words by Carol King
Dogs barking, cats meowing and cockerels crowing have dominated the beaches, streets and squares of Italy this summer. But not just from animals: they are the lyrics of the country’s hit single of the season, ‘Il Pulcino Pio’.
Aimed at teaching young children the sounds of farmyard animals, ‘Il Pulcino Pio’ features a newly-hatched chick singing. The song is accompanied by a cartoon of a tiny yellow bird that has had more than 22.5 million views on YouTube. The chick sings the noises of hens, cockerels, doves, turkeys, cats, dogs, goats, lambs, cows and bulls before the song finishes when the chick is run over by a tractor with a resounding “brum”.
For some the chick’s gruesome end is a welcome relief given that the catchy, yet repetitious, nature of the tune means listeners have heard “glugluglu” (gobble), “miao” (meow), “baubau” (bow wow), “corococo” (cockadoodledoo) and so on, several times. Yet it seems many Italians cannot get enough of ‘Il Pulcino Pio’, which has been the most downloaded single on iTunes and most played song on Italian radio.
Released on 18 July by Radio Globo, the voice behind the little chick is singer Morgana Giovanetti. Prior to the success of ‘Il Pulcino Pio’ Giovanetti was best known for her work as a child actress on the ‘Bagaglino’ cabaret show in the 1990s.
The success of ‘Il Pulcino Pio’ means it has won gold and platinum records from music-market research specialist Nielsen Music Control. Set to capitalise on the diminutive chick’s magic touch, Radio Globo is releasing a range products aimed at young fans, including ‘Pio Pio Stickers’ and ‘Supermagnetini attakka stakka del Pulcino Pio’ magnets. With such merchandising ‘Il Pulcino Pio’ could be in the Italian pop charts for some time to come.
