“Two Little Italians” (1962)
Abstract
Conny Froboess, who already became known as a child star with songs like “Pack die Badehose ein” and “Hei, hei, hei, so eine Schneeballschlacht” (both 1951), reached the pinnacle of her career with this song and represented Germany with it in 1962 at the “Grand Prix d'Eurovision de la Chanson” (now “Eurovision Song Contest”). This annual European music competition has been held by Eurovision (i.e. the Union of European Broadcasting Companies), founded in 1954, since 1956. The 55th contest was won by Germany's Lena Meyer-Landrut on May 29, 2010, in front of 125 million television viewers. In Germany alone, nearly 15 million viewers watched the four-hour live show on ARD. In the European vision of Eurovision, Turkey, Russia, Israel and Azerbaijan are part of Europe.
Source
A journey to the South
is for others chic and good,
but the two little Italians
would rather be at home.
Two little Italians
dreaming of Napoli,
of Tina and Marina,
who’ve long been waiting for them.
Two little Italians
never forget their home,
the palms and the girls
on the beaches of Napoli.
Two little Italians,
a familiar sight at the station;
every night they come
to look at the train to Napoli.
Source of the original German text: Conny’s Party (Electrola: EMI, 1962). Music: Christian Bruhn, lyrics: Georg Buschor.
Source of English translation: Germany in Transit. Nation and Migration 1955-2005, ed. Deniz Göktürk, David Gramling, and Anton Kaes, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007, p. 34.