Ciao simpaticones,
The song you’re hearing is “Santa Lucia,” a traditional Napolitano folk tune. In the song, a boatman calls for people to hire his barchetta for a sail on the cool glittering waters of the Bay of Napoli, by the neighborhood of Santa Lucia (lyrics). It’s sung by my grandpa, Lorenzo, who spoke Napolitano and hailed from nearby Calabria. He’s wearing a bowtie in the photo on the right.
My grandpa’s greatest joys were to feed people and to make them smile - he would enter a room and have everyone singing by the time he left it. He would have loved you and you would have loved him. That’s a bold declaration but it’s true.
I recently found and restored a tape of my grandpa singing. He passed in 1989, and it’s a such a gift to hear his voice again. I know he’s happy to serenade everyone once more.
Steph D.
