Sanremo 2024 starts today, and who knows if the competing singers will surprise us with songs about wine. In the meantime, we propose you a short playlist of songs where wine is an essential ingredient. It’s a pop music selection of Italian and international songs that we recommend you listening paired with the listed wined
Giorgio Gaber – Barbera e Champagne
There isn’t a more quintessential Italian song about wine than “Barbera e Champagne.”
The protagonists of the story are two men who have been sitting sadly at the bar for three hours, each drinking a glass of champagne and Barbera, respectively. When their eyes meet, they recognize each other’s broken hearts and decide to toast together to the pains of love.
Barbera e champagne stasera beviam
per colpa del mio amor pa ra pa pa
per colpa del tuo amor pa ra pa pa.
Ai nostri dolor insieme brindiam
col tuo bicchiere di barbera
col mio bicchiere di champagne.
Fabrizio De André – La città vecchia
Another classical song about wine: in its poetic and vivid lyrics, De André takes us through the narrow streets of the old city of Genoa. From the first notes, it feels like being there, next to the old professor seeking the fleeting love of a girl to be paid for by squandering his entire salary. Next to that dark doorway where the protagonist ventures, there is the small table of a group of retirees who, talkative from too much wine, curse the times they live in.
Una gamba qua, una gamba là, gonfi di vino
quattro pensionati mezzo avvelenati al tavolino
li troverai là col tempo che fa estate e inverno
a stratracannare, a stramaledir le donne, il tempo
ed il governo.
Ligabue – Lambrusco e pop corn
Published as the second single from the 1991 album “Lambrusco, coltelli, rose & pop corn,” this may not be one of Liga’s most well-known songs, but it is certainly a beautiful song about wine. The singer-songwriter portrays the two worlds he inhabits, halfway between the province of Reggio Emilia and the dream of a life overseas, in the land of a thousand possibilities. In the background, however, emerges the real life and that slightly bitter feeling of not being able to escape.
Lambrusco e pop-corn
non è così facile
perchè prima e dopo il sogno c’è
la vita da vivere vivere.
Biagio Antonacci – Non vivo più senza te
This song about wine takes us on vacation to Salento (Italy). It is about a delightful, carefree summer adventure without inhibitions, thanks in part to wine. What happens on vacation stays on vacation; it’s nothing serious in the end, and if fate wills it, we’ll meet again.
Sarà che il vino cala forte più veloce del sole
Sarà che sono come un dolce che non riesci a evitare
Sarà che ballano sta pizzica, sta pizzica
Queen – Killer Queen
Let’s broaden our horizons and let Queen guide us through a tale with a high level of sensuality. After all, we might not have expected a song about wine from the subjects of Her Majesty the Queen. This song speaks of a woman of very high social rank with the qualities of an extraordinary seductress: she conquers you by drinking Moet et Chandon like a modern-day Marie Antoinette but doesn’t want the complications of a serious relationship.
She keeps her Moët et Chandon
In her pretty cabinet
“Let them eat cake, ” she says
Just like Marie Antoinette
The Eagles – Hotel California
“Hotel California” is perhaps the most iconic song by the Eagles. It tells the story of a confused and somewhat unconscious awakening in a hotel where a night of madness likely took place. The true meaning of the song is still unclear, but it seems that the verse about wine is particularly relevant as it suggests that the decline of contemporary times is due to the waning momentum of the cultural revolution of ’68.
“So I called up the Captain:
“Please bring me my wine”
He said: “We haven’t had that spirit here since 1969”
Adele – I drink wine
In this 2021 song, wine is absolutely the protagonist. British singer Adele describes how challenging it is to deal with oneself and all the impositions and judgments that come from the outside. So, a glass of wine helps you survive these pressures by providing a moment of reflection and relaxation.
When I was a child
Every single thing could blow my mind
Soaking it all up for fun
But now I only soak up wine
