Funiculì, Funiculà

Introduction

"Funiculì, Funiculà" (IPA: [funikuˈli ffunikuˈla]) is a Neapolitan song composed in 1880 by Luigi Denza to lyrics by Peppino Turco. It was written to commemorate the opening of the first funicular cable car on Mount Vesuvius. It was presented by Turco and Denza at the Piedigrotta festival the same year. The sheet music was published by Ricordi 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, the home town of the song's composer, Luigi Denza; 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 funicular on Mount Vesuvius in that year.^[a] The song was sung for the first time in the Quisisana Hotel^[b] in Castellammare di Stabia.^{[citation needed]} It was presented by Turco and Denza at the Piedigrotta festival during the same year and became immensely popular in Italy and abroad. Published by Casa Ricordi, the sheet music sold over a million copies in a year.

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 Aus Italien 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 "Neapolitanskaya pesenka" (Neapolitan Song). Cornettist Herman Bellstedt used it as the basis for a theme and variations titled Napoli; a transcription for euphonium is also popular among many performers. Modernist composer Arnold Schoenberg arranged a version for ensemble in 1921.

Over the years the song has been performed by many artists including Erna Sack, Anna German, Mario Lanza, Beniamino Gigli, The Mills Brothers, Connie Francis, Haruomi Hosono (with lyrics translated into Japanese), The Grateful Dead, Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Il Volo.

During the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" segment of the Disney film Fun and Fancy Free, Donald Duck and Goofy sing "Eat Until I Die," a song expressing their longing for food, set to the melody of "Funiculì, Funiculà."

In 1960, Robert B. and Richard M. Sherman 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, which became a minor hit.

Rodney Dangerfield sings the song in his 1983 hit comedy film Easy Money.

Composer Alan Silvestri used the melody in 1993 film Super Mario Bros. as the main theme for Italian-American protagonists Mario and Luigi.

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 2001 a video parody of the song was released by VeggieTales as "Larry's High Silk Hat".

The 2004 video game Spider-Man 2 features a humorous instrumental version that plays during pizza delivery missions. The 2018 video game Spider-Man has an orchestral rendition playing outside of a pizzeria as a reference to this.

Lyrics

中文填词版，相较原曲增加了一个原创的小节。