Gigi D'Alessio (born Luigi D'Alessio, February 24, 1967) is an Italian popu… Read Full Bio ↴Gigi D'Alessio (born Luigi D'Alessio, February 24, 1967) is an Italian popular singer and Neapolitan singer-songwriter, born in Naples. Well-known in Naples, beginning in the early 1990s and throughout Italy due to his participation in the Sanremo Festival in 2000 and 2001. Also making more overseas appearances, the most recent was in Malta on August the 11th, 2007.

Previously, he was married to Carmela Barbato, with whom he has three children.He is now engaged to the popular Italian singer Anna Tatangelo, who is two decades his junior and they have a baby together. He frequently writes and produces songs for Tatangelo, and some of the hits he had a hand in writing include "Quando Due Si Lasciano" and Ragazza di periferia. For Tatangelo's latest album, the couple penned the songs Averti qui and Lo so che finirà together. The couple have recorded two duets: "Un Nuovo Bacio" and "Il mondo è mio". They also toured the US and Canada together in October, featuring in successful concerts. He was the writer and composer of Tatangelo's song performed at Sanremo Music Festival 2008, "Il Mio Amico".

D'Alessio achieved international success with his recent single Un Cuore Malato, a duet with Belgian-Sicilian singer Lara Fabian. He will also release a version of this song in Portuguese, named Um Coração Apaixonado, recorded with Brazilian pop singer Wanessa Camargo.

D'Alessio is also renown in Italy for being an artist troppo fresco. With the release of the album Dove mi porta il cuore, and the hit single SCONFITTA D'AMORE, D'Alessio received a celebrity status in not only Naples, but also in Bergen County, NJ. His more recent singles including Non dirgli mai, and Dove sei were part of an Italian sampler from an original Sicilian band called SANTO E I GIOVANI, perhaps best known for the megahit on the local scene during the 1970s, titled "Sei...". D'Alessio has a homecoming of sorts in November 2007, when he will journey to Atlantic City, NJ, and perform live to an audience that will number in the tens of thousands, including Michele D'Angelo, and other Napolitani.

[edit] Albums
1992 - Lasciatemi cantare
1993 - Scivolando verso l'alto
1994 - Dove mi porta il cuore
1995 - Passo dopo passo
1996 - Fuori dalla mischia
1997 - È stato un piacere
1998 - Tutto in un concerto
1999 - Portami con te
2000 - Quando la mia vita cambierà
2001 - Il cammino dell'età
2001 - El camino de la etad
2002 - Uno come te
2003 - Buona vita
2003 - Buona vita spagnolo
2004 - Quanti amori
2005 - Cuorincoro
2006 - Made in Italy
2007 - Mi faccio in quattro

Africa
Gigi D'Alessio Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Di notte il mare fa un po' più paura
Della tua pelle ha lo stesso colore
Su quella barca speranza e dolore
L'ultimo sguardo e la terra scompare
C'è la nostalgia
Dei tamburi
Che segnano la via
Dell'amore che hai

Africa
Stanca di mille promesse
Africa
Terra di troppe risorse
Africa
Gli altri ti sparano addosso
Africa
Si muore uniti in un fosso
Africa
Il sole brucia la sete
Africa
La grande gabbia di libertà

In quella casa lasciata sul fiume
Resta qualcuno in eterno a dormire
Se questa barca non va infondo al mare
Il tuo domani avrà un nuovo sapore
C'è la nostalgia
Di una terra che ormai non è
Più tua
Ma il tuo cuore sarà
Sempre nel cuore del'Africa
Ma
Se una preghiera si alzerà
Prima o poi
Il vento te la porterà
Fino alle sponde dell'Africa

(Grazie a civita per le correzioni)

Overall Meaning

The song "Africa" by Gigi D'Alessio talks about the struggles and the beauty of the African continent. The lyrics describe the fear that comes with the darkness of the sea and how it resembles the color of the singer's skin. The hope and pain of the people on the boat are highlighted, indicating their desperation while making their journey. The sadness felt from leaving behind their land and their culture is exemplified in the words 'nostalgia dei tamburi', meaning nostalgia for the sound of drums, which symbolize the African culture. The song speaks of the broken promises made to Africa, the greed that has stripped the land of its resources and the violence that plagues the continent. The line 'si muore uniti in un fosso' means 'one dies united in a ditch,' which reflects the senseless violence that results in the loss of countless lives.

The song also talks about a person who remains in a house by the river in Africa, indicating the loss and grief that is experienced when leaving behind one's homeland. But there is still hope for a new tomorrow with a new flavor if they can make it through the hard times. The singer encourages the idea that Africa will always be in their heart, no matter where they go in the world. Furthermore, the lyrics suggest that if someone prays, their words will eventually reach Africa's shores, symbolizing the connection that people have to the land and culture.

Line by Line Meaning

Di notte il mare fa un po' più paura
The sea is scarier at night

Della tua pelle ha lo stesso colore
The sea is as dark as your skin color

Su quella barca speranza e dolore
On that boat, there is both hope and pain

L'ultimo sguardo e la terra scompare
The last look at the land as it disappears

C'è la nostalgia
There is nostalgia

Dei tamburi
For the drums

Che segnano la via
That mark the way

Dell'amore che hai
To the love that you have

Africa
Africa

Stanca di mille promesse
Tired of a thousand promises

Africa
Africa