The Prisencolinensinainciusol Edition

On earworms, made up languages, and the magic of a good pop song

Colin here. It takes a special kind of talent to make a wormhole pop hit in any language. It takes another type of talent to make one in a made-up language. But that is precisely what Adriano Celentano made with the ridiculously titled Prisencolinensinainciusol, released 50 years ago. It was a troll of sorts, trying to prove a point that Italians would like any English song. 

The tone, diction, and pacing sound exactly like English, but it isn’t. But it actually takes a lot of songwriting talent to pull off what he did. And it goes deeper than just a prank. 

According to Celentano, “Ever since I started singing, I was very influenced by American music and everything Americans did. So at a certain point, because I like American slang—which, for a singer, is much easier to sing than Italian—I thought that I would write a song which would only have as its theme the inability to communicate. And to do this, I had to write a song where the lyrics didn't mean anything."

The song slaps. I can listen to it on repeat. It has weird elements of Dylan, but would also work on a dancefloor. I wouldn’t be surprised if this got played in an ever eclectic Optimo set in Glasgow. 

Why is this interesting?