"" (; ) is a song recorded by Italian singer-songwriter

Marco Mengoni Marco Mengoni (; born 25 December 1988) is an Italian pop singer-songwriter who rose to fame in 2009, after winning the third season of Italian talent show '' X Factor''. Since that he has sold over 2.8 million records in Italy, peaking the ...

for his eighth studio album, (2023). It is the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release ...

and opening track on the album, released by

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

on 8 February 2023. The song was written by Mengoni with Davide Petrella and Davide Simonetta. Simonetta also produced the track together with E.D.D. The song was Mengoni's winning entry for the

Sanremo Music Festival 2023 The Sanremo Music Festival 2023 ( it, 73º Festival della Canzone Italiana di Sanremo 2023) is the upcoming 73rd edition of the annual Sanremo Music Festival, a television song contest held in the Teatro Ariston of Sanremo, organised and bro ...

, the 73rd edition of the Italian musical festival, which doubled as the selection of the Italian act for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. It finished in fourth place at the Eurovision final with 350 points. Prior to the contest, "" reached number one in Italy and San Marino. A bilingual French-Italian version of the song, titled "" ("The last song"), was released on 13 October 2023.

Background and composition

Mengoni spoke about the meaning of the song: Mengoni dwelt on the inspiration for the song, found in the figure of Italian singer-songwriter

Lucio Dalla Lucio Dalla (; 4 March 1943 – 1 March 2012) was an Italian singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He also played clarinet and keyboards. Dalla was the composer of " Caruso" (1986), a song dedicated to Italian opera tenor Enrico Caruso, an ...

, explaining that: The song also marks the singer's third participation at the

Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longest-running annua ...

after "

Credimi ancora "Credimi ancora" (; Italian for "Believe me again") is a single by Italian singer Marco Mengoni. The song was released as the lead single from his second studio EP ''Re matto'' on 17 February 2010. It was written by Marco Mengoni, Stella Fabiani, ...

" in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and "

L'essenziale "L'essenziale" (; en, "The essential") is a song by Italian singer Marco Mengoni and the lead single from his second studio album, '' #prontoacorrere'' (2013). Released in Italy on 13 February 2013, the song was written by Roberto Casalino, Fra ...

", winner of the

Sanremo Music Festival 2013 The Sanremo Music Festival 2013 (''63° Festival della Canzone Italiana di Sanremo 2013'') was the 63rd annual Sanremo Music Festival, a televised song contest held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo, Liguria, between 12 and 16 February 2013 and b ...

, with which he represented

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2013 The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 was the 58th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Euphoria" by Loreen. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union ...

Reception

The song was mostly well received by Italian critics. In its review of the Sanremo 2023 songs, ''

Corriere della Sera The ''Corriere della Sera'' (; en, "Evening Courier") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average daily circulation of 410,242 copies in December 2015. First published on 5 March 1876, ''Corriere della Sera'' is one of I ...

'' gave "Due vite" an 8/10, describing the song as a "classic ballad" that "doses melody and rhythm well", where "thoughts chase each other". Also Valentina Colosimo from '' Vanity Fair'' states that the song "allows Mengoni to show off all his singing skills", bringing the viewer "a ton of feelings". Fabio Fiume from '' All Music Italia'' rated the song 7.5/10, writing the song is a "modern piece that respects both its vocal beauty and its best prerogatives to be personal". The ''

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...

'' critic Gabriele Antonucci gave the song a 8.5 rating, he praised Mengoni's performance as "masterful", with a perfect combination of "voice, words and arrangement". Less enthusiastic was the review by Francesco Prisco of ''

Il Sole 24 Ore ''Il Sole 24 Ore'' () is an Italian national daily business newspaper owned by Confindustria, the Italian employers' federation. History and profile ''Il Sole 24 Ore'' was first published on 9 November 1965 as a merger between ''Il Sole'' ("the ...

'', assigning a score of 6-/10, writing that "Mengoni does Mengoni: the thing he does best", suggesting a lack of originality compared to his previous works.

Music video

The music video for the song was directed by Roberto Ortu. The filming took place on the dunes of Piscinas in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label= Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label= Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, af ...

Charts

Certifications

, - !scope="row", Switzerland (

IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 1 ...

Switzerland) , Platinum , 15,000^‡ , -

References

{{Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 singles 2023 songs Marco Mengoni songs Sanremo Music Festival songs of 2023 Number-one singles in Italy Songs written by Davide Petrella Songs written by Davide Simonetta Sony Music singles Eurovision songs of 2023 Eurovision songs of Italy