Il Divo, Italian for "divine male performer," is an international operatic … Read Full Bio ↴Il Divo, Italian for "divine male performer," is an international operatic pop vocal group under the Sony BMG music label from United Kingdom. Il Divo is formed by singers David Miller, Sébastien Izambard, Urs Bühler, and Carlos Marín.

The idea behind this quartet's creation came to Simon Cowell after listening to Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman's rendition of "Con Te Partirò." He realized he loved lyrical voices but not opera, so he decided to form a multinational quartet (France, Switzerland, Spain, and United States) that sounded like The Three Tenors but sang pop songs and looked like handsome Armani models.

With this idea, Cowell commenced a worldwide search for young singers who were willing to embark on the Il Divo project. His search lasted two years, from 2001 until December 2003, when the fourth member of Il Divo, American tenor David Miller, was signed. The well-established formation of Il Divo comprises a renowned Spanish opera and zarzuela baritone, Carlos Marín, a French pop singer, Sébastien Izambard, and two classically trained tenors, Swiss Urs Bühler and American David Miller. Recording of their first album started in the first half of 2004 in Sweden.

The group's debut album, the self-named Il Divo, contains renditions of Frank Sinatra's hit "My Way (A Mi Manera)," Toni Braxton's hit "Unbreak My Heart (Regresa a Mi)," an adaptation of Ennio Morricone's soundtrack titled "Gabriel's Oboe" from the movie La Misión titled "Nella Fantasia" and several songs sung in Spanish, English, Italian, and Portuguese ("Volta Pra Mim"), including 1994's San Remo Festival winner "Passerà."

Il Divo hit the #1 slot on both Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com after a breakout career-defining appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show on April 5, 2005, where the quartet performed its interpretation of "Unbreak My Heart."

In the United Kingdom, the Il Divo album topped Robbie Williams as number 1 in the UK charts (allegedly Williams said to them during the Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason film premiere, "Oi, you're the bastards that knocked me off!"). This multiplatinum-selling CD became number one in the charts in a total of 13 countries around the world, and achieved top 5 placing in 25 countries.

Il Divo's second album, Ancora, was recorded in both Sweden and London with world-renowned recording giants Per Magnusson and David Kreuger and producer Steve Mac, who was also the producer of their first album. Released on November 7, 2005 in the UK, it hit number one both in the UK and Australia within one week. Ancora was released in the US on January 24, 2006. It entered the Billboard albums chart at number 1, selling more than 150,000 copies during its first week of sales.

Highlights on Ancora include "Isabel," "I Believe In You," a duet with Céline Dion, and Il Divo's cover of Eric Carmen's "All By Myself (Solo Otra Vez)." Two of the tracks on this CD, "O Holy Night" and "Ave Maria," appear on the 2005 US-only release, Christmas Collection.

Il Divo was the perfomer of the 2006 FIFA World Cup official song "A Time of Our Lives."

Por Una Cabeza
Il Divo Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Por una cabeza
De un noble potrillo
Que justo en la raya
Afloja al llegar
Y que al regresar
Parece decir
No olvides, hermano
Vos sabes no hay que jugar

Por una cabeza
Metejón de un día
De aquella coqueta
Y risueña mujer
Que al jurar sonriendo
El amor que está mintiendo
Quema en una hoguera
Todo mi querer

Por una cabeza
Todas las locuras
Su boca que besa
Borra la tristeza
Calma la amargura
Por una cabeza
Si ella me olvida
Que importa perderme
Mil veces la vida
¿Para qué vivir?

Cuantos desengaños
Por una cabeza
Yo jure mil veces
No vuelvo a insistir
Pero si un mirar
Me hiere al pasar
Su boca de fuego
Otra vez quiero besar

Basta de carrera
Se acabo la timba
Un final reñido
Yo no vuelvo a ver
Pero si algún pingo
Llega a ser fija el domingo
Yo me juego entero
Qué le voy a hacer

Por una cabeza (por una cabeza)
Todas las locuras (todas las locuras)
Su boca que besa (su boca que besa)
Borra la tristeza
Calma la amargura (por una cabeza)
Por una cabeza (si ella me olvida)
Si ella me olvida (todas las locuras)
Que importa perderme (por una cabeza)
Mil veces la vida
¿Para qué vivir?

Por una cabeza
Todas las locuras
Su boca que besa
Borra la tristeza
Calma la amargura
Por una cabeza
Si ella me olvida
Que importa perderme

Mil veces la vida
¿Para qué vivir?

Overall Meaning

Il Divo's song "Por Una Cabeza" is an adaptation of music composer Carlos Gardel's famous tango song. The lyrics, translated from Spanish to English, portray the obsession of a man for two different things in life - a noble horse named Potrillo, and a woman who he would do anything for. The song's title translates to "By a Head," which relates to horse racing, where a horse just wins by the distance of its head. The opening of the song features the man expressing his love for a horse, which he bets on to win, but ultimately loses. The horse symbolizes the man's losses and reminds him not to play games in life. Through the second verse, the man shifts his love from the horse to a woman who he had once loved but had betrayed him.

The woman's love was just an obsession in his life, which burned him with her false promises. Despite the pain that she has caused him and his vow never to fall for her lies again, he cannot resist her seduction. The chorus speaks of how a single kiss from the woman erases all of the man's pain, and he pleads for more love from her. The last verse narrates how the man is willing to bet everything on the horse race, which he knows he might lose, just for the fleeting possibility of embracing the woman again. The song's lyrics speak of the uncontrollable obsession and love for something that we know is not right for us.

Line by Line Meaning

Por una cabeza
For the sake of winning by a single head (in a horse race)

De un noble potrillo
Of a noble young horse

Que justo en la raya
That just at the finish line

Afloja al llegar
Slows down upon reaching it

Y que al regresar
And upon returning

Parece decir
Seems to say

No olvides, hermano
Don't forget, brother

Vos sabes no hay que jugar
You know we mustn't play (with fate)

Metejón de un día
A one-day crush

De aquella coqueta
Of that flirtatious (woman)

Y risueña mujer
And smiling woman