This will be the first of three videos where we translate the iconic song from Eros Ramazzotti called “Più Bella Cosa”. It was a song that he wrote about his girlfriend at the time, Swiss model Michelle Hunziker. Other songwriters for this song included: Claudio Guidetti, Maurizio Fabrizio and Adelio Cogliati.
This is one of his most famous songs and always evokes great emotions from his fans. It is a song where most people remember where they were when they heard it for the first time as it instantly hooks you.
Larry
Alright. So, first we have Lydia. Do you want to read these first four lines, the beginning of the song?
Lydia
Ok. “Com’è cominciata io non saprei / La storia infinita con te / Che sei diventata la mia lei / Di tutta una vita per me”.
Larry
Alright. Let’s hear him sing it! First few lines of the song…
(song playing)
Larry
Alright, Lydia. So he’s saying: “Com’è cominciata io non saprei”.
Lydia
“I don’t know how it all began. How it began I don’t know”.
Larry
It’s right. “How it all started I’ll never know”.
Lydia
“Io non saprei”.
Larry
“La storia infinita con te?”
Lydia
“The never-ending story with you”, or maybe “My never-ending story with you”.
Larry
Right. “The infinite story”, “Infinita storia con te”, “The infinite story with you”.
“Che sei diventata la mia lei”?
Lydia
Well, that’s also awkward. “That you became my she”. “Mia lei”. But that’s “my woman”.
Larry
Yes, “she”, right. Really, it means “You became…you became my woman”, “You became my queen”, another good way. It doesn’t mean “queen”, but it’s what he’s kind of intending.
“You became my she”
Lydia
“My she”, and that rhyme is better with “con te” and “saprei”. I guess it rhymes with “saprei”.
Larry
Right, exactly. And not to be confused, if it was “Lei” it would be the formal of “you”
Lydia
Yes, yes.
Larry
Capital “Lei” is the formal for “you”. Ok?
Take your next one: “Di tutta una vita per me”.
Lydia
Ok. “All my life for you”, or “For all my life”
Larry
“All my life for me”, yes.
Lydia
“For me”, I’m sorry.
Larry
I would also start it: “I don’t know, I’ll never know, this infinite story I have with you. Now you became my woman, my she, for all my life”.
Perfect. So, Tony, why don’t you take these next four lines?
Tony
“Ci vuole passione con te / E un briciolo di pazzia / Ci vuole pensiero perché so…or perchiò / Lavoro di fantasia”.
Larry
Ok. Let’s hear it!
(song playing)
Larry
Alright. So, that was: “Ci vuole passione con te”. What do you think that that mean?
Tony
“I… so want to be passionate with you”?
Larry
Yes, “It takes passion”. “Ci vuole”: “takes”, or “it needs”. You know, “we need passion”, “I need that passion with you, to keep this relationship going”, that’s kind of the attention there.
“E un briciolo di pazzia”.
Tony
I don’t know what this is. A small something? I don’t know.
Larry
Yes. “It takes like…a little bit of madness”. “Pazzia” is like “madness”. “Pazzo” is “crazy”, so…
Tony
Oh, yes! Yes, yes! Oh, I see.
Larry
Same word, yes, “a little mad”. So, “I’ve got that passion with you, but also need a little bit of madness, or craziness”, you know…
“Ci vuole pensiero perciò”. “Perciò”. Keep that c-i, ch, like in “church”. You see that accent on the “o”, give that emphasis on that last.
Tony
I guess this is: “It takes thought”.
Larry
Yes. “It takes thought” and “perciò”, “and hence”, “and therefore”. “Hence” could also be. “Perciò” could mean kind of “therefore”.
“Lavoro di fantasia”
Tony
“It’s a work of fantasy”?
Larry
Yes, correct. “It’s a work of fantasy”. Perfect.
Alright. Patti?
Patti
Yes.
Larry
Take these four lines!
Patti
You want to hear them first or just go for it?
Larry
No, try to pronounce them first, then we hear it.
Patti
Ok! “Ricordi la volt che ti cantai / Fu subito un brivido sì / Ti dico una cosa se non la sai / Per me vale ancora così”.
Larry
Ok. Let’s hear on singing?
(song playing)
Larry
Alright, so he’s saying: “Ricordi la volt ache ti cantai”.
Patti
Ehm…I automatically would think “to record something”, but I don’t think that’s it.
Larry
“Ricordi” is “memories”.
Patti
Oh, but I sing…
Larry
But he’s saying “Do you remember?”. It’s also a verb. In this case it’s a verb, so…
Patti
Ok!
Larry
He’s saying: “Do you remember?”
Patti
“The time I sang to you”?
Larry
Exactly, yes. “Remember the time when I sang to you?”
Patti
Oh, “the time”! Ok!
Larry
“Fu subito un brivido sì”.
“Subito” means “quick”, “quickly”.
“Fu subito un brivido sì”.
Patti
Ok. “Quickly…”. Did you say “thrill?”.
Larry
Yes, “thrill”, yes. That’s exactly: “It was quickly, like an instant thrill”, like “you gave me the thrill”. Like: “The first time I sang to you, when I started falling in love, I’ve got a thrill”, or “I’ve got the thrills”, or “it was exciting”, “stimulating”.
Ok. The next line he’s saying: “Ti dico una cosa se non la sai”.
Patti
Ok. Yeah…”I tell what you don’t know”?
Larry
Ok. “I’ll tell you one thing…”, “ti dico una cosa”.
Patti
Ah! “That you don’t…”, ok.
Larry
“Se non la sai”, “you don’t know”, or “you don’t already know”.
Patti
Ok.
Larry
“Per me vale ancora così”.
Patti
Ok. “For me something is still true”? “True”?
Larry
Yeah, close. “It’s still…it’s still like that”, “it’s still like that”. ”Per me vale” it’s like “It still has the same value”, you know? Or…in English you would say: “I still feel the same way”, you know? “Remember that first time I sang to you? It was an instant thrill. I’ll tell you one thing if you don’t know, I still feel the same way”. You know, “for me it’s still like that”, “per me vale ancora così”, “it still has the same value for me”.
