Santo & Johnny were an American rock and roll duo from Brooklyn, New York.<… Read Full Bio ↴Santo & Johnny were an American rock and roll duo from Brooklyn, New York.

They are best known for their instrumental "Sleep Walk", which became a regional hit and eventually reached the top of the Billboard pop chart when it was released nationally in 1959.
At present, Santo is semi-retired and Johnny tours and records new material with his own band. Johnny is also the president of Aniraf, Inc., an international record company based in New York.

Santo and Johnny Farina were born in Brooklyn, New York; Santo on October 24, 1937 and Johnny on April 30, 1941. Their father was drafted into the Army while they were children and was stationed for some time in Oklahoma. After hearing a steel guitar on the radio, he wrote to his wife, "I'd like the boys to learn to play this instrument".
Upon returning from World War II, the boys' father found a music teacher who gave the boys steel guitar lessons. When Santo was a teenager, he was able to get a local music store to modify an acoustic guitar, allowing him to play it like a steel guitar.
Within two years, Santo was performing in amateur shows on a new Gibson six-string steel guitar and had started receiving lessons from a steel guitar teacher who had studied in Hawaii. By the age of fourteen, Santo was composing songs, and formed an instrumental trio with a guitarist and drummer. This trio appeared at local dances and parties, performing both original compositions and some Hawaiian standards. With money Santo made from these performances, he bought a Fender steel guitar, one with three necks, each with eight strings. This allowed him to experiment even further, and he tried different tunings until he found ones that appealed to him.
When Johnny reached the age of twelve, he began to play accompaniment to Santo on a standard electric guitar. The brothers soon formed a duo and became rather popular in school, eventually performing at events in the New York boroughs. They recorded a demo which they circulated to local New York record companies.
In 1958, Mike Dee & The Mello Tones (Santo Farina, steel guitar; Johnny Farina, guitar and their uncle Mike Dee, drums) recorded a self-penned instrumental which they called "Deep Sleep". Loosely inspired by the song "Softly, As In The Morning Sunrise" (Sigmund Romberg, 1929), it had the same chord progression but a simpler melody line.
"Deep Sleep" became "Sleep Walk" and in September 1959 it topped the American charts.

The brothers eventually came to the attention of a music publishing company and signed a song writer's contract and eventually a contract with Canadian-American Records. Their first release, "Sleep Walk", was composed by the two brothers. (The original single credits three Farinas, including an "A. Farina" for the composition. It's sometimes reported that their mother or sister helped, but this is apparently false.) It was recorded at Trinity Records in Manhattan. "Sleep Walk" entered Billboard's 'Top 40' on August 17, 1959. It rose to the No. 1 position for two weeks in September (the 21st and the 28th) and remained in the 'Top 40' list until November 9. It was the last instrumental to hit #1 in the 1950s and earned Santo & Johnny a gold record. The follow-up song "Tear Drop" was also a hit, though their LP Santo & Johnny was less successful in the United States.
After touring Europe, Mexico, and Australia, Santo & Johnny signed to an Italian record label and had several hits in Europe that included "Sleep Walk", "Love Story", "Maria Elena", "Ebb Tide", "Love is Blue", "Enchanted Sea", and others.[citation needed] In 1964, they released an album of The Beatles covers; "And I Love Her" hit #1 in Mexico and held the spot for 21 weeks. In 1973, Santo & Johnny recorded the theme to the movie The Godfather, which went to #1 in Italy and stayed at that spot for 21 weeks. They received a gold record in Italy and were inducted into the Italian Music Hall of Fame.

Johnny Farina currently operates the official Santo And Johnny worldwide website, which includes current tour dates, discography, biography, trivia and new merchandise Farina also currently operates the official Johnny MySpace page, which includes current tour dates, discography, biography, and audio samples from his new solo albums.

"Sleep Walk" continues to be popular due to consistent radio airplay as well as its usage in commercials, television shows, and movies. One of the first covers was by Betsy Brye (stage name of Bette Anne Steele) in 1959. While Santo & Johnny wrote lyrics for "Sleep Walk", they never recorded a lyrical version, but Betsy Brye's version included these lyrics. It has been also covered by The Shadows, Stray Cats, The Ventures, Jake Shimabukuro, Amos Garrett, Kenny Vance and the Planotones, Larry Carlton, Deftones, Chet Atkins, Danny Gatton, Leo Kottke, The Sir Douglas Quintet, Jonathan Richman, Larry Berwald, and Joe Satriani. Indie group Modest Mouse also covered the song with lyrics and entitled their version "Sleepwalkin'". A version by Brian Setzer received a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance of 1998. "Sleep Walk" was used throughout the 1992 Stephen King film, Sleepwalkers. "Sleep Walk" also plays a role in the 1995 Terry Gilliam sci-fi film, 12 Monkeys. It is also played in the end scene of "La Bamba" after protagonist Ritchie Valens dies. The song can also be heard in "Eddie and the Cruisers" as well as in the film "Hearts in Atlantis" starring Anthony Hopkins. Tim Kring's 'Heroes' which aired on NBC also featured "Sleep Walk" playing on a record in a diner, from the episode '1961'.
Santo & Johnny were inducted into The Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 2002.

Around The World
Santo & Johnny Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Old man standing by the side of the road
With a cardboard sign asking people
Do you know what makes the world go around?
Three words spray painted on a factory wall
Left up there by a kid to remind us all
What makes the world go around

What makes the world go around

What makes the world go around
And around and around and around
And around

Stranger reaching out her helping hand
To [?] just try to understand
What makes the world go round
A mother kissing a new born child
What she sees when she looks in
[?] eyes, makes the world go around

What makes the world go around
What makes the world go around
And around and around and around
And around

What makes the world go around
What makes the world go around
And around and around and around
And around

There's no question, there's no doubt
Love's the one thing we can't live without
And it makes this world go around

Don't be afraid, close your eyes
Take a deep breath and look down
Deep inside, that's where you'll find

What makes the world go around
What makes the world go around
Love makes the world go around
And around, yeah

What makes the world go around
What makes the world go around
Love makes the world go around
And around, yeah

What makes the world go around
What makes the world go around
Love makes the world go around
And around

Love makes the world go around

And around and around and around
And around

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Santo & Johnny's song "Around The World" touch upon the universal question of what makes the world go around. The first verse paints a picture of an elderly man seeking answers on the side of the road, and a graffiti on a factory wall left by a child that reminds us of what drives the world. The second verse introduces the idea of kindness and compassion, as a stranger reaches out to help, and a mother's love for her newborn child is highlighted. The chorus echoes the question of what makes the world go around, with the repeated phrase, "and around and around and around".

The bridge of the song offers an answer to the question, asserting that love is the one thing we cannot live without, and it is what makes the world go around. The final verse encourages the listener to look deep inside themselves, suggesting that love can be found within.

Overall, the lyrics of "Around The World" offer a gentle reminder to appreciate the love and kindness around us, and to acknowledge that it is what truly sustains us.

Line by Line Meaning

Old man standing by the side of the road
An elderly man standing next to a highway, hoping to ask passers-by a question

With a cardboard sign asking people
He has a makeshift sign made from a cardboard, requesting help from anyone who might see it

Do you know what makes the world go around?
Asking for the understanding of the fundamental force that propels the world

Three words spray painted on a factory wall
Words are graffitied on the wall of a factory to remind us of the world's motivation

Left up there by a kid to remind us all
A young person was responsible for posting the message to remind people forever

What makes the world go around
The central query of the song is identifying the driving force of the world

Stranger reaching out her helping hand
A charitable stranger extending kindness to others

To [?] just try to understand
An encouragement to comprehend the world and its mechanisms

What makes the world go round
The song's main question is still the emphasis of the singer's efforts

A mother kissing a new born child
A mother showing love and affection for her newborn baby

What she sees when she looks in [?] eyes, makes the world go around
The love seen in the eyes of a newborn child is a prime example of the driving force of the world

There's no question, there's no doubt
Without any argument or reservation, this is a fact that cannot be denied

Love's the one thing we can't live without
Love is the one thing that we require for survival

And it makes this world go around
Love is the driving force behind the planet's existence

Don't be afraid, close your eyes
Being fearless, close your eyes and trust that it will happen

Take a deep breath and look down
Take a deep breath and look within yourself for the answer

Deep inside, that's where you'll find
The answer lies deep within us all

Love makes the world go around
The song's primary response to the inquiry is that love motivates the world

And around and around and around
Love is a never-ending cycle

And around
The song's final conclusion: love drives the world

Lyrics © WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, OLE MEDIA MANAGEMENT LP
Written by: Thomas Ronald Hardwell, John Kirland Reid, Nick Trevisick

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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