Sounds of Italy. Here I did not discriminate based on Florence vs Rome vs other regions in Italy. This list of 25 songs covers a variety of musical genres and eras. I included a Baroque classic, one aria, one folk traditional, and then modern popular music of various genres from the 60s (1), 70s (6), and 80s (1), and then we jump straight to recent popular music from the 10s (13), and even the 20s (1). The modern songs are largely in Italian, and the artists are popular in Italy but not so much outside. Some of the earlier ones were global hits in English or instrumental. We are not strict about where in Italy these artists originate.
The songs are listed below in chronological order. I included the title, artist, year of release, and genre. I also added a sentence or two of background and context. Finally, I also embedded video links.
You can find the Spotify playlist here.
The Four Seasons: Spring Antonio Vivaldi 1725 Baroque
He was Venetian and was widely regarded in his lifetime as one of the greats. He wrote successful operas and pieces commissioned by European royalty, even moving to Vienna aspiring to become the royal composer. The four violin concertos known as The Four Seasons are his best-known works. This 2020 video featuring American violinist Alana Youssefian highlights how the concertos are showpieces for energetic soloists and accompaniment.
Bella Ciao Manu Pilas 1880 Traditional folk
Popularized in the 2017 Spanish Netflix show Money Heist. “Goodbye beautiful” is a folk protest song that originated with women farm workers in the late 1800s raising their voices against harsh working conditions in the fields of northern Italy. This song was an anthem of the anti-fascist Italian partisan resistance during World War II, and remains a hymn of freedom and resistance.
Nessun Dorma, from Turandot Giacomo Puccini 1926 Opera
Puccini was from Lucca, not far from Florence. Turandot was his final opera, first performed posthumously in Milan. A prince tries to win the favor of princess Turandot by solving riddles, and he sings “Let no one sleep” in the final act. It has become one of the best-known tenor arias in all opera, performed by Pavarotti and all the greats. The video is of mobile phone salesman Paul Potts singing it on the first season of Britain’s Got Talent in 2007. He won, became an international opera star, and in 2013 he was played in a movie about his life by a young James Corden.
Ecstasy of Gold (from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly) Ennio Morricone 1966 Western film
Italian film director Sergio Leone made a series of films set in the Wild West that became known as ‘spaghetti westerns’. They made Clint Eastwood an international star, and the soundtracks by Ennio Morricone are now iconic. This video shows Morricone conducting the theme to the most famous film in its full glory. Also, Metallica plays this one to open their shows. If you do check out a video of that, listen for the crowd doing the high notes.
L’unica chance Adriano Celentano 1973 Funky disco
His career started in the late 1950s and continues to this day. He is considered one of the pillars of Italian music, and he is credited for having introduced rock and roll to Italy. I like this super funky disco number (“The only chance”) and the video that really is of its time. Love the pants. He is known for his dancing moves, but um….
Ma il cielo è sempre più blu Rino Gaetano 1975 Rock
He grew up in Rome, where his family was displaced following the disruptions after the Second World War. Known for his raspy voice, he died at 30 at the height of his powers. “But the sky is always bluer”, his most famous song is about social and economic divides in society.
Chase Giorgio Moroder 1978 Disco
He is considered the Father of Disco. Not the father of “Italian disco”, but of all disco. His sounds were all over the 70s and 80s, and he now has worked with Daft Punk and Lady Gaga. His first big hit featured an evocative rising star singing over his sounds: Donna Summer on I Feel Love. This video is a recent live performance of Chase at an Italian disco party. I think he plays at least 10 different synthesizers in this one.
Albachiara Vasco Rossi 1979 Rock
He has been active since the late 1970s, and he is one of the best-selling Italian singers. He has had the best-selling album of the year in Italy five different years. He got his start in Bologna. This song (“Cleardawn”) is one of his biggest hits. This video from a concert in 2017 shows that they still love him – and that he still rocks.
Gloria Umberto Tozzi 1979 Disco
This is the original that was famously covered in English by Laura Brannigan in 1982. This live concert footage is a bit grainy – but, everyone looks so happy.
Il pescatore Fabrizio De André 1979 Folk
The Italian Bob Dylan. In 1979 he was kidnapped and held for ransom for four months in Sardinia. At the trial of the kidnappers, he famously declared solidarity with them. “They were the real prisoners” based on their poverty. This song “The Fisherman” is a story song, a little like Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler”. This one is about helping a stranger and includes lines like this one, E la memoria è già dolore (“And memory is already pain”). He revved up his original 1970 version in the 1979 re-release. That is the version he performed in this 1998 concert.
Tarzan Boy Baltimora 1985 New wave
A global hit for this one-hit wonder group. The front man in the videos was actually a back-up singer, but he was a good dancer so he was put forward as the face of the group. He just lip-synced in performances, similar to Plastic Bertrand for Ca plane pour moi.
Con gli occhiali da sole Maria Antonietta 2012 Indie
After the classic songs from the 70s and 80s, I skipped a lot of rockin’ 90s and 00s to get us to the more recent scene in Italy. Maria Antonietta is tough but sweet and she plays bouncy yet crunchy guitar rock. This one is ‘With sunglasses’.
Ecstasy Soviet Soviet 2013 Post-punk
An ethereal post-punk sound reminiscent of Joy Division and New Order.
Like a Virgin Sister Cristina 2014 Pop
Yep, she’s a nun – and she won the Italian The Voice in 2014. For her first single from the resulting album she covered Madonna’s 1984 classic, with a Catholic tint and also perhaps some irony mixed in. She has also collaborated with other religious musical groups such as the Brazilian Missionario Shalom.
Apocalhipster Osaka Flu 2016 Punk
The 1993 Simpsons episode that they named themselves after sure became a lot more widely known in 2020. This episdoe was about a global pandemic that originated in Asia, making its way to Springfield and the Simpson family… But, besides their band name, these guys have a punk-rock sound and they are from Arezzo, not far from Florence.
SDIMS Yombe 2016 EDM
Euro synth duo from Naples with African drum flavors. “Something Dead in My Soul”. Ouch.
Going Under Hermit 2016 Electronic
Modern Euro emo from some young guys trying to break through.
Che cosa resta Giorginess 2017 Indie rock/Grunge
Contemporary rockers from Milano. “What’s left of us?”
Io non ho quel non so che Voina 2017 Punk/Post-punk
Another young group with pop-punk-ish sounds. “I don’t have what I don’t know”. This one has an old-school, narrative music video.
Zucchero filato Gazzelle 2017 Pop
From Rome, New New Wave. They call their music ‘sexy pop’. “Cotton candy (do you remember it?)”
Occidentali’s Karma Francesco Gabbani Pop 2017
“Westerners’ Karma” a criticism of superficial lifestyles and facile interest in Eastern cultures. This one reached number one in Italy and it was Italy’s entry in the Eurovision song contest.
In My Head Giungla 2019 Indie
An emerging singer/songwriter from Bologna who mixes electronic and rock.
Achille Lauro Rolls Royce 2019 Pop
He’s a rapper from Verona, and this video takes a decade-by-decade tour of dance and fashion styles in videos. “No, it’s not life, it’s Rock’n Roll… White Ferrari and Miami Vice.”
Soldi Mahmood 2019 Hip hop
He’s a crooner/rapper from Milan, of Egyptian descent. He first emerged on the Italian X Factor. and this one from his debut album went to number one in Italy. It won the famous Sanremo Musical Festival in Italy in 2019, and then this one represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, where it came in second overall. Soldi (“Money”) is about how money can influence personal relationships, including among family members. His father left their family when he was young, and his music is partly how we works on that trauma.
Good Times Ghali 2020 Hip hop
From Milan, of Tunisian descent, he is now not only a leading rapper in Italy, but he is internationally recognized as a style-maker. His broad cultural influence has been recognized in magazine features in Europe (Vogue) and the US (Atlantic). He dropped this creative video in March 2020, during the coronavirus lockdown. It was crowdsourced with fans singing and Ghali reacting to their performances, sometimes with facemasks.