Italian songs

[Keith88]

"Malafemmena" (Evil woman) was composed in 1951 by the Neapolitan actor Totò (Antonio de Curtis) in 1951. Like "O Marenariello," which was the basis of "I Have But One Heart," a tune I posted recently, "Malafemmena" is a Canzone Napolitana, a song in the Neapolitan language, often, as in this case, a lover's complaint. The song was dedicated to the composer's wife after they separated. The lyrics are quite cutting and translations can be found on the web.

The structure of "Malafemmena" is a standard 32-bar ABAC. I have incorporated a turnaround in bars 31-32 and a two bar coda to finish the song.

There are many performances on Youtube. The one by Roberto Murolo (look for a man with a guitar) has a translation of the Neapolitan lyrics. He plays it as a tango, as do other Italian performers. A performance by Al Martino, of "Godfather" fame is also worth hearing. I knew and performed this song in the 1960s as a rhumba. I now perform it with the iRP Latin - Cuba: Bolero style at 110 bpm, but it also works using the Argentina: Tango style.

Malafemmena - Toto (Antonio de Curtis)