Gli occhi miei

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gli occhi miei
Cover
Wilma Goich / Dino
publication 5th February 1968
length 3:06
Genre (s) pop
text Mogol
music Carlo Donida
Label Arc ( RCA Italiana )
Cover versions
1968 Tom Jones - Help Yourself
1968 Ben Cramer - Dans met mij
1968 Peter Alexander - Come and help yourself
1968 Tonia - carousel

Gli occhi miei ( Italian for "My Eyes") is an Italian song by the duo of authors Carlo Donida and Mogol , which was first presented to the public by Wilma Goich and Dino at the 1968 Sanremo Festival . In an English cover version by Tom Jones , the song became internationally known under the title Help Yourself . In the same year Ben Cramer published a Dutch version with Dans met mij and Peter Alexander and Tonia published a German version with Komm und betien dich or Karussell .

original

background

For Wilma Goich, 1968 was the fourth Sanremo participation, for Dino the first. Donida and Mogol were already seasoned Sanremo writers. As intended by the festival rules in those years, Gli occhi miei was interpreted in two different versions, once by Dino and once by Wilma Goich, and although it reached the finals on February 3, it was only able to reach eleventh place with 71 votes (out of 14). to reach.

A solo version of Dino, which was released on the Arc label as a 7 ″ single with the B-side Passano , reached number 10 in the Italian single charts of Musica e dischi and number 58 in the annual charts after the festival . It also found its way into Dino's third self-titled studio album. Wilma Goich also released a solo single of the song and recorded the version in 1991 on her album Come un fiore .

In the same year Marisa Sannia released a cover version of Gli occhi miei on the Cetra label as the B-side of the 7 ″ single Casa bianca (with this song Sannia and Ornella Vanoni had reached second place at the Sanremo Festival) Debut album is included. With Sannia the instrumental part is missing after the first chorus, instead there is an additional stanza. In 1985 another Italian version appeared on the cover album Le più belle canzoni di Sanremo by the group Ro Bo T , which was a temporary collaboration between the three musicians Rosanna Fratello , Bobby Solo and Little Tony .

Musical structure

The song consists of a verse, a chorus and an instrumental solo that takes the position of the bridge . It begins with the first two stanzas, followed by the repeated chorus. The instrumental solo is followed by the third verse, with the refrain repeated several times at the end.

Harmoniously in the stanzas, the song follows the simple scheme I - IV - I - V on E flat , partially extended by the dominant seventh chord (A7). There is no subdominant in the chorus.

text

In Mogol's Italian text, the singer turns to an unknown person and sings through his own eyes, which would reveal more about him than he can express in words: Anche se non ti parlo mai, il mio segreto tu saprai (“Even if If I never speak to you, you will find out my secret ”). In the chorus , however, he complains to the person addressed that she would never look into his eyes, although he is sure that she already feels some sympathy for him (che un po 'di bene già mi vuoi) .

The text is non-gender specific throughout. It is noticeable that the eponymous phrase gli occhi miei (“My eyes”) is repeated four times at the end of each stanza , leading to the refrain (as pre-chorus ).

Help yourself

A-side of the UK single edition of Help Yourself

background

The Welsh singer Tom Jones recorded Help Yourself in 1968 with an English text by Jack Fishman , which has no relation to the Italian original . The song, which later found place on Jones' album of the same name, was first released on July 5, 1968 and reached the international charts; in Germany it brought Jones the second number one hit in a row after Delilah and a gold record . The B-side of the Decca single was Day by Day . In the US, however, the single was released on Parrot Records , along with five other Help-Yourself album tracks.

Chart placements
Charts Top ranking Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK) Germany (GfK) 1 (22 weeks) 22nd
Austria (Ö3) Austria (Ö3) 3 (24 weeks) 24
Switzerland (IFPI) Switzerland (IFPI) 3 (13 weeks) 13
United Kingdom (OCC) United Kingdom (OCC) 5 (26 weeks) 26th
United States (Billboard) United States (Billboard) 35 (8 weeks) 8th

The singer Frances Yip recorded a cover version of the song for her greatest hits album from 1971, which was released on Life Records . Comedian Steve Coogan brought out a parody of the song in 1996 under the pseudonym Tony Ferrino ; the B-side of the single is Bigamy at Christmas . He reached number 42 in the British single charts (with a stay of five weeks).

text

In Fishman's English text, the singer describes the tempting offers of love, which are like “ candy on a shelf ”, and asks the person addressed to access and help themselves. Since he is overabundant with love (I'm rich with love, a millionaire) , he urges the person to accept the offer. In the chorus he finally offers himself and all love in his heart, to which the smile of the other person has opened a door (just help yourself to the love in my heart, your smile has opened up the door) .

In contrast to the original, the text of the refrain is not simply placed twice in a row unchanged, but instead consists of eight instead of four lines.

Dans met mij

Around the same time as Tom Jones, Ben Cramer released a Dutch version of the song under the title Dans met mij ("Dance with me") on the Omega (Dureco) label . As the B-side of Gina (according to other information as A-side), the single entered the Nederlandse Top 40 ; however, the Tom Jones version also counted for the seventh place.

The lyrics of the Dutch version were written by the songwriter Willy Rex , it shows no similarities to the Italian or English lyrics. It's about being happy, taking advantage of the night and spending time singing and dancing. The refrain is marked by the simple line zing lalala ("sing La La La"), which refers to the version by Wilma Goich in which the last repetition of the refrain also consists only of La La La.

Come and help yourself

background

A-side of the single release of Come and serve you

After Peter Alexander had already recorded a successful cover of the Tom Jones hit Delilah , he published his song Come and use you with Ariola in September 1968 , which officially only used the Italian original. The B-side of the 7 "single was the song Jealous Girl . Kurt Feltz and Hans Bradtke are responsible for the text of the German version . Feltz also produced the song (like Delilah did ).

The song appears in the film Zum Teufel mit der Penne , which was released in West German cinemas at the end of 1968. Peter Alexander plays a reporter who sneaks into a school in the role of a teacher in order to be able to research undercover. During the course of the film, he sings songs from his repertoire on several occasions. At a party he is asked by his students to sing a song; He fulfills this wish with Come and help you , accompanied by a school band. The film service criticized Alexander's vocal performances as "idiotic ditties".

Chart placements
Charts Top ranking Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK) Germany (GfK) 9 (14 weeks) 14th
Austria (Ö3) Austria (Ö3) 9 (4 weeks) 4th

Alexander's version was followed by other German-language cover versions, for example by Gerhard Wendland in 1968 , by Helmut Zacharias in 2002 and by Stefanie Hertel in 2008 .

text

According to the official credits, the German text by Feltz and Bradtke only uses the original Mogol text, but the content is clearly based on the Fishman text. This can already be seen in the title, which is based on a simple translation of Help Yourself (“ Help yourself!”). The very first sentence Love is a fixed menu also refers to the beginning of the English version (Love is like candy on a shelf) . Remaining true to the original, the singer offers himself, his heart and the love he has to the person addressed.

The occasional English interjections that stand prominently at the end of the line are striking: and when it comes, I say please , take this, take this ; I invite you and you say yes , and there is happiness for dessert . As in the English version, but in contrast to the other language versions, the text of the refrain is not simply placed unchanged twice in a row, but extends over the full eight lines.

carousel

Also with a text by Hans Bradtke, a German-language cover version of the Belgian singer Tonia appeared in 1968 under the title Karussell bei Decca , accompanied by Henry Mayer and his orchestra. The structure of the text is reminiscent of the Wilma Goich version (repeated phrases in the pre-chorus and the last repetition of the refrain as lalala ), but its content is completely independent. On the B-side of the single is a composition by Mayer with a text by Günter Loose , Today, Tomorrow (all time) .

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ^ Sanremo 1968 (18a Edizione). HitParadeItalia, accessed April 18, 2015 (Italian).
  2. ^ A b Festival di Sanremo 1968. TV Sorrisi e Canzoni , January 26, 2015, accessed on April 18, 2015 (Italian).
  3. ↑ Dino - Gli occhi miei / Passano. Discogs , accessed April 17, 2015 .
  4. ↑ Chart archive. Musica e dischi , accessed on April 17, 2015 (Italian, paid subscription access).
  5. ↑ Guido Racca: M&D Top 100 Year-End: Singoli & Album 1960-2018 . Self-published, 2019, ISBN 978-1-980329-12-1 , pp. 38 .
  6. ↑ Dino - Dino. Discogs, accessed April 17, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Wilma Goich - Come un fiore. Discogs, accessed April 17, 2015 .
  8. ↑ Marisa Sannia - Casa Bianca. Discogs, accessed April 17, 2015 .
  9. ↑ Marisa Sannia - Marisa Sannia. Discogs, accessed April 17, 2015 .
  10. ^ Ro Bo T - Le più belle canzoni di Sanremo. Discogs, accessed April 17, 2015 .
  11. ^ Günter Ehnert: Hit balance sheet - German chart singles 1956-1980 . 1st edition. Verlag popular music-literature, Norderstedt 2000, ISBN 3-922542-24-7 , p. 444 .
  12. ^ Tom Jones - Help Yourself. Discogs, accessed April 17, 2015 .
  13. ^ Tom Jones - Help Yourself. Discogs, accessed April 17, 2015 .
  14. ↑ a b c d e Chart sources Help Yourself : DA-CH , US , UK
  15. ↑ Frances Yip - Greatest Hits. Discogs, accessed April 18, 2015 .
  16. ↑ Help Yourself / Bigamy at Christmas. In: OfficialCharts.com. Official Charts Company , accessed April 17, 2015 .
  17. ↑ a b Ben Cramer - Gina. Discogs, accessed April 24, 2015 .
  18. ↑ a b Tom Jones / Ben Cramer - Help Yourself / Dans met mij. In: Nederlandse Top 40 . Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, accessed April 24, 2015 (Dutch).
  19. ↑ Ben Cramer - Dans met mij. In: Dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien, accessed April 24, 2015 .
  20. ↑ Peter Alexander - Come and help yourself (Gli occhi miei). Discogs, accessed April 17, 2015 .
  21. ↑ To the devil with the penne - The louts from the first bank - Part 2. Film service , accessed April 17, 2015 .
  22. ↑ a b Chart sources: Chart source Come and help yourself
  23. ↑ Gerhard Wendland - Love, that's the name of my song. Discogs, accessed April 24, 2015 .
  24. ↑ Helmut Zacharias - Thank you very much (The retrospective). Discogs, accessed April 24, 2015 .
  25. ↑ Stefanie Hertel - Stronger than freedom. Discogs, accessed April 24, 2015 .
  26. ↑ Carousel , entry at discogs.com