Let me break it down for you:
the original cover
Gloria is a song by Umberto Tozzi, an Italian singer who rocked the charts in over 30 countries. It was more lit than Volare by Modugno or the
Ballo del qua qua
Those are some of the sickest songs ever written by Italian musicians, just saying.
Now, most folks on the “anglophone” side of the world think that Gloria was written by Laura Branigan, and it was obviously a smash hit all over the globe.
But sorry to burst your bubble, the original song is in Italian.
The cool thing about Gloria is the title. It has a double meaning: it refers to a woman and to the “glory” a musician needs to make bank. And there are some lines in the lyrics that highlight the duality of the word. For example: «…per me che senza gloria, con te nuda sul divano faccio stelle di cartone pensando a Gloria.» That means: «…For me who is without glory, with you naked on the couch I make cardboard stars thinking of Gloria.» And that’s some Bukowski-level stuff right there.
The song paints a picture of the fog, industrial crap spitting out cold and poverty in a dull winter in the north of Italy, specifically in Milan.
I remember I was a kid when the song came out. We were cruising on our bikes with big portable radios.
8 marzo 1980. Manifestazione in piazza del Plebiscito
I was part of a dumb anarchist gang, and that song… that song was the bomb.
