| "La solitudine" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Single by Laura Pausini | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| from the album Laura Pausini | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Released | 1993 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Format | CD single | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Recorded | Santanna Recording Studios (Castelfranco Emilia, Modena) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre | Pop | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 4:04 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Label | CGD | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Angelo Valsiglio, Pietro Cremonesi, Federico Cavalli | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Producer | Angelo Valsiglio | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Laura Pausini singles chronology | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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"La solitudine" (English: The Loneliness) is an Italian ballad recorded by pop singer Laura Pausini and released as her debut single by CGD in February 1993. The song is included in Pausini's self-titled first album, released on 18 March 1993.
Pausini sang it for the first time on 23 February 1993, during the 43rd Sanremo Music Festival. On 27 February 1993, the song was announced the winner of the competition in the newcomers' section, receiving 7464 votes.[1]
The single reached the first position on the Italian Singles Chart, and later became an Italian standard.[2] Following the success obtained in Italy, in late 1993 the single was released in the rest of Europe, reaching the top 5 in France and topping the Dutch Top 40 Singles Chart and the Belgian Singles Chart.
In 1994 Pausini released a Spanish language version of the song, titled "La soledad" and included in her first Spanish language album, Laura Pausini. An English language version of the song, adapted by Tim Rice[3] and title "La solitudine (Loneliness)" was recorded by Laura Pausini and released as a single on 19 June 1995[4] to promote her self-titled compilation album.[5]
The song was re-recorded as a slower, more dramatic ballad with live instrumentation for her 2001 compilation album The Best of Laura Pausini: E ritorno da te. The same arrangement was used for the new version of the Spanish counterpart of the song, included in Lo mejor de Laura Pausini: Volveré junto a ti.
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The lyrics to the Italian version of the tender song are about a boy named Marco, who is separated from his girlfriend at the urging of his family and sent to live far away from her. The (now former) girlfriend makes an emotional and heartfelt plea, singing to him about the loneliness and pain they would feel without each other.[6][7]
Interviewed by Italian journalist Gianni Minà, Pausini declared that the song is strongly autobiographical:
"In the beginning the song started with the words 'Anna se n'è andata' [Anna went away] instead of 'Marco se n'è andato'. But the rest of the story was exactly the photograph of my life until that moment [...]. I had never met those two authors before and, even if Valsiglio and the other composers continued to give me new songs, I told my father that I wanted to sing that one only, just changing the name to Marco, because the development of the song looked to be a copy of what was happening to me. Marco was my boyfriend in the same period, and this is why, when I was singing that song, I was feeling moved."[8]
According to Univision's Fabiana Steinmander, Laura Pausini's "La solitudine" is a song "with a high degree of difficulty because of the number of vocal transitions and the modulation it demands of its singer".[9]
The song received mixed to negative reviews by Italian music critics. According to la Repubblica's Gino Castaldo, "La solitudine" is not a great song, but singing it Pausini "seduced with her voice and her authentic determination".[10] La Stampa's Marinella Venegoni wrote that, due to "La solitudine"'s "whimpering sadness", Pausini can be compared to Italian singer Marco Masini.[11] Venegoni later described it as an immature teen-song.[12]
Mario Luzzatto Fegiz and Gloria Pozzi wrote on the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that "La solitudine" initially looked to be a typical song built for the Sanremo Music Festival, but it is "a song without make-up, perfectly in tune with its interpret".[7]
The song became a big hit in Italy,[13] reaching the top spot on Musica e dischi's single chart on 13 March 1993, and holding the first position for a total number of three consecutive weeks.[14] "La solitudine" also became the 15th best-selling single of 1993 in Italy.[15]
The song was later released in the rest of Europe, reaching the top of the Belgian Singles Chart[16] and of the Dutch Top 40.[17] It also charted at number 5 in the French Singles Chart, scoring 44 non-consecutive weeks in the Top 50,[18] and at number 2 in the Dutch Mega Single Top 100.[19]
During 1994, the Spanish-language version of the song charted in the United States at number 22 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs[20] and at number 5 on the Billboard Latin Pop Songs,[21] while the English-language version, "La solitudine (Loneliness)", released in the United Kingdom only, failed to chart on the UK Singles Chart.
Laura Pausini performed the song live for the first time on 23 February 1993, competing in the newcomers' section of the 43rd Sanremo Music Festival, broadcasted by Italian TV station Rai 1.[22] The song was also performed during Pausini's Italian tour in 1993, to promote her debut self-titled album.[23]
A live performance of the song was included in Pausini's first DVD, Live 2001–2002 World Tour,[24][25] recorded at Mediolanum Forum in Milan on 2 December 2001,[26] as well as in 2005's Live in Paris, recorded at the Zénith de Paris,[27] and in San Siro 2007, recorded on 2 June 2007, when Pausini was the first woman to sing in the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.[28]
In 2002 Pausini dueted with Lara Fabian, singing "La solitudine" during a French TV show recorded in Rome.[29]
On 21 June 2009, Pausini performed the song live with Italian rock singer Gianna Nannini, during the mega-concert Amiche per l'Abruzzo, involving the most important Italian female singers and organized to raise money to support the victims of the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake.[30] The performance was also included in the DVD Amiche per l'Abruzzo, released on 22 June 2010.[31]
In 2009 Pausini released her third live album, Laura Live World Tour 09, including a performance of "La solitudine" recorded in Naples.[32] The Spanish version of the album, Laura Live Gira Mundial 09, features a recording of the song performed in Barcelona.[33]
In 1994, Thanos Kalliris recorded a Greek version of the song, titled "Το Νου σου κύριε Οδηγέ".[34] In the same year Paul de Leeuw recorded a Dutch language version of "La solitudine", with the title Ik Wil Niet Dat Je Liegt (I don't want you to lie). Filipino singer Ivy Violan also recorded a Filipino language version of the song, adapted by Alvina Sy with the title "Hanggang Ngayon" for her 1998's album with the same title.[35][36]
In 1994, Brazilian singer Renato Russo recorded a cover of the Italian-language version of the song for his album Equilibrio distante. After his death, a posthumous duet with Leila Pinheiro was included in his album Duetos.[37] The English version of the song was covered by German pop singer Jamie Stevens and included in his 2002 album Unbreakable.[38] The Spanish singer Abraham Mateo included a cover of "La soledad" in his self-titled debut album.[39]
Cuban timba group Bamboleo recorded a salsa version of "La soledad" for their 1996 album Te gusto o te caigo bien.[40] A year later, DLG followed suit, recording a salsa version of "La soledad" for their 1997 album Swing On.[41] Lead singer Huey Dunbar removed the reference to "Marco" and replaced it with "ella" (she). DLG's version also adds a spoken reggae bridge to the song, in which the woman Dunbar is singing to responds to his plea and vows to return.
| La solitudine – CD-Maxi (CGD 4509-92071-2)[42][43] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "La solitudine" | Angelo Valsiglio, Pietro Cremonesi, Federico Cavalli | 4:04 | ||||||
| 2. | "La solitudine" (instrumental) | Valsiglio, Cremonesi, Cavalli | 4:04 | ||||||
| La solitudine (Loneliness) – CD-Single (EastWest Records GmbH 4509-99006-2)[44] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "La solitudine (Loneliness)" (English Version) | Angelo Valsiglio, Pietro Cremonesi, Federico Cavalli, Tim Rice | 3:58 | ||||||
| 2. | "La solitudine" (Original Italian Version) | Valsiglio, Cremonesi, Cavalli | 3:56 | ||||||
| 3. | "La solitudine" (Instrumental) | Valsiglio, Cremonesi, Cavalli | 3:57 | ||||||
| La solitudine – Germany – Maxi-Single (EastWest 4509-95956-2)[45] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "La solitudine" | Angelo Valsiglio, Pietro Cremonesi, Federico Cavalli, Tim Rice | 4:04 | ||||||
| 2. | "La soledad" (Spanish Version) | Valsiglio, Cremonesi, Cavalli, J. Badia | 4:04 | ||||||
| 3. | "La solitudine" (Instrumental) | Valsiglio, Cremonesi, Cavalli | 4:04 | ||||||
Peak positions
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Year-end charts
Certifications
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| Preceded by "Mistero" by Enrico Ruggeri |
Italian Musica e dischi Singles Chart number-one single 13 March 1993 - 27 March 1993 |
Succeeded by "Sei un mito" by 883 |
| Preceded by "Het pizzalied (Effe wachte...)" by André van Duin |
Dutch Top 40 number-one single 8 January 1994 |
Succeeded by "Ik wil niet dat je liegt / Waarheen waarvoor" by Paul de Leeuw |
| Preceded by "Please Forgive Me" by Bryan Adams |
Belgian Singles Chart number-one single 5 February 1994 - 26 March 1994 |
Succeeded by "Streets of Philadelphia" by Bruce Springsteen |
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