The Philosophy of Modern Song: “Volare”

Posted on February 2, 2026 by Tony Attwood

Details of other songs from Dylan’s book “The Philosophy” which have been covered within Untold Dylan are given at the end of this article.  Here, I take a look at and listen to the Italian song “Volare”

By Tony Attwood

Volare by Domenico Modugno is most certainly one of the most famous songs in Europe – and almost certainly the most famous song not in English in the UK, where I live.  It is, in fact, the one Italian song that I suspect most people (or at least most people of a certain age) who live in England, know.      They might only know the opening of the chorus, but as soon as the song start they will say, “That’s ‘Volare’.”  And quite probably add, “Oh, oh.”

Even when the song is translated and sung in English, the title is still sung in Italian.  This translation of the lyrics of the whole song comes from Daily Italian Words website

I think a dream like this never comes back
I painted my hands and face blue
Then, suddenly, I was kidnapped by the wind
And I began to fly in the infinite sky

Chorus: 
Flying, oh, oh
Singing, oh, oh
In the blue-painted blue sky
Happy to be up there

And I flew, I flew happily higher than the sun
And even higher
While the world slowly disappeared far down below
Sweet music was playing just for me

Chorus

But all dreams in the dawn vanish because
When the moon goes down, it takes them with it
But I keep dreaming in your beautiful eyes
Which are blue like a star-studded sky

Chorus

And I keep flying happily higher than the sun
And even higher
While the world slowly disappears into your blue eyes
Your voice is sweet music that plays for me

Flying oh, oh
Singing oh, oh
In the blue of your blue eyes
Happy to be down here

However, “Volare” is not just a song which everyone over a certain age in England knows; it was also a legal adventure which looked back at today, seems completely over the top, not to say downright weird.   Or at least it does until one thinks of how many copies the song has sold.  The number of sales worldwide varies depending on where you seek the answer, but 22 million plus is a common response.

The original music, released on a record in 1958, was written by Domenico Modugno with lyrics by the composer and Franco Migliacci.  It was an entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and came third.

After coming and going in the US charts in 1958 it re-emerged in 1959, winning multiple record and “song of the year” awards, with sales said to be approaching 20 million across the world.   Naturally, it was then, of course, translated into multiple languages.   And we might note that the translation of the original copy has lyrics which are somewhat beyond the norm for popular songs.

I painted my hands and my face blue
then was suddenly swept up by the wind
and started to fly in the infinite sky.

In England, alternative lyrics by Gracie Fields were used, and she was known to change them in her own performances from time to time.

Meanwhile, the song was recorded and used by multiple artists across Europe, and in fact several different artists had hits with the song in various languages, some of which, most unusually for foreign language performances, were hits in the USA.

Indeed, in the UK there were nine separate recordings of the song available at the same time on record soon after its release.

Inevitably, for such a popular song, it won multiple awards, such as Record of the Year and Song of the Year, and a Grammy Award and was voted one of the 14 greatest songs to have been part of the Eurovision Song Contest.  And indeed, on the 50th anniversary of its release, Italy issued postage stamps commemorating the song.  The song has since been the subject of at least two court cases over claims as to who wrote the song.

Here is a completely different musical version of the song with an English translation

 

Previously in this series

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