Adamo is one of the most commercially successful singers in Europe. Adamo has sold over 80 million copies of his albums worldwide. He is currently living in Belgium though he has lived in France with his family. His hits include "Tombe la Neige", "Vous permettez, Monsieur?" and "Inch'Allah", all from the sixties.
Adamo's early influences were the poetry of Victor Hugo, the music of French crooners such as Jacques Prévert or Georges Brassens, and the Italian canzonette. He started singing and composing his own songs from an early age. His debut was in a Radio Luxembourg competition, where he participated as singer and composer of the song "Si j'osais" ("If I dared") winning the competition's final held in Paris, in 14 February 1960.
Adamo's first hit was "Sans toi, ma mie", in 1963, from his debut album 63/64. He followed this with a series of hits, "Tombe la neige" ("The snow falls"), "Vous permettez, Monsieur?" ("May I, Sir"), "La Nuit" ("The Night") (1964), "Dolce Paola" ("Sweet Paola"), "Les Filles du bord de mer" ("The girls at the beach"), "Mes mains sur tes hanches" ("My hands on your hips") (1965), "Ton Nom" ("Your Name"), "Une meche de cheveux" ("Lock of golden hair") (1966), "Une larme aux nuages" ("A tear to the clouds"), "Inch'Allah" (1967), "L'amour te ressemble" ("Love resembles you"), "F... comme femme" ("F... like woman") (1968), "A demain sur la lune" ("See you tomorrow on the moon"), "Petit bonheur" ("Small happiness") (1969), "Va mon bateau" ("My boat goes"), "Les belles dames" ("Beautiful ladies") (1970), "J'avais oublié que les roses sont roses" ("I had forgotten that the roses are pink") (1971), "C'est ma vie" ("It's my life") (1975). Other notable songs included "Manuel", "Si Tu Etais", "Les Collines De Rabiah", "J'Te Lache Plus", "Mourir Dans Tes Bras", and "Ce George(s)".
The self-penned "Petit bonheur" sold over one million copies by April 1970, and was awarded a gold disc.
Amália Rodrigues recorded "Inch'Allah" in French. Adamo briefly attempted movie acting when he was cast in the film Les Arnaud (1967), which starred Bourvil.
He has recorded in many languages and, besides France and Belgium, had hits in Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Turkey and also in Japan, where he toured repeatedly. Adamo has had hits and toured also in Latin America. In Chile, the audience awarded him an appreciation prize known as the "Antorcha" (Gold and Silver Torch) at the "Festival de Viña del Mar" held yearly in the "Quinta Vergara", at the seaside resort of Viña del Mar, where he once had to sing in three different, sold-out venues in the same night.
In the 1980s, Adamo's career faltered, as the style of his music was no longer fashionable. Since the 1990s, however, and on the crest of a nostalgia wave, Adamo has successfully resumed composing, issuing records and touring, starting with a full season at the Casino de Paris venue in April 1990. Adamo has sold over 100 million copies of recordings worldwide.
Albums
* 1992 Rêveur de fond
* 1994 C’est ma vie (compilation Live)
* 1995 La vie comme elle passe
* 1998 Regards
* 2001 Par les temps qui courent
* 2002 Les mots de l’âme (compilation)
* 2003 Zanzibar
* 2004 Un soir au Zanzibar (CD/DVD compilation Live)
* 2007 La part de l'ange
Las Bellas Damas
Salvatore Adamo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Que antes yo por mi calle vi
Ah, las bellas damas
Hoy su mirar no es para mi
El lugar que vivo yo
No muy lejos de Madrid
Antes fue jardín en flor
Qué domingos disfruté
Yo presumí feliz
La camisa, guentes beige y gorra color gris
Ah, las bellas damas
Que antes yo por mi calle vi
Ah, las bellas damas
Hoy su mirar no es para mí
Ah, la culpa es de la autopista
Sí, les pasa ella la revista
Si tan solo recordar
Se aumenta mi sufrir
Los week-end que vi pasar
Toda la flor de Madrid
Con mi gorra siempre fui
Lo más encantador
Y si a muchas sonreí
A los maridos no
Ah, las bellas damas
Que antes yo por mi calle vi
Van en mi proclama
Mas ellos son gafe para mí
Pues, prefieren siempre la autopista
Ah, no hay corazón que lo resista
Si no es por la persuasión
De aquel cura al predicar
No habría más motor
Que en los tiempos de Adan
A la sombra pasaré
Los veinte años o más
Hasta entonces bien lo se
Que todo se arruinará
Y las bellas damas
Que antes yo por mi calle vi
Si, las bellas damas
Bailando al fuego verás reir
Pues, yo haré saltar a la autopista
A ver si yo la pierdo al fin de vista.
Pues, yo haré saltar a la autopista
A ver si yo la pierdo al fin de vista.
Pues, yo haré saltar a la autopista
A ver si yo la pierdo al fin de vista.
The lyrics to Salvatore Adamo's "Las Bellas Damas" express his nostalgic longing for the beautiful women who used to pass by his street in Madrid. He reminisces about the Sundays he spent admiring them, dressed in his best clothes, with his beige gloves and gray cap. However, he now feels ignored by these women, and blames it on the highway that has replaced his once-flowery neighborhood. Despite his efforts to catch their attention and make them smile, he feels unappreciated by their husbands and frustrated with the prioritization of the faster, modern means of transportation over the simple pleasures of life.
Adamo's lyrics also touch on the passing of time and the destruction of what was once beautiful. He laments the fact that the highway has destroyed his former paradise and predicts that everything else will fall apart before he can enjoy it properly. Even the women who used to bring light to his life will be dancing around a fire laughing, while he attempts to escape the highway's grasp and regain what he has lost.
Line by Line Meaning
Ah, las bellas damas
The beautiful ladies
Que antes yo por mi calle vi
Whom I used to see on my street before
Hoy su mirar no es para mi
Today their look is not for me anymore
El lugar que vivo yo
The place where I live
No muy lejos de Madrid
Not very far from Madrid
Antes fue jardín en flor
It used to be a blooming garden before
Y hoy no puedo más vivir
And now I cannot live there anymore
Qué domingos disfruté
What Sundays I enjoyed
Yo presumí feliz
I proudly enjoyed
La camisa, guentes beige y gorra color gris
With a beige shirt, gloves, and gray cap
Ah, la culpa es de la autopista
Oh, the fault is of the highway
Sí, les pasa ella la revista
Yes, it passes by in front of them
Si tan solo recordar
If only remembering
Se aumenta mi sufrir
My suffering increases
Los week-end que vi pasar
The weekends that I saw passing by
Toda la flor de Madrid
All the finest of Madrid
Con mi gorra siempre fui
With my cap, I always went
Lo más encantador
The most charming thing
Y si a muchas sonreí
And if I smiled to many of them
A los maridos no
Not to their husbands
Van en mi proclama
They are in my proclamation
Mas ellos son gafe para mí
But they are bad luck for me
Pues, prefieren siempre la autopista
So, they always prefer the highway
Ah, no hay corazón que lo resista
Oh, no heart can resist it
Si no es por la persuasión
If not for the persuasion
De aquel cura al predicar
Of that priest while preaching
No habría más motor
There would be no more engine
Que en los tiempos de Adan
Than in the time of Adam
A la sombra pasaré
I will pass in the shadow
Los veinte años o más
Twenty years or more
Hasta entonces bien lo se
Until then I know it well
Que todo se arruinará
That everything will deteriorate
Pues, yo haré saltar a la autopista
So, I will make the highway jump
A ver si yo la pierdo al fin de vista.
Let's see if I lose it from view.
Pues, yo haré saltar a la autopista
So, I will make the highway jump
A ver si yo la pierdo al fin de vista.
Let's see if I lose it from view.
Pues, yo haré saltar a la autopista
So, I will make the highway jump
A ver si yo la pierdo al fin de vista.
Let's see if I lose it from view.
Writer(s): Salvatore Adamo, Jorge Corcega
Contributed by James A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Cesar Thomassen
Recuerdos inolvidables vividos
Maria Ines Dip
AMOOOOOOO !!!¡¡!
María José 1951
Salvatore Adamo_las bellas damas.Preciosa a mi Madrid..El humor es un arma muy importante para lanzar algunos mensajes, gracia Maestro 🌞 💋 👗👒 🏚️
armando suarez boxiga
esta es una de las canciones del gran salvatore adamo que tiene mas ritmo alegre y se sale un poco del comun de sus temas generalmente mas romanticos y con un ritmo mas pausado y si se quiere un poco mas melancolico pero eso es lo versatil que es el genio de genios como lo es el gran salvatore EL MEJOR DE TODOS
qazxsw831
El Gran Maestro, Salvatore Adamo ¿Qué más se puede decir?, sus canciones excelentes que hasta el día de hoy se escuchan.
diego Fraschini
Gran temazo.........
BUENISIMO ..........
es un poco graciosa la canción
grandioso Salvatore Adamo ............
Antonio Contreras
Un poco de humor no es malo Ádamo lo hace muy bien canción muy alegre
eliana escobar
Gracias por compartir !
emilse repizo salazar
me encanta su música...Adamo amor mio
yolima ortegon
Jajaja.Que hacias en Madrid.🎵♥️🌻🙏🌈🎤🌹😇