Talk:Vesti la giubba

More up to date sound file?

Just curious if a more current sound file could be found. The one used here hit one hundred years old a few weeks ago. While the sound quality isn't bad, it does have some interference (as would be expected from a recording of this age). Just a thought on my part, I mean an encyclopedia should ideally have the most current information available, and I have to imagine that somewhere in the last century someone has made a new recording of this piece. --204.76.128.217 11:39, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

We cannot justify hosting a copyrighted soundclip for illustrative purposes, precisely because there are public domain ones. However, the musical notes are the same, so it's the same information. -- drini ^[meta:] _[commons:] 17:46, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

The recording is not just some 100 year old garbage. It's ENRICO CARUSO, the greatest tenor who ever lived, singing on a recording that would become the first million copies sold record in history. Wishing to replace it with last week's flavor of the month shows a comical lack of appreciation for the historical significance of this recording. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.167.200.242 (talk) 20:17, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

English translation

Shouldn't Pagliaccio be translated into clown?
70.69.50.77 03:36, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

Not really, because although Pagliaccio nowadays does mean the same as clown, it used to refer to a specific character in Commedia Dell'arte. Besides, Arlecchino could just as well be called a "clown" (which it is), adding to the confusion. We'd better leave the original name untranslated.E.Cogoy 20:35, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

Lower case for Giubba

The following is a closed discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the proposal was Move Parsecboy :  Chat  03:12, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

It's usually seen as "Vesti la giubba". I see no case for an upper case Giubba. -- JackofOz (talk) 02:38, 18 March 2009 (UTC)

I've requested this be moved. -- JackofOz (talk) 20:43, 26 March 2009 (UTC)

• Support per WP:SONGS: Naming. — AjaxSmack 23:44, 26 March 2009 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

"The show must go on"

The article currently mentions that

Canio discovers his wife's infidelity, but must nevertheless prepare for his performance as Pagliaccio the clown because "The show must go on".

The phrase "the show must go on" links to the disambiguation page of that phrase. The only relevant link there is to the article whose name is the phrase (the other links are to art works on that theme). So I edited the article, intending to fix it. I was surprised to find the comment "intentional link to disambiguation page" after the link.

My natural question is, why? Why link to the disambiguation page, when the meaningful link would be to the actual article about the old show-biz motto. (Also, why the capital T?)

I'm hesitant to change something that somebody said they did on purpose. But I'm hesitant to leave something alone when it's wrong. TypoBoy (talk) 04:46, 16 November 2014 (UTC)

Until 22 March 2014 the page The show must go on was a disambiguation page and The show must go on (disambiguation) redirected to it; see here and here. Intentional links to disambiguation pages are customarily done to those pages with "(disambiguation)" in their name, even if they themselves redirect to other pages. The main page was then changed to an article about the phrase and the disambiguation page became what it is now. You are right that there is now no reason not to link to The show must go on. -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 12:37, 16 November 2014 (UTC)

OK, done. Thank you for figuring that out and explaining it. TypoBoy (talk) 03:26, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

What is "unclear significance"?

When i ran across this article. a mention was included that the band Queen had made a reference to the aria in a song recorded in the 1970s. I added the fact that the aria was also referenced in a Spike Jones / Homer and Jethro song from the 1950s titled "Pal-Yat-Chee." This was deleted, and the reason given for the deletion was that the information was unsourced (easily fixed, and should have been given a "citation needed" note, not a hard delete) and that "Pal-Yat-Chee" was of "unclear significance." I do not understand the latter objection. Thousands of articles at Wikipedia on classical music, old novels, and old movies contain sections for the listing of popular culture references to these famous antecedents. If Queen was deemed to be of clear significance to Vesti la giubba, so should Homer and Jethro, for the two songs are equally derivative and pop-culturish. I reinstated the mention of Homer and Jethro and added a source. 75.101.104.17 (talk) 09:46, 6 January 2017 (UTC)

Mercury's use of "Vesti la giubba" in "It's a Hard Life" is mentioned in the source; the event was significant enough for many people to write about it, and the song is notable enough to have an article. I can't see either for "Pal-Yat-Chee" in your edit. I suggest to remove that paragraph again. -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 13:36, 6 January 2017 (UTC)

I suggest you listen to the song. Its significance is that it was a hit record in pop culture recording history and was also performed live on television (same significance as Queen). Here are some links.

First, the original RCA Victor recording by Homer and Jethro with Spike Jones --

Pal-Yat-Chee - Spike Jones and His City Slickers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib4-xPgQb4A

Second, a kinescope of the CBS network live television performance by singers Betsy Gray and Freddy Morgan --

Pagliacci (Pal Yat Chee) - The Spike Jones Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKZKmwQ0eZc

Note that "Vesti la giubba" becomes "Invest in a tuba" and that Aram Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance" is also referenced, both by melody and by name. -- catherine yronwode, not logged in 75.101.104.17 (talk) 00:12, 7 January 2017 (UTC)

And, for those who are curious, here are the lyrics, originally transcribed by Jim Dixon for the Mudcat Digital Tradition lyrics archive, with slight corrections by me:

From: Jim Dixon
Date: 12 Feb 01 - 08:41 PM

PAL-YAT-CHEE
(Spike Jones, Eddie Maxwell)

[Note: Lines in quotes are sung by an operatic singer; other lines are sung by Homer & Jethro.]

When we was in the city we was a-wond'rin' where to go.
A sign spelled out Pal-Yat-Chee* up in lights above a show.
We thought 'twould be a western till the stage lit up with light,
An' ninety-seven people sung without a horse in sight.
We couldn't understand 'em 'cause they spoke a foreign tongue,
But we can give you some idea of what we think they sung:

"Ridi, Pagliaccio, sul tuo amore infranto!*"

[Note: Following lines are in the style of a recitative.]

All at once there's a fat guy in a clown suit.
'Tain't Haller-ween, that's for sure.
Then this here feller, this Punchy Neller*,
Begins to beller like we all was deef:

"Ha ha ha ha ha!"

That was Pal-Yat-Chee an' he sung:

[Note: Following 3 verses are sung roughly to the tune of "Vesti la giubba" but much faster.]

Invest in a tuba* an' somethin' or other 'bout Cuba.
He sung about a lady who weighed two hundred and eighty.
When she takes a powder, he just starts chirpin' louder,
And he don't do a gol-durn thing 'cept to stand up there an' sing.

When we listen to Pal-Yat-Chee, we get itchy an' scratchy.
This sure is top corn so we go and buy some popcorn.
We hate to go back but we can't get our dough back.
Ain't no use complainin' 'cause outside it's a-rainin'.

Seven hours later, we're still in the durn theater,
Takin' turns a-nappin', waitin' for somethin' to happen.
Pal-Yat-Chee he ain't hurryin' but the folks on stage are flurryin'
And it sounds like Khachaturian's* Sabre Dance*:

[Note: Following 2 verses are sung roughly to the tune of "Sabre Dance."]

When ol' Pal-Yat-Chee finds a guy who's sneakin',
Cheek-to-cheekin' with his wife, he grabs a knife
And stabs the louse who stole his spouse
An' then he stabs the lady and himself.
'Tain't very sanitary.

They all collapse but ol' Pal-Yat-Chee sets up
Then he gets up, sings "I'm dyin',
I am dyin', I am dyin'."We start cryin'
'Cause to tell the truth we're dyin' too.

[Note: The closing lines are sung roughly to the tune of "Vesti la giubba" but much faster.]

As the footlights fade out
We see Pal-Yat-Chee laid out
But the dagger never caused it.
Pal-Yat-Chee was plumb exhausted.

"Ridi, Pagliaccio, sul tuo amore in-[belch]"

[As sung by Homer & Jethro (Homer Haynes and Jethro Burns) with Spike Jones and his City Slickers.
Pal-Yat-Chee = I Pagliacci, opera (1892) by Ruggiero Leoncavallo,
"Ridi, Pagliaccio, sul tuo amore infranto!" = Laugh, Pagliaccio, for your love is torn asunder!;
Punchy Neller = Punchinello, one of the stock characters in traditional Italian comedy;
Invest in a tuba = Vesti la giubba (put on the costume), the most famous aria from I Pagliacci;
Aram Khachaturian, Russian composer (1903-78);
Sabre Dance, from the ballet Gayané (1942).]

Enjoy! -- catherine yronwode, still not logged in 75.101.104.17 (talk) 00:36, 7 January 2017 (UTC)

User:Catherineyronwode, all this still doesn't contain a single reliable independent source. May be if an article Pal-Yat-Chee were written, its mention here would be justified. Until then, I again suggest to remove that paragraph. -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 12:15, 7 January 2017 (UTC)