"Funiculì, Funiculà" (, en, "Funicular Up, Funicular Down") is a

Neapolitan song Canzone napoletana (), sometimes referred to as Neapolitan song ( nap, canzona napulitana ), is a generic term for a traditional form of music sung in the Neapolitan language, ordinarily for the male voice singing solo, although well represented ...

composed in

1880 Events January–March * January 22 – Toowong State School is founded in Queensland, Australia. * January – The international White slave trade affair scandal in Brussels is exposed and attracts international infamy. * February � ...

Luigi Denza Luigi Denza (24 February 1846 – 27 January 1922) was an Italian composer. Career Denza was born at Castellammare di Stabia, near Naples. He studied music with Saverio Mercadante and Paolo Serrao at the Naples Conservatory. In 1884, he moved to ...

to lyrics by Peppino Turco. It was written to commemorate the opening of the first

funicular A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite e ...

railway on

Mount Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ; it, Vesuvio ; nap, 'O Vesuvio , also or ; la, Vesuvius , also , or ) is a somma-stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of ...

. It was presented by Turco and Denza at the

Piedigrotta Piedigrotta (; nap, Piererotta ; "at the foot of the grotto") is a section of the Chiaia quarter of Naples, Italy, so-called for the presence of the Church of the Madonna of Piedigrotta near the entrance to the Crypta Neapolitana. The area wa ...

festival the same year. The sheet music was published by

Ricordi Ricordi may refer to: People *Giovanni Ricordi (1785–1853), Italian violinist and publishing company founder * Giulio Ricordi (1840–1912), Italian publisher and musician Music *Casa Ricordi, an Italian music publishing company established i ...

and sold over a million copies within a year. Since its publication, it has been widely adapted and recorded.

History

"Funiculì, Funiculà" was composed in 1880 in

Castellammare di Stabia Castellammare di Stabia (; nap, Castiellammare 'e Stabbia) is a '' comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania region, in southern Italy. It is situated on the Bay of Naples about southeast of Naples, on the route to Sorrento. History ...

, the home town of the song's composer,

; the lyrics were contributed by journalist Peppino Turco. It was Turco who prompted Denza to compose it, perhaps as a joke, to commemorate the opening of the first

in that year. The song was sung for the first time in the Quisisana Hotel in Castellammare di Stabia. It was presented by Turco and Denza at the

festival during the same year and became immensely popular in Italy and abroad. Published by

Casa Ricordi Casa Ricordi is a publisher of primarily classical music and opera. Its classical repertoire represents one of the important sources in the world through its publishing of the work of the major 19th-century Italian composers such as Gioachino Ro ...

, the sheet music sold over a million copies in a year. Over the years the song has been performed by many artists including

Erna Sack Erna Dorothea Luise Sack (née Weber; 6 February 18982 March 1972) was a German coloratura soprano, known as the German Nightingale for her high vocal range. Biography Erna Weber was born in Spandau, Berlin. As a child, her voice attracted attent ...

Anna German Anna Wiktoria German-Tucholska (14 February 1936 – 26 August 1982) was a Polish singer, immensely popular in Poland and in the Soviet Union in the 1960s–1970s. She released over a dozen music albums with songs in Polish, as well as severa ...

Mario Lanza Mario Lanza (, ; born Alfredo Arnold Cocozza ; January 31, 1921 – October 7, 1959) was an American tenor and actor. He was a Hollywood film star popular in the late 1940s and the 1950s. Lanza began studying to be a professional singer at ...

, Beniamino Gigli,

The Mills Brothers The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed the Four Mills Brothers, and originally known as the Four Kings of Harmony, were an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies an ...

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937), known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...

Haruomi Hosono , sometimes credited as Harry Hosono, is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is considered to be one of the most influential musicians in Japanese pop music history, credited with shaping the sound of Japanese pop f ...

(with lyrics translated into Japanese), Fischer-Chöre (with lyrics translated into German), the Grateful Dead, Luciano Pavarotti,

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was born visually impaired, with congenital glaucoma, and at the age of 12, Bocelli became completely blind, following a brain hemorrhage resulting fr ...

, Rodney Dangerfield, Alvin and the Chipmunks,

The Wiggles The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. The group are currently composed of Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce and Tsehay Hawkins, as well as supporting members Evie Ferris, John Pearce, ...

, and Il Volo. In 1960, Robert B. and

Richard M. Sherman Richard Morton Sherman (born June 12, 1928) is an American songwriter who specialized in musical films with his brother Robert B. Sherman. According to the official Walt Disney Company website and independent fact checkers, "the Sherman Brot ...

wrote a new set of English lyrics to the melody of "Funiculì, Funiculà" with the title "Dream Boy". Annette Funicello included the song on her album of Italian songs titled ''Italiannette'' and also released it as a single that became a minor hit.

Adaptations and unintentional plagiarism

German composer Richard Strauss heard the song while on a tour of Italy six years after it was written. He thought that it was a traditional Neapolitan folk song and incorporated it into his ' tone poem. Denza filed a lawsuit against him and won, and Strauss was forced to pay him a royalty fee. Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov also mistook "Funiculì, Funiculà" for a traditional folk song and used it in his 1907 "" (Neapolitan Song). Cornettist Herman Bellstedt used it as the basis for a theme and variations titled ''Napoli''; a transcription for

euphonium The euphonium is a medium-sized, 3 or 4-valve, often compensating, conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument that derives its name from the Ancient Greek word ''euphōnos'', meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced" ( ''eu'' means "well" o ...

is also popular among many performers. Modernist composer Arnold Schoenberg arranged a version for ensemble in 1921. In 1933, Arthur Fields and Fred Hall published a parody of "Funiculì, funiculà" titled "My High Silk Hat". This parody has been republished several times, including in the 1957 ''Gilwell Camp Fire Book''. In 1947, in the

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

film ''

Fun and Fancy Free ''Fun and Fancy Free'' is a 1947 American animated musical fantasy package film produced by Walt Disney and released on September 27, 1947 by RKO Radio Pictures. It is the ninth Disney animated feature film and the fourth of the package films th ...

'', Goofy and Donald sing to the chorus of this song. In 1964, song parodist

Allan Sherman Allan may refer to: People * Allan (name), a given name and surname, including list of people and characters with this name * Allan (footballer, born 1984) (Allan Barreto da Silva), Brazilian football striker * Allan (footballer, born 1989) (Al ...

's album ''

For Swingin' Livers Only! ''For Swingin' Livers Only!'' is the sixth and final studio album by Allan Sherman, released by Warner Brothers Records in 1964. The title is a play on the 1956 Frank Sinatra album ''Songs for Swingin' Lovers!'' and Jackie Gleason's 1954 mood m ...

'' included "America's a Nice Italian Name" which uses the melody. In the late 1970s and in the 1980s the song was performed more than 20 times by the Grateful Dead during tunings. ''

Earthworm Jim 2 ''Earthworm Jim 2'' is a 1995 run and gun platform video game and the sequel to ''Earthworm Jim'', and the second and final game in the ''Earthworm Jim'' series developed by original creators Doug TenNapel, David Perry, and Shiny Entertainment. ...

'' has various bonus levels which use a variation of the tune as backing music. The Japanese anime franchise ''

Girls und Panzer , abbreviated as ''GuP'' or ''Garupan'' , is a Japanese anime franchise created by Actas which depicts a competition between girls' high schools practicing tank warfare as a sport. The series was directed by Tsutomu ...

'' uses an adaptation of the song by composer

Shirō Hamaguchi is a Japanese anime composer, arranger and orchestrator. He is best known for composing music to the anime franchises '' Girls und Panzer'', ''One Piece'', and '' Oh My Goddess!'' and arranging/orchestrating music in the ''Final Fantasy'' seri ...

as the theme song for Anzio High School, a school based on the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...

. The Christian animated series, ''

VeggieTales ''VeggieTales'' is an American Christian media, computer generated musical children's animation, and book franchise created by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki under Big Idea Entertainment. The series sees fruit and vegetable characters retell ...

'' used the tune in the silly song, "Larry’s High Silk Hat". In the 2002 game ''Mafia'', a band plays an instrumental version of the tune during the post-race celebration in the chapter "Fair Play". The Dutch Carnival song "Handjes, handjes, bloemetjesgordijn" by Lamme Frans is also based on the chorus melody of "Funiculì, Funiculà". The song "Vempair Survaivors" from the game '' Vampire Survivors'' is an instrumental remix of this song. It was used as the background music for the game's version 1.0 launch trailer.

Lyrics

Original Neapolitan lyrics

In Turco's original lyrics, a young man compares his sweetheart to a volcano, and invites her to join him in a romantic trip to the summit.

Traditional English lyrics

Edward Oxenford, a lyricist and translator of librettos, wrote lyrics, with scant relationship to those of the original version, that became traditional in English-speaking countries. His version of the song often appears with the title "A Merry Life". 34 A Merry Life

Some think the world is made for fun and frolic, And so do I! And so do I! Some think it well to be all melancholic, To pine and sigh; to pine and sigh; But I, I love to spend my time in singing, Some joyous song, some joyous song, To set the air with music bravely ringing Is far from wrong! Is far from wrong! Listen, listen, echoes sound afar! Listen, listen, echoes sound afar! Tra-la-la-la! Tra-la-la-la! Tra-la-la-la! Tra-la-la-la! Echoes sound afar! Tra-la-la-la! Tra-la-la-la! Some sing the world is set for freedom dancing, But not so I! And not so I! Some sing our eyes could keep from finally glancing, Upon the sly! But not so I! But all we're so amazing and so charming! Divinely sweet! Divinely sweet! And shortly, there's no time for pace and harming, In nimble feet! In nimble feet! Listen, listen, echoes sound afar! Listen, listen, echoes sound afar! Tra-la-la-la! Tra-la-la-la! Tra-la-la-la! Tra-la-la-la! Echoes sound afar! Tra-la-la-la! Tra-la-la-la! Ah me! 'Tis strange that some should take to sighing, And like it well! And like it well! For me, I have not thought it's worth the trying, So cannot tell! So cannot tell! With laugh, with dance and song, the day soon passes Full soon is gone, full soon is gone, For mirth was made for joyous lads and lassies To call their own! To call their own! Listen, listen, echoes sound afar! Listen, listen, echoes sound afar! Tra-la-la-la! Tra-la-la-la! Tra-la-la-la! Tra-la-la-la! Echoes sound afar! Tra-la-la-la! Tra-la-la-la!

Notes

References

External links

* * *
"Funiculi, funicula"
1904

Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

recording by Ferruccio Giannini in ''Discography of American Historical Recordings'' at University of California, Santa Barbara {{DEFAULTSORT:Funiculi, Funicula Neapolitan songs 1880 songs Internet memes introduced in 2015 Songs about Naples Mount Vesuvius