TT 348: "Prisencolinensinainciusol"

Adriano Celentano's huge, hilarious hit

This one is a bit hard to explain. In the ‘60’s Adriano Celentano made a big career in his home country of Italy by singing American rock music. I’ve checked out a few samples of Celentano from that era and nothing strikes me as unusual.

However, in 1972, Celentano embraced the surreal and created the astonishing one-off "Prisencolinensinainciusol." It’s a studio production featuring primitive drums and horns on a loop. The lyrics are gibberish. They sound like American English, but they are not actual words except for the occasional refrain of “All right!”

The song has extra impact during the performance taped for the TV show Milleluci. Many sexy dancers move in unison surrounded by mirrors. There’s something a bit military about it all, including the severe black costumes. Absolutely intoxicating. This crew went all out for a nonsense song. It is a massive production. The choreographer is Gino Landi, the director is Antonello Falqui, and the set designer is Carlo Cesarini Da Senigallia.

(A higher-res video can be seen at Vimeo, but it starts with three minutes of talking.)

When “sung,” the title word “Prisencolinensinainciusol” sort of sounds like “freezing cold and icy in Tucson.” That’s not the only thing “wrong” in the video and the music. The horn line is a little abrupt, the “snare” in the drum loop seems to be on beat “one” (most of the time the snare would be on beats “two” and “four”) and Celentano’s outfit is badly-fitting rags. Raffaella Carrà dances to Claudia Mori's short vocal in a suggestive fashion. It’s obviously a send-up of American music, but it also manages to be an authentic dance hit.

“All right!”