Prisencolinensinainciusol
A song with gibberish lyrics by Italian Adriano Celentano made to sound like American English has amused and captured imaginations for over 50 years.
I don’t normally post on a Saturday, but on this particular Saturday I couldn’t resist. REMORANDOM 5 (RR5) is with the printer, and I’m currently writing for RR6, due in May 2026. (It never ends, right?) I wrote this story yesterday, and it’s a fun one – so I wanted to share it with you well before I would normally do so. I am not a patient man.
Remo
“Prisencolinensinainciusol” is a song written and performed by Italian singer-songwriter Adriano Celentano in 1972. The track sounds like English, without containing a single word of it. Prisencolinensinainciusol is essentially a nonsense song. Its lyrics are made up entirely of gibberish meant to sound like American English to someone who doesn’t speak the language. The only actual English word in the original recording is “all right” – repeated as a kind of chorus hook. Watch above or listen HERE – and compare with the lyrics below.
The song was born of Celentano’s fascination with how English sounded to non-English speakers. As he explained later, the idea was to explore how tone, cadence and rhythm could convey meaning – or at least suggest it – without any actual semantic content. His goal was to show how people often communicate based on feel and flow, rather than words themselves. It was intended as an experimental commentary on communication and cultural imperialism.
It also reflects an Italian post-war fascination with all things American, an earlier and notable example of which was Tu vuo’ fa l’americano (“You Want to Be American”), a 1956 song by Renato Carosone about a young Neapolitan who is trying to impress a girl. You’ve likely heard the song. It featured in the 1999 film The Talented Mr. Ripley.
Musically, "Prisencolinensinainciusol" is built on a driving funk beat, layered with horns, soulful backing vocals and a commanding spoken-word delivery. It’s an early example of hip-hop-like cadence and rhythm, well before rap had entered mainstream consciousness. Indeed, Celentano has claimed [Ed: one would hope with tongue in cheek] that with this song he invented rap.
The song was released as a single and became a hit in Italy and across Europe. Over time, it found new life thanks to YouTube and social media, where users marvelled at how “authentically English” the song seemed – right up until they realised it meant nothing at all. Listen and watch HERE – and check out this 1973 version featuring dancer Rafaella Carrà on Facebook HERE – or this 2012 live performance by a 74 year old Celentano in Verona HERE.
Although Celentano created the song as a satirical take on language and American cultural dominance, he also claims that he took inspiration from the Biblical account of the Tower of Babel, where Yahweh decided to make things tricky by distorting the common language of humankind.
The song taps into questions about linguistics, perception and globalisation. It plays with the idea that language is more than vocabulary – that it's a rhythm, a musicality and a shared cultural understanding. It also gently pokes fun at people pretending to understand (or speak) English purely for cultural clout.
Today, "Prisencolinensinainciusol" is considered to be a cult classic.
Nonsense with a purpose.
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Prisencolinensinainciusol Lyrics
Prisencolinensinainciusol
In de col men seivuan
prisencolinensinainciusol ol rait
Uis de seim cius men
op de seim ol uat men
in de colobos dai
Trr...
Ciak is e maind beghin de col
bebi stei ye push yo oh
Uis de seim cius men
in de colobos dai
Not is de seim laikiu
de promisdin iu nau
in trabol lovgiai ciu gen
in do camo not cius no bai
for lov so op op giast
cam lau ue cam lov ai
Oping tu stei laik cius
go mo men
iu bicos tue men cold
dobrei gorls
Oh sandei...
Ai ai smai sesler
eni els so co uil piso ai
in de col men seivuan
Prisencolinensinainciusol ol rait
Uei ai sint no ai
giv de sint laik de cius
nobodi oh gud taim lev feis go
Uis de seim et seim cius
go no ben let de cius
end kai for not de gai giast stei
Ai ai smai senflecs
eni go for doing peso ai
In de col mein seivuan
prisencolinensinainciusol ol rait
lu nei si not sicidor
ah es la bebi la dai big iour
Ai ai smai senflecs
eni go for doin peso ai
In de col mein saivuan
prisencolinensinainciusol ol rait
lu nei si not sicodor
ah es la bebi la dai big iour
Story Idea: Melanie Giuffré
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REMORANDOM 6 is Coming in May 2026
What a wonderful read on a Sunday in an airport. I heard about this recently elsewhere. A gift from the interweb, further burnished by an impatient Remo. Thank you.