“O Sole Mio” – a collaboration to inspire creativity and appreciation

UPDATE: READ HERE FOR THE 2020 VERSION!

“Here come the suns….” 🙂

Don’t read this unless you like the sun.

We usually don’t convert the full weekly email to a blog post.
This one was just too special though.
If you don’t already get our weekly Saturday Samplers, you may want to click here to change that.

The featured song this week is the Neapolitan song from 1898 – O Sole Mio!  A song that has been performed by such greats as Enrico Caruso and Luciano Pavarotti, this celebratory melody has been the base of songs featured by Tony Martin and Elvis Presley.

Today, it forms the base of the main event for our musical dinner party.  Over the past couple weeks, we have welcomed guests to our virtual feast. First – some yummy drinks to get things going (click for two free songs), then some appetizers and introductions (click to meet a friend of ours), and now we head to the main meal!

We provided the space and the theme.  This week our guests have contributed a “potluck” of sides to share.

In seriousness, I was blown away by the wonderful response to this week’s email and Facebook request for SUNSHINES! My desire was to inspire simple creativity by inviting people to participate in an easy collaborative project. Twenty-two people said, “Yes! Here’s my bit of beauty for you!” 

(want to get such invites in the future? click to get our weekly emails)
(click to check out the Nathan Bird Music page on Facebook)

I absolutely love anything that fosters a “can-do” spirit regarding creativity and the arts, especially amongst adults.  What you will see below is the result of this shared experience – a collection of suns.  You will see photos and drawings that were recognized as beautiful and shared with the world.

Why sunshine?  O Sole Mio translates to “My Sunshine.”

On July 27 we released the live recording of Nathan Bird, David Walton, and John DeCausmeaker singing “O Sole Mio” at the 2017 A Three Tenor’s Christmas at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres.  LISTEN TO THE SAMPLER:

 

The July Collection is now available for purchase as a single issue! – click here to check it out!

(click here for more info about the SongNotes subscription)

Below, enjoy our sunshines…

LYRICS of “O Sole Mio”
by Giovanni Capurro
English translation compiled from various sources, listed at end of post

What a beautiful thing is a sunny day,

The serene air after a thunderstorm

The fresh air, and a party is already going on…

what a beautiful thing is a day of sunshine.

REFRAIN

But there is another sun that is more beautiful

the sunshine of mine is your bright face

This sun, my own sun,

Shines from your face;

It shines from your face!

 

There is light coming out of your window

a laundress singing and she is bragging

And while she’s wringing the clothes, hanging them up to dry, and singing,

There is light coming out of your window

 

But there is another sun that is more beautiful

the sunshine of mine

is your bright face

This sun,

my own sun,

 

Shines from your face;

It shines from your face!

 

When the night comes and the sun goes down

I almost start feeling melancholy;

And I would like to remain under your window

When night is falling

and the sun is setting

 

But there is another sun that is more beautiful

the sunshine of mine is your bright face

This sun, my own sun,

Shines from your face;

It shines from your face!

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*denotes members of the “SongNotes from the Birds” music-of-the-month subscription club (more info here)

Thank you again to all of our contributors!
I just love love love how this turned out.  What do you think?
Comments or questions can be sent to
naomi [at] nathanbird [dot] com 

Spread a little sunshine.  Literally.  We’d love for you to share this!

 

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Lyrics Sources

www.lyricstranslate.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/’O_sole_mio
https://www.liveabout.com/o-sole-mio-lyrics-724335

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Speaking of the Three Tenors – tickets are on sale for Christmas 2019! It’s earlier than it’s been the past four years.  Click here to purchase.

 

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More about us:

We are the Birds.
We perform and record songs and write about them.
Nathan sings, Naomi plays piano, and often others are involved in our recordings as well.
We have old souls, and most of our music has been well loved already for many years.

Our goal is to use our music to enrich the lives of seniors – both in age and in spirit! – and cultivate meaningful connections between generations.

>> Here is a sampling of our May collection of garden-inspired songs (including special guest Christy Jones playing ukulele and singing on the last song!) Click to hear the sampler.

Each Saturday we send out a free email that contains a little something thoughtful to ponder, based on a song.  On the last Saturday of the month, we send a sampler of our recordings of all those songs from the month.  Sprinkled throughout these emails we also include fun family anecdotes about our four hatchlings, links to blog posts with behind-the-scenes perks, and info about opportunities to connect more through events or products.

We would love to share our music with more people. AND – some new free bonus tracks will be delivered to our email contacts periodically, so don’t miss that!

To get the free Saturday Sampler emails from us, click here or go to:  https://email.nathanbird.com/emaillist

Thanks for reading!

~Nathan and Naomi