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Italian gibberish song from 1972 offers uncanny impression of the English language

If you've ever wondered what English sounds like to non-speakers, look no further.

Le Pietre Rotolanti/YouTube, @HarrietMould/Twitter
In 1972, an Italian singer wrote a hit song with English-sounding gibberish and it's so trippy

You've probably heard plenty of people doing impressions of other languages, speaking gibberish that sounds vaguely Chinese, French, or German. However problematic and offensive those impressions might sometimes be, it speaks to the fact that every language leans on certain sounds, cadences, and vocal inflections that help define it. Even if we can't speak or even understand those languages, we often inherently understand those key markings.

But have you ever wondered what it might sound like if someone were to speak in gibberish that sounded kind of like English? Even better, what if someone sang a whole song that sounded like a jazzy, upbeat American bop — without using any actual English words? If so, you're in luck!

Apparently, a song many of us have never heard of shot to the top of the charts in Italy in 1972 for the most intriguing reason. The song, written and performed by Adriano Celentano and is called "Prisencolinensinainciusol" which means...well, nothing. It's gibberish. In fact, the entire song is nonsense lyrics made to sound like English, and oddly, it does.


mary poppins, silly songs, music, musicals, songs, gibberish, funnyPrisencolinensinainciusol is the new SupercalifragilisticexpialidociousGiphy

Occasionally, you can hear what sounds like a real word or phrase here and there—"eyes" and "color balls died" and "alright" a few times, for example—but it mostly just sounds like English without actually being English. It's like an auditory illusion and it does some super trippy things to your brain to listen to it.

Here, Celentano performs the song in all of its glory, in a bizarre but passionate display. You just have to watch and listen to fully appreciate the artistry on display here:


- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Wow, right? In a 2012 interview on NPR's All Things Considered, Celentano explained how the silly pop song came about.

"Ever since I started singing, I was very influenced by American music and everything Americans did," he told Guy Raz, through interpreter Sim Smiley.

"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," he said. "And to do this, I had to write a song where the lyrics didn't mean anything."

In fact, Celentano didn't even write down any lyrics for the song at first, but just improvised the sounds. And people didn't appear to care. "Prisencolinensinainciusol" reached number one on the charts not only in Italy, but also in France, Germany, and Belgium.

adriana celentano, italian singer, singer, opera, rock and roll, funny musicA young Adriano Celentano singing on stageBy Collezione Biblioteca Comunale G.D. Romagnosi, Salsomaggiore Terme, Public Domain,

Celentano is known for a lot more than just his English gibberish. He's been an incredibly unique and innovative talent in the Italian music scene, credited with bringing new moves and flavors of dancing and also introducing rock and roll to Italy. He's also a renowned actor, having appeared in dozens of comedy films. If you watch the performance above, you'll see how his physical, goofball style could fit right into a slapstick movie.

He's also a serious musicians, quite often considered one of the most prolific and influential artists in Italian history.

Celentano's ability to sound like he's singing in English without actually saying anything in English is pretty impressive. Especially when you hear him sing in Italian, like this:

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Adriano Celentano is still alive and well as of this writing, kicking around at the ripe age of 87. A fun fact to consider after watching his brilliant English gibberish: Celentano can not actually speak English! In a 2009 interview he admits to trying to learn the language but finding it extremely difficult (same, honestly). But his deep study did lead to his absolutely incredible mimicry of the sounds and cadences of English.

Languages are fun. And funky. And frustrating when you don't understand them. Celentano was purposefully making a point with "Prisencolinensinainciusol" to break down language barriers and inspire people to communicate more. Whether he succeeded in doing that or not, it sure is entertaining to see him try.

This article originally appeared five years ago.

Homeless man catapults onto music industry's radar with viral song

You sometimes hear about how older stars got their start by simply walking into a soda shop or book store and someone with connections liking something about them. For instance, Charlize Theron has shared how she was discovered after making a scene at a bank in Hollywood by her agent, who would later cash her check for her and give her his business card.

You don't really hear many stories like that anymore. Most people are discovered after years and years of making connections the good ol' fashioned way. So when you hear about someone down on their luck getting launched into the spotlight, it's something people tend to celebrate because it's such a rare occurrence.

Andrew "Donut" Larsen has taken social media by storm after a video of him recorded some time ago by a stranger went viral recently on TikTok. Larsen was sitting outside of a gas station with his guitar when he asked someone to buy him a beer in exchange for him playing an original song. The song blew the passerby away, but with the song's recent virility, Larsen's life is quickly changing.


The song "Ghost of You," the original song by Larsen, started charting as soon as he released it. In a short time, he went from being homeless and singing for change on street corners in southern states to being flown out to Los Angeles and Nashville to meet with record executives. While it remains unclear if Larsen has signed a record deal, he recorded the single that grabbed everyone's attention in a professional recording studio.

@donut.larsen Thank you for all the support. Like and follow and I will keep posting more. 💚🍩 #music #blues #thankyou #FYP ♬ original sound - Dönut Larsen

The young rising star is also no longer completely homeless as he has been living in Airbnbs through people's donations from his social media account. "Ghost of You"sounds like a mixture of blues and classic country music, but it's Larsen's amazing tones and raspy voice that really sells the emotion behind the lyrics.

The original video made its way onto other social media platforms where it's also gone viral. People can't get over watching someone's career take off from the beginning, especially seeing where the musician started. Larsen even got to play "Gallon of Mad Dog,"another original song, at the TikTok office in Los Angeles after he was invited by the social media giant.

According to Larsen, who shares in another video that he has a manager handling his social media pages, he's working on professionally recording several other songs and looking for bandmates. He's hoping to release his next single soon, but in the meantime he's trying to get accustomed to the newfound attention while remaining focused on honing his craft.

"Quick update, we're in Nashville, we're at the Airbnb now. It's been a busy week. We've not really stopped since Sunday night. We've been recording and we've been talking to labels. We've been running around meeting writers and publishers, and playing parties, it's just been really crazy, really busy but things are going well," Larsen shares in a video update.

He thanks the people following along with his journey but is still in disbelief that people want to hear his music. Commenters have nothing but positive vibes to send to the newly discovered musician.

"Seen you on tik tok ab a month ago and ive been and now ur all the way in the state I live making music, its crazy. Wish you luck man," one person writes.

"Keep going with your style. I have played the TikTok ghost of you on repeat. Your style of music hits me right in the spot," another says.

@donut.larsen Things are going well! Were making things happen, folks!! #fly #donutlarsen #nashville ♬ original sound - Dönut Larsen

"Your singing touched my spirit and I’m certain other people feel the same. I’m rooting for you and pray you have the strength to endure all of your good fortune and what life brings you in the future," a commenter shares.

"Heyy, i’ve been following you since your first video on TikTok and I just wanted to say that you’re amazing!! and your songs hits!! I know that you’re one day gonna be one of the biggest artists," someone else writes.

During a live stream, which was uploaded to his TikTok page, someone asked how much his head is spinning from everything happening so fast. Larsen replied, "I somehow managed to stay in a pretty calm headspace, like I'm not shaking. I'm not freaking out at the prospect of everything," before elaborating. "It is pretty crazy though. I've never been flown out anywhere like that before so that's pretty cool."

@donut.larsen Ghost of you coming this friday, made a few adjustments so it sounded extra good for yall 🖤
♬ original sound - Dönut Larsen

In his snippet from his professionally recorded version of "Ghost of You,"he again thanks his listeners, saying, "I really can't thank y'all enough, 'Ghost Of You' is out now. This past few weeks has been so insane. I found a place to stay for a little bit, got in a studio, just dropped my first song. Love y'all this has been so incredible."

Right now it seems Larsen is still in talks with different record labels, but his fanbase is hoping he will be able to sign with someone soon. But for now the singer is off the streets living a surreal experience that his growing fanbase can follow along with. You can stream his single "Ghost of You" on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube and Deezer.

Sheena Melwani is a media artist and singer who has made a name for herself not only with her musical talent, but because her "Indian dad" is freaking hilarious.

Melwani shares videos on TikTok of her playing piano and singing popular songs, only to be interrupted by "dad" making commentary on what she's singing. Melwani can never make it through a whole song without busting up laughing over her father's interjections, and who can blame her? He's like a sitcom character come to life.


Anyone who has a snarky parent will delight in the playful roasts this dad foists upon his daughter. He's even coined some classic dad hashtags like #closethewindows. Just watch:





Melwani told Upworthy that she's been overwhelmed by the positive responses to her dad roast videos, and that she gets messages daily from people—people with depression and more—who tell her how much the videos have helped lift their spirits. "They're holding it like light and laughter and love, and this is what people have been looking for," she says. "It just promotes so much happiness."

She says she's really not a huge social media person at all outside of her work, and she only joined TikTok because her brother encouraged her to. When she started sharing the dad videos on TikTok, she had just 14 followers, then it just exploded. She posts a video every day now to her nearly 700,000 followers, in addition to posting dad videos and other content on Instagram. She's planning on releasing an album of her music (sans dad commentary) this fall, but has no plans to stop making people laugh with her "Indian dad" videos.

In her TikTok videos, the dad is off camera, and his true identity remains a mystery. But you can follow him on TikTok here as well. Melwani says that he adlibs all of the commentary in the videos and she has no idea what's coming, so that infectious laughter is real.

Thanks for bringing us all some much-needed joy, Sheena and Indian dad!


This article originally appeared on 7.22.20

Culture

In 1972, an Italian singer wrote a hit song with English-sounding gibberish and it's so trippy

Seriously, this might be the catchiest 2 minutes of utter nonsense ever recorded.

Sometimes it seems like social media is too full of trolls and misinformation to justify its continued existence, but then something comes along that makes it all worth it.

Apparently, a song many of us have never heard of shot to the top of the charts in Italy in 1972 for the most intriguing reason. The song, written and performed by Adriano Celentano and is called "Prisencolinensinainciusol" which means...well, nothing. It's gibberish. In fact, the entire song is nonsense lyrics made to sound like English, and oddly, it does.

Occasionally, you can hear what sounds like a real word or phrase here and there—"eyes" and "color balls died" and "alright" a few times, for example—but it mostly just sounds like English without actually being English. It's like an auditory illusion and it does some super trippy things to your brain to listen to it.

Plus the video someone shared to go with it is fantastic. It's gone crazy viral because how could it not.


And if you thought that video was something, check out another one of the same song by the same singer. Why are there two videos? Who knows. But this is truly one of the most 1970s things that has ever happened.

Adriano Celentano - Prisencolinensinainciusolwww.youtube.com

Wow, right?

In a 2012 interview on NPR's All Things Considered, Celentano explained how the silly pop song came about.

"Ever since I started singing, I was very influenced by American music and everything Americans did," he told Guy Raz, through interpreter Sim Smiley.

"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," he said. "And to do this, I had to write a song where the lyrics didn't mean anything."

In fact, Celentano didn't even write down any lyrics for the song at first, but just improvised the sounds. And people didn't appear to care. "Prisencolinensinainciusol" reached number one on the charts not only in Italy, but also in France, Germany, and Belgium.

Celentano's ability to sound like he's singing in English without actually saying anything in English is pretty impressive. Especially when you hear him sing in Italian, like this:

Adriano Celentano - L'emozione non ha voce - Official Video (With Lyrics/Parole in descrizione)www.youtube.com

Languages are fun. And funky. And frustrating when you don't understand them. Celentano was purposefully making a point with "Prisencolinensinainciusol" to break down language barriers and inspire people to communicate more. Whether he succeeded in doing that or not, it sure is entertaining to see him try.


This article originally appeared on 12.1.20