CHE VITA MERAVIGLIOSA

In the present text I am going to analyse the “che vita meravigliosa” (in English “what a wonderful life”) written and sung by Diodato, a young Italian singer.

Considering the title, the reader may expect the song to be an exaltation of life and everything it brings with itself. As far as layout is concerned, the song follows the typical pattern: two stanzas, the refrain, two stanzas, the refrain, one stanza and finally the refrain repeated twice.

The main theme of the song is the paradox of life, from the singer point of view: he loves it, even if it is misunderstandable. It is clear right from the first line. Indeed, Diodato sings: you know this life confuses me.

In the first stanza, the singer makes a list of misunderstandable attitude of life: first it confuses the singer, then it hits, devours, seduces and abandons him. In particular in the first 4 lines the singer seems to talk with someone (as you can see from the use of the third person, referred to life) while in the last 3 lines he directly addresses to life using the second person singular.

In the second stanza Diodato focuses the attention on two particular elements: all the things that weren't done in order not to regret them – The promises that weren't kept. Despite the negative connotation of these elements, the singer underlines that they are part of everyone’s life and you should appreciate that, because they make you feel alive.

The following stanza is the chorus, repeated four times in all the song. It starts with the exclamation “what a wonderful life” and summarizes the previous stanzas. Life is wonderful for its understandability. Life is connoted as painful, tempting and miraculous. It is also personified as someone with whom cry and dance; life is someone who never left you alone.

In the first three lines of the fourth stanza, the singer reports his experience and rethink to things he hasn’t done. Therefore, the stanza is connected to the second one, but Diodato focus the attention on his no-regretful: he accepted his life and recognized it as the result of his choices, so he doesn’t regret this.

From the fourth line of the fourth stanza to the last line of the fifth stanza, the singer uses a specific semantic field with a positive connotation, referring to life’s beauty and vitality: crazy passion, smell of flowers, drink your kisses, drunk and screaming.

The ending bridge, “No, I’d never want to let you end”, is the consequence of the singer love for life. It represents the end of the song and the last chance to admire life. Moreover, the repetition of the line underlines human beings’ hope to live forever.