Much is said about "classic" Italian songs. But the songs that the immigrants brought in their suitcases were different. They were more raw, full of... dialects Like the Venetian, Lombard, and Piedmontese. They didn't have orchestral arrangements. They were filled with genuine longing. Some even gained new versions in Brazil, composed or adapted by those who arrived here and needed to transform what they had just experienced into music.
America America
It is often considered the most emblematic song of Italian immigration to Brazil. It was associated with Angelo Giusti, an immigrant from Trentino who settled in Rio Grande do Sul, in the region that today belongs to Flores da Cunha. A peasant, not a professional musician, he transformed the harsh experience of the crossing and arrival in Brazil into verses.
"Dalla Italia noi siamo partiti, siamo partiti col nostro onore. Trentasei giorni di macchina e vapore, e nella Merica noi siamo arriva'..."
Thirty-six days by ship. Upon arrival, many found dense forest, rough ground, and precarious conditions. The lyrics don't romanticize anything. The immigrants sleep on the ground, "come le bestie" ("like animals"). And yet the chorus asks, almost enchanted: "Merica, Merica, Merica, cossa saralo 'sta Merica?" ("What will this America be like?"). It's the doubt of those who don't know if they made the right choice, but can no longer return.
Historical curiosity: before dying, Angelo Giusti He wrote his own epitaph: “Qui giace Angelo Giusti, fu poeta di poco valore” (“Here lies Angelo Giusti, poet of little value”). In 2005, “Mèrica Mèrica” was officially adopted as the anthem of Italian immigration in Rio Grande do Sul.
La bella polenta
“When you start the beautiful polenta, the beautiful polenta comes together…”
Simple, rhythmic, almost childlike. But it carried an entire world within it: the fields, the corn, the smell of the kitchen, and the peasant life of northern Italy.
For many immigrants, polenta was more than just food. It was identity, survival, and family memory. Singing this song in Brazil was a way of affirming that a connection still existed with the land they had left behind.
Quel mazzolin di fiori
On paper, the song tells the story of a young woman who picks flowers from the mountains to give to the man she loves.
“Quel mazzolin di fiori che vien dalla montagna…”
But among the immigrants, the meaning was different. The word "montagna" (mountain) was enough to evoke memories of the landscapes of northern Italy. The love story in the lyrics mattered little. What mattered was the memory of their homeland.
Fun fact: the song also became popular among Italian Alpine soldiers during World War I, when it began to be sung during marches and military movements.
Mamma mia dammi cento lire
The song of the match.
“Mamma mia dammicento lire che in America voglio andar.”
The “one hundred lire” symbolized the high and almost inaccessible cost of the journey for poor families at the time. In the song, the mother tries to prevent the departure. The brothers tell her to let her go. Then, the ship sinks into the ocean.
“Le parole della mia mamma son venute alla verità.” (“My mother’s words have come true.”)
It was a song of fear and ill omen. Still, Thousands of Italians crossed the Atlantic. In search of a better life.
Saint Lucia
A traditional 19th-century Neapolitan barcarole, associated with the boatmen of the Naples region.
“Sul mare lucca l'astro d'argento…” (“The silver star shines over the sea.”)
It's hard not to imagine how many immigrants heard or sang this melody while gazing at the Mediterranean for the last time before crossing.
At the beginning of the 20th century, recordings by Enrico Caruso helped spread the song around the world. In Italian-Brazilian communities that had gramophones, "Santa Lucia" passed from recordings to the oral memory of families.
Decades later, the music would continue to live on in interpretations by artists such as Elvis Presley and Andrea Bocelli.
Funiculi Funicula
Composed in 1880 to celebrate the inauguration of the Vesuvius funicular, it was a completely different piece of music from the melancholic songs of immigration.
It was cheerful, fast-paced, and made for singing in groups. At parties in the Italian colonies of southern and southeastern Brazil, the first chords were enough to get everyone dancing, even amidst homesickness and uncertainty.
O sole mio
Launched in 1898, it arrived in Brazil along with the last major waves of Italian immigration.
More than just a song about the Neapolitan sun, it became an emotional symbol of the land left behind. In many Italian-Brazilian familiesIt was the song that grandparents sang spontaneously, without ceremony, sometimes with their eyes closed.
“My grandmother didn’t know all the lyrics. She only knew the chorus. And she sang happily,” recalls our editor-in-chief Reginaldo Maia, grandson of Ferdinando and Antonia Paganin.
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