Love song · 1894 · Europe
Torna a Surriento
A Neapolitan song from the 1890s that asks a loved one to come back to the seaside town of Sorrento.
- Words
- Giambattista De Curtis
- Music
- Ernesto De Curtis
- Culture
- Neapolitan
- Language
- Neapolitan
- Place
- Sorrento, Italy
- Date
- 1894 (by tradition 1902)
- Type
- Love song
- The words
- Public domain (words by Giambattista De Curtis, deposited 1894, copyrighted officially 1905)
The story
"Torna a Surriento" ("Come back to Sorrento") is a Neapolitan song composed by the Italian musician Ernesto De Curtis to words by his brother, the poet and painter Giambattista De Curtis. Tradition holds that it was written in 1902, when Guglielmo Tramontano, the mayor of Sorrento, asked his friend Giambattista to write a song for the Prime Minister, Giuseppe Zanardelli, who was then staying at Tramontano's seaside hotel, the Imperial Hotel Tramontano; it was said to celebrate Zanardelli's stay, and some say it was a plea to him to keep his promise to help the poor town, which needed above all a sewage system. More recent research suggests the song was only reworked for the occasion: family papers show that the brothers had deposited a copy with the Italian Society of Authors and Editors in 1894, eight years before they said they wrote it. It was officially copyrighted in 1905.
It became one of the most popular songs of the Neapolitan tradition, beside "'O sole mio", "Funiculì, Funiculà" and "Santa Lucia". Claude Aveling wrote English words for it, "Come Back to Sorrento", and it has been sung by performers of many kinds: the musician Bono ends his film Bono: Stories of Surrender (2025) by singing its last two verses, after remembering his father, a tenor. It was heard throughout the 1954 film Seagulls Over Sorrento, played on the concertina.
What it says
A love song set against the beauty of Sorrento and its surroundings, asking a loved one to come back. The mood is longing and tender.
The words
Vide 'o mare quant’è bello,See the sea, how beautiful it is,
spira tanto sentimento,it breathes so much feeling,
Comme tu a chi tiene mente,as you do to whoever looks at you,
Ca scetato 'o faje sunnà.making them dream while awake.
Guarda, gua’ chistu ciardino;Look, look at this garden;
Siente, sie’ sti sciure arance:Smell, smell these orange blossoms:
Nu profumo accussì finoA scent so fine
Dinto 'o core se ne va…goes into the heart…
E tu dice: "I’ parto, addio!"And you say: "I am leaving, goodbye!"
T’alluntane da 'stu core…You go away from this heart…
Da la terra de l’ammore…From the land of love…
Tiene 'o core 'e nun turnà?Have you the heart not to come back?
Ma nun me lassà,But do not leave me,
Nun darme stu turmiento!Do not give me this torment!
Torna a Surriento,Come back to Sorrento,
famme campà!let me live!
Vide 'o mare de Surriento,See the sea of Sorrento,
che tesore tene 'nfunno:what treasures it holds at its bottom:
chi ha girato tutto 'o munnowhoever has travelled the whole world
nun l'ha visto comm'a ccà.has not seen it as it is here.
Guarda attuorno sti ssirene,Look around at these sirens,
ca te guardano 'ncantate,who look at you enchanted,
e te vonno tantu bene...and love you so much...
Te vulessero vasà.They would like to kiss you.
E tu dice: "I' parto, addio!"And you say: "I am leaving, goodbye!"
T'alluntane da 'stu coreYou go away from this heart
Da la terra de l'ammoreFrom the land of love
Tiene 'o core 'e nun turnà?Have you the heart not to come back?
Ma nun me lassà,But do not leave me,
Nun darme stu turmiento!Do not give me this torment!
Torna a Surriento,Come back to Sorrento,
Famme campà!Let me live!
Original: Giambattista De Curtis, the Neapolitan text as quoted on Italian Wikipedia. Text from Wikipedia; public domain.
The English is the Institute’s own translation, made from the original for this page.
Notes on the translation (7)
- Surriento is the Neapolitan name of Sorrento, on the Bay of Naples.
- Lines 1.3-1.4: literally 'like you to whoever keeps you in mind (looks at you), / whom, awake, you make dream'.
- Line 2.2: siente means both 'hear' and 'smell'; sciure arance, orange flowers.
- Lines 3.4 and 7.4: tiene 'o core 'e nun turnà?, literally 'do you have the heart not to return?'.
- Line 4.4: famme campà, literally 'make me live', 'let me live'.
- Line 5.4: comm'a ccà, 'as here', i.e. the like of what is here.
- Line 6.1: sirene, the sirens of myth.
Listen
On YouTube, from the channel LucianoPavarottiVEVO. Pressing play loads YouTube’s player. Watch on YouTube
What it inspired
- Come Back to Sorrento (Claude Aveling)English words
People, places and events
Sources
- Wikipedia, "Torna a Surriento", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torna_a_Surriento
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Torna a Surriento. In Songs in History. https://the-epoch-institute.org/songs/torna-a-surriento
- MLA
- “Torna a Surriento.” Songs in History, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/songs/torna-a-surriento. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Torna a Surriento.” Songs in History. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/songs/torna-a-surriento.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Torna a Surriento’, Songs in History. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/songs/torna-a-surriento (Accessed: ).