Volare

Volare
 

In the famous song "Volare" (sung in Spanish e.g. by The Gipsy Kings), what is the conjugation form of the title "Volare"?
Is it the future "Volaré" (I will fly) or the subjunctive future "Volare" (that I will fly)?
What would be the exact English translation of the title?

Thanks for your answers!
Yendred

Hi, Yendred. While the Gipsy Kings sing it, the part of "Volare" is Italian...

And I believe it's just the infinitive, "to fly".

(The original author of the song is Italian, and if I remember well, the Gipsy Kings make a version with some Spanish lyrics... of course with nice Gipsy accent and great rhythm and percussion...)

I agree with JPablo, in that the title is the Italian infinitive.

But, just as the Spanish infinitive can be used as a noun (and would then be considered to be the same as the English gerund 'flying'), the Italian infinitive is being used as a gerund in the chorus and it should be translated as 'flying'.

Flying, oh-oh, singing, oh-oh, in the blue painted blue,
Happy to be up there ...

A quick search on the internet revealed that very few have translated 'volare' as 'flying', in the chorus, but all switched to using the gerund form everywhere else the word appeared. ;)

Mmmm... :thinking:

To fly or not to fly... that is the question
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The rockets and planes of outrageous blue,
Or to take ballistic missiles against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; :eek:

Oopps... sorry for this unwitting and unconscious association...

Perhaps I got carried over into the classics...

Maybe the "infinitive" usage in English is "archaic"?

In the song "Volare" and "Cantare" which is part of the refrain, sounds to me like

"To fly, oh-oh, to sing, oh-oh"

Or maybe, interpreting with my understanding

Oh, if I could fly, oh-oh, like I can sing...

Perhaps that is "unduly free" on my part, but then again, in the context of the song, a "subjunctive" concept may be somehow "teeming" all along the song...

Or on the other hand one can take it as a total mystic, with an "out of body" experience where the singer is saying "Flying, oh-wow... singing, wow-wow" that's what I am doing, and am spread all over the blue...

After all, these lyrics can be a lot more deep that one may think...

(If someone thinks I am going over the bend, don't worry, I also thought about it...) :rolleyes:

To use gerunds or to use infinitives, that is the question.

The infinitive is not at all archaic. Neither is the gerund.
Both can be used as a translation of the original lyric in this particular chorus.

Taking the lyrics written in Spanish, and leaving out the interjectory ohs, how would you translate 'volar en el azul pintado de azul'? It would depend on what follows the clause, wouldn't it? I had to look at the whole to get the "feel" of the song before I could provide a translation.

Here are some actual sentences (as opposed to the sentence fragment above). Which sentence in each group would you use most often?

To read is fun.
It's fun to read.
Reading is fun.

Flying is my dream.
To fly is my dream.
My dream is to fly.

(If it's of any use, I listed them in number-of-hits-on-the-internet order, from least to most common.)

We're free to choose which one we'll use, because each group conveys basically the same idea, but the natural selection is a product of how it "feels."
Gerunds, when used as a subject, tend to sound more natural. That explains the order in group 1. This is especially true when it is a real activity or experience. (This is the feeling I got from the song.)
Infinitives tend to sound more natural when they suggest a potential or possible activity. This is why the infinitive was more popular in the second group. (I didn't get this feeling from the song.)

The gerund and infinitive are not always interchangeable. The site I linked to gives many examples where one will usually prevail over the other. In Spanish, you would use the infinitive in every case.

Awesome link!
Thank you, Rusty. Masterful... as usual! :thumbsup:

Volare
 

I teach both Italian and Spanish to adults.





Nel blu dipinto di blu (Volare)

Blue painted in the blue (Flying)

Penso che un sogno così non ritorni mai più I think such a dream will never come back Mi dipingevo le mani e la faccia di blu I painted my hands and my face blue Poi d'improvviso venivo dal vento rapito Then suddenly I was ravished by the wind E incominciavo a volare nel cielo infinito And I started flying in the infinite sky Volare, oh oh... Flying, oh oh... Cantare, ohohoho... Singing, ohohoho... Nel blu dipinto di blu Blue painted in the blue Felice di stare lassù Happy to be up there E volavo, volavo felice And I was flying, flying happily Più in alto del sole ed ancora più su Higher than the sun and even higher Mentre il mondo pian piano spariva, lontano laggiù While the world was slowly disappearing, far beneath Una musica dolce suonava soltanto per me A soft music was playing just for me Volare, oh oh... Flying, oh oh.. Cantare, ohohoho... Singing, ohohoho... Nel blu dipinto di blu Blue painted in the blue Felice di stare lassù Happy to be up there Ma tutti i sogni nell'alba svaniscono perché But all the dreams fade away at dawn, because Quando tramonta, la luna li porta con sé While setting, the moon takes them away Ma io continuo a sognare negli occhi tuoi belli But I keep dreaming in your beautiful eyes Che sono blu come un cielo trapunto di stelle Which are as blue as a sky quilted with stars Volare, oh oh... Flying, oh oh... Cantare, ohohoho... Singing, ohohoho... Nel blu degli occhi tuoi blu In the blue of your blue eyes Felice di stare quaggiù Happy to be down here E continuo a volare felice And I keep flying happily Più in alto del sole ed ancora più su Higher than the sun and even higher Mentre il mondo pian piano scompare negli occhi tuoi blu While the world is slowly disappearing in your blue eyes La tua voce è una musica dolce che suona per me Your voice is a soft music playing for me Volare, oh oh... Flying, oh oh... Cantare, ohohoho... Singing, ohohoho... Nel blu degli occhi tuoi blu In the blue of your blue eyes Felice di stare quaggiù Happy to be down here Nel blu degli occhi tuoi blu In the blue of your blue eyes Felice di stare quaggiù con te Happy to be down here with you

Thank you, Villa! :thumbsup:
(¡Villa, Villa, maravilla!) (Even if you are not our "David Villa")

De nada, Pablo. No hay de que.
Prego. Non c'è di che. c'è sounds like che and che=que and sounds like que. Che cosa? ¿Qué cosa?

Lo so, lo so! Grazie mille! :)

Vorrei solo aggiungere un paio di cose:
L'autore del poema Nel blu, dipinto di blu è Franco Migliacci. Il poema fu musicato da Domenico Modugno e presentato nel 1958 al Festival di Sanremo.
Thanks a lot for the translation and AD MAIORA!:applause:

Ditto! :applause:

Filumena Marturano a Mimmi:
FILUMENA MARTURANO
It's a famous dramma wroten by Eduardo de Filippo, a Neapolitan playwright.
Is written in Neapolitan lenguage, and that's why we read 'ditto'.
Translate into Italian we read:
"ricordati: se quello che t'ho detto lo dici ai miei figli...ti uccido!"
Into english translation:
"remember: if you tell to my children what I tell you...I kill you!":eek:

Interesting!

(I was just saying "ditto" as in "as already stated; likewise"... but good to know...)

Già detto = already stated:thumbsup:

I love that song! The original version, of course!

:applause:

"Adoro/Amo quella cancione. La version originale, ovviamente!"

Gracie, Villa

I think I liked that song all my life. I remember when very young, I would sing the song in gibberish. I didn't speak Spanish or Italian so I made up my own words.....gibberish.

:D

De nada/Prego.

Hola Elaina. No he hablado en este foro desde hace años. ¿Alguna vez hemos hablado en el pasado? No tengo la memoria que tenía antes.

Più originale di così si muore: Mimmo Modugno la canta per la prima volta al mondo.

http://youtu.be/nQSiKYgULcI