From Zecchino d’Oro to Sanremo Festival: The Unlikely Rise of a Pasta Song
This song, written and composed by Gian Marco Gualandi and performed by five-year-old Ottavia Dorrucci from Verona, won the 46th edition of the Zecchino d’Oro in 2003. It was inspired by the author’s mother-in-law, Giuseppina Villani, who passed away on May 1, 2022. Curiously, the song had been rejected several times before finally being accepted into the competition, but it immediately achieved great success, thanks also to its use in the TV show La prova del cuoco, where it was played as a musical interlude along with another Zecchino d’Oro song, Il cuoco pasticcione. The song was also featured in other television programs, such as Affari tuoi, Paperissima Sprint, and Colorado Cafè Live.
In December 2007, during the Gran galà dello Zecchino d’Oro, the song was performed live by Orietta Berti, and in 2010 Antonella Clerici sang it during the final night of the 60th Sanremo Festival. Again in 2017, it was performed by the Piccolo Coro “Mariele Ventre” dell’Antoniano during the third night of the 67th Sanremo Festival, and later, during the special 60 Zecchini event, it was interpreted by Laura Chiatti.
Countless versions of this piece exist, as it is included in nearly all children’s music compilations and has been recorded by artists such as Cristina D’Avena, Antonella Clerici, Elisabetta Viviani, Eleonora Cadeddu, and many others. The song has also been remixed by DJs, with a well-known version produced by Gabry Ponte.
Based on the song, two animated shorts were created: the first was included in the second volume of I cartoni dello Zecchino d’Oro, distributed by Warner, and the second was made by Bruno Bozzetto for the double CD Zecchino d’Oro 2016. In 2018, Rainbow, a leading Italian animation company, in collaboration with Antoniano, Sony, and Rai Yoyo, launched the worldwide animated series 44 Cats, created by Iginio Straffi. The main characters are four playful kittens and their owner, none other than Grandma Pina herself. The song serves as one of the show’s soundtracks and is also included in the audio CD featuring Zecchino songs used in the animated series.
The publisher Gallucci also turned Grandma Pina’s Tagliatelle into a children’s book illustrated by Silvia Ziche, included in the series Gli Indistruttilibri. Similarly, Rusconi published another children’s book version, illustrated by Silvia Sponza, as part of the Piccola Luna collection.
Lyrics
La sveglia sta suonando, ma fatela tacere
Perché di andare a scuola proprio voglia non ne ho
Alzarsi così presto non è poi salutare
Ragazzi, prima o poi mi ammalerò
Invece oltre la scuola cento cose devo far
Inglese, pallavolo e perfino latin-dance
E a fine settimana non ne posso proprio più
Mi serve una ricarica per tirarmi su
Ma un sistema rapido, infallibile e geniale
Fortunatamente io ce l’ho
Se me lo chiedete per favore il segreto io vi svelerò
Ma sì, ma dai! E diccelo anche a noi!
Sono le tagliatelle di nonna Pina
Un pieno di energia, effetto vitamina
Mangiate calde col ragù, col ragù!
Ti fanno il pieno per sei giorni ed anche più (Wo wo wo)
Perché le tagliatelle di nonna Pina
Son molto più efficaci di ogni medicina
Sensazionali a pranzo, a cena e credi a me
Son buone anche al mattino al posto del caffè! Yeah!
La situazione è grave ed anche i miei amici
Son tutti un po’ stressati per il troppo lavorar
Il tempo pieno a scuola non lo vogliamo fare
Vogliamo star con mamma e papà
Ma intanto mi hanno iscritto anche a un corso di kung-fu
Sfruttando l’ora buca fra chitarra e ciclo-cross
È veramente troppo io non ce la faccio più
Mi serve una ricarica per tirarmi su
Ma un sistema rapido, infallibile e geniale
Fortunatamente io ce l’ho
Se me lo chiedete per favore il segreto io vi svelerò
Ma sì, ma dai! E diccelo anche a noi!
Sono le tagliatelle di nonna Pina
Un pieno di energia, effetto vitamina
Mangiate calde col ragù, col ragù!
Ti fanno il pieno per sei giorni ed anche più (Wo wo wo)
Perché le tagliatelle di nonna Pina
Son molto più efficaci di ogni medicina
Sensazionali a pranzo, a cena e credi a me
Son buone anche al mattino al posto del caffè
Viva le tagliatelle di nonna Pina
Un pieno di energia, effetto vitamina
Sensazionali a pranzo, a cena e credi a me
Son buone anche al mattino al posto del caffè
E allora forza, dai! Ma che problema c’è?
Ci pensa nonna Pina a toglierti lo stress! Yeah!
Lyrics
The alarm clock’s ringing, oh please make it stop,
‘Cause going off to school is really not on top.
Getting up so early just can’t be good for me,
One of these days I’ll get sick, you’ll see!
And then besides school there’s a hundred things to do:
English, volleyball, and even Latin-dance too!
By the end of the week I really can’t go on,
I need a boost of energy to help me carry on.
But a quick and clever, foolproof remedy,
Luckily for me, I’ve got the recipe!
If you just ask nicely, I will share it too,
The secret’s out, and now I’ll tell it all to you!
Yes, that’s right! Come on, tell us what it is!
It’s Grandma Pina’s tagliatelle,
A burst of energy, a vitamin spell!
Eat them steaming hot with ragù, with ragù,
They’ll fill you up for six whole days and maybe more too (Wo wo wo!)
‘Cause Grandma Pina’s tagliatelle,
They work much better than any pill or capsule.
Sensational at lunch, at dinner, trust me, see,
They’re even good in the morning instead of coffee! Yeah!
The situation’s bad, my friends are tired too,
They’re all a bit worn out from all the work they do.
We don’t want full-time school, we’d rather just go play,
We want to stay with Mom and Dad all day.
But still they signed me up for a kung-fu class as well,
Between guitar and cyclo-cross—oh what a living hell!
It really is too much, I cannot take no more,
I need a magic booster just to even the score.
But a quick and clever, foolproof remedy,
Luckily for me, I’ve got the recipe!
If you just ask nicely, I will share it too,
The secret’s out, and now I’ll tell it all to you!
Yes, that’s right! Come on, tell us what it is!
It’s Grandma Pina’s tagliatelle,
A burst of energy, a vitamin spell!
Eat them steaming hot with ragù, with ragù,
They’ll fill you up for six whole days and maybe more too (Wo wo wo!)
‘Cause Grandma Pina’s tagliatelle,
They work much better than any pill or capsule.
Sensational at lunch, at dinner, trust me, see,
They’re even good in the morning instead of coffee!
Long live Grandma Pina’s tagliatelle,
A burst of energy, a vitamin spell!
Sensational at lunch, at dinner, trust me, see,
They’re even good in the morning instead of coffee!
So come on, cheer up now, what’s the problem, hey?
Grandma Pina takes your stress away! Yeah!
Source: Wikipedia
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