C'è la luna mezzo mare
| "C'è la luna mezzo mare" | |
|---|---|
Wedding scene from The Godfather (1972)
|
|
| Song | |
| Language | Neapolitan |
| English title | Oh! Ma-Ma! Lazy Mary |
| Songwriter(s) | Paolo Citorello |
"C'è la luna mezzo mare" ("There's the moon amid the sea") is a comic Neapolitan song with worldwide popularity, traditionally styled as a brisk 6/8 tarantella. It is frequently performed at wedding receptions and other festive occasions. Hit versions have included "Oh! Ma-Ma! (The Butcher Boy)" by Rudy Vallée and "Lazy Mary (Luna Mezzo Mare)" by Lou Monte.
Origin
Related music and lyrics appeared as early as 1835, in the art song "La Danza" (Tarantella Napoletana) by Gioachino Rossini and Carlo Pepoli. By 1871 in Italy, bawdier versions were circulating. In 1927, New York City's Italian Book Company arranged and recorded a version by Sicilian sailor Paolo Citorello (sometimes spelled Citarella), and an American court upheld their copyright in 1928.[1][2]
Popularity
Since the first recording in 1927, the song has proliferated with different titles and lyrics, both in English and in several variants of Italian.[2][3] Hit recordings in the United States have included "Oh! Ma-Ma!" by Rudy Vallée (1938, peaked at #8)[4] and "Lazy Mary" by Lou Monte (1958, peaked at #12).[5] Monte's version was initially banned from British broadcasts for undesirable innuendo,[6] but has been played to a family-filled baseball stadium at almost every New York Mets home game since the mid-1990s, as the result of a fan survey.[7] The humorous lyrics center around a young woman wondering about marriage with various tradesmen (butcher, fisherman, fireman, etc.), ensuring the song's sustained popularity at Italian wedding receptions, including the opening scene of The Godfather (1972).[2][3]
Notable recordings
The song has been notably recorded with the following performers and titles:[2][3][8]
- 1927: Paolo Citarella, "Luna Mezzo Mare" – original copyrighted version
- 1929: Paolo Citarella, "Mamma a cu Maddari"
- 1930: Paolo Citarella, "Mi Vulissi Maritari"
- 1930s: Paolo Dones, "A Luna 'Mmenzu 'u Mari"
- 1930s: Rosina Trubia Gioiosa, "Mi Vogghiu Maritari"
- 1930s: Silvia Coruzzolo, "A Luna Mezzo o' Mare"
- 1930s: I Diavoli, "La Luna in Mezzo al Mare (A Luna Mmezzu 'u Mari)"
- 1938: Rudy Vallée, "Oh! Ma-Ma! (The Butcher Boy)" – #8 U.S. peak in Your Hit Parade; not to be confused with the folk ballad, "The Butcher's Boy"
- 1938: Dick Robertson, "Oh, Ma, Ma (The Butcher Boy)"
- 1938: George Hall, "Oh! Ma Ma (The Butcher Boy)"
- 1938: Gracie Fields, "Oh! Ma-Ma! (The Butcher Boy)"
- 1938: The Andrews Sisters, "Oh! Ma-Ma! (The Butcher Boy)"
- 1938: Glenn Miller, "Oh! Ma-Ma! (The Butcher Boy) / Marie"
- 1940: Trio Lescano, "La Luna in Mezzo al Mare"
- 1951: Louis Prima, "Zooma Zooma"
- 1951: Dean Martin, "Luna Mezzo Mare"
- 1958: Lou Monte, "Lazy Mary (Luna Mezzo Mare)" – #12 U.S. peak in Billboard; not to be confused with the nursery rhyme "Lazy Mary, Will You Get Up"
- 1960: The Mills Brothers, "Oh! Ma-Ma! (The Butcher Boy)"
- 1972: Louis Prima, "Che La Luna"
- 1973: Salix Alba, "Oh Mama"
- 1999: Frank Simms, "Luna Mezzo Mare"
- 2015: Famiglia Amica Valenza, "C'e la Luna Mezz'o Mare"
References
- ↑ Italian Book Company v. Rossi, 27 F. 2d 1014 (S.D.N.Y. 1928).
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