# Help identify swing/lounge/Italian/novelty song! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 20, 2004, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identify-swing-lounge-italian-novelty-song/270153 "2004-10-20T02:24:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identify-swing-lounge-italian-novelty-song/270153/1 "2004-10-20T02:24:38Z")
Hello all, This is my first “help me identify a song” thread. The song is kind of swingin’, kind of lounge-styled, and very Italian-sounding, much like Rosemary Clooney’s “Mambo Italiano” and all those shuffle-swing numbers by Louis Prima. It probably dates back to the '40s or '50s, and it has a girl singer with a nice, clear voice. It could actually be Rosemary Clooney again, for all I know. The only lyrics I remember are “Bella, bella” as part of the chorus. Does that help anyone at all? I love a lot of that style of music from the era, and this is a song I remember enjoying when a DJ played it at a club between bands setting up their equipment. ---
**Author:** ![Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stark_Raven_Mad)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identify-swing-lounge-italian-novelty-song/270153/2 "2004-10-20T03:46:24Z")
Could it be a version of [Bella Bella Bambina](http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/dean_martin/bella_bella_bambina.html), by a girl singer with a nice, clear voice? ---
**Author:** ![Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stark_Raven_Mad)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identify-swing-lounge-italian-novelty-song/270153/3 "2004-10-20T03:48:05Z")
Oh, and [here](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/clipserve/B000006N0S005015/0/002-6806890-6580007)’s a sample bit from Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identify-swing-lounge-italian-novelty-song/270153/4 "2004-10-20T04:05:39Z")
That’s not it, but thank you anyway! It went something like three syllables, and then “be-lla, be-l-la,” something like “And I say ‘be-lla, be-lla’…” I know, no help. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identify-swing-lounge-italian-novelty-song/270153/5 "2004-10-20T04:37:10Z")
Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen. Originally done by the Andrews Sisters. The best version of it that I’ve heard is on the [Swing Kids Soundtrack](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000000OC4/qid=1098247225/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/103-1519252-8986268) with lead vocals by Janis Siegel. The part you’re thinking of is…“I could say bella, bella bella, even say vunderbar…” ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identify-swing-lounge-italian-novelty-song/270153/6 "2004-10-20T05:01:19Z")
By Jove, I think you’ve got it! That song has been bugging me for years! Do you happen to know what the title means in English, by any chance? ---
**Author:** ![Gregor\_Samsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@Gregor\_Samsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gregor_Samsa)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identify-swing-lounge-italian-novelty-song/270153/7 "2004-10-20T05:45:10Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > By Jove, I think you’ve got it! That song has been bugging me for years! Do you happen to know what the title means in English, by any chance? I think it’s German for “to me, you are beautiful.” ---
**Author:** ![Skott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Skott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skott)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identify-swing-lounge-italian-novelty-song/270153/8 "2004-10-20T19:05:40Z")
Leslie Pressly of Lee Press-on and the Nails (final show on the 30th!) did a recent version of the song on [El Bando En Fuego](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00007JZ9Y/qid=1098299281/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i3_xgl15/102-7770934-4152105?v=glance&s=music&n=507846)… I like it very much 😃 Unfortuntely, there’s no clip of it on their [website](http://www.leepresson.com/tunes.html), but there is a clip of “It Had Better Be Tonight”, as sung by Leslie, so at least you can check her voice.