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| "Il ragazzo della via Gluck" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Single byAdriano Celentano | |
| A-side | Il ragazzo della via Gluck |
| B-side | Chi era lui |
| Released | 17 January 1966[1] |
| Genre | pop,country |
| Label | Clan Celentano |
| Songwriters | Miki Del Prete Adriano Celentano Luciano Beretta |
"Il ragazzo della via Gluck" ("The boy from Gluck Street") is an Italianpop song byAdriano Celentano, covered by artists from many other countries.
The music of the song is by Adriano Celentano and the lyrics byLuciano Beretta andMiki Del Prete. It was released in 1966 as a double A-sidesingle by Celentano, with "Chi era lui" on the flipside, composed byPaolo Conte with lyrics byMogol andMiki Del Prete. Both tracks werearranged byDetto Mariano. The tracks' duration was 4:17 for "Il ragazzo della via Gluck" and 2:49 for "Chi era lui".
The song originally appeared in March 1966 in Celentano's albumLa festa and in his follow-up album,Il ragazzo della via Gluck, released in November 1966.
The song debuted at theSanremo Festival in 1966 where it achieved little success. It was eliminated from competition after the first night. But eventually it gained great favour with fans, making it the best-known and most representative of Celentano's songs, and contained many autobiographical references. Via Gluck was the street inMilan where Celentano lived as a boy with his family, and "eight years" ("...passano gli anni, ma 8 son lunghi..." meaning "...the years go by, but 8 they are long...") is a reference to the peak of Celentano's recording career, from 1958 to 1966.
Although the song tells a personal story about the loss of a childhood home, it is on a more general level also a wistful lament about the rapidurbanisation during thePost–World War II economic expansion in Europe and the loss of known environment and arable land ("...là dove c'era l'erba, ora c'è una città..." / "...perchè continuano a costruire le case, e non lasciano l'erba..."). Being a prominently discussed phenomenon at the time and a widely felt sentiment, this may have contributed to the song's large success and to its manycover versions and translations into other languages.
| Chart (1966–67) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Italy (Musica e dischi)[2] | 2 |
| Chart (1966) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Italy (Musica e dischi)[2] | 10 |
In the same year of its original release,Giorgio Gaber recorded a cover version, that was published twice as an attachment to the Italian music magazinePop. The first time, in March 1966, as a single containing "Il ragazzo della via Gluck"/"Dio, come ti amo" ("God, I love you so"), and the second, in June 1966, containing "Il ragazzo della via Gluck"/"Una casa in cima al mondo" ("A house on top of the world"). Giorgio Gaber also released a response to the song named "La risposta al ragazzo della Via Gluck" ("The response to the boy from Gluck Street").
In 2004, Adriano Celentano recorded the track with new lyrics and released it as "Quel Casinha" ("That Little House") in his albumC'è sempre un motivo (There's always a reason). The new text was sung inCreole withCesária Évora.
In February 2013, the Italian groupAlmamegretta, together withJames Senese,Marcello Coleman andClementino, performed the song on the fourth evening of the 2013Sanremo Music Festival.[3]
