# Translate Chicago's Italian Ice Cream Man? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 22, 2003, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-chicagos-italian-ice-cream-man/150144 "2003-01-22T03:37:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-chicagos-italian-ice-cream-man/150144/21 "2003-02-12T20:08:57Z")
Is it possible he’s singing ‘Eh, Campare’, the Louis Prima song? I don’t have a copy of the song in question or I’d check on my own, but from what you guys are saying, that could be it. It’s a song about a band, and was pretty popular… Well… Around the time Louis Prima was popular. Just a possibility ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-chicagos-italian-ice-cream-man/150144/22 "2003-02-12T20:53:07Z")
I’m almost positive that the word is _gumbaree_. I’ve heard The Greaseman Show enough times to recognize that; making up lyrics to Lou Monte’s “Eh, Gumbaree” was one of his regular bits. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-chicagos-italian-ice-cream-man/150144/23 "2003-02-12T21:11:54Z")
OTOH, perhaps “Eh, Compare” and “Eh, Gumbaree” are the same song with slightly different lyrics. If so, I don’t think the verse we’re after is in there. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-chicagos-italian-ice-cream-man/150144/24 "2003-03-12T14:48:47Z")
Just heard “Saturday in the Park” on the radio and have concluded that the second half could be just Italian-sounding nonsense. I know _e se_ is right but there is definatly an “n” sound between _se_ and _arde_. ---
**Author:** ![MizIvey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@MizIvey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizIvey)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-chicagos-italian-ice-cream-man/150144/25 "2013-05-28T04:33:52Z")
Go on YouTube and look up this: LOU MONTE - HEY GUMBAREE Then google the lyrics to and the first half of the first line line of the song is this: “Hey Gumbaree ci vo sanari” The original questions was posted before You Tube may have ever had this song uploaded… so there you go. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-chicagos-italian-ice-cream-man/150144/26 "2013-05-28T04:48:00Z")
See: [Eh, Cumpari! - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eh,_Cumpari)! Which still doesn’t give a translation of the regional dialect… ---
**Author:** ![MizIvey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@MizIvey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizIvey)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-chicagos-italian-ice-cream-man/150144/27 "2013-05-28T04:50:58Z")
Also it may be hard to translate his lyrics, because Wikipedia says that he would sing in a mix of Calabrese and English. Calibria is the Toe of Italy, and has it’s own regional Dialect… and since the song was recorded in 1959, that regional variation may still be strong enough to elude the mostly (Northern) Tuscan Italian that is the more official dialect which is what Google Translate recognizes. ---
**Author:** ![MizIvey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@MizIvey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizIvey)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-chicagos-italian-ice-cream-man/150144/28 "2013-05-28T05:02:11Z")
Maybe one day it will… They keep adding languages… maybe they will branch out into major dialects one day. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-chicagos-italian-ice-cream-man/150144/29 "2013-05-28T12:40:30Z")
I’ve always heard it as “hey, gompare, it’s a nice day” (eets ay nize day). Makes sense if you say it with a heavy Italian accent. And makes sense as something you might say to someone walking thru a park on a Saturday. And I figured gompare (or cumpare or however you spell what sounds like gom-par-ay) is just Italian for mister or buddy or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-chicagos-italian-ice-cream-man/150144/30 "2013-05-28T15:23:49Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > I’ve always heard it as “hey, gompare, it’s a nice day” (eets ay nize day). Makes sense if you say it with a heavy Italian accent. And makes sense as something you might say to someone walking thru a park on a Saturday. That certainly fits “Eicay varee’, eisee’ nardee’” better than “Hey Gumbaree ci vo sanari”. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-chicagos-italian-ice-cream-man/150144/31 "2013-05-28T15:36:25Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > Dear God, I’ll never be able to listen to that song again. FWIW, in some languages (e.g., Russian) a “scoop” of ice cream is referred to as a “little ball” (_sharik_). Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-chicagos-italian-ice-cream-man/150144/32 "2013-05-28T16:02:15Z")
First, interestingly, the Italian word for godfather is “compare.” Sicilians use the term to mean, “Pal.” That’s something Mario Puzo changed forever. Nobody living in Sicily a century ago would have addressed a feared crimelord as “compare.” That was an affectionate nickname for a buddy. When you hear a Sicilian or Sicilian-American say, “Vinny is my goombah,” he’s using a derivation of the Italian word for godfather. The ice cream vendor is singing “Eh, Cumpari,” an Italian novelty song that was was popularized in the Fifties by Julius LaRosa, who used to sing it on _ **The Arthur Godfrey Show.** _ After that, you often heard the song at Italian weddings or parties. It’s a fun, silly song… lyrically, it’s just a recitation of all the musical instruments in an Italian band, along with the sounds they make. The ice cream vendor in Chicago’s “Saturday in the Park” is singing “Eh Cumpari,” The basic lyrics go like this: \*\*\*Eh Cumpari, ci vo sunari. Chi si sona? U friscalettu. E comu si sona u friscalettu? U friscalette, tipiti tipiti tam. E cumpari, ci vo sunari Chi si sona? U saxofona E comu si sona u saxofona? Tu tu tu tu u saxofona U friscalette, tipiti tipiti tam * * * Translated, that means roughy, Hey pal, music is playing. What’s that sound? A friscalettu (a sort of whistle-type instrument). What does it sound like, a friscalettu? A friscalettu goes “Tippity tippity ta.” Hey pal, music is playing. What’s that sound? A saxophone. What does it sound like, a saxophone? A saxophone goes “Toot toot” A friscalettu goes “Tippity tippity ta.” And so on and so on. Each verse adds a new musical instrument, and the sound it makes. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-chicagos-italian-ice-cream-man/150144/33 "2013-05-30T21:41:09Z")
According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_in_the_Park_(song)), that’s exactly what Bobby Lamm is singing. > [@](#): > > The line “singing Italian songs” is followed by “Eh Cumpari” and then Italian-sounding nonsense words, in the studio version of the song, rendered in the printed lyrics as “?”. Piano/guitar/vocal sheet music arrangements have often read “improvised Italian lyrics” in parentheses after this line. **However, in a film of Chicago performing “Saturday in the Park,” at the Arie Crown Theater in Chicago, in 1973, Robert Lamm clearly sings, “Eh Cumpari, ci vo sunari,” the first line of a song known as “Eh, Cumpari!”, which was made famous by Julius La Rosa in 1953.** ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-chicagos-italian-ice-cream-man/150144/34 "2013-05-30T22:33:26Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_in_the_Park_(song)), that’s exactly what Bobby Lamm is singing. I just started writing the following before completely reading through your post: I just checked out [this live version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Mnw9uiYggU) for another reference, and I have to agree that the “Eh Cumpari, ci vo sunari” is what is sung there. That said, the studio version, I don’t quite hear that. There no “chee voh” sound there. I hear something like “ee-say nah-teh.” So who knows what’s going on. So the studio version does sound like dummy lyrics to me, and the live version is clearly the “Eh, Gumbare” song. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-chicagos-italian-ice-cream-man/150144/35 "2013-05-30T23:04:00Z")
Wow, a life-long mystery solved! For what it’s worth on the studio recording I’ve always heard the last part as _ise narre_. That’s not too far from _ci vo sunare_ ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-chicagos-italian-ice-cream-man/150144/36 "2013-05-30T23:11:31Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Wow, a life-long mystery solved! Only on the Dope. First [25 or 6 to 4](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1842/what-does-the-chicago-lyric-25-or-6-to-4-mean), then Saturday in the Park. All things Chicago. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-chicagos-italian-ice-cream-man/150144.md?page=1)