[Tremolo] O sole mio

Written by Giovanni Capurro, its Neapolitan lyrics rhapsodise about the beauty of a sunny day, creating an enviable picture of southern Italy in the sunshine.

Che bella cosa na jurnata ’e sole,
n’aria serena doppo na tempesta!
Pe’ ll’aria fresca pare già na festa...
Che bella cosa na jurnata ’e sole.

Chorus:

Ma n’atu sole cchiù bello, oi ne’,
’o sole mio sta nfronte a te!
’o sole, ’o sole mio
sta nfronte a te, sta nfronte a te!

Lùceno ’e llastre d’’a fenesta toia;
’na lavannara canta e se ne vanta
e pe’ tramente torce, spanne e canta,
lùceno ’e llastre d’’a fenesta toia.

Quanno fa notte e ’o sole se ne scenne,
me vene quasi ’na malincunia;
sotto ’a fenesta toia restarria
quanno fa notte e ’o sole se ne scenne.

English translation:
What a beautiful thing is a sunny day!
The air is serene after a storm,
The air is so fresh that it already feels like a celebration.
What a beautiful thing is a sunny day!

Chorus:

But another sun, even more beauteous, oh my sweetheart,
My own sun, shines from your face!
This sun, my own sun,
Shines from your face; It shines from your face!

Your window panes shine;
A laundress is singing and boasting about it;
And while she’s wringing the clothes, hanging them up to dry, and singing,
Your window panes shine.

When night comes and the sun has gone down,
I almost start feeling melancholy;
I’d stay below your window
When night comes and the sun has gone down.