggera (leggerissima)”
“You hear it in the sunny neighbourhoods that echoes lightly (very lightly)”
Light music is typical of the summer season, it resounds in the sunny neighborhoods, assolati, full of sunshine on the hottest days.
3. Marea- Madame
For the sounds and the lyrics, “Marea/Tide is a song definitely suitable for summer.
“Sarà, sarà l’oasi in mezzo al Sahara
Sarà pioggia e nubi dal mare
Sarà un corso d’acqua in salita, salita”
“It will be, it will be the oasis in the middle of the Sahara
It will be rain and clouds from the sea
It will be an uphill, uphill stream “
It starts with the simple future of the verb to be, third-person singular, sarà/ will be. The future in Italian is used to express something that has yet to happen but also a probability. The use of the verb thus introduces us to the dreamlike dimension of the song. Even if it alludes to an erotic dream, it also refers to summer images, doesn’t it?
“Calipso, fai l’alta marea (marea)”
“Calypso, do the high tide (tide)”
In the refrain Madame mentions the nymph Calypso, who in the epic poem Odyssey holds Ulysses prisoner on the island of Ogygia. Although Ulysses wants to return to Ithaca, the nymph’s love keeps him chained. In the same way, the artist feels imprisoned by the desire of her beloved.
4. Makumba – Noemi, Carl Brave
The refrain is a real catchphrase that remains in the head.
“E mentre il sole sale, sale, sale, sale su
E a chi ci vuole male, male, male, una macumba”
“And as the sun rises, it rises, it rises, it comes up
And to those who want us badly, badly, badly, a macumba “
From the very first lines, the song sends a message against the envy and wickedness of others.
The “Macumba” is a term of the African Bantu language, it indicates a propitiatory rite, in which elements of different religions blend, accompanied by music and dances. In Italy the term has taken on a derogatory meaning and in common language it is generally used to define any unspecified malefic rite. So be careful to use it in the right context!
“Che mi frega a me, mi basta che rimani tu”
“What do I care, I just need you to stay”
Che mi frega a me/what do I care is a colloquial construction, with the use of the impersonal form frega, from the verb fregare/to care, similar to that of other verbs indicating motions of the soul (like interessa/interess, importa/matter, piace/like). It is used to show absolute indifference to something.
Other synonyms are infischiarsene/ to shrug, ridersene and it can also be used in these forms: me ne frego!/ I don’t care! Lui/lei se ne frega/He/she doesn’t care; e chi se ne frega?/ and who cares?
5. L’ultima notte – Ariete
This song was written specifically for the Italian TV series “Summertime” available on Netflix. (more movie recommendations here).
It tells both the promises and the beauty of summer, the bonfires on the beach, the evenings staying up late with friends, and the nostalgia for a summer that is ending.
“E sparirà la sabbia
Si lascerà trascinare dal vento
È vuota quella piazza
Ricordo quando ci stavamo in cento”
“And the sand will disappear
It will let itself be carried away by the wind
That square is empty
I remember when there were a hundred of us “
Sand and wind are the main elements of summer by the sea, but the square is also the protagonist of Italian summers. It is here, after a long day on the beach, that everybody meets and thus it becomes the most crowded place, animated by both young people of all ages and families.
“Non m’importa di niente
Io l’ultima notte la passo con te”
“I don’t care about anything
I spend the last night with you “
Also in this song, the element of rebellion and flight returns: non m’importa di niente/ I don’t care about anything, an impersonal form of importare/ to care. The need to escape from responsibilities and affirm one’s desires is prevalent during the summer.