Granata was born in Figline Vegliaturo, Calabria, southern Italy; but his parents immigrated to Belgium when he was ten. Rocco's father was a coal miner, but after briefly working in the coal mines, Granata pursued music instead. He played accordion and toured Belgium with his band, "The International Quintet". He then released the song "Manuela" b/w "Marina" as a single in 1959; the B-side became an international smash hit, hitting #1 in Belgium as well as charting across Europe and in America. The song went on to sell tens of millions of copies worldwide, and has been covered many times by artists such as Marino Marini, Dalida and Louis Armstrong.
After the success of "Marina", Granata toured the world, including dates at Carnegie Hall. A feature film entitled Marina was released in 1960, which set the stage for a string of German hits from Granata. He also appeared in Italy at the Sanremo Festival in 1961.
Granata later became a successful record producer. He owned the labels Cardinal Records and Granata Records, and has produced artists such as Marva, Louis Neefs, Miel Cools, De Elegasten, and others.
In 1989, Granata commissioned a dance remix of Marina, which again topped the Belgian charts as well as those of Italy and Germany.
Granata has appeared regularly on Belgian television, and served as a jury member for the 2002 Flemish preliminaries for the Eurovision Song Contest. In March 2000 he was awarded the ZAMU Lifetime Achievement Award by the Belgian music industry.
Granata has released some 65 albums over the course of his career
Manuela
Rocco Granata Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Bella di Barcelona
L'ha vista gettar lo scialle giù nell' arena
Ah, di quando l'hamesso in pena
La catalana:
Singhiozza la sua chitarra nel chiar di luna
Manuela, Manuela
Accogli i sospirie rispondicon una parola:
Amore! Amore!
Non senti ch'io voglio donarti per sempre
Il mio cuore
Manuela, oh Manuela
Sul raso turchino dei sogni c'è scritto Manuela
Ah! Ah! Ah!
(c)
In Rocco Granata's song "Manuela," the singer describes a beautiful woman named Manuela, who is known as the "most beautiful of Barcelona." He recounts a time when he saw her in the bullfighting arena, where she threw her shawl into the sand. He also mentions how he noticed her pain when she cried while playing her guitar in the moonlight. Despite her pain, she is able to comfort him with one word - love. The singer declares his love for Manuela, and wishes to give her his heart forever.
The song delves into themes of beauty, love, and pain. Manuela is portrayed as being not only physically beautiful, but also emotionally complex, as evidenced by her crying while playing music. The contrasting imagery of the boldness of the arena with the vulnerability of crying in the moonlight highlights these complexities. The singer sees Manuela as a symbol of his dreams, and the blue color of the dreamscape indicates that his dream is optimistic and hopeful.
Line by Line Meaning
Ah, gli han dotto chè la piu
Oh, they said she was the most beautiful in Barcelona
Bella di Barcelona
Beautiful in Barcelona
L'ha vista gettar lo scialle giù nell' arena
She was seen throwing her shawl down in the sand
Ah, di quando l'hamesso in pena
Oh, when they put her in pain
La catalana:
The Catalan:
Singhiozza la sua chitarra nel chiar di luna
She weeps with her guitar in the moonlight
Manuela, Manuela
Manuela, Manuela
tu sola
You alone
Accogli i sospirie rispondicon una parola:
You receive sighs and respond with a word:
Amore! Amore!
Love! Love!
Non senti ch'io voglio donarti per sempre
Don't you feel that I want to give you my heart forever
Il mio cuore
My heart
Manuela, oh Manuela
Manuela, oh Manuela
Sul raso turchino dei sogni c'è scritto Manuela
In the turquoise edge of dreams, Manuela is written
Ah! Ah! Ah!
Ah! Ah! Ah!
Contributed by Jordyn P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Kazimierz Puziak
To był wielki szlagier tamtych lat właśnie przez mistrzowstwo Rocco!!!
🌿🌿🙂🙂💯💯🇵🇱🇵🇱
Maria João Couceiro
Esta canção leva-me, direitinha, para a minha infância!
Natalija Kisačanin
Za ovakvu muziku, nisu dovoljne samo uši. Ona dopire do srca i duše !!!
DGMMA
Natalija Kisačanin svakako ovo je prava muzika za dusu
Lili Krasnova
очень красиво поёт
Tony Fantillo
I remember a local band playing this song in the early 60s, but I could never find the record for it...little did I know that it was on the other side of "Marina"...duhhh!!! I love it!!!
Eva Ludes
Ich liebe seine Musik. Haben meine Eltern immer gehört . Wunderschön
roland anthonis
Que de souvenir ❤
Gritta Kuhlmann
Auch immer klasse Musik von Ihm ❤ ♥️ 💜
Klaas van Dijk
Geweldige stem,emotioneel,warm noem maar op.